Will and I are always looking for interesting places to visit, especially when food is involved! I don’t remember how we first heard about Blue Hill at Stone Barns but, the minute we did, we knew we had to visit. Stone Barns is a farm on the Rockefeller estate near the Hudson River in Westchester, NY. It has existed since the late 1800s and was intended to teach the children in the family about agriculture and food. In 2004, David Rockefeller opened a restaurant on the property called Blue Hill with executive chef, Dan Barber.
What makes Blue Hill so special? All the food served in the restaurant is produced locally, most of it on site at the farm. The gardens are pesticide free and everything is run in an eco-friendly manner. As a result, there is no specific menu at Blue Hill. When you enter the elegant dining room, which seats about 80 people, you are handed a list of ingredients that may or may not be used on that particular day. Basically, you tell the waiter what you can not or will not eat and the meal begins. Don’t expect to be served the same things as your neighbor. We saw all kinds of interesting plates being brought out, including bone marrow, mini beet sliders, cauliflower steak and lamb medallions. The dishes are inventive and delicious and, though the portions are small, it adds up to a lot of food by the time you are finished.
Reservations can be made up to two months in advance and they often are. Prices are fixed at $75-$135/person for 3-8 courses depending on what day and time you visit. This doesn’t include drinks and any additional courses you may order, so it is expensive, but a visit to Blue Hill is truly an experience. It also gets a fair amount of celebrity guests (the Obamas stopped in on a recent visit to NYC) so don’t be surprised if you see a familiar face at the table next to you!
Since most of the country is battling a brutal winter, you might as well make the best of it and find some fun cold weather activities. The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is famous for its world class art exhibitions, but it also features an ice skating rink in its beautiful sculpture garden. The rink is open until mid-March, has a state of the art sound system and a cafe serving up snacks, hot chocolate and wine. Art, food and fun……the perfect combo to chase away the winter blues!
People sometimes laugh at me when I say I have a bucket list (list of things I want to do before I die). I know I’m only in my 30s, but life is short and my list is long! One thing I’ve long wanted to do is ride on a blimp. I did some research several years ago and learned that it was highly unlikely I would get my wish without knowing a person that had access to one. I pretty much put that dream on a back burner until I got an e-mail from my sister about Airship Ventures, a company that began offering zeppelin rides in San Francisco and Los Angeles last year. The difference between a blimp and a zeppelin is that a zeppelin has a rigid skeleton which makes it easier to steer and allows the engine to be carried away from the gondola making it much quieter. Suddenly, the impossible was possible and we signed up for a ride.
We decided to ride the zeppelin, Eureka, in Los Angeles and it turned out to be a good decision as weather in San Francisco can be unpredictable and often causes cancelled flights. Eureka holds 12 passengers at a time, as well as a driver and a flight attendant. Although we had to sit during takeoff and landing, we were free to walk about the gondola during the flight and enjoy the view from the huge windows. We even got to stick our heads out of the two windows that open! The ride was smooth and quiet and truly unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.
Thanks to Airship Ventures for making one of my dreams come true!
For those of you who have wondered what it would feel like to be a hamster, I present to you La Hamster Villa. It’s a theme hotel in Nantes, France that treats its guests like the cuddly rodents. You can eat grain, sleep on a pile of hay or even run in a giant wheel all night long. Personally, I’m not really feeling this concept…although the wheel might be kind of fun.
Just in time for Halloween, here are the “Top 10 Haunted Hotels” in the United States chosen by hotels.com:
Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, CO : built in 1909, the Stanley offers ghost tours of its most haunted rooms including #217 where Stephen King stayed while he was writing “The Shining”.
Green Mountain Inn- Stowe, VT : born in room #302 in 1840, Boot Berry was a local hero turned outcast. He later died after slipping from the inn’s roof rescuing a young girl during a storm, directly above the same room. Guests in #302 have reported the sounds of tap dancing on stormy nights.
