Oh so Wright!

Buffalo, New York
Initially the jaunt across the country was going to be all about Frank Lloyd Wright and Prairie Architecture. Well, Spring Green got waylaid, and before I knew it I was in Buffalo, New York and Lo and Behold, one of FLW's most notable prairie houses stretched before me. The house is undergoing a huge restoration. There must be some deep deep pockets in Buffalo. There were three separate work crews while we were there. The stables and pergola have been totally rebuilt. Beautifully I might add. The bricks were located in Ohio, to replicate the original horizontally oriented bricks used in the construction. Underneath the veneer of horizontal "prairie style roman" bricks I spied some conventional bricks forming the foundation of the corner columns. OH FRANK so sneaky!!! Only the readers of this blog need to know....This complex is extensive. there was a home for client's sister, a gardener's cottage, stables/carriage house, greenhouse, and a beautiful pergola-covered walkway. Our decent docent told us that there was no set budget for the house, (which Wright would have blown anyway) and Mr. Martin gave FLW free reign. It shows in the layout, the leaded glass, the HUGE kitchen (for Wright) and what I imagine would have been extraordinary gardens. Martin's story is classic...orphan rises up in corporate America builds home complex to house EXTENDED family. You don't have to be Freud to figure that one out. Once again, seeing the restoration in progress thrilled me. I have an aversion to things totally gussied up I guess. The pergola and carriage complex are almost too perfect. But..I also noticed many similarities to the Hollyhock house. The use of gold in the interior, the pergola, the library and living room layout, even the decorative cement elements. I am starting to think that Wright had a syntax that he drew upon at will and mixed and matched. Hmm...heresy. I hope my friend Rod Grant doesn't read this blog, he will dress me down. I urge you to visit this amazing house. Here is the official website. I think it will be even better in about two years.

The Armco Ferro House

Beverly Shores, Indiana. Ok I promise this will be my last post about the World's Fair houses.
I am just so fascinated by them. This house was made of corrugated steel panels that were bolted together. It was a precursor to the very odd and cool Lustron houses that can be found all over the US. Somehow, Julie and I managed to miss the Lustron house in Beverly Shores and the one in Chautauqua, New York. The house looks a bit like Fort Courage in F Troop right now, as the enameled panels have been removed, but seeing the metal "box" frame is interesting. I am looking forward to visiting Beverly Shores again one day when the houses are rehabbed and rejuvenated.

Beverly Shores Continued

I think, in the case of the Beverly Shores houses of the future, pictures say more than I ever could. And Chumley was sitting in front of one the houses that was made with Cedar. One of the challenges of the houses of the future was finding a sustainable, renewable resource that would be good for building and I guess Cedar satisfied that requirement. In fact,the cedar house was the one that was furthest along in the restoration process.

The Rostone house is in terrible shape. Rostone was being promoted as a synthetic stone exterior that was a blend of alkali, shale and limestone. It really started deteriorating in the 1950's due to harsh conditions and water infiltration. It is being restored right now although it doesn't look like it.

Weibolt-Rostone House, Walter Schuler, Architect

The house of the future was pretty cool. Reminded me of a Disneyland GE House of Tomorrow that I remember. The biggest prediction was that everyone would have a personal airplane at their house. So there is a hangar attached. It is currently wrapped in Tyvek wrap so you cant really see much. One more house to go so come back to the blog when you have a minute. jm

Houses of Tomorrow and Yesterday

Beverly Shores, Indiana Monday September 10, 2007
Those who know me well, know that I have a keen interest in Amusement Parks, World's Fairs, Architectural History and then, when buildings are abandoned and left to decay I get really interested. Well yesterday, I think that I hit the apex of all of the above. Let me explain. Long before we had the internet, television, Dwell Magazine or Progressive Builder, we had World's Fairs. One of the functions of these international showcases was to disseminate information about new technology and use the exhibition as way to push the envelope in not only technology but the arts, agriculture, city planning, product design etc.. It was the ultimate product placement couched in entertainment but with no subterfuge. The need for world's fairs now is diminished, although part of me thinks a virtual reality world's fair might work. I digress. In 1933/34 the world's fair was set in Chicago. Ok before this becomes graduate school paper 101, I will get to the point. Homes that "solved" certain challenges in building were created for the world's fair. After the fair was completed, when pavillions and exhibition halls are normally torn down, Robert Bartlett bought 5 of the houses, and floated them from the world's fair site to the shores of Indiana to promote a real estate development . That's where we come in. You can read about the history of the houses and the promises their creators made here: Julie and I took some photos that show the state of the houses now. All the official park sites say they are "undergoing major restoration" but from what I can tell they are in worse shape then they were 2 years ago, although the cedar house where Chumley is posing in the previous post is really being worked on. I will come visit again,
Students who find this blog have my express permission to use all and any photos taken by me.


