NY, NY Still the Best City: Bill and Lisa’s Apartment
April 17, 2022
We arrived in NY after a long tarmac delay caused by high winds at Newark. Newark was, because of the stoppage, packed to the gills with people, and the wait times for the (awful) restaurants in Terminal C were over an hour. So we did what any sensible traveller would do and took a seriously skanky NJ cab into town for Tapas at Mompou. The tapas was great, and the vibe was pure NJ.
A quick Uber into the city landed us at our home for a week, Bill and Lisa’s apartment situated on 20th Street between 7th and 8th. You gotta love friends who invite you up when they score a place for a month in the city! Lucky dogs all around.
The city at night is a welcome view. This is the first NPS visit in too many years.
Our first jaunt led us down the High Line to the Whitney.
Checking out the Whitney
See All’s Well at the Whitney Biennial for more.
The Little Island has been added to Manhattan as of late. It’s a quirky little part worth a quick visit. More about our quick visit here.
The Little Island as seen from the Whitney
Spring was everywhere on a blustery gray day.
Wait for it!
The High Line has been completed through Hudson Yards these days. This bridge over 12th (?) avenue yields an interesting and somewhat cinematic view.
Our plan was to check out the Japanese Food Festival situation on closed off 6th avenue, but the hoards of people…and we mean hoards…obviated our plan. So we stopped for ramen and sake in collectible glasses at Oramen Chelsea.
Later we took the subway down for a visit to PDT. On the way we stopped in for a fried ice cream and a cocktail. It’s not clear whether we were lured in to Little Rebel by the fried ice cream or the Bowie mug shot.
CR#2 to start the evening
What is a CR#2? Glad you asked. Click here.
Said fried ice cream
Said Bowie mug shot
Yes, Bowie was arrested in Rochester in 1976.
It rained.
Our intrepid hosts
Next up, a slice at East Village Pizza.
And then some “hot dogs” at Crif.
PDT is still rocking it. We had some special fun with the paper plane.
Naked Paper Plane
Problem corrected by the astute waiter
Finally, a late night visit to the very local Twist was in order. Fernet time!
So that was a day!
Our next adventure started at the MoMA, where in addition to lots of famous art to be shared simultaneously with hundreds of others, lunch was really good.
See more MoMA Where Did All These People Come From?
Some of us had waffles on the street.
The Macy’s Spring flower show
I suppose we are obligated to talk about the showers in the apartment since this is NPS. The shower was very nice indeed. Plenty of hot water and lots of shower nozzles, many way high up there in the stratosphere.
Sunday evening we went to see Sleep No More, which was quirky, fun, and well worth doing. NPS missed the provocative parts. Alas. Experiencing theater by being IN the set is a thing.
Then it was Monday. Breakfast at Banter south of Washington Square was great — best in the city. Then it was time to do a little shopping. Did you know that the Varvatos outlet in NY occupies the old CBGB space? Wild.
There was pastry to be had at Patisserie Claude on the way to the special Chelsea apartment.
Romey visits the shrine
An ill fated “cash only” taxi ride deposited us into midtown to buy some boots and be accosted by a crazy lady. Our walk home happened under a taxi blackout zone.
And then it was off to Chama Mama with Chalmers in tow. Turns out that Georgian food is quite delightful.
Wine from Georgia. No not that one. Yeah that one.
The last day in the city was beautiful and sunny. A perfect day to be sedate and walk the High Line again.
The walk was gorgeous.
So was the lounging.
There was patio time in the sun.
Our intended entertainment target of choice (and the planned high point of the NY run) was to see SJP and Matthew Broderick (I mean Farris Bueller) in Plaza Suite. Covid prevented that from happening when both stars were infected. We’re still planning a reprise. In the meantime we went to see The Hangman while it was still in previews. Though the acting was a bit uneven, the play was good with only a few kinks to work out. As always, Broadway staging is the bomb.
Before the show we stopped in for a cocktail and some caviar at Bar Centrale. Old school, sophisticated and a great place to unwind before a show. Or is that wind up? Martinis and negronis pair well with caviar.
The lights on Broadway were doing their thing.
