Bites of Boston!

Mega Bus

Our journey on the East Coast of the United States continued as we traveled from New Haven to Boston.  We planned ahead for this part of the trip.  Josh purchased tickets for us on the MEGA BUS!  This is a great way to travel between these two college towns.  Because we planned ahead, our tickets cost $1.00 per person.  YES!  You read that correctly - only $1.00.  Just be aware that you MUST plan ahead to get this great price.  Last minute decisions will not get you $1.00 tickets.
http://us.megabus.com/?gclid=CNacgtvO3sACFUxqfgodYi8Aww

Free Hotel

We were fortunate to be able to stay with Josh in New Haven.  Monica lives in an adorable house in Cambridge, MA with other young professional women.  So, we needed to find ourselves a hotel.  Traveling as much as we do has afforded us great hotel points.  If you don't have an frequent flier miles, hotel rewards affiliations or credit cards which offer travel points, you need to get connected immediately.  For the trip to Africa, we signed up for a Chase Sapphire card.  We chose this card because there are no fees for international transactions and also offer reward points for travel in the future.  Look into the many types of credit cards to see which one will provide you with the best deals.

We had enough Best Western Points to be able to stay all three nights in Boston for free.  We decided not to stay in downtown Boston but rather to take the train to Quincey.  This afforded us a little nicer view as our hotel was situated on the Neponset River.  It was only 4 stops on the train to our Hotel from South Station .  The other advantage to staying in Quincy was that we were only 1 train stop from the JFK Library - a highlight of our trip and the subject of a future post.

The hotel offered free breakfast, a full service restaurant with pub, and a lovely swimming pool.  The weather was quite nice while we were in Boston albeit a bit hot.  So, cooling off in the swimming pool was delightful.  We also enjoyed evening dinners out on the deck with a view of the river.
http://www.bwadamsinn.com

$1.00 Oysters

Monica had been pinning places of interest on our shared pinterest page.  Pinterest offers the ability for more than one person to access a board.  Monica and I share several boards.  You can follow our Taste This Place With The Gaileys Board at http://www.pinterest.com/dougienjoey/taste-this-place/.

One of our favorite pins is "The Updated Guide To Every $1.00 Oyster In Town."  Josh spent time looking at all of the restaurants and chose Carrie Nation, Restaurant and Cocktail Club.  Now, if you remember your prohibition history, you will remember the name Carrie Nation.  She was a member of the Temperance Movement which opposed alcohol prior to prohibition. She was a tall woman at six feet  and was known to have attacked taverns with a hatchet.  This restaurant bears her name but would very likely have been an establishment which would have incurred her wrath and hatchet!  The decor was very much like a speakeasy.

The cocktail club is  known for its creative signature cocktails and $1.00 oysters!  At that price, it is very easy to enjoy two dozen or more oysters!  The oysters paired very well with the  "Bees Knees" cocktail which combined honey. lemon, and gin.
http://www.carrienationcocktailclub.com

Bike on Down

Like so many other cities now, Boston has a bike share program called The Hubway. http://www.thehubway.com We started using bike share in Washington D.C. with Capitol Bike Share.  This is such a fun and easy way to see a city.  A 24 hour pass is available with just the swipe of your credit card.  You can ride as many times as you'd like during that 24 hour period by swiping your card again and obtaining a new code.  The cost of your pass includes unlimited rides under 30 minutes.  We used the Hubway to enjoy downtown Boston and rode to Harpoon Brewery.

Brew It Up!

Being blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest, we are spoiled with the large number of terrific microbreweries.  The East Coast is catching on quickly, however.  Josh met us at Harpoon Brewery for a tour of the plant.  Harpoon does a great job of combining education and entertainment.  We loved the personalization of the tour which included self-depracating Bostonian humor.  Tours also include a stop in the tasting room with more than a half dozen beers to try. The brewery began in 1986 because they "love beer and wanted more quality choices."  Get there early as the tours sell out quickly.  But, if the tour sells out - sit down in the beer hall and order up one of their amazing pretzels.   These are hand made with spent hops and you will find it to be the best pretzel that you have ever eaten.  Be certain to pair it with a pint of beer.
http://www.harpoonbrewery.com

Dim Sum

We continued our excursion by bus, this time.  Boston's public transportation is varied and easy to access.  We went to China Town where we enjoyed a late of dim sum at Hei La Moon.  The food is incredibly fresh and brought directly to your table on the quintessential dim sum carts.  Our favorites included the shrimp shiu mai and the pork dumplings.
http://heilamoon.com

Photo from Hei La Moon Web-site

Cambridge Cuisine

Utilizing The Hubway, we rode bikes north from Boston to the Charles River and then followed the river west to the Anderson Memorial Bridge.  This bridge takes you straight up to Harvard Square.  Our next posting will take you around Harvard - Monica's University.

