Travel There – Page 34

Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Restaurants & Bars, TRAVEL

The Question of Food When Cruising

May 11, 2016May 10, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: WHAT I LIKE AND DISLIKE ABOUT DINING AT SEA

Food is one of the biggies on a cruise and Viking has it down pat. You’d have a hard time feeling hungry at anytime on board, yet it’s not the obscene food orgy of ocean cruising.

Cruise Food I Have Loved

My favorite food I’ve ever had on any boat was a dessert on the Carnival Ecstasy. I ordered it the first night, because it was chocolate. I ordered it the rest of the nights, because it was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth. The name of the chocolate creation, which I cannot for the life of me remember, did it no justice. I have no picture of it, but will never forget it. The rest of the food on the boat was good, sometimes really good, but it wasn’t the best overall I ever had.

The best dining experience on any ship was on Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas. I was traveling with all the people I loved best, so that may have enhanced the enjoyment. This was old fashioned cruising where you really dressed up for dinner and had assigned seating at a specific time in a single venue. Every meal, every night was a unique and wonderful experience. We also had the best waiter I have ever had aboard any ship any where.

What You Won’t Suffer on a Viking River Cruise

I am not a fan of multiple restaurants on a cruise. I don’t want to make reservations. I don’t even want to have to make a decision about which restaurant I’m going to choose. I don’t want to pay a premium. I like it the way Viking had it. They just fed me.

On our “Free-styling” Norwegian cruise a few years ago, my husband felt like the only style unavailable was the one we wanted – particularly when it came to breakfast. Breakfast is his favorite meal. He loves to linger over the menu and the meal. The only sit-down breakfast service on that cruise was quite early in the morning and on a cruise, Bill doesn’t do anything early in the morning. On top of that he had to navigate the huge buffet, when all he really wanted was for someone to bring him exactly what he wanted for breakfast and he wanted it piping hot. Was it a lovely breakfast buffet? Yes, but he didn’t want a breakfast buffet. Viking solves all of this.

Another of our pet peeves with Ocean Cruising has been the battle of the bottle. We like wine with dinner. While we love a particularly good wine, we’re perfectly happy with a decent wine. On-board various ships we’ve ordered by the glass, ordered by the bottle and pre-ordered a selection of wines. Either way we’ve done it we’ve felt the ouch of the price, because we know we can get a perfectly good wine at Trader Joe’s for around $10 a bottle and it bothers us to pay more for less. To make things more interesting Bill loves red and thanks to my sinuses I prefer to drink white. Viking made wine with dinner a breeze for the same price of a breeze.

And speaking of bottles, even getting a glass of water on your average cruise ship is a hassle. They’ll sell you a soft drink package, they’ll tempt you with fancy cocktails and they’ll charge you for a bottle of anything – even water, but try whetting your thirst for free. It’s not easy. Viking completely abandoned that business model. There were bottles of free water all over the place and a dispenser for bubbly and still water at the coffee station.

On most cruises I sort of feel like the emPHAsis is on the wrong sylLAble, as my mother used to say. There’s entirely too much attention paid to shoving food down your mouth. It takes a page or two of the daily newspaper to explain all the food choices and then if all else fails, they will deliver food to your stateroom 24 hours a day. I had all I could eat and more on Viking, but I didn’t have to make a career of managing my food choices.

So now that we have discussed cruise food in general, next week I’ll introduce you to the way Viking does food.

Accommodations, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

Who Do You Cruise with on Viking River Cruises?

May 4, 2016April 28, 2016 Jane Sadek

20160421_210026 — Our best cruise buddies with one of our favorite waiters.

TRAVEL THERE: MY SAILING COMPANIONS ON VIKING TOR

Our first cruise was our honeymoon. We sailed around the Hawaiian Islands on a line that no longer exists. It gave us taste for cruising that hasn’t gone away, but our first moments in Hawaii made us very nervous. When we climbed aboard the bus to the boat terminal, it looked as if we’d caught the wrong bus. Surely all those people with canes, wheelchairs and oxygen tanks were on their way to the hospital, not to a cruise! Come to find out, we were on the right bus and once we were aboard the ship, the wheel chairs and oxygen tanks melted into the general population of passengers.

On our last ocean cruise, the geriatric set was also in proportion, but we wondered where the beautiful people had disappeared to. Apparently Norwegian had corralled them behind the walls of The Haven. We’re not the suite sort, but we also felt a little out of place among the 30 million screaming kids and a large contingency from OUfFWG (Overeaters United for Further Weight Gain). We kept reminding ourselves that diversity is good, but we also wanted a few more people from our team to show up. I’m not exactly sure what to call our team. Maybe MBSK (Mature But Still Kicking)? Or Thirty Something Plus?

Viking Had Our Team

From the moment we boarded the Viking Tor Longship, we felt at home. Diversity was immediately evident. Though the primary language was English, you could also hear a polyglot of other languages. Skin colors ranged from Nordic Pale to nearly black. However, throughout the week I noticed the darkest passengers seemed more Indian than African. There were zero kids. The youngest person I met was either late twenty-something or early thirty-something. I didn’t ask. I just guessed. The oldest was in her nineties.

I’d say about 70% of the passengers were hetrosexual couples. Most of the other people I met were various groups of women traveling together – either friends on a girls trip or multi-generational family groups. I didn’t meet everyone and certainly didn’t quiz anyone about their sexual preferences.

There were blind people, wheelchair-bound people, people with walkers or canes and one lady whose hair was growing back in after some sort of brain surgery. The woman growing her hair didn’t like to walk and was just taking the cruise for the benefit of her husband. The cruise staff made every effort to accommodate handicaps of any sort. In each city there was an “easy” walking tour to facilitate anyone who wanted to enjoy the tour but was worried about hampering the progress of other passengers.

Our Best Cruise Buddies

Usually in the mornings Bill and I made a point of finding someone new to sit with for breakfast. Most of those encounters were very pleasant and we enjoyed the acquaintance of several groups through our endeavors. One morning we bombed out completely. I think we inadvertently interrupted a couple having a disagreement, but didn’t realize it. When we asked to join them they welcomed us to the table. There just wasn’t very much said after that.

We’d also crowd hop in the evenings when the passengers met in the lounge. On the first evening, we ran into someone we’d seen in the airport in Frankfurt. They ended up being our best cruise buddies. I was excited when we met them in the airport, because they were from one of our favorite places, Oregon. They were there with some of their best friends and the six of us really bonded.

The couples, Deb & Mike and Gwen & John were traveling together to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversaries, which were only a few days apart. The girls had know each other for an even longer period of time. We were roughly in the same age group and shared many of the same interests. As the days passed, the friendship grew and I hope we’ll be friends for ever.

I’ve used up all my words today. Come back next week and we’ll talk about the food and beverage service.

Accommodations, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

Waltzing Along the Danube with Viking River Cruises

April 27, 2016May 5, 2016 Jane Sadek

20160419_115712

TRAVEL THERE: OUR VIKING RIVER CRUISE, WONDERFUL IN EVERY WAY

On Monday I had a little fun with you about the joys of coming home from a vacation, but the truth of the matter is that I thoroughly enjoyed our Viking River Cruise. I can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn’t want to call your travel agent this minute and book one of their marvelous experiences. My frustration with the size of the room could have been resolved by one of the Viking suites if money were no object, but money is always an object.

River Cruising vs. Ocean Cruising

This was our sixth cruise and our second on a river. We definitely prefer river cruising, but you might not. If you like the casino, shopping arcade, pools, kid’s activities, theaters, gyms and spas, then you should stick to ocean liners. If you think you’d like remarkable access to amazing destinations, individualized service and a relaxing atmosphere, then I might have just the thing for you.

We loved being two of the only 190 guests on the Viking Tor. Everything (and I do mean everything we wanted) was included in the price of the cruise. The boat was full of cozy little places to relax and enjoy our time on board, instead of the craft being stuffed cheek to jowl with attractions designed to separate us from a little more of our money. We returned to the same dining room for every meal where our waiters quickly learned our preferences and we made friends around the table, instead of being shuffled from dining room to dining room with a new waiter every night, never seeing the same passengers twice. We sat on the Sun Deck with plenty of elbow room and a pair of riverbanks to watch, instead of suffering the frenetic pool scene of an ocean liner. Best of all, there were no roving photographers trying to get us to pose for yet another picture every time we turned around.

More River vs. Ocean Trade-offs

I’ll admit we’ve enjoyed some great entertainment on ocean liners. There are no Broadway spectacles aboard a Viking Longship, but they still managed to provide satisfying entertainment. I wouldn’t have minded a gym, for morning workouts, but with walking tours at almost every stop, I usually managed to meet my step goal for the day.

And speaking of walking tours, I adored the shore excursions on Viking. I’m not a big fan of getting drunk on a pirate boat or a private island. I don’t snorkel, scuba dive or participate in other water sports. While I enjoy shopping excursions, my husband is not really happy with the dings on his credit card bill. There’s usually one day on an ocean cruise where I really enjoy an excursion, like the Road to Hana in Maui or Dzibilchaltun on the Yucatan peninsula, but on the other days, I would gladly trade my experience in on a good museum.

Aboard the Viking Tor, we woke almost every morning to discover we were docked at yet another wonderful destination. After breakfast we joined a knowledgeable guide, usually for a walking tour, but in the bigger cities, a bus tour. Even with the bus tours we’d get out of the bus and wander around various sites. The guides were knowledgeable, personable and delightful. The focus of the tours was to teach us something about the destinations and familiarize us with the lives of its inhabitants, now and in the past. Drinks were not served and we weren’t abandoned at shopping opportunities with no hope of exit without a purchase. Instead we drank in the beauty and chewed on the history. If we were interested in shopping, there was plenty of free time.

And There’s More!

I’ve only begun to rave. Come back next week and I’ll cover some more of the generalities of the cruise, like who our fellow passengers were and what the food was like, so you can get an even better idea of whether you are a river cruiser or an ocean cruiser.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Keeper of the Plains in Wichita KS

January 6, 2016January 8, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: THE RING OF FIRE CEREMONY FOR THE KEEPER OF THE PLAINS

I’d just like to complain a little bit. This particular attraction was the sum total of things available to me in Wichita KS. It’s not that they don’t have museums and gardens. It’s that the museums and gardens were all against me. They closed about the time I got there Friday. They opened back up when I went into the Ministry Event, but closed when I got out. Then they waited until I left town to open up again. Thank you Keeper of the Plains for lighting your firepots for me.

Dramatic Positioning

Our waitress at Taste and See gave us great directions to the site of the Keeper of the Plains. We found parking and saw the pedestrian bridge before we could see the Keeper. Once the Keeper came into sight, it was clear he’s in a very dramatic position. He stands at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers and looks down towards the modern city.

The Keeper himself is a work of modern art, but he makes me think of the popular Kokopelli figure. While Kokopelli is hunched forward, the Keeper stands erect with his face lifted to the Great Spirit.

As we approached the pedestrian bridge, with its bow and arrow motif, the arch of the bridge framed the Keeper. Each perspective seems to add to the mystery of the great figure atop a stone outcropping.

Once across the bridge, we entered an open-air interpretive center explaining the spiritual significance of the Keeper to Native Americans. From this position you are below the stone out-cropping, looking up at the Keeper. Soft tribal music fills the air in the interpretive area making it feel like a sacred place.

There are paths below the outcropping that allow you to walk all the way around the statue. The area is dark, so it was quite popular with couples. Deb and I were a little out of place.

Having seen the statue up close, we decided to wander back across the bridge and enjoy the Ring of Fire ceremony from afar.

I Anticipated the Wrong Ring

Across the river along the esplanade was several tiers of seating and a different type of tribal music was playing, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Deb and I climbed to one of the upper tiers and watched a couple of little boys dance to the trippy little tune. As we enjoyed the boys I tried out the panoramic feature on my phone I had discovered at Myriad Botanical Gardens. The light wasn’t right, but I will share the results anyway.

Finally the moment came and flames erupted in the firepots at the Keeper’s feet, but that wasn’t what I was expecting. I wanted fire to blaze between the hands of the Keeper. Careful reading of the information I found revealed they’d had all the prepositions right, I’d just decided I didn’t want it that way, so I ignored them. My purposeful ignorance did not change a thing. The magic light did not appear for me.

I grabbed a final shot for you and we went back to the car. This was Friday night. We spent Saturday in the arena and enjoyed the seafood buffet at the hotel that evening. The next morning we headed home. We experienced the worst service I’d ever had at a McDonald’s somewhere along the way in Oklahoma. Then we were home.

I took this trip in mid-September. When I got home there were still several articles about the San Antonio Stroll on my blog waiting for posting. I went ahead and wrote all the items on the Wichita trip as soon as I got home, knowing the series would not start until late October, but not wanting to miss the details. You are reading this in the new year, but I am writing them on a beautiful September afternoon in Dallas. I wonder what will be going on in the New Year of 2016.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Legends at DoubleTree Wichita KS

December 30, 2015October 15, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: LEGENDS RESTAURANT AT DOUBLETREE BY HILTON IN WICHITA KS SERVES TASTY AND CONVENIENT FOOD

When you stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Wichita KS, you’re out at the airport and away from everything else. The hotel is lovely and once inside you can forget you’re even at an airport. At mealtime Legends Restaurant & Bar, in the lobby of the Hilton is a safe bet for a good meal.

Breakfast As You Like It

The Executive Level of this hotel is a sweet deal during the week, because you have a breakfast buffet and an evening social hour right there on your floor. If you are up on the Executive Level on the weekend, breakfast is still a sweet deal, because it’s comped. Everybody else has to either pay $12.95 for the breakfast buffet or order a la carte. Since it was comped, we opted for the breakfast buffet.

The breakfast buffet has pretty much anything your heart desires. There’s all the cereals, fruit, yogurt, pastries and such. There’s a do-it-yourself waffle maker with all the trimmings. They also have omelettes, Eggs Benedict, breakfast potatoes, sausage and bacon. You know, the usual. Well, maybe not so usual. Eggs Benedict are kind of a treat.

On Saturday, I tried the Eggs Benedict. Everything about them was fine, except for the fact that I’m funny about eggs. I don’t like scrambled eggs or omelettes, and any other egg should be well done. Well, a properly cooked Eggs Benedict should be over easy, but I’m not fond of the runny yellow goo. The sauce was good, the muffin fine and I ate my egg white. I left a lot of yellow goo behind.

The next day was Sunday and after 10 there is a Champagne Brunch with an elevated price tag. They had an extra buffet table all ready to fill up with additional goodies, but we got there before 10 so we could get on the road and to avoid having to pay extra. On that morning I went for some cereal and a biscuit. OMG, that biscuit was good. There can be some pretty sorry excuses for biscuits on a buffet, but these were amazing. I only ate one and since I’m not fond of gravy had no problem avoiding it, but I really, really wanted another biscuit.

Saturday Night Seafood Buffet

After breakfast on Saturday morning, I noticed on the way out of the restaurant that they had a $34.95 Seafood Buffet in the evening. That sounded pretty darned good to me. We’d be at the Living Proof Event all day long and I just bet we’d love to come back to the hotel and veg. I was right. What I didn’t know was everyone else in the general vicinity was also going to realize this was a good deal. I’m guessing that most of the people we saw hanging off the rafters in the restaurant lived in Wichita and came out on a regular basis. They all seemed to have the drill down pat.

There really was all the seafood you could eat. From broiled cod to shrimp cocktail and mussels to crablegs, you could eat yourself into a stupor. I love crab legs and they were sweet enough that they didn’t need butter as far as I’m concerned.

Oh and dessert. There was a chocolate pie good enough for someone’s mother to claim. It had a denser meringue than my own mother made, but the chocolate and the crust tasted just like home. There were other delicious looking choices, like a chocolate cake, but that wasn’t as amazing as the pie. After dinner we were glad to waddle back to our room and call it a night.

The New Year is upon us. I hope itis going to be a good year for you and yours. Party hardy, but get home safe. And come back in 2016 for a little Wichita KS sightseeing.

Accommodations, DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The DoubleTree, Wichita KS

December 23, 2015December 23, 2015 Jane Sadek

It's all about the cookir! — It’s all about the cookie!

TRAVEL THERE: THE DOUBLETREE BY HILTON AT THE WICHITA AIRPORT

If you ever go to a Beth Moore Living Proof Event, book your hotel early. I assumed we’d stay in downtown Wichita, close to the Intrust Bank Arena where the event was being held. I even sat down to make my reservations a month in advance. We had a lovely stay at the Wichita DoubleTree, but it wasn’t our first choice.

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk

OK, so fine. Our first choices for accommodations in Wichita weren’t available – at least not at the convention pricing – so we couldn’t stay there. Next?

Hilton’s Doubletree Hotels are lovely places. After I booked our bargain room they emailed me and told me I qualified for a standby upgrade. It would cost $15 a day, but I would be on the Executive Level. The Executive Level offers amenities like free breakfast and daily hors d’oeuvres in the evening, but those breakfasts and hors d’oeuvres weren’t available on the weekend. I wasn’t sure whether it was worth it or not, but I took it anyway. I’d leave it to chance. If there were no upgrades available when we got there, I would be perfectly happy with a regular room. If the upgrade was available, then we’d see if it was worth it for the next opportunity. When we got there we got the upgrade and it was worth it.

Check-in and Unloading

Checking-in was not as easy breezy as it had been in OKC. Apparently whoever had our room during the week had gotten a late check-out and the registration desk wasn’t sure whether or not the maids had gotten to it. Still, the Doubletree always greets you with a seriously amazing cookie, so you can’t get too upset by anything as you enter chocolate chip nirvana.

Should you ever stay here, please note that their complimentary shuttle will deliver you to locations within the airport, but otherwise, you better have a car. The registration desk couldn’t answer that question, so we found the bellman. He said he could take us to the airports taxi stand where we could get a $30 round-tip taxi. No thank you. I was trying to avoid parking fees, so a $15 taxi wasn’t the answer, since it also came with other hassles.

So we headed to the room. I’m sure the nice bellman would have been happy to see to our luggage, but we’re independent sorts. We pulled around to entrance closest to our room and gathered up our bags. Deb led the way into the building, pulling her bag behind her. There was a pair of exterior doors and a pair of interior doors. I negotiated the exterior doors with no trouble, but as I held them open to wheel in my bag, I backed into the vestibule and fell into Deborah’s luggage. We found this very amusing, but a pair of maids who stood nearby looked as if they suspected we were drunk. Then Deb asked them where the elevator was. They pointed to our right. We were standing right next to it, which we also thought was hilarious. The pair of maids were then firmly convinced we were bonkers.

Up on the Executive Level

The Executive Level requires your room key to let you in. No riff raff allowed. There’s all kinds of amenities up there for the business traveler. A computer with wifi, a printer, comfy chairs and a TV. There’s a coffee bar and buffet, as well as tables for eating. It’s all tastefully decorated in rich woods and dark upholstery.

When we got there a couple was hogging the area in front of the TV with an attitude that suggested they belonged there and we didn’t, so we didn’t try to make friends. I’m thinking they were booted out of their room, had a late flight and needed a place to hang out.

You’ll need your room card again to get into your room. And it’s just a room. More luxurious and spacious than the space in OKC, but no door separating the sleeping area, so we gave a little and got a little. The room was beautifully appointed and quite chic, but it was still just a hotel room. Nothing about it to get very excited about. We did have comfy robes and house shoes to use and there was a safe, but the bottles of water were strictly for Hilton Honors members.

What made the upgrade to the Executive Level worthwhile, in spite of the absence of breakfast and social hour, was that in lieu of these amenities the hotel comped our breakfasts down in the hotel’s restaurant. The breakfast buffet was $12.95 each, so were were about one breakfast ahead each day. We also had dinner there on Saturday night, not comped, but I’ll tell you about Legends Restaurant next week.

DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Jason Febres’ Taste and See In Wichita KS

December 16, 2015November 21, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A VISIT TO OLD TOWN IN WICHITA KS WITH DINNER AT JASON FEBRES’ TASTE AND SEE:GLOBAL CUISINE

The drive from OKC to Wichita has to be one of the most boring in the world. About the only excitement we had was gathering up change for the toll road. Things got more fun in Wichita. We found Old Town and then ate at a restaurant owned by a famous TV Chef, Taste and See.

Rolling Into Town

The first thing we had to do when we got to Wichita was find our hotel. Then we had to figure out how to get to the Intrust Bank Arena at 9 AM the next morning. I was hoping the hotel would be taking a vanload or two, but no such luck. We chatted with the bellman, but didn’t like any of his suggestions. It looked as if I’d have to drive down there and park. So as soon as we dumped our stuff in the room, we went back out.

Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita is not the American Airlines Center in Dallas, but I was paranoid about it all. (Am I the only one who hates having arenas named after businesses?) I didn’t want to be stuck outside trying to park while Beth Moore was inside the arena blessing the socks off everyone. I programmed Nancy the Navigator to find the arena and headed downtown. Deb tried to help Nancy and kept urging me to go ahead and turn left, but for once I ignored her. Come to find out, Deb had been trying to get me to the Convention Center rather than the Intrust Bank Arena. Nancy had it right.

I drove around a little more to convince myself that parking was not going to be an issue. Then we decided to explore Wichita a little bit. This time we turned Nancy off and I followed Deb’s instructions. She found a gas station and then got me to a parking lot in Old Town.

Discovering Old Town

Like Bricktown in OKC, Old Town in Wichita is an entertainment area. While much of Bricktown is new, most of Old Town is old. The first place we happened upon was Mort’s, which is a happening sort of a place, but it’s also a cigar-smoking place and my eyes wanted no part of that.

So we followed the map around to an area with several restaurants and landed at Taste and See: Global Fusion. Confession: We had no idea we had arrived at THE hot foodie spot of Wichita. For that matter, we had no idea Wichita was supposed to be a foodie destination. We just got lucky.

Taste and See

The hot foodie spot was not much into decor. Bare tables, concrete floors – a sort of diner vibe. At the back of the restaurant was an open kitchen with a lot of chefs. I’ve heard of too many chefs in the kitchen, but watching these guys seemed like a demonstration of just that phenomena.

Deb was in the mood for a steak and I just wanted to nibble a little bit, but first we wanted drinks. I chose Sangria. Deb ordered a glass of wine, but the waitress didn’t like her choice. After a bit of tasting Deb decided the waitress was right about the pinot being sub-par. I think she ended up with a merlot. My sangria was great.

Then there was the ordering. The tasting menu sounded amazing, but it was $35 and to get the paired drinks was another $45. I’m into a little splurging, but that was beyond my keen. So instead I picked out a couple of tapas. Deb chose a steak and she ordered it rare. The waitress took her order, but then a chef came and discussed the wisdom of rare and suggested medium rare.

The Famous Chef we didn't know — The Famous Chef we didn’t know

The conference was a success and Deb loved her steak. I loved one of my tapas, the Cornucopia, but the Pizzettes had too much dough – as in the toppings were just about right, but sat in the middle of too much bread.

All the while we kept our eyes opened for Jason Febres, the famous chef we knew nothing about. Lo and behold, he showed up, but after chatting up a few other tables he landed at a large group about two tables away. He stayed there for the rest of the time we were there, so I never got the chance to help him out with his Pizzettes.

Of course we had dessert. It was some Oreo Cookie thing, which was delicious, but didn’t begin to compete with the not-so-trendy Lava Cake we’d tackled in OKC.

Time to Call It a Night

I’m glad we happened upon the ultimate Wichita foodie experience, but I have to confess that it was not my favorite meal of the trip. In fact, if we were handing out foodie awards, we’d have to give it to OKC, not Wichita.

We took another route back to our car. For a Friday night the area was actually pretty tame. Mort’s was rocking, but we could smell the cigar smoke long before we heard the live band on the patio, so I’m not sorry we missed that hot spot. Nancy the Navigator took us back to the Doubletree and we tucked ourselves in for the night.

Here’s a few more pictures from our foodie experience. Come back next week and I’ll tell you about the hotel.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Museum Cafe at OKCMOA

December 9, 2015October 23, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: DELICIOUS LUNCH AT OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART’S CAFE

One thing I’ve learned over my years of travel is to eat at art museums whenever possible, or at least check them out. If you find a service window, a chalkboard and bare table tops, move on. However, if you see crisp white tablecloths and a printed menu, you’re in luck. The Museum Cafe at OKCMOA is one of the good ones.