All dressed up in the big city
And thus the first visit to NY in three years ended. A whirlwind and a delight. Hopefully travel has returned for good.
The Hotel Van Zandt Austin, Texas
January 19, 2022
Ah Kimpton, you’ve become so corporate. Such a great hotel chain ground down by middle management cost cutting and the boredom of crank turning. Dang. We remember the old days, yes we do. They are never coming back.
Anyway, getting to Texas on United was not so bad even in double masks. The flight was very sparsely populated, though it is a longish one. Austin is a great city to visit. Or is it a town? Kind of hard to tell. Here’s the story of our brief stay at Hotel Van Zandt.
The only pair of actual cowboy boots at the hotel when we were there happened to be ours.
First of all, IHG has forgotten everything about what NPS likes. Just for the record, we like high floors, certain kinds of pillows, and rooms with no plastic showers. We have also become accustomed to welcome notes from the GM, delicious amenities, sparkling water, and sometimes even a craft cocktail greeting us in the room from a barkeep hired by Jacques. Not this time. Even though the Kimpton twitter dwarf (they used to be fairies, but corporations) was given the heads up, not one bit of prep was done. Kind of astonishing, really.
So NPS paid a pretty penny for an excellent king spa room with a view, and was given a plastic bottle of water at checkin by the Assistant Manager who had obviously not read our secret file in preparation for our arrival. Hell, there probably isn’t a secret file anymore.
Room 701 is a great room style category. But the floor? Not a high one. The amenities and water? Nope. And the “lake view” is mostly a dusty construction site surrounded by homeless encampments. Seriously. Every city we’ve visited lately has a massive housing problem. What is wrong with this country?
The bathroom was awesome. Great tub (which we used a bunch) and a nice glass shower.
Not plastic
Tub with a view (that cuts both ways)
Sink area
The king size bed is surrounded by a bank of windows on two sides. The view will one day be better.
Given our late arrival sometime just after 8pm, we headed for a drink to Geraldine’s on the fourth floor. It was a Saturday night and the unmasked Texas crowd was dense. After ordering an outstandingly made Negroni (what ice! what ingredients!) we opted for dinner. Dinner was delicious, service was smart and snappy, and all was well with the world. There was a band. They were OK.
Negroni featuring Botanist gin and Antica Formula vermouth…a house favorite
Behind the glass
Sadly the restaurant was not open for breakfast during our stay. Instead there is a starbucks knockoff cafe on the ground floor with a microwave. Not the sign of a great hotel, guys. Frankly, the place feels more like a Marriott than a Kimpton. No human touch and no magic.
Sunday was devoted to fun without a plan. Brunch at Fixe was absolutely stellar. Great Bloody Mary’s and cinnamon roll biscuits. Fantastic food and friendly Texas service. We took our time.
Bloody Mary of the highest caliber at Fixe
Hard to describe how delicious this was
The famous deviled eggs
Shrimp and grits with some garlic kale and a poached egg
In a great mood and in weather befitting Spring (60 degrees), we headed to South Congress for some idle shopping. Our only real destination was Heritage Boot Company. Though we got no pictures, we did manage to pick up a knife for my kilt and three pairs of handmade boots. We even had a margarita of sorts with “Mr. Avocado.” Great people, great boots, and a down home Texas vibe. (Thanks Kimber.) NPS hears tell that once you buy one pair you are on a slippery slope to ten. We shall see.
View down Congress toward the state house
Coffee and people watching at Jo’s Cafe
We did manage to singlehandedly support the American economy with our credit cards. And then it was time for a margarita and some music at Half Step. The margaritas are on tap. We were served by Nick Cage himself.
Margarita @halfstepbar served by nick cage himself @LoveTequila @rivco pic.twitter.com/PYH26aasFP
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) January 16, 2022
And that band. Three blind fellows joined by two sighted musicians and a heap of funk. These were real Austin professionals.
Have a listen for yourself.
About the time we extracted we were late for our dinner reservation at Canje. Dinner was excellent. The jerk chicken was hotter than hell. The drinks were fun. The vibe was casual.
