Truth in Advertising

Dhabas are roadside eateries in northern India that serve hearty, inexpensive food to travelers. A friend of mine stopped at one of these dhabas where the chalkboard advertised TODAY’S SPECIAL … Aloo Mattar ( Potato and Peas Curry). It was quite tasty so, on his return journey, he stopped at the same dhaba.

This time, the chalkboard read TODAY’S SPECIAL… Mattar Aloo. (Peas and Potato Curry). Puzzled, my friend asked the proprietor about the difference in nomenclature.

The reply, ” Sir, last week there were more potatoes than peas in the curry. This week, the curry contains more peas than potatoes.”

Talk about truth in advertising!

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Currywurst

Even before our recent trip to Germany, I had eaten my share of German style sausages or wursts. I’d tasted Bockwurst, Knackwurst, Bratwurst, Mettwurst , liverwurst and frankfurters ( of course). I enjoyed them all except for the liverwurst ( ugh). There are dozens of others that I haven’t tried including  the oddly named extrawurst which is reputed to be very much like American bologna. Another was  currywurst and I was eager to find what it tasted like.

I got my chance on a trip to Luneberg, at a hole-in the-wall, little more than a kiosk, called Jimmys. What a disappointment ! I’d assumed that currywurst was a curry flavored sausage. Not true. What was served to us was a sliced bratwurst ( steamed fried pork sausage) doused in a curry ketchup and served with French fries and a bread roll. Currywurst is an improvement on bratwurst which is rather bland , but  that’s about it.

Talking to my German friends, I learned that this is an exceedingly popular street-food, with upwards of 800 million currywursts being consumed each year. There is even a Currywurst museum in Berlin and by tradition, every candidate for the post of Mayor of Berlin is photographed at a currywurst stand. I can understand some of the appeal of currywurst because it adds a little zip to the blandness of bratwurst while, at the same time,its spiciness is tempered by the ketchup component.  However, it’s not something I’d go out of my way for.

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The McDonald’s of Belgian Chocolates?

On a recent trip to Brussels, we had a guide to show us the sights. “Avi” proved to be very knowledgeable and entertaining. A history buff , he was a fount of knowledge about Brussels and its  growth. When we met him at the Grand Place, he asked us what our particular interests were. We told him that we wanted to see the major sights of Brussels and that we wanted to buy some Belgian chocolates . We were standing outside the Godiva shop in the Grand Place and indicated that we wanted to go there towards the end of the walking tour.

” Godiva !” our guide sneered, ” Godiva is the McDonalds of Belgian chocolates ! They’re only for tourists; no self-respecting Belgian eats them. I will take you to some shops where you will get the best.”

And so, at the end of our tour,  we found ourselves making a round of choclatiers in the Galeries Royal Saint Hubert, that magnificent arcade at the heart of  Brussels. There were more of them than I could have imagined and their displays were breathtaking: serried ranks of jewel like creations, each one better than the last, and all of them expensive. The three that our guide recommended as the best were Mary, Corne’ Port Royal and Pierre Marcolini. At each of these , our guide was able to get us samples to taste. Some of the other names I  recollect were Leonidas, Côte d’Or and Neuhaus. By the way, one well-known brand is Guylian, which sounds Chinese to me. Couldn’t the Belgians have come up with something else?

After looking at all the shops and their creations, we were unable to make up our minds. All of them were so good! How do you choose some over the others ? At the end, to save ourselves the trouble of packing our already full suitcases,we decided to pick up chocolates at the duty-free shop at the airport. The ones we chose were Corne’ Port Royal ( one of Avi’s selections), Neuhaus and Leonidas. We did not get any Godiva or Guylian because both of them are easily available in America.

It’s been over a month since we were in Brussels and the chocolates are almost all gone. I can’t say that one of them was better than the others. Perhaps true connoisseurs can make out subtle differences in chocolate brands but , for ordinary folk, they’re all equally good and it makes sense to get the ones that are on sale.

I read that Belgian chocolates are second only to the Swiss. I’m going to have to find out for myself. These were all so good that I cannot imagine anything better.

