Upstate New York. Last weekend I was in Upstate New York. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, it is 95% of the state of New York outside of, New York City, Long Island and Westchester County. It is also a weekend playground for city dwellers looking for “the country.” Directions are easy – go North. The area we went to was the beautiful Hudson River valley, with wineries, cute towns and villages, rolling green hills with cool hikes, and one of the state’s crunchiest towns – New Paltz. If you’re in the area, a wonderful place for dinner is in Stone Ridge at The French Corner http://cityguide.pojonews.com/fe/Dining/stories/dn_french_corner.asp I had cold local sweet corn soup with duck prosciutto, then salmon "mignon" over purple cabbage. My friend had cold sausage with coco beans, then pork with Swiss chard and mashed potatoes with broccoli and something like an avocado. One dessert was mocha tart, the other was stewed figs. The whole experience was fantastic -- plus the fact that it was $25 prix fixe was even better. And we got to meet the chef (Jacques). My mouth is watering just writing about it.
Yankee Game. Went with a few buddies to the Yankees – Blue Jays game last Monday. The Yankees won the series 2-1, and we saw the first game, a shutout with pitcher Jaret Wright, who was just off the DL to throw 60 of 99 pitches for strikes. Perfect night for baseball – 70s and dry.
Park. Mayor Bloomberg (or his company, at least) sponsors an annual film series in Central Park, and this year’s flicks included those with New York scenes. I went last week for a delicious picnic under the stars and a surprisingly ok musical called The Bandwagon, Fred Astair’s last movie (and also starring a sexy Cyd Charisse, who evidently changed her name to that from Tula Ellice Finklea). Several catchy tunes, including That’s Entertainment (well, perhaps just one catchy tune, if you can call it catchy). For future reference, though, don’t think that you’ll be actually allowed to bring picnic items (including wine, glasses, knives, picnic baskets into the park) for a picnic which was encouraged, because people may trip over them – as New Yorkers are prone to tripping over such items…
Melting Pot. There is a chain of restaurants around the US called The Melting Pot, based on – take a guess – fondue. Interesting place, particularly the one in Darien, CT (where the word W.A.S.P. was invented). Our dinner was fine (fortunately, I am a big cheese fan), although the most memorable part was the service. It was generally bad, but the waitress was a character. She was clearly a decades-long smoker, and I have a feeling we got her on a bad day – unless giving the impression that she’s been dragged around the block more than once is a “good” day for her. We were never quite sure whether she was actually angry that we were touching the fondue pot she told us not to touch…. This sort of manic behavior (and my confidence that she was sporting a few questionable tattoos under her cheese-, chocolate- and oil-stained apron) suggested a better environment for her would have been a biker bar. Of course, there isn’t a biker bar anywhere near Darien, Connecticut….
Yesterday I rode the Tour de Putnam (also in Upstate New York). My team had signed up for the full century, but with pouring rain and less-than-warm temps, we took in 50 mi and called it a wet wet day. The route did seem quite pretty through my foggy, smeared lenses, but hopefully we can find another 100 mi route before the season ends. Next up, though, are my fall biathlons (Sep 18 and Oct 9) in Central Park. Hoping to improve on personal record of 1:14:28…
American Graffiti. Some of you may know that most of my Top 5 lists include many more than five. In terms of movies, however, American Graffiti has now made it into my Really Top 5 Movies list. Released in 1973, American Graffiti includes early performances by Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford. Essentially it is a one night snapshot in the early 60s of the misadventures of four California teenagers before two are supposed to head off to college. I found myself smiling throughout the movie (I’m a dork, yes), but the casting was superb – I read that you can’t imagine anyone else playing those parts, and I agree. It was a sweet nostalgic look at real life from a director who went on to movies that explored lives far from it (Star Wars, Indiana Jones)…
Bye for now, NATHAN
1 comment:
Interesting, but they all seem to link to commercial sites that suggest I buy something. NATHAN
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