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Winter Doldrums

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by erinjsimpson in Travel

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adventures, California, Desert, Palm Springs, travel, vacation

After some unseasonably warm days here in the city, today’s colder temps really dragged me down. I’m reminiscing about our quick trip to Palm Springs at the end of January that combined a little bit of work (for me) followed by a few days of fun for both of us. I’m ready to go back any day now. After a few days in the California desert, I can easily see what draws people out west. It has a mystical and otherworldly vibe that I totally dig.

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This vacation hit that magical sweet spot of just enough relaxation combined with the right amount of activities. And while it wasn’t quite hot enough for me to jump in our Airbnb’s pool, I did manage to polish off a good portion of that 500-page tome I was reading before we headed to Joshua Tree National Park for some hiking.

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After leaving Joshua Tree, we made a pit stop at the Noah Purifoy exhibit to soak in some desert culture. It’s a truly funky place!

I was really hoping for a beer and burger at the famous Pappy & Harriet’s in nearby Pioneer Town but we picked the one day of the week they were closed. So we heaved a collective sigh and ate a burger from In-N-Out instead, sans beer.

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I’ll be dreaming of these blue skies for the next few weeks as the east coast begins its final creep towards spring.

 

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Upstate Escape

04 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by erinjsimpson in Upstate New York

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adventures, Historical preservation, Hudson River, travel, Upstate New York

A few weeks ago, Charlie and I escaped to one of our favorite spots in upstate New York. If you follow the Hudson River north (bonus points if you take Amtrak!) you’ll eventually run into the sleepy, quaint town of Saugerties, just south of Albany. There’s a beautiful old lighthouse right on the river that’s been turned into the most tranquil, hospitable bed & breakfast. If you’re planning to be in the area, I highly recommend it. Reservations book up fast, but you can also visit the lighthouse during the daytime to learn about the history and take in the spectacular views of the river.

The lighthouse was first built in 1869 and, after falling into disrepair during the second half of the last century, local residents undertook a major restoration in the 1980’s to preserve the historic landmark. To reach the lighthouse, you have to hike a short trail along the marshy coastline. We learned the hard way that it’s best to arrive before high tide hits. The last part of the trail becomes submerged in about 6 inches of water once the tide rolls back in. Luckily for us, the inn keepers met us with knee-high galoshes to trudge through the water. I’m sure they were silently shaking their heads at our Brooklyn naivety.

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We visited on a blustery, overcast weekend and, while I normally wouldn’t be thrilled by the typical upstate NY dreariness, it gave the river a mysterious, ethereal quality that I’ll always remember.

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Here are views of the front of the house, with inviting yellow doors, and a view of the back, below, where you can see the old lighthouse. The innkeepers actually live in the house year-round and I’ve spent way too much time pondering their amazing good fortune. While I can imagine that living here presents plenty of challenges (planning your grocery store runs around the tidal schedule, being exposed to all kinds of unfavorable weather) I also think about how incredible it must be to care for such a unique piece of history. Next time, I plan on taking better pictures of the interior which has been beautifully decorated with simple, antique furnishings to honor the building’s history. Each room has a coal-burning stove as a secondary heat source and the kitchen is outfitted with antique appliances.

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The view from our bedroom window was surreal. When you wake up in the morning, the first thing you see is the water and you feel like you’re suspended in the middle of the Hudson. For city dwellers like us, it’s the most relaxing way to start the day. Now that I’m back in Brooklyn, I’m trying to imagine that there’s a river right outside my bedroom instead of the incessantly noisy Atlantic Avenue.

Sun and Sand

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by erinjsimpson in Travel

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Tags

beach, lobster feast, travel, vacation

I know what you are all probably thinking. “Did it really take her almost two weeks to get over this whole bike theft thing?” I promise I’m not THAT upset. But efforts to catch the perpetrator, which included scouring Craigs List and peering into empty lots around Brooklyn, were unsuccessful.

It’s just been really busy around here. Maybe because summer is wrapping up and we’ve been trying to cross all those remaining summery things off our list. Or maybe because piles of work just keep creeping up at all hours of the day. Regardless, I looked at the calendar today and realized the first day of September has already come and gone. And I wasn’t even watching!

Since I’m torn between feelings of summer sadness and autumn excitement, I’ll post a few photos from our trip to Cape Cod to help ease the transition. Summer was a great season, filled with lots of travels, city excursions, and foods, but I have no doubt it’ll be back again next year. Same time, same city.