Our last evening in Cambridge was spent at Bronwyn Restaurant.  It is located in Union Square in Sommerville and is an easy walk from Cambridge.  Bronwyn is also very close to subway lines if you don't feel like walking.  This is the place to indulge in german style sausage, sauerkraut, schnitzel, traditional noodles and a great selection of Austrian, German, Czech, and American beers.  This is a bustling restaurant with personality which matches the food.  Wait staff is personable and friendly while also being very knowledgable about the cuisine.  Do not overlook the gurkensalat (pickled dill & cucumber salad) and the riesling sauerkraut.  These enhance the bratwurst experience.
http://bronwynrestaurant.com

Arlo Guthrie provides our musical pairing:  "Massachusetts"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNc0VCfKuck

Next posting:  Harvard and Boston's Freedom Trail!

Let's Hike!

Above it All

When you love to eat as much as we do, physical activity is a MUST!  We have always been hikers and backpackers.  We grew up in Utah where the Wasatch Front has incredible hiking and camping opportunities.  We, then, moved to the Pacific Northwest where the weather makes year round hiking and camping possible.  Our boys grew up in the out of doors.  Doug and Justin have climbed Mount Ranier twice and Doug climbed Mt. Saint Helen's this summer.  Justin is planning a Mt. Kilmanjaro summit this December.

New Haven is not known for its big mountains.  However, it does have some beautiful "rocks" to climb.  Josh and Monica led us on a walk to East Rock.  We had a lovely walk through the quaint neighborhoods of New Haven.  Each neighborhood has its own small grocery store and wine store.  Residents don't need to get in a car in order to pick up a few small necessities.  Walking to the store is not only easy but one of the ways in which neighbors commune.

East Rock Park provides several ways of getting to the top.  It is accessible by car.  But, our choice is to walk.  You can take the route which winds around the hill - making it a slow ascent - or you can take the stairs and go straight up!  Guess which route the Gaileys took!  Straight up!  Jolene had knee surgery in June, so this was one of the first tests of the knee and her physical therapy!  Success!

The view is incredible.  You can see all over New Haven.  Being from the Pacific Northwest, we sometimes think that we have the most trees!  Well, remember, this is New England and the deciduous trees abound.

  

Photo from Wikipedia

At the top of East Rock is a beautiful statue.  It honors the residents of New Haven who gave their lives in the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, The Mexican War and the Civil War.

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/parks/parksinformation/eastrockpark.asp

Sleeping Giant State Park

The next day, we drove 8 miles out of New Haven to the Sleeping Giant State Park.  This is the site of Mt. Carmel.  It is located in Hamden.

This is a picturesque mountain which has 2 miles of mountaintop which resembles a man lying in repose - a sleeping giant.  We took the scenic 1 1/2 mile trek up the mountain to the stone observation tower.  The tower is hidden behind lush greenery - you just happen upon it suddenly.  The observation tower grants 360 degree views.

This is a popular recreation area which has over 30 miles of hiking trails including 5 miles of the 23 mile Quinnipiac Trail.  Quinnipiac University is also in the city of Hamden.  Views from the observation tower are quite spectacular.  This is a perfect place to view Hamden and New Haven and their geological formations.
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2716&q=325264&deepNav_GID=1650%20

Our musical pairing comes from Fleet Foxes.  We were listening to this music while we were staying at Josh's apartment.  This will always remind us of our time in New Haven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQRS40OKNE

Next post:  We will take you to Boston where we will go on the freedom trail and eat $1.00 oysters with Monica!!!

The Taste of New Haven!

Hew Haven, CT:  Where Pizza is King!

Visiting a new area requires the sampling of local food!  Josh has been telling us about his quest to try the perfect east coast pizza.  The day he met us in New York City, he traveled to Brooklyn to experience their pizza.  So, we put ourselves in Josh's experienced hands to eat the best pizza.  Frank Pepe's Pizza is the King of thin crust pizza.  We waited in line outside in order to get a table.  This is not a particularly small restaurant. It is, however, a very popular restaurant.  We were lucky that day - it only took 20 minutes or so to get a table.  This is the site of Frank Pepe's original pizzeria.
http://pepespizzeria.com

In ordering, we once again put ourselves in Josh's hands.  We were delighted to eat white clam pizza and fresh tomato pizza.  The clam pizza has a white sauce which pairs so well with the thin crust.  There is the perfect amount of cheese.  This pizza is not the type which has a ton of cheese.  This is very much to our liking.  The fresh tomato pizza is very much like a margherita pizza only with very fresh tomatoes.  The mozzarella cheese is so mild that it doesn't compete with the tomatoes for flavor balance.