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The Journey Inward

Except for the hassle of checking in and getting through airport security, flying does not bother me. Once I’m in my seat and the plane takes off, I can easily occupy myself. I always carry a book of crossword puzzles and another book, one I’ve been meaning to read. Once the plane has leveled off, I first skim through the inflight magazine and do the crossword puzzle ( if someone hasn’t already done it). Then I start on the crosswords in my book. Since I never do crosswords, except on airplane flights, I’m not very good at them. I allot myself 45 minutes or an hour for each after which I look at the solutions and fill in the answers to clues I’ve been unable to solve. Three or four puzzles, a little reading, discreetly checking out my fellow passengers and wondering what they do and where they been and where they’re going, looking out the window if I can… all these keep me engaged. Before I know it, we are being to told to return to our seats and buckle up as the plane begins its slow descent.

Because we’ve traveled so often between New York and Los Angeles, a five hour flight is something I’m accustomed to. Anything longer can get tedious. On longer flights, I spend a lot of time following the progress of our flight on the video monitor. I note the current speed, the altitude, the distance we’ve already traveled, the distance to the destination, the outside temperature and the ETA. As they keep changing, I do all sorts of mental math with the numbers. Still, there is a limit to how long I can keep myself busy. On long flights, like the 14 hour non-stop from New York to Tokyo, the last two or three hours seem interminable.

That is why I was fascinated by Pico Iyer’s account of his twelve hour flight from Frankfurt to Los Angeles which he gives in his book The Art of Stillness.

The passenger next to him was a young attractive German woman who  exchanged a few friendly words with him as she settled into her seat. She then sat quietly, saying nothing , doing nothing for the rest of the flight. During that time,  Iyer himself dozed a little, dipped into his novel, checked out the options on the monitor and visited the toilet. She however never moved, wide awake but absolutely still and completely at peace. As the plane began it’s descent, Iyer asked her if she lived in L.A. She said not, that she was off for five weeks of vacation in Hawaii, a welcome respite from her stressful job as a social worker. She told Iyer that she liked to use the flight to decompress and get the stress out of her system. Thus, she could arrive at her destination relaxed and ready to enjoy her vacation.

How different this is from what most of us do. When we are on vacation, our minds are rarely still. We are constantly worrying about tickets, connections, hotel accommodations and sundry other details. Or we are worrying about things we should have done before we took off. Or we are worrying about what’s happening at the office while we are away or what awaits us when we get back. And , even in the plane, we are keeping ourselves busy with books, inflight movies, crossword puzzles and the like. We are never truly at rest.

On his next trip, from New York to California, Iyer decided to emulate his co-passenger’s example. He didn’t turn on his monitor and he didn’t read a book. As he writes, ” I didn’t even consciously try to do nothing; when an idea came to me or I recalled something I had to do back home, I pulled out a notebook and scribbled it down. The rest of the time ,I just let my mind go foraging – like a dog on a wide empty beach. ”  Iyer relates that when he arrived in L.A his mind was absolutely clear and refreshed.

We are going on a flight to Europe next month and I’m going to try this out myself. Even though the journey isn’t boring ,it can be tiring. I must admit that when we arrive at our destination I am far from refreshed. Let’s see if the anonymous German lady’s technique works for me.

P.S Just in case it doesn’t I’m taking along my crossword book.

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Las Vegas: American Phoenix

The phoenix is a legendary bird that, towards the end of its life, builds a nest and sits in it. It then bursts into flame spontaneously and is reduced to ashes, nest and all, only to emerge young, fresh and ready to begin a new life. In many ways, Las Vegas is like the phoenix. Each time we have visited it, and we have been there four times, it has appeared new, different and more colorful than ever.