Seated at the bar (our choice)
An emergency clothespin
Jerk chicken that will blow your mouth off
Really it would be hard to ask for a better Sunday in Austin.
Monday was a work day with a working lunch at Qi. Get the soup dumplings.
Part of the late afternoon meeting happened at the Proper hotel. This place is interesting but just a little too artificial after an hour in the lobby. The music loop may kill you if the extruded ice doesn’t. Dinner was slated for upstairs at la piscina ceviches and fajitas. Our hosts are enamored with their fajitas. They were (as Sammy says) pretty not bad.
The highlight of the evening Monday night was a quick stop by the Roosevelt Room. What a place. Cavernous and somehow still intimate. Superb cocktails served with whimsy and great care. One of the top bars in the world for sure. NPS had a paper plane (with a paper plane) and a Liberal. Yup. Amer Picon in the house. We seem to have lost our party all night energy during the pandemic, especially after a full day of working in person. So we’ll have to go back. Thanks for the hospitality Justin.
The paper plane with a paper plane
Yet another emergency clothespin
The list is first class
A Liberal in Austin
Well, Austin, we will definitely be back. We’ll probably buy some more Heritage boots. We’ll definitely have a few more drinks at the Roosevelt Room. But we’ll stay at the Driskill. Three showerheads for the Hotel Van Zandt where you get what you pay for (and nothing more).
Portland (of the Oregon variety)
September 30, 2021
On only the third airplane ride post Covid vaccination, it was across the country to Portland in two hops.
Queen Tibia presided at home in our absence.
Dulles was mostly empty on a Friday late morning.
The purple chair
An uneventful set of flights (through Denver) was marred only by the masks everyone must wear. We can’t wait for a vaccine mandate for air travel. It’s coming! HUGE KUDOS to united airlines for requiring all of their employees to be vaccinated. Smart.
In fact, Portland is a bit of a study in what is to come in the rest of the country. Vaccination proof is required in bars and restaurants. Even seedy little dive bars like the Jack London Review where we had an excellent time seeing mononeon. But I am getting ahead of myself.
First it was a quick run by Hertz to pick up a crappy rental car and head to the Kimpton Riverside. Well, it used to be a Kimpton. Now it is an IHG thing. We knew from last time to book room 325.
325 at the Riverside Portland has a fireplace
The living room
The bedroom with a view of the river and the park
The riverside has only two rooms with glass showers. We did not secure either. So we got this…
Horror of horrors! A shower curtain. We’ll give them a pass since it was fabric and not plastic.
Lauren Groff’s excellent new book The Matrix was apparently designed for this table
We had a negroni. We devoured some oysters. We saw old friends and their spunky ultra-intelligent progeny. We ended up at mononeon where we watched a show that seemed like a Prince show from the early ’90s. Less charisma, but just as much crazy energy and a collection of interesting cats including:
- A black female goddess drummer with the biggest afro ever (she was the real band leader and a great singer)
- Two white guys who played OK leads while hiding behind a pole
- A DJ who started things off
- Two rappers, one of whom was utterly obsessed with getting everyones’ hands in the air
- A sporadically present trumpet player
- A 20 year old lanky stripper who was having trouble fending off the lesbians in the front
- A token white girl who came on late with a guitar she halfheartedly strummed while she sang (her hair was up in that Prince entourage kind of way and she must have been wearing lingerie)
- Oh yeah, and mononeon himself who apparently convened this group and then got so high he forgot it was his show
Mononeon in his chair
The music was great, the dancing was contagious, and the most fun thing was watching the young one dance uninhibitedly.
That lasted until 3am EST which was way past everyone’s bedtime. Super fun.
Then it was Saturday morning and time for a great breakfast at Cheryl’s. The beignet alone was worth the wait. We bought a Patagonia jacket while waiting because we heard that you can’t really leave Portland unless you buy one.
Then the highlight of the trip! Three hours in Powells. We bought 30 books, some bags to carry them on the plane in, and a shirt. World’s best bookstore hands down. MUST RETURN.
Every time
We love Powell’s so much. Everyone in all of the other towns is very jealous of your book thing Portland.