And hopefully, next year will bring more weekends like these. Because the Cape is a pretty great place to while away a few days, if you ask me.

We were lucky enough to have this little beach just within walking distance.

And most times, we had the whole sandy spot to ourselves. A little slice of the ocean reserved just for us.

The only thing missing is a picture of our annual lobster feast. But once the table was set, my eyes glazed over and I consumed that lobster with a speed and precision that only those who frequent the Cape will understand.

Five Things Catching My Eye This Week

09 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by erinjsimpson in Cooking, Style

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Tags

Cooking, farmers market, paris, summer, travel

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This little tin of lip balm. Because it traveled all the way from Vermont and was given to me by my boss. And that made my Monday just a little more manageable.

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A jar of honey that made its way from Northern NY to a tiny Brooklyn apartment and reminds me of home. It’s begging to be swirled into a pitcher of freshly-brewed iced tea.

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A fresh batch of blueberry muffins. The perfect coffee companion for early mornings when I am staring down at an inbox full of unread emails.

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This pair of shoes, because they have been slowing falling apart for some time and this might be their last week traipsing city streets. But they remind me of the summer I spent in Paris with the most amazing friend and I’ll have a hard time letting them go.

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This pile of basil from the farmers market. Because, well, see post below.

What is making  you happy this week?

Food Frenzy

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by erinjsimpson in Restaurants, Style, Travel

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Food, travel, vacation

Okay, one last post about Los Angeles and I promise I will move on to a new topic. Can you tell that lengthy vacations are few and far between for me?

As I may have mentioned a few times before, Charlie and I have a tendency to eat and drink our way through most excursions. On our drive, I spent most of my time in the passenger’s seat squinting at the iPad, searching for ways to avoid fast food joints and arrive at some greasy, roadside haunt that would presumably be filled with locals. Typically, these establishments were no better than your average McDonald’s, but somehow the hunt seemed to justify the calorie count.

But I was really excited to reach LA, birthplace of the food truck. We’ve discovered some great carts and trucks in New York (quesadillas from Calexico are a weekly indulgence) and were excited to find a few new names to add to our list of favorites.  Well, it turns out that on the first Friday of every month, LA’s food trucks make their way over to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice for a monthly food festival of sorts. The trucks stake out their spots in the early afternoon and keep serving food well into the night. And if you thought that you had seen every possible incarnation of food on wheels, think again. I’m pretty sure a new truck is born every minute. Here are a few of the trucks that caught our eyes.

In addition to good food, I love a good play on words.

I have to admit, the weather in California was much cooler than I had expected. I thought everyone ran around this state in cut-offs and midriff baring tank tops?? I ended up wearing a sweater more often than I’d like to admit. But enough of the weather. It was pretty hard work being a tourist and snapping all these photos, so we took a well-deserved break to try ice cream on a stick. Ice cream is always good, no matter the temperature outside.

What is this new style of potato, you ask? Well, it is a spud cut in a spiral shape, stretched out like a slinky, and impaled on a stick. Oh, and fried to a nice, golden hue.

And this last truck takes the cake, in my book.

Sometimes, I think owning a food truck would be grand. But the potential impact on my waistline is enough to steer me off that career path.

A Roadster’s Paradise

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by erinjsimpson in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Brooklyn, Food, travel, vacation

It might sound a little strange, considering I just mentioned that I drove 3,000 miles from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, but I actually don’t really like driving. People usually screw up their faces when I tell them this and say: “Really?!” Because, I know, it is the American dream to get their first car and feel the freedom that a long, empty stretch of highway brings on a sunny afternoon. Windows down, hair blowing, music blaring. Amber waves of grain rustling as the car passes by.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved our road trip. I’ve never had so much fun on a road trip and, in fact, didn’t know it was possible to enjoy 12 hours of sedentary driving for 5 days straight. But it is the routine of daily driving that I absolutely loathe. To me, autonomy is not behind the wheel, speeding across pavement every day just to go to work. Or the grocery store. Or the bookstore. And I really hate when my hair is blowing all around me.

This is why I live in a city like New York. I get the pleasure of riding a smelly, dirty, crowded subway every day. And I love it. The subway also indulges my need to multi-task, something that never works well when driving. Instead of staring at the line of cars moving slowly ahead of me, I get to stare at my book. All the countless subway rides I have taken the past few years have allowed me to finish many books and even a few issues of The New Yorker while I’m at it. For that reason alone, I consider the monthly subway pass worth every dollar they charge me. One hundred and four of those dollars, to be exact.

And it is because of this driving that I have a fond appreciation of Los Angeles, yet could never see myself living there. There is a highway to connect every corner of that sprawling city and Charlie and I spent a lot of time on it. But we had a great time exploring all the neighborhoods, especially Los Feliz, where we had an amazing brunch, and Santa Monica, where we shopped and walked along the beach. It was the perfect reward after our long drive and it felt so nice to savor the last few days of our vacation at a much slower pace.

Here are a few snaps from our adventures in LA.

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Most days – make that most every day! – I’ll go for a plain cup of jo. Just milk, please. But a vacation in LA felt like the appropriate time to sip a leisurely latte in a coffee shop.

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The sign in that last photo was a little disconcerting…

I love how different this city is from the one that I call home and I’m so happy that I finally got to explore it myself. (It seems to me that it is one of the few cities that New Yorkers feel they can make lofty generalizations about. Either LA is the NYC of the west or it is the most deplorable spot in the country. There never seems to be a middle ground!)

But, I will leave you to make you own judgements and with one more snapshot.

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This was taken in the gardens at the Getty Museum. Do you see all that SMOG hovering over the city in the distance? Unbelievable. It leaves a little lump in the back of my throat when I think about all the miles of gas we burned just to get here. It’s going to take a couple of mass transit rides to get rid of that guilt.

The Great American Road Trip

16 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by erinjsimpson in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

travel, vacation

I’m a big fan of a bucket list. And checking things off that bucket list brings such a sense of accomplishment. I have ongoing lists tucked in little corners of my apartment and living on my iPhone that continually get updated with new ideas and adventures. And sometimes, I even get to check things off those lists.

Last week, Charlie and I rented a sturdy silver Camry and drove from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. We’d been planning this road trip for the past few months, constantly debating over routes and pit stops. In the end, we made very few plans or arrangements in advance, opting instead to see where each day led us. And this spontaneity, I think, resulted in one of the best experiences I’ve had.

Charlie has taken some epic road trips in the past. (Oh, college years, where did you go?) Since this was my first cross-country drive, he assured me that these memories would stick with us. They’ll pop up when we least expect it, he said, and remind us of that one time we got a crazy idea stuck in our heads and decided to drive to Los Angeles. Here are some of the highlights of our trip.

One of our first stops was in Nashville. Although I really wanted to take a detour along the Appalachian Trail (another bucket list item; another trip altogether), we decided it was more feasible to make a stop in either Memphis or Nashville. To be honest, we were both craving some BBQ, so these seemed like the most obvious choices for a first-rate meal. What good vacation doesn’t revolve around food? Not one of ours, I’ve decided. Nashville was the closer of the two cities and a quick google search told me that Jack’s BBQ was THE place for ribs. 

Oh yeah, we were not disappointed. This pile of meat is not for the faint of heart.

And after a 12 hour drive, this sure hit the spot. Not pictured here are our beers. Those might have been the most well-deserved beers I’ve tasted on this side of the Mississippi.

We recommend Jack’s on Broadway if you ever find yourself in Nashville.

Then there was a lot more driving. And driving. And driving. And before we knew it, we hit Oklahoma!

And in Oklahoma, they aren’t kidding around with their highway tolls. I think we stopped every two miles to give that state more money. By the time we reached Texas, my purse was much lighter. Thanks, Oklahoma.

Once we reached New Mexico, that’s when the road started getting really interesting.

We found these dilapidated shacks along the highway in New Mexico. A woman and her two children were selling turquoise jewelry at the far end of this picture.

One of our highlights of the trip was our stop at the Grand Canyon. It’s amazing that after driving for 3 days on land so flat and unchanging, you could suddenly come across a canyon so deep and cavernous. It is such a stark contrast to see on a road trip like this!

This photo gives me a heart attack every time I look at it. When you let that boy out of Brooklyn, there’s no telling what he’ll do. I’m glad we don’t have any steep cliffs for him to scale back in the city.

Even shadows seem larger than life at the Grand Canyon.

After leaving the canyon, we set out on the last leg of our journey. Next, I’ll post about our time in Los Angeles!

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