Menger Hotel – San Antonio, TX : hotel staff believe the Menger’s many paranormal visitors stem from its proximity to The Alamo.
Le Pavillon Hotel – New Orleans, LA : at least four different ghosts have been seen at La Pavillion, perhaps due to a fire on the property in 1889.
Boston Omni Parker House Hotel – Boston, MA : the hotel’s founder, Harvey Parker, was a reported perfectionist involved in all aspects of the Omni’s operation so it’s no surprise that he’s still seen roaming the halls though he’s been dead since 1884.
Queen Mary Hotel – Long Beach, CA : at least 50 people died on this now docked ocean liner while it was sailing and at least 150 spirits have been sighted on board.
The Driskill – Austin, TX : many guests report seeing the ghost of a Senator’s young daughter killed as she fell down a staircase at the Driskill while playing with a ball.
Hotel del Coronado – Coronado, CA : Kate Morgan died at the hotel in 1892 while waiting for her estranged husband who never showed. Guests and staff at the Coronado often spot her still waiting.
Over the weekend, Will and I decided to take a trip out to Atlantic City, New Jersey. We hadn’t been there for about 8 years and we wanted to see how it had changed. Although it’s still rough around the edges, it’s much nicer than it was and it seems to be heading in a very positive direction.
The new Borgata hotel and casino and its attached sister hotel, The Water Club, are absolutely beautiful. They are spacious and relatively uncrowded because they are located in the marina section of the city. Over on the Boardwalk, things are still a little seedy, but many of the hotels have undergone or are going through renovations. The Trump Taj Mahal has a great updated eating and shopping area. There’s also a huge outlet mall that opened in 2003 with over 100 high end stores at the end of the strip. It has really improved that area and made it cleaner and safer and a pleasure to walk through. Of course, no visit to AC would be complete without a fresh squeezed lemonade and I’m happy to report that those haven’t changed at all and are every bit as delicious as they were the last time I was in town.
Back in the 1930s a freight railroad line was built in Manhattan above street level after a public outcry over fatal accidents between trains and traffic. Operations on the line ceased in 1980 and the structure fell into disrepair. Demolition was inevitable until a group called Friends of the High Line petitioned the city to preserve the historic track and reinvent it as a public park.
In June of this year, the first section of the new High Line park opened to the public. I recently visited and was really impressed. It runs from Gansevoort Street to 20th Street on 10th Avenue and visitors can gain access by stairs and/or elevators every few blocks. There is plenty of seating, including lounge chairs that roll on the train tracks, and snacks offered by a rotating group of local vendors. The walkway is lined by fragrant grasses, flowers and trees. It’s a wonderful place to take a walk or to relax and take a break from the hectic city below. The park is a great addition to New York City’s public spaces and I can’t wait until section 2 opens some time next year.
Nearly a year ago, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City re-opened to much fanfare after a multi-million dollar renovation that took almost 2 years. Over the weekend, I finally got to visit the institution for the first time since its face lift and I was really pleased. In addition to the usual historical information presented inside the massive aircraft carrier, there are now a number of interactive exhibits and even several rides. The aircraft collection on the ship’s top deck is as impressive as ever, but now you can actually get on-board the now defunct British Airways Concorde and see what it was like to ride in the epitome of speed and luxury. I think many people are surprised at how simple and small it was considering that it was a first class airliner. Visitors can also board The Growler, a naval submarine built in the 1950s.
My only gripe about the Intrepid is the steep admission cost. At over $20/person for a basic adult ticket plus facility fees, a visit could be quite expensive for a family, but it is NYC so I suppose it’s par for the course. Overall, it’s a great museum and a fun place to visit, especially when the weather is nice and you can enjoy being outside on the Hudson River.
-Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona- Walk across the glass bottom bridge that hangs 4,000 feet above the canyon to see the incredible landmark from a seemingly impossible angle.
-The Edge in Melbourne, Australia – Sit in a glass cube located in the Eureka Skydeck, 900 feet off the ground for a clear view of the city on all sides.