24 (of 30) books
After a brief respite on the courtyard terrace, there was time left for the Saturday market (always worth a visit if your tie dye supply is low or you need a crystal).
Contemplating Portland traffic
Then it was time for dinner. We chose Normandie, which was a bit green but good. Hip and relaxed, this place needs to get its A game on. Before dinner cocktails at Hey Love were better than dinner. We both enjoyed a Loprinzi’s Mule:
- .5 cynar
- .5 amaro cio ciaro
- 2 oz don q añejo
- ginger syrup
- tarmarivel syrup (tanarind paste, cinnamon, grapefruit rind, sugar)
- soda in a collins on the rocks
Loprinzi’s Mule at Hey Love
All of a sudden it was Sunday. We started out late with a brunch at Olympia Provisions. My vegetarian companion was not amused, but I was. So we headed out to get some juice and ended up buying cabinet pulls for The Stick instead.
Portland has a huge homeless population, and it is evident all over the city. Beater campers, tents with patches and multiple tarps, lots of garbage. The United States has fallen short of many of its citizens, and you can see that in Portland first hand. Late stage capitalism on the streets.
Don’t tell Romey, but these were actually really damn good
Next it was off to the Portland Art Museum, which frankly you can skip. Mediocre at best. Plan to spend less time than you think.
Some shopping at Wildfang got us moving toward Japanese Gardens which were so crowded we bailed and drove straight to the Kennedy School to check in. Room 113 is great.
Of course as hip and fun as it is, the Kennedy School still feels like 1997 in the rooms. Time to update! Especially please replace the beds.
ALERT: THIS SHOWER IS PLASTIC
We had a drink in the courtyard while working on our dinner plans. Portland decided that two days without rain was anathema. The rain came. And it wasn’t kidding. But we borrowed some umbrellas and headed back to town.
A visit to the Teardrop Lounge was fabulous as always. (You don’t need a reservation, but you do need a great attitude.). A Raffles Singapore Sling was in the cards.
Then a fantastic dinner at Takibi. Delicious, modern, and very Japanese.
Takibi
A superb drinks menu
It was still raining on Monday morning when we got up early to prep for a business meeting. It must be the rain that caused us to eat such a huge breakfast at the Kennedy School. Surely.
After a rainy morning talking about ML and security, we enjoyed lunch at Southpark Seafood with some new friends who turned us on to Betsy and Iya, a fantastic boutique jeweler and clothier. Hard not to get some stuff there!
Then the Japanese Garden in the pouring rain. A magical place and far less crowded once the witches all melted down.
Finally it was back to the Kennedy School to catch Pig in one of the coolest places to see a movie anywhere. We had burgers and watched the show.
Negroni in the hall
Our seats for the show
One more gigantic breakfast (yes it was still raining) and it was off to the airport for our quick flight to Dulles.
A fantastic visit to Portland. Almost like the before times.
Four showerheads is the max for both Riverside Portland and the Kennedy School. Does Portland even have glass showers anywhere?
San Francisco Post Pandemic
June 27, 2021
How exactly do you get back on the horse after a year of not even being in the barn? Or remembering you’re on a farm? Or much of anything? Well, we’re well on our way to finding out. In all honesty the first post pandemic trip (to Mobile, Alabama) was so shocking that we skipped the blogging aspect entirely. Culture shock, people shock, and total documentation whiff. Great trip…but so rusty.
Here we are in California visiting friends we have not seen in just over two years. Dang. Actual humans not in our pod! We really missed them.
The first order of business was getting on an airplane. And of course, United was the default choice. We took a look at the trips put in deep freeze way back in February 2020, pulled one out of the freezer, and thawed it out. Other than the mask mandate, things are pretty much the same on a cross country B787 flight. The waffle thing was terrible. I mean serve Eggos for goodness sake.
Flying on a @united B787 dreamliner in Polaris pod 3B. First class is not full. pic.twitter.com/yKbXE26lJF
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 21, 2021
The coolest thing about coming to California from Virginia has always been how much time you get back on the way out. By flying at 7:30am, not only is Dulles completely empty and easy to navigate in the morning, arrival at SFO happens around 9:30am.
