Perhaps you remember when you were a kid splashing through puddles of water after a heavy rain or playing in the mud. Remember how it felt? Carefree, happy, and just plain fun! Turns out that playing in the mud is good for you. You can recreate that childhood experience as an adult (sort of) in the spa town of Calistoga, California, located in the north end of California’s famous Napa Valley. The volcanic soil that provides such a perfect … [Read more...]
Foraging with Pascal, a Professional Wild Food Forager in Los Angeles
A few hours spent with Los Angeles based wild food forager, Pascal Baudar will open your eyes to the wonders and diversity of the edible natural world. That natural world will come alive in ways perhaps you didn't think were possible. Plants growing wild which can be harvested and prepared as food are literally everywhere. Pascal is one of only a very select few professional wild food foragers in Los Angeles. There is a reason for that - … [Read more...]
Your Guide to Hacking the Empire State Building Line
One of the biggest and most famous landmarks in New York City throughout the US is the iconic Empire State Building. It attracts over 4 million visitors every year, which in comparison is about half as many people that live in the entirety of Manhattan. If you are doing your math, that means that around 11,000 visitors go up the ESB every single day. This means a whole lot of elevator rides. What it also means is that the Empire State building … [Read more...]
The Bar with no Name – New York City
Coming to loggerheads with an obvious British actor at an anonymous Irish bar in TriBeCa is like slumming it for a short story. . . . “What do you call this place anyway?” I asked over a pint of Harp at an attractive antique bar with no name in TriBeCa on West Broadway below Canal Street. “We haven’t decided on a name yet.” The bartender, who resembled Tom Jones, was drying glasses. His name was “Seamus” (as in Seamus Heaney, translator … [Read more...]
Los Angeles Exploration and Public Transportation
Los Angeles and public transportation seem to be diametrically opposed, but the City of Angels does have a well-placed system of buses accessible from numerous reaches of this large metropolis. Yet, the use of public transportation here, unlike many other major cities is unfortunately rooted in classism; people of a certain social strata do not take the bus. This bias seems frivolous, as the buses are clean, cheap and fairly easy to access and … [Read more...]
Charles Addams Family Values
John M. Edwards, a paparazzo of the paranormal, stalks the The New Yorker’s most famous and fiendish poltergeist cartoonist back to his moody hometown: Westfield, New Jersey. “Give me a place to stand on, and I will have the earth.” --ARCHIMEDES In Westfield, New Jersey, I finally found the moody manse of cartoonist Charles Addams, probably The New Yorker’s most famous and fiendish cartoonist, and also the inspiration for the TV series … [Read more...]
The El Is Swell @ New York City’s High Line Park
Manhattan Island’s newly reopened urban greenway “High Line Park,” perched on an abandoned “el” track stretching back into time, boldly reclaims renewal by rescuing ruins. “I love it: It’s a piquino paradise in the sky!!” raves Zoraida Robinson, a hard-working Puerto Rican immigrant with an eye for al fresco retreats. “Here we can get away from the city without leaving the city.” The aerial Eden that Zoraida is praising is Manhattan … [Read more...]
A Fine Bit of Madness
Near the end of the film, Zorba the Greek, Zorba dances by himself. His arms are spread out and his hands are open towards heaven. He shouts, “Everybody needs a little madness.” Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I had just spent five days camping at a Good Sam rally in Centreville, Michigan. Although the staff members were welcoming, the participants warm and friendly and there were plenty of activities and lots of entertainment, … [Read more...]
Stowe’s Simple Surprises
Sometimes luxury is in the simple things. Driving the last ten miles along Route 100 toward Stowe, Vermont, I was entering another way of life. There are no sky-scrapers, no fast-food chains, no billboards or even back-lit signs. There are independent little one- and two-storey shops, selling cheeses and maple syrups and cider doughnuts. I pulled into the parking lot at the recently renovated Topnotch Resort and Spa and quickly ducked … [Read more...]
Postcard from Cahuita: Wish You Were Here on the “Rich Coast” (Costa Rica)
John M. Edwards succumbs to the lures and snares of Costa Rica’s Caribbean “ecotourism,” instead of “narcissism,” in a relatively wealthy country translating literally as “Rich Coast.” I stood in a state of stupefaction, eavesdropping on a few randomundocumented locals who looked like they were engaging in a slapping fight—except with warm smiles of nonrecognition on their faces, maybe ganja buzzes. “Hey, mon, wha’appen!” “Wa’appen, … [Read more...]
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