Las Vegas mystifies me with its round-the-clock gambling venues (breakfast and a roll of the dice?), pedestrian routes geared toward moving more walkers through casinos, and homeless people sleeping on walkways. Even in the spare-no-wattage glare of Sin City, real-world misery cannot be obscured. Despite all the reckless indulgence and its aftermath, pleasant surprises await….
Author: BashfulAdventurer
Must-Sees in Chicago: Willis Tower’s Skydeck
The Brawny Sherpa and I get up early one weekend morning and head to Willis Tower with the hope that we’ll beat the crowds up to the Skydeck. We are lucky, and we do. Up we zoom to the 103rd floor to get some good glimpses of Chicago’s skyline. I was last here on stop…
A Closet History at the Eastman House
Hat Boxes and the Past in Rochester, N.Y. Should visitors to Kodak founder George Eastman’s house in Rochester, N.Y. feel nosy upon peeking into closets at the old place? What would someone find if she were to glance into mine? Unfolded laundry, racks packed with too many clothes, wire hangers. Looking into George’s mother’s…
Buckling Up in Ridgefield, Conn.
Amusing Signs around the Planet Photo credit: M. Ciavardini An eye-catching reminder on exiting the Ridgefield Playhouse: extra-terrestrials must be safely strapped in. —Lori Tripoli Like Connecticut? You might be interested in these posts: The Revolution Comes to Keeler Tavern in Ridgefield, Conn. Mapleshade Cemetery and Revolution in Ridgefield, CT Danbury: Revolution, Hats, and a…
La Crème de La Crémaillère
Contemplating all things France lately (or, mostly, Joan of Arc as I read Kathryn Harrison’s 2014 biography of the Maid of Orléans), I glide on the arm of the Brawny Sherpa into La Crémaillère in Bedford, N.Y. one gray, soggy evening wondering what medieval maidens ate. I am quickly transmogrified from the 1430s to the…
Bathroom Etiquette 101
An amusing and informative sign in a restroom in Peru
Convenience in Cusco
Our stay in room 114 at the San Agustin International is short and functional. In Peru to see Machu Picchu, we stay in Cusco a couple of nights after our great adventure on the mountain. After a couple of pisco sours at the El Arcangel restaurant—and a mysterious, yet tasty, green purée for dinner, when I’d…
Reason to Go to Yonkers: Vanilla Stout
Living in the far northern part of Westchester County, N.Y., I somehow don’t often breach what has been referred to as “the great 287 divide”—a phrase referring to the interstate highway that bisects the county. Those living north of it tend to stay north, those south, south. Invited to a networking event at Yonkers Brewing…
Christ of Many Colors
On this Palm Sunday, marvel at the varied images of Jesus depicted in churches and other places around the world. Sometimes he is a baby with the face of someone far more mature, sometimes he is an adult, sometimes with white skin, sometimes not. I am always surprised that societies try to remake him in…
Seeing the Sign: How Safe Is an Earthquake Safety Zone?
Not until I see a sign in Cusco, Peru alerting me to my presence in an earthquake safety zone—in the dining room of a small restaurant in my hotel—do I really think of temblors. Living in an earthquake-free zone, for the most part, I don’t have occasion to feel the earth rumble. There was one…