It was off in an airport taxi (SF cabs STILL suck) for a tag in at Doug and Laura’s new house in the city near Golden Gate park. What a find! The showers are not plastic, the dogs are friendly (if a bit stinky) and the friends are priceless.
Dog of the slightly less stinky than the other one variety. Louis likes to hop up on the bed.
Lunch at Crepevine was a little too huge. The fries are really good.
Then it was over the bridge to Oakland for some BIML business with Open Philanthropy. This bridge thing was to become a recurring theme on the San Francisco part of the trip. Then of all places Ruby Hill for a friendly business visit with Neil and some delicious sushi.
Neil has a new house. It gives a tour of itself. We opened the very first bottle of wine in the new house…an NPS honor. Sushi was ordered and served.
The neighborhood dive nearest to Doug and Laura’s is called the Fireside. The bartenders are friendly, and the drinks are, well, I had fernet every time, so who knows how the drinks are. If you are lucky, you will be privileged enough to buy a beer for a Nigerian prince. Or maybe just someone from Rhode Island.
Fireside bar fernet pic.twitter.com/CsMlivfW0O
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) June 22, 2021
Our fearless leader in Sonoma
Tuesday was an all day run up to Sonoma with Jacob. We started with some oysters at Tony’s Seafood. Amazingly, it rained on us. But that was OK, because the big tent kept us dry and boy does California need the rain.
Oysters at Tony’s
After lunch (man was that bread good), it was up to Ridge Winery on mostly side roads. The drive was fast and beautiful. The sky began to dapple blue and soon the blue leaked into the clouds and covered the sky as we worked north.
Ridge is a great place to sit on a beautiful day and sip good wine from old vines. Delightful and recommended.
Ridge set a high bar, and one that Mazzocco could not reach. Great decor there, but nope on all other fronts.
Then it was back to the city for ramen at Iza Ramen. Yes please. Just go there. Wow. Real ramen like the before times.
Iza Ramen, San Francisco
A nightcap at Churchhill, which is a great old school bar. They used to sell the antique collection bourbons for way under retail price…sadly, they have figured out how much to charge now.
The real thing at Churchhill
Churchhill
Finally, a late night with friends at 54 Mint. I really missed the energy of Jacques during the pandemic!
Then somehow it was Wednesday. We started with tacos at Underdog Tres, a romp in the Japanese garden, and a visit to the botanical gardens (the latter two in Golden Gate park).
Underdog Tres
We were joined by Dr.Chess.
Then after a brief respite at home, it was off to ABV for some world class cocktails where we finally met Chris in person.
Drinking with @noplasticshower at @ABV_SF! pic.twitter.com/z4bYrHuLLU
— MacCocktail (@MacCocktail) June 24, 2021
ABV
We tried to magic our way into State Bird Provision. But no dice. So it was back toward home for some peruvian food at Fresca.
Fresca
Then back to the Fireside. This time there were zero African princes around.
Thursday was reserved for Alameda, the beach, and a sunburn (?!). It was a beautiful day over there once we got over the confounded bridge.
Everyone assembled at Blackbird for pre-dinner drinks at six. Blackbird had just re-opened (like everywhere else), and the permanent staff was as great as always.
Blackbird
A deceivingly pink mescal concoction.
Then, just to put a crown jewel on the day we walked over to Izakaya Rintaro for a world-class dinner that was as good as anything in the before times. Excellent food, fun service and great friends. Yup.
After a last showing at the Fireside bar, the San Francisco visit came to a close.
See you soon!
And it was off to Sonoma bright and early Friday morning.
Bloomington Done Right: The Grant Street Inn
January 17, 2020
You know how we feel here at NPS when it comes to generic hotels. The good news is that this trip (off season and not on a game weekend) the Grant Street Inn had our favorite room available. Needless to say, this place beats the heck out of the Hyatt Place.
So here we are in room 31. Sadly the fireplace has been disconnected and no longer functions. In fact, there are a few things that could use sprucing up…like better furnishings, no ancient radio, no phone that plugs into the wall, and some outlets built into the bedside table. You can do it guys!!