A Creative Take on Sushi

http://miyassushi.com
Josh certainly has his Father's flair for picking out new and innovative restaurants.  We walked to a very lovely restaurant called Miya's Sushi.  This place takes sushi to an entirely new level.  Their slogan:  "Because man cannot live on rice alone" really sets the table for nouveau cuisine.  While the dishes may appear to be sushi - the ingredients are far more than rice and fish - sweet potato, papaya, crickets (yes, you read that correctly), goat cheese, fava beans, okra - and the list goes on.  The fish is always from a sustainable source.  They feature tilapia, shrimp, crab, lion fish, arctic char, and scallops. Their famous scallop dish is called THE SOFTEST FRENCH KISSES:  Ridiculously sexy, warm scallops in a sake-based ginger garlic oyster sauce.  They even tell you how to enjoy eating this dish - it is quite intimate.

New Haven Farmer's Market

http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farmersmarkets_details.php?market=293
Eating is one of our favorite ways to get to know a new place.  Our children have inherited this same trait from their parents.  Josh took us to the New Haven Farmer's Market.  This is where he buys his fresh eggs, produce and milk.  There is a stall which specializes in Apple Cider Donuts!  Josh and Monica really enjoyed these!  We bought fresh greens, cucumbers and pea shoots for the evening's salad.  We also bought some incredible bread to pair with the spaghetti!

Wine and Dine!
http://www.thewinethief.com
Imagine - Josh lives right next door to The Wine Thief!  This is such a great little wine store.  They have very knowledgeable, yet unpretentious employees.  We were able to ask questions and get informed answers.  They made suggestions and we purchased a sauvignon blanc and a cabernet sauvignon not only for the evening's dinner but also to enjoy the rest of the week.

Can you imagine a better way to get to know a new city than to taste its food?  Our next post will take you on some great hikes to view the wonders of New Haven!

How could we talk about the Pizza King without pairing it with this great song?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69O4PXzAQ5Y

It's Time For Another Adventure!

Our sons, Josh and Justin moved a year ago - away from the Pacific Northwest.  They both graduated from the University of Washington and were ready to start new chapters of their lives.

Josh graduated with degrees in Trumpet Performance, Music History, and Italian studies.  He worked for a year as an Admissions Counselor at UW.  He then applied for graduate school.  He was accepted at Yale University.  Monica, his girlfriend,  was accepted at Harvard.  So, last August, they set off for a cross country car trip to New Haven, CT and Cambridge, MA.  They car camped at National and State Parks.  They had a wonderful time getting to their new homes.  Each of them will be working on their Ph.D for 5-6 years.

Justin graduated from UW with degrees in Physics and Astronomy  He then applied to the Peace Corps and moved home with us while he prepared to depart for Mozambique where he would live for 27 months.

This is how we came to this adventure.  We left bright and early so that we could fly to New York City.  We landed at JFK airport.  We took the sky train to Jamaica station and then the subway to Time Square.  We walked through Time Square with four suitcases.  I think that I was the only who enjoyed that part.  We then took a train from Grand Central Station to New Haven, CT.  It was a lovely two hour train ride.

Yale University

New Haven is the picturesque town in which Yale University is located.  Josh took us on a walking tour of the campus of Yale University.  Yale was founded in 1701 as a "collegiate school."  It is the third oldest institution of higher education in the United States.  It was renamed as Yale College in 1718 because of a donation by Elihu Yale, a Welsh merchant.  He donated the proceeds from the sale of nine bales of goods together with 417 books and a portrait of King George I.  http://www.yale.edu

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Yale's Beinecke Library is one of the world's largest repositories for rare books and manuscripts.  It was designed by Gordon Bunshaft. The "windows" are 1 1/4 thick marble and are framed by granite.  The marble panels filter the light so that rare manuscripts can be viewed safely.  http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/about/about-building

When it was built, people thought that it looked like a book of S&H green stamps.  The Beinecke family owned the Sperry & Hutchinson company which distributed the green stamps as a part of a rewards program.  The green stamps were extremely popular in the 1960s when the library was built.

The Beinecke Library houses two volumes of the Gutenberg Bible.  These bibles are on permanent display.  The library is free and open to the public.  It is quite an "awe"some experience looking at the Gutenberg Bible.  History….almost in your own hands.  

http://news.yale.edu/2014/08/25/following-spectacular-restoration-treasured-yale-landmark-reopens-public#.U_vnQE6zr9W.facebook

The restoration of the beautiful Sterling Memorial Library is now complete.  The nave is exceptionally exquisite.  The library is now open to the public and very worth visiting!  When we were there, they were still working on the renovations.  We saw bits and pieces - but can't wait to go back to see everything.

Yale University is a beautiful campus.  The buildings are architecturally captivating.  You can almost believe that you are on the campus of "Hogwarts" at times.  It is an easy campus to walk - you do not need a car.  Take the train to New Haven and then walk until you drop!  Oh…and look for our son, Josh.  If you see him, say hi for The Gaileys!