Florida Tropical House , Robert Law Weed Architect

Next entry will have more photos

Where's Chumley?

Unnamed state

Pop quiz: can anyone guess where Chumley is?

If not, check back to find the answer.

Five Star Grilled Cheese

Madison, Wisconsin

Thanks to a hot tip, we didn't leave Madison without visiting Café Soleil just across from the state capitol building.

I had to order "Wisconsin's Own Grilled Cheese", which took grilled cheese up a level -- or four or five. Toasty in-house whole grain bread with seeds sprinkled throughout to give it some pop, is grilled on both sides to a crispy, buttery perfection.

Your teeth break through the crunchy toast, passing the buttery flavor on to your tongue first, descending next through the 1-year aged Hook's Cheddar, whose density offers up just enough resistance to send that sharp-salty rich flavor to your brain a millisecond before the soft, warmed sliced tomato follows it with an acid kick - it doesn't get much better than when grilled cheddar meets tomato in this neighborhood.

But wait, there's more, Hook's Swiss and Farmer John's Provolone slathered in sautéed sweet onions - this bite was reminiscent of wonderfully rich french onion soup with a gratin of cheese and toast on top. The sandwich came with a whole grain mustard dipping sauce whose mustard grains were toasted and crushed right before being blended with house made mayonnaise - at least it had the creamy richness and intense mustard tang that I can't imagine you can get any other way.

While waiting for our sandwiches, we tried an herbed goat cheese croissant and said "oh, wow" at the first bite. The herbs were intense, the goat cheese perfection and the pastry did not make any mistakes. I had to follow that up with a rosemary cheddar brioche, in the classic fluted shape. This tasty cloud of perfectly done buttery break melted in your mouth while the rosemary and cheddar sent taste telegrams to your brain.

Clearly, the ingredients were of the highest quality and as fresh as picking them from your own garden, while the talent in putting it all together had to be formidable as well.

My five stars for Café Soleil come from marrying ingredients that were stellar to textures that were perfectly balanced - the brioche was airy and rich, the mustard velvety and saucy -- to flavors that popped like fireworks, concentrated and brilliant. jv

Ho Ho Ho

Sunday September 10, Minnesota and Wisconsin

Ok the highlight of the trip so far, was meeting one of my icons, a integral part of my childhood, someone who formed my definition of manliness yes that's right...The Jolly Green Giant. He lives in Blue Earth, Minnesota right next to the Dairy Queen but he assured me they aren't seeing each other. I liked his shoes alot. He got them at GDSW.
(Giant Discount Shoe Warehouse.)

Julie and I are on a Comfort Inn kick. They don't charge extra for the dog, they have SUPER great mattresses, the free breakfast is amazing as Amy can attest to, and generally they are nice. Well, I was thinking about how Chumley was processing this, and it goes something like: get in car, drive forever, pee once in a while, stay in warm room and eat kibble out of silver dish, drive all day, stay in same room, drive all day, stay in same freaking room.


Basically all the rooms are the same. So that has to add confusion to the already confusing experience.
I am so tired I am punchie. So I am gonna pack it in before I say something silly.
jm

The best place to live in the U.S.A.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota & Middleton, Wisconsin

Saturday we arrived around 7:30 pm at Sioux Falls. Night fell and a booming thunderstorm lit up the sky, followed by a downpour. I wasn't willing to go for the motel just off the Interstate, even though it offered free Internet. Independent motels across America have caught on to the "cable tv" of the 21st century.

Judy went into a MacDonalds and asked for directions to the historic downtown area. A teenage girl informed her that, although she had lived in Sioux Falls all her life, she had no idea where any historic center of town was -- she only went to the mall. A more erudite companion gave general directions and we were off.

Finally finding the center of town and at least a block of interesting architecture, we realized the gas gauge was blinking. Following the directions of Staci, the GPS, we drove in circles for a bit and then, silencing her, stumbled upon a Howdy Pardn'r (or something like that) at $3.07 a gallon.

We needed to find a hotel but since we were hungry, noticed as we passed Taco Bell, Red Lobster, MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Applebees, TGIF Friday's, Denny's, Starbucks, Bennigan's, Hoolihan's, Hooters, Hardee's, Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Taste of Chicago, IHOP, and on down the alphabet of franchise restaurants.

The clerk at the luxury hotel we finally came across sent us down the road to a "pod" of hotels fronting the east-west Interstate. We chose the pet-friendly Comfort Suites for $79.

Going back out to one of the 42 restaurants within a stone's throw of the hotel, we learned from a well-informed server that Sioux Falls has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S.! It is also a center for financial institutions due to a laissez-faire attitude toward interest rates in this state - ever notice how many mail-in payments go to South Dakota for processing?

The next day we noted mile-long block after mile-long block of malls with every franchise store we had ever seen. Stopping at Panera's Bakery to get some sandwiches for the road and talking with the girl making our sandwiches, it suddenly struck us that Sioux Falls is the testing ground for franchises, and the teenage girl the night before was a perfect product of her environment - the mall certainly was where it was at here.

.................. Now knowing about hotel "pods" we easily recognized one outside Madison, Wisconsin the next night and checked into home away from home at Comfort Suites again. Hunger took us this time to nearby Middleton. It appeared to have a charming historic district, and the diner we stopped in was very cute - Hubbard Avenue diner. The chicken tortilla soup was thick and spicy, the greek salad was fresh and flavorful. The cashier informed us that Middleton had been named one of the best places in the U.S. to live.

Yet, after we drove around a bit, the downtown was just too neat, too perfect and Judy dubbed it "Pleasantville". Sioux Falls, on the other hand, was the sum total of the modern American way of life. jv

I'll take Crazy Horse for $200 Alex

Saturday September 8, 2007. Arrived here late last night, but not too late for some homemade Strawberry Rhubarb pie and a nice walk around the back streets of Custer with Chumley. Today is an odd day. It is the one year anniversary of Mr. H. Bones Mahoney's demise, who chose to leave the planet while under the watchful eye of my beloved best friend Mikey. I have been thinking alot about Bones. I miss him every day. I do love Chumbucket so much, but Mr. B was a unique individual. I know all of you who have lost a pet know what I mean. They each have such specific spirits. Hoping Emily doesn't decide to replicate Bones' exit. That might just put Mike over the edge. Ok enough morbid canine thoughts. We are staying at the Rocket Motel. A 1930's cabin type place. Beyond cute. Now Custer, South Dakota is in direct contrast to Keystone, South Dakota. Custer is a real little tourist town that probably existed before Mount Rushmore. A small colony of Sears houses, lovely bungalows, and hunting cabins. Keystone takes its' cues from the Vegas - Branson model, replete with a presidential wax museum, indoor water park, reptile garden, mystery spot, and not to be missed Holy Terror Minature golf. In a weird way it reminded me of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I know that's a stretch, but sort of a pre-packaged family fun experience. The Crazy Horse Monument really moved me. Korczak Ziolkowski's dedication and irrational optimism is inspiring. The entire museum is sort of homey and well intentioned. Dogs are allowed and Chum even stalked the cat that belonged to the sculptor's children who still toil at the unfathomable task of completing this statue that is 5x as big as Rushmore. We had to see Mount Rushmore. That is not a pimple on George Washington's head. People were climbing to the top with ropes and stuff. Um why? Chumley was NOT allowed in the park so I had to satisfy my patriotic yearnings from the parking lot. OK onto WALL DRUG per my cousin Hillie, and then a night in Sioux Falls.

Cheyenne Thoughts

Friday September 7, Cheyenne Wyoming
O.K. Can we talk about Cheyenne? What a delightful sweet city. I almost drove off the road when I saw this house. It defies description. A crenelated prairie fantasy. A physical embodiment of the axiom that money can't buy taste. Can't you just hear the architect pitching the design? "I know you are a fan of Robin Hood and Walter Burley Griffin, I think we can combine the two here." It dates from the twenties I think, totally out of sync with the post war GI housing that surrounds it. I would love to the know the history. Now in contrast to this architectural acid trip, the state house is lovely, Maybe not as sublime as the Nebraska State House, but it holds it's own. Built in 1886. Just the right amount of Beaux Arts Glory. Not too pretentious, it sits on a slight hill overlooking the city.
The interior is gorgeous too. Especially the sky light.
OK heading out to South Dakota....Custer here we come. (Chumley loved the State House lawn.)

