The Chicago Art Museum is full of treasures….these are just a few of my favorites!
Fab Photos Friday: the Art of Chicago Part 1
I love Chicago. If you have been there, you know what I mean! Yes, it is too cold to live there (at least for me!), but I’ll take many more visits! I went to the Art Institute, and saw Marc Chagall’s White Crucifixion in person. I absolutely love Chagall’s work, and am fortunate to have some of his Lithographs. Seeing this work in person, up close, was incredibly moving, and exciting, and I could hardly drag myself away. Chicago’s Art Institute is a marvel, but the city, by itself, is art as well.
Next week, more art!
Chicago is my kind of town!
As a native midwesterner, I have to say I LOVE Chicago. What a great city! Fabulous night life, restaurants, art, theater, parks, lake…and so on and so forth. Chicago is a bit different from the other large, popular US cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco….because it is down to earth, and accessible. One doesn’t feel that one cannot drive downtown, one doesn’t fear snobbery (not much, anyway), and anyone on the street will be happy to help. Chicago is the midwestern version of “the big city”. As a midwestern girl (as the Beach Boys would sing) I appreciate frankness with no airs.
My husband and I had a dual purpose in visiting Chicago last week. One of our friends had a daughter getting married at the Westin River North (lovely view of the river!) and Randy had his 40 year high school reunion in La Grange, where he grew up. As a bonus, my hairdresser, Eric, whom I have known since 1990, just moved to Chicago and it was lovely to have dinner and then lunch with him. Eric knows his way around Chicago, and took us to the most wonderful restaurants I’ve ever been to in Chicago. First, he took Randy and I and another (reunion) couple to an Italian eatery called Topo Gigios. Randy and his lifelong friend Murph have been eating and drinking in Chicago for many years, but Murph has decided that Topo Gigios is his new favorite Chicago restaurant. That means it is really good! Strange name, I thought, until my Baby Boomer friends (older baby boomers, I’m on the tail end) informed me that Topo Gigio is a cartoon character who was often on the Ed Sullivan Show. I’ve seen reruns of Ed, but I have no memory of the real show back in the 50’s or 60’s. Well, the mouse character is in the restaurant, and as long as he can cook fine Italian cuisine, I love him!
The next delicious venue was Siena Tavern. Siena Tavern is a contemporary establishment, with modern decor and reservation only seating, even at lunch! Eric and I had lunch at the bar, which was actually fun as we kidded around with the bartenders. The menu changes with the seasons….Eric had Italian ribbon noodles while I enjoyed Mozzarella and walnuts, covered with honey. Sigh. Siena Tavern is having Truffle Tasting through October 12….email [email protected]. Very tasty!
The wedding was fabulous, and most of us danced all night. Well, I danced a few times, but many others truly danced the whole time. Randy and I hung out with the Lyons Township High School reunion crowd, and had a great time. The next night was the reunion, and visiting the places of Randy’s childhood. The 40th reunion was quite emotional as Randy was very lucky to be there at all. One year ago, Randy had a double lung transplant and came very close to death. It made the reunion all the more sweeter for us all. (you can read about that journey HERE). I was unable to visit my students in Chicago….next trip!
Well, I will be off on a nostalgic trip of my own soon, as my cousin’s daughter is getting married on October 25 in Kentucky. I’m going to drive up early, stop at the Clinton Presidential Library, check out Hendrix College (did you know I am a college counselor in private practice? Well, I am!), look at Indiana U in Bloomington, and spend time in Ohio with my “sister” (long story…our parents were best friends and we were raised in each other’s pockets…but she is older and she and my older brother tortured me. Which explains a lot about me, actually!
So safe journeys to you, and I will be checking in along the way!
San Francisco: A wine dinner with Jordan Vineyard & Winery at Campton Place
Guest Post from Suzanne Stavert of Adventures of Empty Nesters!
A wine dinner in San Francisco? Yes please!
Lately I have been having a blast interacting with great people on Instagram. I adore photography and truly enjoy seeing what Instagrammers (photographers) are capturing. I had a wonderfully engaging conversation via Instagram with the Campton Place Hotel in San Francisco all about our spectacular trip to the Napa Valley and my great wine and winery photos.
