Emily and Linda’s Travel Blog

Spring Break is very late this year so we are especially grateful to get some time off. We are keeping it simple - drove out this morning with our friend Max. Made a stop at a genuine LI Greek diner, complete with glitzy deco exterior and mirrored inside. Good eats and then a lovely ride through Hither Hills State Park to Montauk. We lucked out on our apartment at the Montauk Manor. We have a patio and a view of the ocean.   The apartment is a little like visiting grandma, but comfy and spacious. Looks like a ke a good week headed our way. 

We're up in the Catskills at our brothers-in-law's home for Christmas. Crazy warm here even in the mountains. Flirting with 70 deg. yesterday. Lindaand I made our usual rounds in the town of Woodstock. Visited the real bookstore, made our annual pilgrimage to the "sensible shoes" store and the hardware store that still feels a bit like an old fashioned general store. Lunch at Joshuah's where the middle eastern  based menu seems to get better every time. Then home for lasagna and gifts. Today my project is the Christmas turkey. Meanwhile hanging with the fam and enjoying the sunny scene outside the window.

Friday I heard the tell tale bell of the knife-grinder's truck. In Brooklyn we still have two competing guys who drive around in their trucks (known in the neighborhood as "the red one" and "the green one").  The only remainder I can think of from the old days when many more independent folks brought their wares or skills to you in the days before Amazon.  I'm old enough to remember milk delivery to the milk box, a bookmobile from the library(magical for a 4 year old), and the Fuller Brush Man.  There was also a piano tuner who went door-to-door on a regular circuit. The ice man of my mother's memory was long gone, replaced by the refrigerator by the time I was born in the Bronx. Nowadays the only holdouts are the ice cream truck and the knife grinder. It made me happy to bring my whole block of knives out to the curb and have them sharpened by Del Re's truck. He told me he was the third generation, but he didn't think it would continue too much longer. 

Our friend Jo Schuch is visiting from California this week. Today she and I wandered around the East Village in a combination eating tour and genealogic exploration. We visited the block where her grandmother lived and saw the church where her grandparents were married. Two blocks away we saw the building where my great grandmother (Schindler) lived as a girl. In the eating category, we sampled frozen custard at the Big Gay Ice Cream store, baked goods at Moishe's Bake Shop, corned beef and egg creams at Katz's Deli and perused the wares at Russ and Daughters (by then all we could do was look).   There were some other curiosities and sights along the way including some lovely community gardens. 

There are a number of antique stores "To the Trade Only" in the area just south of Union Square. Who buys this horrible Roccoco stuff is ever a mystery to me, but ths window caught my eye as I walked past this afternoon. 

Smooth trip to JFK and then the fun began. Fought our way home thru traffic on VanWyck, GCP, LIE, BQE, and even Tillary (where the Afropunk Music Festival was still going on at 11:30 pm). Finally home, feet up, sipping relaxation-promoting beverages.  Good trip altogether. 

Friday we went to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Park in Richmond where there were a number of shipping yards during the war. The little sleepy town turned into a bustling center of production. The former factory workers "Rosies" are on hand to tell about their experiences and answer questions. Small museum, but well worth a visit. 

OK so we're not very good at it.

Thursday night our friends Denise and Caleb came over for dinner (Denise is an old Pomona friend). So after shopping at the Monterey Market, the Indus Market (local Pakistani market), and the inevitable whoops! last minute run by Jo and Linda to Whole Foods, I was ready to cook.  Always a pleasure to cook in a larger kitchen than our little NY one ("the one-butt kitchen" as a friend of ours calls it) and this place is pretty well equipped.  Even had a stick blender! So the menu for the evening was:

Potage of peas with mint and labneh, beet-nectarine salad, tofu and vegetable biriyani, heirloom tomatoes, and a green salad.  For desert Caleb made a fresh raspberry clafoutis!  Pretty good eats appropriate for this foodie town. [For reasons I can't explain, the pictures are out of sequence]

Another institution in Berkeley is the Monterey Market. Another venue for really fresh food with great variety. Jo took me there this morning to shop for another reunion dinner tonight. Then we mad a lunch stop at Taqueria Talavera for chicken and shrimp tacos.