Wyoming through South Dakota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

It is 1:30am, and Judy and Chumley are sleeping. Thanks to a Verizon pci card, I can get an Internet connection in most cities and sometimes even on the road. So this is just to say we have not fallen off the edge of the planet -- although it looked like we had reached the boundary today when a thunderstorm burst above us somewhere to the east of the Missouri river.

This morning we woke up in the delightful Rocket Motel in Custer, South Dakota and headed 11 miles north to the Crazy Horse Monument. It is an astounding project, and the vision of the sculptor presented in the introductory video at the visitors center left us both teary-eyed.



It would have been better to see Rushmore first, since the scale and inspiration of the Crazy Horse project overshadowed it for us. jv

Santa Fe to Boulder: Prophets and Recycling

Friday- ok I am new to blogging and I have to keep my dates and places straight: So far, 1st day LA to Flagstaff. 2nd Day Flagstaff to Santa Fe. 3rd Day Santa Fe to Boulder Colorado which brings us to where I am right now, always a good place to be. Staying in a green motel. Everything is recycled. Very dog friendly. They even have their own dog run. Chumley made some friends with a mixed Dachshund and Rat Terrier named Buster. They ran all around the mini dog park and just had a blast. This motel has an indoor pool, indoor rock climbing and a great vibe. Big Head Todd even played here in the blues club right on the premises. One of Chumley's nicknames is Big Head Todd so we found that very coincidential. Boulder is cool. Lots of young kids riding bikes, cool cafes, cool restaurants. Outdoorsy vibe. Totally worth staying here rather than Denver which looks corporate and smelly and noisy. We met so many neat people with dogs (and without). One couple is traveling with their three dogs 2 rescued labs and 1 Saluki and their baby from Austin Texas to Portland Oregon! I think I saw a prophet in Gallup New Mexico in front of the pic a flic video. Then again he could have been an out of work below the line agent....Julie and I are headed to South Dakota in a few minutes. But it may take a while to sort out our green garbage before we leave. jm

Standin on the corner in Winslow Arizona

What a fine site to see indeed! The La Posada (The resting place) hotel in Winslow has just undergone an extensive restoration. Glorious... the landscape is being redone with Mary Coulter's original landscape plans. In 1929 right before the stock market crash, Fred Harvey invested a million dollars in the beautiful showplace. 70 years later the costs for restoration are 12 million! Mary Coulter invented an entire fantasy that guided her vision for the hotel...It is pretty extensive, read about it here.
She was forward thinking alright, sustainable gardens including a sunken waterfall! The grand lawn looks out on the train tracks with a dog friendly attitude. The bygone romance of train travel can be summed up in one visual...the arcade from the front of the train station to the rear entrance to the hotel. You can just picture the bellboys meeting your Santa Fe Train, carrying your bags to the grand lobby for a few days stay in the clean Arizona air. jm

day one part two

California Desert toward Flagstaff

Tuesday. The roughest thing was saying goodbye to Emily. Physically, she is just not up for the rigors of travel. She will be very comfortable at her house with Mikey and Dugan to look after her. I will miss her terribly. The packed car resembled an M.C. Escher print. All tucked in and ready to hit the road. The first thing I did not expect was Chumley's reaction. He was very stressed. Panting, and not happy. He has always been such a great car dog. It came as a surprise. I hope it is better today, and he adjusts. The drive through Barstow was hot hot hot. The a/c was blasting and when we stopped in Needles CA we got blasted by 111 degree heat.



A very cool restoration project is going on in Needles....The El Garces hotel...one of the original Harvey House hotels. Here is a shot of the hotel as it stands now, and sometime around 1905. The style is sort of a Classical Revival, and Monterey hybrid. The lamp posts, I think were added later....We will see some more Fred Harvey Hotels today, in Winslow and Santa Fe. Will take photos....maybe my Architecture Professor Ken was right, I should have done my master's thesis on Mary Colter the brilliant female architect who designed a majority of the Harvey House hotels. - jm

On the Road with Kerouac -50 years ago today

Los Angeles, California

Thanks to our friend Larry for pointing out the synchronicity of starting our cross-country road trip on the day of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Beat writer Jack Kerouac's "On the Road". This tome was typed on one continuous sheet of paper, which I got to see at the spiffy San Francisco Public Library a few years ago with friend Eugenie M.

