








Have you seen northern Manhattan from the Harlem River yet? One of the best things I’ve done in New York City is to circumnavigate Manhattan by boat. It’s relaxing to escape traffic and see sides (literally) of Manhattan you’ve never seen before. Manhattan is completely surrounded by water, and there are many ways to get […]
Do you collect diners? I do. Their gleaming lines – reminiscent of old Airstream trailers – inspire dreams of the open road. Their association with travel comes naturally as the first diners were mobile lunch wagons. Often they were old rail dining cars, parked by the side of the road, serving as inexpensive all-night eateries. […]
Tossing plans, taking cues from nature, leads to an extraordinary encounter in New York City. I didn’t plan to ‘waste’ a whole day in the park. In an expensive city like New York, I make the most of every minute, shoehorning museums, tours, specific paintings, into every daylight hour. Leaving Scotty’s Diner at 39th and […]
COLOR! I’m excited to talk about a show I just saw at the new Berry Campbell gallery in New York: William Perehudoff: Color Field Paintings from the 1980s. It’s delightful, though not surprising, that a New York art gallery would choose an abstract painter from the Canadian prairies for their opening show. There are actually […]
When I arranged to meet my friend writer Judy Colbert in Atlantic City last week, I thought I’d hit Manhattan first. A two-day trip turned into a much bigger adventure when I realized October was the perfect time to cross something off my bucket list: Amtrak’s Adirondack, one of the most scenic rail trips in the […]
“Sure!” she replied and pointed to one of the larger and wilder-looking outer horses. “Climb onto Big Billy there.” The crazed-looking stallion creaked as I swung my leg over his saddle and I instantly regretted the second beef on weck—a Buffalo area specialty—I’d polished off at lunch. But no time to reconsider. The attendant hit […]
A black cat disappears into a bank of tiger lilies, prayer ribbons stir on a puff of air. On Cassadaga Lake, afternoon sun glints off the water in darts of light that drift ashore like summoned souls. Spirit summoning has been going on for over 150 years at Lily Dale, home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community and over 40 registered […]
Pat and I are always on the lookout for a non-chain place to eat with great local food and plenty of atmosphere. The Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo, NY, was a real find. It’s easy to love these old diners with their resemblance to old Airstream trailers. Their exuberant lines just seem to shout holiday […]
Gee, a GPS makes road trips a lot more fun. You can fit in more of what you want to see when you’re not constantly getting lost. This time, in Buffalo for the day, we finally made it to the legendary Anchor Bar where buffalo wings were invented. I still prefer Coles overall for location, atmosphere, variety and […]
Still carrying on my not-so-secret love affair with Buffalo, an affair that shows no sign of cooling any time soon. This time, a stroll down Elmwood Avenue, the sidewalk scattered with with golden gingko leaves, to our favorite Buffalo hangout, Cole’s. Robbie at the old (1934) bar – dark wood, college memorabilia, antique carousel horses – […]