The first time we visited Las Vegas, in 1987, it was much smaller than it is today. Despite the flashing neon signs, it appeared seedy and somewhat tacky though it tried hard to be glamorous. We were staying at one of the smaller hotels on the strip and I don’t remember much. It was a novelty to find that no matter where you wanted to go on the main floor you had to go through the casino. I was not tempted but plenty of others must have been.
We went to Vegas twice in the nineties. The first time we stayed at the Monte Carlo , the second time at the newly built Mandalay Bay. This was the period when Vegas decided to promote itself as a family destination. There were plenty of kiddie attractions including circus acts at the Circus Circus, hotel rooms at give-away prices and dirt cheap buffets ( all-you-can eat, $ 9.95). It must have worked for a while because the casinos were crowded. In between our two visits, Vegas transformed itself as older casinos were torn down and new supersized theme structures took their place. There were new entries to the Vegas scene such as the Paris( with its scaled down but still impressive Eiffel Tower), the Luxor pyramid, New York, New York with its replicas of famous NY attractions such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, the Excalibur, the Venetian ( with gondoliers plying their craft in the “Grand Canal”) and the beautiful Bellagio with its “dancing fountains”. And then there was the MGM Grand, awesome for its sheer size; it had 4,000 + rooms. Rooms and buffets were not as cheap as Vegas tried to attract the well-heeled crowd. Many of the restaurants were helmed by celebrity chefs such as Joel Robuchon and the stage shows too were more sophisticated.
When we went to Vegas last December, it had changed once again. There were even more large casino-hotels such as the Aria where we stayed. Frontage on the Strip is limited, and therefore at a premium. Some of the older hotels had been torn down so that new ones could take their place. Another big change was the replacement of pedestrian crossings with overpasses. The aim was to ease the car traffic on the Strip and it did alleviate the problem considerably. However, traffic is so heavy that it still took us twenty minutes for our taxi to go from the Wynn to the Aria. It also made it difficult for pedestrians who wanted to walk the Strip. I always try to walk around a city I am visiting; it’s the best way to really experience it. In Vegas it wasn’t easy. From our hotel, I walked to the ends of the Strip, to the north one day and south the next; it took me over an hour each time. Climbing up to the overpass and down again each time I had to cross a street was tiring. It was also unpleasant because all the panhandlers park themselves there; every few steps on the bridge there was one. I really wondered how much ( or rather, how little) they collected. There were just too many of them and, besides, vacationers in Vegas are not inclined to be charitable. Perhaps it is the high cost of staying and dining in Vegas or perhaps they want to save their money for the slots. I was happy I went on my walks though because I really got to appreciate how different the casinos were and to get a close-up look at their charms.
Yet another change this time was the tourists in Vegas. Fully forty percent of them were mainland Chinese. There were all kinds: groups of young men , families with young children, honeymooners and gaggles of young women. I suppose it was a reflection of the changing world order; in the seventies it was the Japanese , now it is the Chinese who have the disposable incomes and the yen to see the world. Las Vegas has a glamor and glitz that Macau cannot match and, on one trip to Vegas, Chinese visitors can experience New York,Venice, the Pyramids, Paris etc. Many of them were wide-eyed at what they saw; their chief activity was to take photos of themselves framed by Vegas attractions, so that they could show their folks back home.
The celebrity chef syndrome has reached new heights in Vegas. Practically every chef worth his salt has to have a restaurant in Vegas, sometimes more than one. Bobby Flay, Emeril, Giada de Laurentis, Todd English, Gordon Ramsey are only some of the marquee names I noticed. Naturally, the meals they put out are not cheap. We ordered tasting menus at two of the restaurants and prices ran between $125 and $150 per person, not including drinks and tip. I must say that the meals were awesome.
So were the shows. The entertainment scene in Vegas is dominated by Cirque de Soliel which was staging shows at no less than seven of the casino-hotels. We saw ” Le Reve ” ( the Dream) at the Wynn; it was created by the founder of Cirque de Soliel for his friend Steve Wynn and it was spectacular. It is about a girl who breaks up with he lover and is visited by a dream with angels, devils, butterflies, jesters and other fantastic creatures. Finally, she wakes up and is re-united with her beloved. The action takes place in a circular pool where the water level is raised and lowered to create elaborate tableaux. The performers are clad in unbelievably colorful costumes as they splash and cavort in the water, diving, swimming and posing to create an unforgettable spectacle. For the finale, one of them is raised into the rafters and then drops feet first into the water sixty feet below. The show is beautiful, it is scary, it is indescribable. BTW, some of the other shows were headlined by performers we thought had long since retired; remember Donny and Marie Osmond. They are still going strong.
As ever, Vegas is best at night. Driving down the Strip is one way to experience it. Another is to sit in your hotel room and look out the window at the millions of lights and the rivers of neon. Someone remarked that Vegas uses more electricity than the entire Indian state of Gujarat. It may be an exaggeration, but not by much.
Three days , maybe four, are about as much as I can take of Vegas. Vegas is exciting, it is gaudy, it is excess personified, it is enjoyable. But, in the harsh light of day, as you head out to the airport you realize that Vegas is an oasis in the desert, a mirage, a dream. Time for the real world.

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The Vanishing English Pub

In the late seventies, my wife and I made our first and only trip to England. We spent an idyllic ten days with relatives in the village of Tottington , near Manchester , taking day trips to York , London, the Lake District and Stratford on Avon. One of the things we fondly remember about Tottington was the local pub. What a wonderful place to go to of an evening !  Relaxing atmosphere, friendly people, good beer, a game of darts and watching soccer on the telly. I know that some serious drinking does go on in pubs but that village pub was more of a social meeting place to meet your friends and have a good time over a glass of bitter. I have never experienced anything else quite like it.

I was sorry therefore to read in the New York Times that  British pubs are fast becoming an endangered species with more and more of them being converted to supermarkets or parking lots. There are a number of different reasons being trotted out for the decline of the pub. One big reason is that the availability of cut-price beer at supermarkets makes drinking at home an attractive option. In general , a pint of beer costs about five times as much at the pub. Times are harder now and there is not that much disposable income to go regularly to the pub. Another prime reason is that the large independent holding companies that own more than half the pubs in Britain are trying to cash in on their real estate. As a result , many pubs have been sold to developers who tear them down and erect stores or housing. Other reasons: Anti-smoking laws which keep away the smokers. The rise in violent crime which makes people scared to venture out at night. The rise in social networks and cellphone use which has removed the need for a community gathering place. A change in Britons beer drinking habits which has seen consumption fall by almost a quarter over the past five years. No wonder the British pub is under siege.

Cognizant of the problem , the British government is trying to do its bit to protect pubs from the clutches of developers. Designating pubs as ” an asset of community value” protects them from demolition and gives community groups a chance to buy and operate them. It is a badly needed move because more than 7,000 pubs have been shut down since 2008, a fact which is all to apparent to tourists and others who visit the U.K and find it difficult to find a pub. I hope that the decline in the numbers of pubs will be slowed , if not arrested , by such efforts. The pub has a special place in British life and is one of those beloved institutions which are unique to that country.
Pubs are not an unalloyed blessing, however, and some British wives may not be totally in favor of them. When we were in Tottington all those years ago, the next door neighbors were a very nice couple, Tony and Sue. Tony, an accountant, had a fixed schedule on weekdays. He would get home from work at about 5:30 and have dinner with the family. Then it was off to the pub for him while Sue stayed at home with the kids. He stayed there until 9 or so, knocking back a couple of pints , before getting back home. Only on Saturdays would Sue accompany him to the pub while a babysitter took care of the kids. I don’t know how much Tony earned but the cost of those pub visits must have put a big dent in the family’s finances. His schedule also didn’t leave much time for the family.

I wonder what Sue thought about pubs.

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The Armchair Traveler in South Dakota … I

As we plan our virtual trip , using travel guides and an atlas , it becomes clear that most of South Dakota’s attractions are along the I-90 corridor. North of it , the only things that might be of interest are the Indian reservations . Even Pierre, the capital of South Dakota , holds limited appeal for us. We’ve also decided that on these trips  we’ll only visit those places that are a) unique to the state or b) exceptionally good for their kind , even if they are not unique. That means we will not be visiting as many museums of prairie life or frontier life,  or colonial era houses or Indian reservations.

Starting out from where we left off ( Sioux City , Iowa) , we will begin our South Dakota sojourn in Sioux Falls and then take I-90 westwards through Mitchell, Chamberlain and Rapid City. Then we will veer off to take the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway through the Black Hills to Custer State Park and the Crazy Horse and Presidents Monuments with time out for the mining boom towns of Deadwood and Lead before ending our journey in Spearfish.

Day 1 of our virtual trip

We get off to an early start , leaving our Sioux City motel at 7 AM  and taking I-29 north to Sioux Falls. It’s a cloudy day with the temperatures in the low sixties  but as we cross over into South Dakota the sun comes out. Twenty minutes into our trip , we see a pair of elk and I realize why the nearby town is called Elk Point . It’s pleasant driving these Interstates in the mid-west , so different from the rush hour traffic back east . An hour later , we are in  Sioux Falls a midsize town/city of about 160,000 which has an industrial base but has morphed into a center for finance , healthcare and retail trade. Attracted by South Dakota’s relaxed usury laws , the credit card divisions of Wells Fargo and Citigroup are headquartered here .

Our first stop is at the falls which give Sioux Falls its name. Located on the  Big Sioux River , these falls drop only about 25 feet but they are set in a beautiful park and there are walkways and a tower which offer lovely views of the falls . It is wonderful walking around in the cool of the morning looking at the cascading waters and reading the informational signs.  We spend an enjoyable hour there before  grabbing  a coffee at the restaurant and heading of to our next stop , the Sculpturewalk in downtown Sioux Falls .