Our next posting will continue the great journey through New Haven and will include East Rock Park,  Frank Pepe's Pizza, and Sleeping Giant State Park!

Our musical pairing comes from the Yale Glee Club!  This is a medley of Yale Fight Songs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhcInoTe63U

Christmas at the Sleeping Lady Resort!

Christmas in Bavaria is alluring.  Financially it wasn’t in the cards this past year.  Instead, we chose a closer option which still gave us that germanic flavor for Weihnachten.  Leavenworth, Washington is a Bavarian style village nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains of Washington
http://www.sleepinglady.com

Coming from Seattle, the drive over Steven’s Pass is spectacular.  The juxtoposition of rocks and evergreen trees creates a lush and rugged mountainside.  The road follows the Skykomish River and once you crest the top of Steven’s Pass, you meet up with the Wenatchee River.  Both rivers have anadromous fish runs.  For those who do not fish, anadromous fish are sea run fish who migrate up fresh water rivers to spawn.  These rivers are also well known for kayaking and tubing.  The beauty of the mountains is exquisite be it summer or winter.

We have had the honor of staying at the Sleeping Lady Resort in the summer and we loved it.  This is how we knew to book a room for Christmas.  The Sleeping Lady Resort is a retreat and conference center which is open year round.  There are a variety of cabins available. 

Rooms 

Such a cozy hide-away bed!

During the summer, we stayed in a lovely room which had a queen bed and also had a hidden little alcove bed. This configuration accommodates three-four people quite well.  

For Christmas, we were so lucky to have our oldest son, Josh, come home from the east coast to celebrate Christmas with.  In addition, we wanted to bring our favorite puppy, Miss Jasmine, as well.  So, we selected a canine companion room. 

Sustainability

The cabins are beautiful and offer the opportunity to be one with nature while still living in comfortable and beautiful accommodations.  Sleeping Lady is well known for being a green resort as it once was the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps, known as Camp Icicle during the 1930s and 1940s.  With this in mind, they have created an environmentally friendly resort.  They boast the 28,800 liner feet of Trex decking made from recycled plastic bags and wood scraps.  They are heated and cooled by a geo-exchange system made up of underground tubes.  There is an organic garden which provides food for the kitchen and then composts the organic kitchen waste.  

Kingfisher Restaurant and Wine Bar

As we said, the organic garden provides the fresh ingredients that are used for meals at the Kingfisher restaurant.  They provide breakfast and dinner daily which are included in your stay.  Although the meals are served buffet style, the meals are NOT institutional in style.  The restaurant is warm, inviting, and of a gourmet nature.  Only fresh and sustainable ingredients are used - they are committed to sourcing their seafood so that it minimizes the damage to the ocean and freshwater environments.  

We were entranced by the fire

Art Installations

We rejoice in the art installations found on site at the Sleeping Lady Resort.  There are a variety of fish statues which include salmon, steelhead, and trout.  They line icicle creek and are intriguing during summer and winter seasons.

In addition to the fish by the creek, one can see other artistic versions of wildlife on site.  

A snow owl protecting the organic garden

The wolves guard the entrance

Fish catches a fisherman!

Chihuly Glass Installation

One of the most amazing visual feasts is the Glass Instillation that was commissioned by Sleeping Lady from Dale Chihuly.  Once again, it doesn't matter which season you see this glass work as it thrills the senses regardless of season.

The summer sun catches the light in the glass & is dazzling!

The glass appears to be real ice!

Icicle Creek Music Festival

In the summer, Sleeping Lady is the home of the Icicle Creek Music Festival.  The festival hosts outstanding music students who learn and grow in a professional setting.  Their mission is dedicated to "celebrating excellence in the lively arts and inspiring generations of students, artists, and audiences through exceptional educational experiences, live performances, and special events - all in the breathtaking, natural setting of the mountain meadows." 

icicle.org

The Grounds

The Sleeping Lady consists of many individual and group cabins, a library, exercise studio, game room,  outdoor rock swimming pool, hot tub, and dining hall.  There is a lovely reception room and a movie theatre.  

Entrance to the property

One of the many styles of cabins

Christmas Dinner

The library has a piano

There are many books from which to choose!

Just relaxing!

The grotto features cocktails and snacks

The rock pool offers a natural setting in which to cool off

Outdoor dining in the summer!

If you are looking for a rustic, yet luxurious, get-away, the Sleeping Lady Resort is for you!  The price is quite reasonable especially when you consider that a gourmet breakfast and dinner are included.  We can't wait to book our next stay.

Music Pairing

We are featuring a live performance from Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival.  You will hear The Flower Duet from the Opera, Lakme by Delibes.  It will be performed by the Modern Mandolin Quartet.  Imagine hearing them live as you stay at the beautiful resort!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvURlRxmxLA