NEW YORK: WOODSTOCK

 July 26, 2021

In August 1969, 450,000 people descended on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in the small town of Bethel, New York, for a four-day rock concert. The organizers had originally hoped to hold the event in Woodstock, New York, but local residents refused to host it. (For some reason, however, the name "Woodstock" stuck to the event.) Organizers then contracted with a site in Wallkill, New York, but those residents also protested, and eventually the event was moved to Max Yasgur's farm near the town of Bethel.

Planners assured the locals that the crowd couldn't possibly be larger that 50,000 people, but word spread quickly and 50,000 people arrived before the concert even began. 

Today there is a museum on the site, and visitors can walk to the giant natural bowl where spectators sat over 50 years ago and listened to more than 30 different acts, including Arlo Guthrie; Joan Baez; Santana; The Grateful Dead; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Janis Joplin; Sly and the Family Stone; The Who; Jefferson Airplane; Joe Cocker; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Jimi Hendrix.

We noticed a definite hippie-flower-child feel the moment we got out of our car.

NEW YORK: KAATERSKILL FALLS

 July 25, 2021

We rented an Airbnb in Kingston, New York, for a couple of nights. It turned out to be a brand new house built specifically to be rented out. We could even smell the fresh paint. It was perfect for the four of us. 

Having an equipped kitchen was very important . . .

. . . as were the extensive woods and trails located behind the house, which produced, among other things, this:

NEW YORK: THOMAS COLE HISTORIC SITE, THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, FREDERIC CHURCH'S OLANA, AND PEEKAMOOSE RESTAURANT

July 24, 2021

We continued to make our way north, farther and farther away from the wonderful craziness of New York City. Our next stop was the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. 

Thomas Cole (1801-1848) is considered to be the father of American landscape painting as well as the founder of the Hudson River School of Art.

His home in the Catskill region has been preserved and restored and is now a national landmark.

I got a kick out of these signs.  I can see that second one still being taped to the wall four or five years from now.

My favorite thing on the property was this purple gazebo with its fancy Victorian sofa.

NEW YORK : STORM KING ART CENTER

 July 24, 2021

On our third day in New York, we picked up a car at JFK, thinking that would make it easy to turn it in when it was time to go back to California (oh, we were so wrong, but more on that later), and we got on the road to go "upstate." ("Upstate" refers to almost all of the geographical region of New York--everything but the metropolitan area of New York City.) It was a Saturday morning and traffic was fairly light, especially by NYC standards.

 We were amazed by how quickly we left the city behind. Within an hour, we were traveling on forest-lined highways with big breaks between cities.

Our first destination was Storm King Art Center (marked by the red ballooon), about 70 miles upstate from JFK Airport (marked by a red star).

Wow, if you haven't heard of this place (as I had not), pay attention and get yourself there on your next trip to New York. It is amazing! This outdoor art museum, containing perhaps the largest collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures in the United States, was founded in 1960 and covers 500 acres. We're not talking minor artists no one has heard of. The most prominent sculptors of the 20th and 21st centuries are represented.

The Arch (1975) was created by Alexander Calder just one year before his death. There is an open arch you can walk through on the other side, but apparently I liked this view better! It is one of the first things we saw after driving into the grounds.

NEW YORK CITY: GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY (BROOKLYN)

 July 22, 2021

Our son knows I like cemeteries, and I know he likes mushroom hunting, and we figured those two interests could converge. Old cemeteries are known not just for their history and architecture, but also for their old trees, which often harbor companion fungi. We planned an afternoon walk through Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery to satisfy both of our interests.

Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 when the city cemeteries began to become overcrowded. It predated both Central Park and Prospect Park. Today it comprises 478 acres and contains about 600,000 "permanent residents" and 7,000 trees.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

Among the famous people buried here are musician Leonard Bernstain; artists Louis Comfort Tiffany, George Catlin, and Jean-Michel Basquiat; politician Boss Tweed; newspaperman Horace Greeley; the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; NY Governor DeWitt Clinton, Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives ("Currier and Ives"); Elias Howe (sewing machine inventor); Walter Hunt (safety pin inventor); Frank Morgan (the wizard in the movie The Wizard of  Oz); Morse code inventor Samuel Morse; cabinet maker Duncan Phyfe, Teddy Roosevelt's first wife Alice, his mother Martha, his father Theodore, and his uncle Robert; toy store founder F. A. O. Schwarz; and Henry Steinway and his son William of Steinway piano fame. Fifty victims of the September 11 attacks are also buried here.

The main entrance to the cemetery is a gothic arch perfect for a cemetery. It was built in 1861-65.

Just as the Bronx Zoo's "Zoo Center" reminded me of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle, so too did this magnificent gate--except the scary movie version. I'd love to visit this spot on Halloween.

Sculpted scenes above the entrances depict Biblical scenes of death and resurrection.

NEW YORK CITY: SEWARD PARK, THE EAST RIVER, AND MOMA PS 1

 July 22, 2021

We started our second day in NYC by picking up soft egg and avocado sandwiches for breakfast at Factory Tamal and taking them to nearby Seward Park, where we sat on a bench and watched the antics of energetic children, noted the numbers of what appeared to be families enjoying the park (or nannies with children?), and wolfed down the sandwiches.

One of the things NYC does exceptionally well is provide open space that can be enjoyed by all. Over 30,000 acres of land, an impressive 4% of the city, are dedicated parks. According to www.nycgovparks.org, there are more than 5,000 individual properties in the park system, which include about 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. When my acquaintances tell me they could never live in NYC because they would miss nature, I know they haven't experienced the neighborhood parks.

This is NYC.

Of course, NYC also has its problems, but they seem to address them in their own unique way.

           

NEW YORK CITY: (MOSTLY) VEGETARIAN DINING

 July 21-22, 2021

Our son recently moved to the edge of Chinatown in New York City. For months we drooled over his descriptions of the new restaurants and dishes he and his girlfriend were discovering in the new-to-them section of the city, so it was fun to visit a few of the restaurants and taste some of that food. They are vegetarians, and we are trying to have a healthier diet, so we were happy to have someone guide us to the best NYC vegetarian eats.

We tried to cram in as many local eating experiences as we could during the two days we spent in the city. We even ate at two different restaurants on our first evening, beginning at Xi'an Famous Foods. (We had been to Xi'an in China and had some great food there, so we were excited to try this one!)

Knowing that our main meal was ahead of us, we tried not to over-indulge. The three of us shared an order of Spicy Hot Oil-Seared Hand-Ripped Noodles . . . 

. . . and an order of Chang'an Spicy Tofu.

NEW YORK CITY: BOWERY HOTEL AND BRONX ZOO

July 21, 2021

I hope to take a trip to New York City at least once a year to visit our son who lives there.  There is so much to see, and I love the city vibe. Our time this year, however, was mostly spent in Upstate New York. But more about that later.

We took our usual mode of transportation--a red-eye flight from LAX to JFK, arriving at 6:30 AM. I could definitely relate to the "never sleeps" part of the sign that greeted us as we deplaned.

My watch said I got over three hours of sleep, but some of that "light" sleep time was just "holding-very-still-but-still-awake" time.  I don't think I got more than two hours of sleep.

Luckily we were able to check into our hotel as soon as we got there, which was around 7:30 AM?. We stayed at the Hotel 50 Bowery in Lower Manhattan, just outside Chinatown. The hotel is snuggly nestled between a Chinese restaurant and a neo-Classic HSBC Bank.

We were really pleased with our choice.  It can be hit-and-miss in NYC if you aren't staying in an expensive hotel.  This was a hit! The service was great and our room was large (for NYC), clean, well-appointed, and had a great view of morning yoga on the deck below us. We will stay here again.

TEXAS, EL PASO: L & J CAFE, A PANORAMIC VISTA, AND THE AIRPORT

July 3, 2021

It was mid-afternoon and we hadn't eaten. We were hungry. We saw this billboard on our way to our restaurant of choice. Ah, Texas, gotta love ya.

We had hoped to eat at Kiki's, a restaurant we had gone to on a previous trip, but it was randomly closed for the weekend. We did some online research and settled on L & J Cafe, which turned out to be a great find. 

It was established in 1927 across the street from the old city cemetery.

This has to be the most barren cemetery I've ever seen.

TEXAS, EL PASO: MUSEUM OF ART

 July 3, 2021

We ended our nine-day trip to New Mexico back where we started - in El Paso, Texas, where we had time to visit the El Paso Museum of Art, get some dinner, and get a bird's-eye view of the city.

Art first. 

The museum is located in the heart of downtown. The current location was built in 1998, and I liked it even before we went inside because of this fun mural on the side of the building.

People and animals have a lot in common, don't they?

The museum lobby had this work on one wall. Created by Andrea Bowers in 2019, it refers to the separation of migrant families at the border. The changing colors of the letters suggests the random divisions going on there.

NEW MEXICO: ORGAN MOUNTAINS, DRIPPING SPRINGS TRAIL

July 3, 2021

On July 2 we stopped at the Dripping Springs ranger station in the Organ Mountains on our way to our hotel in Las Cruces. We were hoping to do a three-mile hike, but rain was threatening and we didn't want to be caught in a storm, so we continued on to Las Cruces and came back the nexr morning

Our son Sam did some rope climbing here with a friend several years ago, so we were intrigued to visit and get an up-close view. These needle peaks loom over Las Cruces like Mordor rises over Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings. 

These first pictures were taken through the car window on our way in just as the sun was rising.

NEW MEXICO: A BABY ZEBRA, WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT, AND A GIANT PISTACHIO

 July 2, 2021

As we drove through some really beautiful scenery in the Lincoln National Forest on our way to White Sands National Park, the words "Cold Cider" and "Fresh Cherries" caught my eye. 

We pulled into a parking lot and found what we were looking for--and much more. Who would have thought there would be  a one-month-old Grant's zebra in a New Mexico farm stand? 

Goats, yes. Maybe even the llamas . . .

. . . but a zebra? And not just one zebra, but two. The baby's mama was in the pen next to it.