My new friend on Instagram suggested that we come to a wine dinner at the hotel in the “Michelin Star”Campton Place Restaurant where Chef Srijith Gopinathan would prepare a feast that paired excellently with the wine. Prior to the dinner we would be treated to a wine lecture from Rob Davis, the winemaker of the Jordan Vineyard and Winery! Craig and I are always enthusiastic about wine, outstanding cuisine and we absolutely LOVE San Francisco, so this was a very easy decision. We confirmed our seats with Richard Dean:Master Sommelier, one of only 150 Master Sommeliers worldwide. With our reservation confirmed, we were all set.
As you may have heard from me before, chefs are like ROCK STARS to me. I am constantly in awe of how they utilize various combinations of flavors, textures of ingredients, as well as visually beautiful preparations! I love learning about different types of dishes, eating them, as well as experimenting in my own kitchen. I truly appreciate the vibrant colors and the marvelous artistic presentation of each dish. I was photographing my meals way before the trend of taking photos of your food had gone viral. Craig is so patient with me when we are out at a restaurant. He always asks “Are you taking a photo of this? Is the light good enough?” Actually, I have rules about taking photos of my food in a restaurant. I only use my iPhone, no large camera, absolutely no flash, that is such a rookie move. I try to be as discrete as possible and take them very quickly. Unfortunately, many restaurants keep the light low for ambiance, which makes for difficult picture taking! Oh well, I honestly don’t need a photo of everything I eat! Really, I don’t.
Campton Place is an elegant and beautiful boutique hotel, and so welcoming! Attending a wine dinner was another new and special adventure and we were thrilled to participate. The minute we strolled through the magnificent double doors, we were kindly greeted and sent on our way to the tasting room. We arrived promptly at 7:00pm and the party had already started! Note to self: Come early!
The guest of honor, winemaker Rob Davis of Jordan Vineyard and Winery, was already entertaining the room with his compelling stories and enthusiasm. At our beautifully presented table, we were each seated with five glasses, crackers and water to “cleanse the palate”.
Rob Davis began the evening by sharing his personal journey as a winemaker. He has been enjoying this lifestyle (it doesn’t feel like a job to him) and holds the rare distinction of serving as winemaker at a singular winery for more than 35 years. That is remarkable! He shared tales of being a young man traveling with André Tchelistcheff, who was considered America’s most influential post Prohibition winemaker. The two winemakers made many trips to France to visit caves, chateaux and domaines and that experience influenced all aspects of winemaking at Jordan.
We were captivated. He is a great storyteller.
Neither Craig nor I are wine experts in the slightest, however, we are most certainly enthusiastic participants and eager learners! We tasted the five different wines and listened and learned.
We were then escorted upstairs to the exquisite Campton Place Dining Room and as we were shown to our seats, were delightfully surprised to be seated with the winemaker himself! How fortuitous! We were also seated with a friendly group of diners and oenophiles, all with a variety of talents and intriguing personal stories. Meeting and talking with our engaging dining companions was a highlight for us.
Chef Srijith dazzled us with the most amazing meal and was more than accommodating by preparing a special dish for me in place of the Beef Tenderloin (I don’t eat beef). Chef Srijith grew up in Southern India where fragrant and exotic spices were commonly used by his family. This rich family history, along with his vast education and experience was evident in every delicious bite. The food was out of this world!
The dinner was superb and with each course a new wine was served. Evidently we were offered ultra special vintages and for that we were grateful! Of all of the incredible wines we were served, the 2009 Chardonnay Jordan Vineyard Russian River Valley was my favorite and Craig’s favorite was the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Jordan Vineyard Alexander Valley, en Magnum.
And we received gifts to take with us!
I am not a restaurant reviewer or a wine connoisseur, but I do appreciate delicious and exciting food and possess a small amount of wine knowledge just to be a bit dangerous. We were not paid to attend, we were just two curious empty nesters looking for their next delightful adventure…and we found it in the Campton Place Dining Room with a glass of Jordan Vineyard Cabernet.
If you like wine and food and want to learn more, I highly recommend attending a wine dinner and especially one at Campton Place if you are in San Francisco.
Cheers,
Suzanne
Ecuador and Volunteer Tourism
Leaving Ecuador on the red-eye through Miami last Thursday to my home in Dallas, I have to admit I was quite tired. My trip to Puerto Lopez, Ecuador in order to dive Isla de la Plata (the Poor Man’s Galapagos) for the Marine Megafauna Foundation, to photograph Giant Manta Rays, was both challenging and inspiring at the same time. There were inevitable low points…after all, we were in the developing world, and one always has to brace to see harsh reality.
I stepped into volunteer tourism 2 years ago. I did a month of volunteering (diving) in Tofo, Mozambique for All Out Africa. Tofo is also the headquarters of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, directed by lead scientists Dr Andrea Marshall and Dr Simon Pierce. The Marine Megafauna Foundation has several expeditions each year, calling upon supporters and volunteers to perform “citizen science”. I planned the trip to Ecuador about a year ago, anticipating the excitement of diving with the largest aggregation of Manta Rays on the planet! I was not disappointed! I cannot even describe the numbers of Mantas at Isla de la Plata….swarms and swarms of them! It was Manta heaven! The bonuses included Humpback Whales and Mola Molas….along with a huge population of sea turtles.
Volunteering is not all fun and games. The volunteers are asked to take ID photographs of the Mantas, as they are identified by the markings on their bellies. The other volunteers had been coming for 5 years to do this, but this was my first year. It took some adjustment to the diving itself…cold water, lots of current, often with surge…conditions which are not easy. For my comfort, it takes a couple of days to get used to new conditions. Then, it took a while longer for my camera and I to adjust! The boat ride from Puerto Lopez to Isla de la Plata is at least an hour, often over choppy water. A bit of challenge for my spine, which is held together by 8 Pedicle Screws and 4 rods. As I said, this was a challenging trip, not a restful vacation.
Home base was Puerto Lopez, a small fishing village in Ecuador. Puerto Lopez is very backward, as I discovered. The hotel was nice and clean (Hotel Pacifico), but the sidewalks were crumbling, the roads bumpy and potholed, and least attractive, the town’s sewer system seemed to be a river that emptied out into the ocean on either side of the town. I skipped hanging out on the beach due to this “waste” procedure. The fishing market was also located on the beach, lots of dead fish and sharks laying around, not very attractive, or fragrant.
Oddly enough, there is an incredible Italian restaurant in this town. I cannot remember the name of it now….Bella..something. Excellent, amazing food. The Whale Cafe was also a favorite. The food in town is, for the most part, starch and fat. And don’t ask too many questions about the food’s origin. I avoided beef while there, mostly eating fish. I did not become ill, so it seemed to be a good strategy. I cannot express how tired of rice I am….and plantains. Not sweet plantains with sugar and cinnamon, these are served as we serve potatoes. Often, they felt like rubber. No thanks.
The dogs of Puerto Lopez are enough to break anyone’s heart. I heard that the people love puppies, but when the puppies grow up, they get thrown out on the street. There are so many dogs…some healthy, some not. I had a pack of 3 I fed on a regular basis, and I would have loved to bring them home. It was hard to see, day in and day out, all of these animals with no one to care for them. While in Puerto Lopez, we saw a Humpback Whale adult mired in fishing net, a turtle in a net (we were able to free it), a dead turtle which had fishing line around its neck, a dead hammerhead in a net, and a Manta Ray with a steel hook about 2 cm from its brain (also saved). The developing world is not especially caring about animals…the poverty is so deep that its citizens are mainly concerned with feeding themselves. The Machalilla National Park of Ecuador is not supposed to be fished for 2 miles out from the island, but the fishing boats were a menace on a daily basis. I worried about getting hooked, the boats were zipping over our heads constantly, making for potentially dangerous conditions. Hopefully Ecuador will start enforcing the park’s protection….Whales, Mantas, Turtles are worth large dollars in tourism. But not if fishing boats are putting divers at risk.
Volunteer Tourism is not about “vacation”, it is more about serving a cause, regardless of what that cause is. It is a working trip…the diving off Isla de la Plata is hardly relaxing! The diving in Tofo, Mozambique is not relaxing either. One must be very careful…if there is an accident, help is a very long distance away. So why do it? I do it for two reasons, one, because I care about these animals and want to participate in their conservation, and because I enjoy the challenge (even when I doubt myself). We are destroying our earth, plain and simple. I have chosen the ocean and its creatures as my number one philanthropic focus. I support other causes as well, but my main focus is on the ocean.
So! Where to next? Well, I have decided to join Marine Megafauna’s January 2016 volunteer expedition to Komodo, Indonesia! For now? I plan to continue adventuring far and wide, and diving as much as possible! My motto is “do it while you can, don’t wait!” What are you waiting for?