The first trip of 2020 started out great with a last minute upgrade from United who seems to have changed their upgrade policy to make things more nail biting for Global Services members. Not sure how we feel about that.
And then there was the hilarious stretch limo that the car service used to get us from Indy to Bloomington.
While in Bloomington, visit the Irish Lion for a stiff drink. And have some food at Anyetsang’s Little Tibet Restaurant.
The Grant Street remains our favorite location to stay in Bloomington. Four showerheads.
Back to the Excellent Grand Hyatt Tokyo
November 24, 2019
After a 19 hour trip from Washington, the Tokyo Station was a welcome sight. A quick taxi ride to Rappongi and we arrived at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. NPS is traveling with the progeny. We’ve been here before, and it is great to be back.
Taxi stand Tokyo Station
Tokyo on arrival
Checkin was smooth. We requested a Twin Club Deluxe room with an extra bed to suite three adults. Our room 1013 is on the concierge level where the club is. Super convenient for breakfast and cocktails.
1013 twin club
The bathroom is spacious and well appointed with an NPS approved shower
Omnipresent screen
1013 is a very nice room, just fine for three adults.
The elevator hallway
A late dinner at The Oak Door steakhouse was impressive indeed. One of the best steaks NPS has ever eaten. Just wow.
Porterhouse (off menu)
The sides were just as fantastic as the steak.
And then it was time for much needed sleep. Sleeping on planes in pods is a fitful and pretty much unfulfilling experience. (United Polaris remains among the best in the business for international travel).
Some tips for Japan travelers. Make sure to reserve a wifi device for your wanderings so you can connect your phone(s) through that. You can pick up your device on landing at Narita at the fourth floor post office. Then get some cash if you can. Japan is all about cash. Finally, try to get a Japan Rail Green pass before you arrive. This trip, the US Post office screwed up delivery of our passes by imposing a six week delay. That meant we had to purchase passes on arrival (still recommended, but more expensive). The US Post Office sucks.
Shibuya mural
Day one in Tokyo started kind of late due to the inevitable jet lag suffered by the progeny. We started at Shibuya station to see the famous mural, the dog statue, and the world’s busiest pedestrian intersection. We also had some soup.
Tokyo Sunglasses
Next was a walk up towards Meiji Jingu that took us by an excellent sunglasses retailer, and the pedestrian shopping streets (very different) Ometesando and Takeshita. Trifles were acquired.
Espresso on the Street
Meiji Jingu
Meiji Jingu is a magical place. Any source of peace is much needed for NPS at this juncture. Shinto.
Meiji Jingu
We exited the north end of the shrine by some yellow ginkos and walked up to a small mall to share a bottle of french wine.
Samurai Museum
There was just enough time to stop in at the Samurai museum (well worth a peek) before dinner.
Sushi at Makoto Sushi was outstanding.
Then it was off on a cocktail bar crawl of sorts. Sadly Ben Fiddich was full (a reservation is a must, but the only slot we could get by phone was for 6pm, too early for us). So we found a nearby dive bar. Three bar was very professional. Nice ice. Great Negroni measured with care.
We walked from Three Bar through piss alley. Golden Gai was our final destination for the day. We visited Baobab (the first vinyl bar in Tokyo) to listen to some old funk and drink some rum. Then it was off to our final destination Le Parrain (a godfather themed, old school, very smokey bar). Great cocktails included a Jack Rose, and over sweet Old Fashioned, and a Corpse Reviver #2 or two. (Special thanks to Jacques Bezuidenhout for excellent cocktail and food data.)
Le Parrain cocktail round
Day two in Tokyo also got off to a late start, this time because two of three of us on this trip work working (hint: not NPS who is “retired“). The day was devised with some help from Patrick who has lived in Tokyo for 10 years or so. The trip began at Hinade pier where we caught a city ferry up to Asakusa pier. The trip was about 40 minutes and a fun way to get around Tokyo.
Fuji Ramen (Tokyo)
Fuji Ramen shop
Our first stop of the day was at Fuji Ramen near Senso-ji temple. Absolutely delicious ramen!
The weather was drizzly at Senso-ji, which somehow seems to fit the mood of the temple. (See more about this visit on apothecaryshed.)