We’d Seen It All

Deb and I had been sightseeing all morning. We’d had a good breakfast at the hotel, but that was several hours and many, many steps ago. As we left the OKCMOA’s gift shop I suggested the restaurant in the museum for lunch and Deb didn’t argue, but she sort of used her go-along-to-get-along voice, instead of her I-can’t-wait-to-do-that voice. We wandered toward the end of the building to look things over. It was possible this was just an add-on opportunity with bags of chips and over-priced sandwiches.

When you enter the cafe from inside the museum, a sign tells you to find the hostess at the other entrance. As we strolled through we saw upscale patrons enjoying delicious-looking platters at tables covered in white tablecloths. The more she saw the more amiable Deb was to having lunch there. We were seated at a table near a large plate-glass window, looking out over a nice patio. Then we ordered wine. It was going to be a good lunch.

Tough Decisions

Whoever put the menu together knew all about us. We could have closed our eyes and pointed indiscriminately. We would have still come out with something we loved. Instead, with eyes wide open, we opted for the soup and salad platter – a generous cup of lobster bisque with a house salad on the side.

As we waited for our food we chatted about the many beautiful things we’d seen that morning and anticipated the event we’d be attending the next day. Then the food arrived. It was as delicious as its descriptions were. We loved every bite.

The lobster bisque was hot and creamy with huge chunks of lobster floating around with the tasty puff pastry disk. And let me tell you this was no iceberg lettuce and carrots salad. Oh no, this was spring mix, apricots, blueberries, grape tomatoes, candied walnuts and boursin with creamy champagne vinaigrette. The meal was perfect.

(Hello, Dallas Museum of Art, are you out there? I miss Seventeen Seventeen! I am not enchanted with standing in line and sitting at those bare-topped tables in your less-than-comfortable metal chairs. It may all look very cool and modern, but I haven’t eaten there in years. I’m a loyal patron and partner, but your cafe is not the reason. Give me back my restaurant!)

Let’s Hit the Road Again

We’d parked just outside the museum, so when our lunch was done we were just steps away from the car. We stopped on the patio just long enough to get this great shot of Deb. I was having a bad hair day. It was my own fault and I don’t want to talk about it. Come back next week and I will talk about Wichita.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Chihuly at the OKCMOA

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: CHIHULY IS ALIVE AND WELL AT THE OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART

We were in Oklahoma City to see Chihulys. You might say Deb and I are Chihuly Groupies. It doesn’t bother us to go a little out of our way to add a piece to our collection of Chihuly sightings. We know we are not alone.

My Love Affair with Chihuly

Though Chihuly was not unknown to me, I really didn’t pay that much attention to him until 1995 when one of his creations was added to the Dallas Museum of Art. All of Dallas became Chihuly crazy and we just haven’t gotten over it. That love affair was renewed when the Dallas Arboretum featured him throughout the garden in 2012. In my opinion, the garden has never looked as good. Were I one of those mega-rich people, I would have just bought the whole collection so it could stay here.

In my wanderings I’ve seen Chihulys in the Bellagio in Las Vegas and in the Casino at Atlantis in the Bahamas. He’s graced gardens from San Antonio TX to St. Louis MO. I saw him in a museum in Portland OR and in Flint MI. Once in California Bill and I were taking a little vacation in Palm Desert where he played one of their golf courses. While he signed up for his game, I stood awestruck looking at the chandelier. I asked just to be sure I wasn’t mistaken, but yes, a Chihuly graced the clubhouse.

OKCMOA’s Chihuly Collection

Bill and I made a pilgrimage to OKCMOA back in 2011-12, while the museum was celebrating the re-installation of their Chihulys. It’s one of our favorite shared memories. I’d raved so long and so hard about it that Deb was dying to go. The Trip With No Name gave us a reason to satisfy her longing.

Chihuly takes up most of the third floor of the museum. In the exhibit area, the ambient lighting has been turned way down and bright spotlights on the art makes it seem to reach out and grab you.

If you haven’t seen Chihuly in OK City, then you haven’t seen Chihuly at all – and since I’ve seen a lot of Chihulys, I know whereof I speak. At the gift shop I bought a package of cards decorated with photos of his pieces at the museum. I told myself I was getting them to share with you and then I could use them for correspondence. Well, here I am, sharing them with you, but I somehow doubt they will ever make it to the mailbox. I’m thinking they will make spectacular pages in my scrapbooks.

So enjoy these wonderful postcards and then come back next week. We’re going to have a fabulous meal at the Museum Cafe before we head off to Wichita.

ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: OKCMOA, FABERGE AND CHIHULY, WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?

OK, I’ll admit a lot of things didn’t go very well as I planned this trip, but one thing went very right. I discovered a collection of Faberge artifacts were on special exhibition at the OKMOA. We would have gone to the museum anyway, because they have wonderful, marvelous Chihulys, but to also see Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs? We were in heaven. I don’t want to go all nanny-nanny-poo-poo on you, but the exhibit ended back in September.

Faberge Eggs I Have Seen and Loved

The story of the Romanffs and their Easter Eggs are not exactly a hidden gem of the art world. I can’t remember not knowing about them. However, my first opportunity to get up close and personal with them was at the Kimbell Art Museum in 1982. Sometime around that time I also saw some Faberge items in New Orleans, but back in those days I had no idea I’d be a blogger one day and I can’t find a shred of evidence to prove I was there or exactly where I found them. I’m guessing they were a few items on loan to the New Orleans Museum of Art from the famous Hodge collection which were later featured in a full blown exhibition of the collection back in 2008.

I do however cherish the book I got at the Kimbell exhibit. I have read so many books and watched so many movies about the Romanoffs that I can’t tell you what I’ve actually seen in person and what was delivered to me via various media.

The OKCMOA Exhihibition

The signature item of the OKCMOA Exhibition, featured on banners throughout the city, was a lapis lazuli egg decorated with gold filigree. I made the mistake of assuming the entire exhibition would be eggs, which was not true, but we were in no way disappointed, because the exhibit was full of spectacular, awe-inducing items collected by an avid American fan of Faberge.

The first egg displayed in the galleries was this darling piece with the pelican on top. It was a gift from Nicholas II to his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Pelicans are not exactly my favorite birds, but according to the information provided by the museum, they symbolize motherly love and care, so that makes it more charming. It was displayed as it is shown on this postcard, but a video showed how it opened up into a series of frames holding pictures of members of the royal family. Quite a remarkable feat.

Along a wall, magnificent religious icons dripping in jewels and precious metals filled a case. The lighting was low to preserve the artwork, but it also made it difficult to appreciate all the details. However, you didn’t need much light to tell you they were spectacular.

The next case had a grove of gold, tree-like arms holding miniature eggs exquisitely decorated by Faberge. The Pelican Egg, the icons and the miniature eggs filled the first room of the exhibition, but there were four other rooms full of treasures to enjoy. There was everything from furniture, to serving pieces, to animals, to lots and lots of frames, to cigarette cases, to…well pretty much whatever you can imagine. Photography was a new fad in those days, so a frame from your sovereign with a family photo was a real treat. Pre-rolled cigarettes were newly fashionable at the time too, so cigarette cases are well represented. I think the items which sparked the most interest for me were parasol handles. Fashion demanded the well-put-together woman complete her ensemble with a parasol and woe to the woman who didn’t have an assortment of parasols to chose from. Similarly, men carried canes with handles to rival the women.

The Technology

Audio tours were available on your smartphone and the museum provided earphones to cut down on the noise. The information available, some of which I have shared here, is quite interesting. However, the Kimbell has spoiled me. Their acousti-guides are a little more user-friendly, because you don’t have to go in order. You just input the number of the item you’ve happened upon and listen to what is said. You really had to follow the order of audio guide on your phone at the OKCMOA, because there was no way to select a specific item. You also used up a lot of phone juice. I had to charge up after I left.

I also felt like they were stingy with their information. There were so many wonderful items in the show and only a fraction were touched upon in the audio guide. I know they can’t tell us everything about every single item, but the guide only explained 14 of the 230 items. That’s not even a tithe of the objects.

Upstairs was a hands-on craft area for families to enjoy. Many people had designed plans for their own Faberge Eggs using colored pencils and glued on rhinestones. There was also a timeline with photos of all the Romanoff Easter Eggs. The rest of the floor held the bulk of what was being displayed from their permanent collection. We strolled through, but we were getting antsy to see the Chihuly’s

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I hope each and every one of you has a marvelous day. I hope you come back next week and check out the Chihulys.

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