Wikipedia can fill you in if you missed Kerouac and his work the first 20 times around:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road

The Day Before

Los Angeles

Today we went to lunch at Mozza's, the wait-in-line-for-seats-at-the-bar Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich pizzeria on Highland and Melrose. There were four of us and we each ordered an appetizer and a pizza. Our reservation was at 12:15, the restaurant opened at 12, and there was a line out front but we didn't have to wait for our table.

First came the glasses of light Rosato Bastianich Refosco, a refreshing rosé after coming in from the 105° Labor Day weekend heat wave. A cup of Farro alla Toscana with feta arrived not long after - an ancient grain tossed with ripe halved cherry tomatoes, bits of feta and olive oil. It was cool and refreshing, like a big cousin to tabouleh, the ingredients shone on their own.

White beans alla Toscana with extra virgin olive oil and saba came next on what tasted like a whole wheat (hand made Roman Meal?) toast. This was a hit all around, it was not a mock hummus as some are, this was sophisticated, smooth and light with a coffee spoonful of olive oil and saba (a juice made from cooked-down grape must, fruitier than balsamic vinegar although made from the same Trebbiano grapes. Like verjus, it is mild enough not to ruin an accompanying wine. )

The restaurant was full by the time our final two antipasta arrived: Fried squash blossoms and a Lamb straccotto with polenta - a divine comfort food, the lamb was warm, succulent, redolent with spices and perfect on top of the creamiest polenta, so creamy it surely must have had marscarpone whipped in. The squash blossoms were exactly like a kettle chip wrapped around ricotta, fried to perfection, salty and crunchy but one was enough.

The first pizza was the priciest and our one disappointment, clams oregano, parmigiano & pecorino came together with too much of the taste of tidepools for me. It is a highly rated pizza so perhaps it just wasn't the one for such a hot day.

Second was an egg, guanciale, radicchio, escarole & bagna cauda that came with the egg perfectly sunny side up in the middle - a tough item to split four ways but tasty. The guanciale is an unsmoked bacon that was crispy, making me think of a good dish of bacon and eggs.

An oregano salami (that is oregano salami, no comma) mozzarella, tomato & fresno chili pizza was a crowd pleaser. All the pizza crusts were crispy on the ends and thin beneath the ingredients, and lighter than usual, heading in the direction of a pâte feuilletée, the puff pastry used with french tarts, or Indian Parantha bread, puffed with air and crispy. The oregano salami and fresno chili's atop a tomato sauce was all wonderfully concentrated in flavor, salty, herby and smoky from the brick oven baking.

Speck, burricotti, olive tapenade & oregano was the final pizza. I was wild about it since I love juniper and speck is an Italian prosciutto from a region near Germany that is flavored with juniper, as is jambon de Vendée in France. The burricotti - ricotta filled mozzarella was dolloped on the top and its lightness was a blessing after as many other dishes we had already been through.

When there was no more room in our bellies or in the restaurant, and people were standing around waiting for tables, we shared the famous Butterscotch Budino with two little rosemary pinenut cookies. The cookies were like the pastry dough cookies my grandmother use to make, light little rounds that she brushed with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Here they were the size of a silver dollar and topped with a few sprigs of rosemary and several toasted pinenuts that adhered to the cookie by virtue of of some sweet thing, maybe just melted browned sugar. The butterscotch was fantastic, smooth like a great gelato but room temperature. The flavor went off the scale of delight by a dusting of fleur de sel. Wow.

Later, when the day had cooled a bit and we were able to move again, we took 3 dogs for a walk in the 'hood and snapped a few shots of our first landmark, which Judy lives just beneath.

So We Begin

Los Angeles
Always late getting on the bandwagon, I have enlisted my friend Julie to write this blog with me and to drive across the US. Neither activities are unique, but hopefully we can bring our sense of humor and love of the trivial and absurd to this online postcard.
The facts: 2 forty something gals driving a Toyota Prius. 1 fun loving, slightly deranged Boston Terrier named Chumley along for the ride, 10 days or so to hit the high and low points from West to East. Final Destination....Saratoga Springs New York... home of the peppermint pig. (You thought it was known for the oldest racetrack in the US or maybe the incredible water or mineral springs, naaaah it is all about Peppermint Pig.)