Sculpturewalk  consists of several sculptures ranging from the whimsical to the abstract that are on loan from the artists and are displayed on the sidewalks from May to September. The public gets to vote for its favorite sculpture and each year the most popular one is acquired by the city and put on permanent display . Great idea. My favorite is the girl riding a pig , her pigtails flying

Our last stop in Sioux Falls is the USS South Dakota Museum .  The USS South Dakota was a battleship that saw extensive action in the Pacific during WW II and was scrapped in 1947 . When she was cut up , many of her features were salvaged  and acquired for this museum . The “museum” consists of  part of a city park with the exact dimensions of the battleship. Bits and pieces of the battleship ( the barrel of a 16″ gun, a smaller deck gun, the mast, a reinforced hatch door, propeller, part of the wooden decking, radar, and an anchor) are arranged in the approximate locations they would be on the real ship. The effect is like a battleship sunk in a city park. Bizarre and a little disappointing.

Still talking about our battleship experience , my wife and I  head for the Carnaval Brazilian Grill on S. Carolyn Ave. Wanting to keep light for the afternoon drive , we pass on the Sunday brunch  and content ourselves with small plates . As we sip our drinks and scan the menu , we nibble on chips and salsa and select three small plates which we will share.. They are Crab and Mango Fritters served with tropical slaw and lime -cilantro aioli , Ahi Tuna ( thin tuna slices marinated in soy sauce, sesame seeds and wasabi , seared and served on a bed of field greens) and Carnaval Fish Tacos ( 2 soft tacos topped with cabbage , fresh salad and citrus crema).  Saisfied but not weighed down , we set off for our next stop, the Corn Palace in Mitchell,  75 miles away . The non-existent  Sunday afternoon traffic allows us to cover the distance in just over an hour.

The Corn Palace is certainly unique. It is a Moorish revival building whose exterior murals and designs  are completely rebuilt each year with corn and other grains . The original Corn Palace  was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and to encourage people to settle in the area. It was a wooden castle structure on Mitchell’s Main Street that was twice rebuilt , the last time in 1921. Russian-style onion domes  and  Moorish minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the  distinctive appearance it has today. At first glance , it seems to have been built of corn but appearances are deceptive.  It is actually a reinforced concrete building whose exterior , each spring , is covered with thousands of bushels of native South Dakota corn , grain and grasses arranged in large murals. Typical yearly themes for the murals are South Dakota Birds or A Salute To Agriculture or Youth In Action.  Thirteen  different colors or shades of corn are used : red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow , even  green ! The decoration costs $130,000 annually and the designs are created by local artists.  The decorating process usually starts in late May . Ear by ear the corn is nailed to the Corn Palace to create a scene.The corn murals are stripped at the end of August and the new ones are completed by the first of October.The Corn Palace serves as an auditorium for touring celebrities ,as a sports arena , and as the headquarters of Corn Palace Week which   marks the end of the harvest — and the beginning of the planning for next year’s Palace theme. After Corn Palace Week ends and winter sets in, local pigeons and squirrels make a feast of the tasty murals.

The Corn Palace is a surprising attraction , whimsical , gaudy , raffish . It occupies our minds and dominates the conversation in the car as we proceed to Chamberlain , the site of the next attraction on our list, the Alta Lakota Museum and our overnight stop. It’s 80 miles from Mitchell to Chamberlain and before we know it we have arrived . We could have left this last leg for the morrow but that would have meant a long drive from Mitchell to Rapid City . Now we are 80 miles closer and can be more relaxed.

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The Armchair Traveler in Iowa … IV

Day 5 of a virtual journey through Iowa

Thirty-five miles from Fort Dodge  is the town of  West Bend ,  notable for only one thing :   The Grotto of the Redemption,  the creation of a Catholic priest, Paul Dobberstein . As a young seminarian in Germany, Paul Dobberstein fell gravely ill with pneumonia, and promised to build a shrine of precious stones honoring the Virgin Mary if she interceded for him. He did recover and become a priest, but in 1898 he was sent  to the tiny town of West Bend, Iowa — one of the worst places in the world to build a shrine, since West Bend has no precious stones.

Undeterred, for 14 years he stockpiled building material, mostly rocks that the local farmers pulled from their fields. Then he got to work. Foundations were dug, concrete was poured, rocks  set into slabs that were then bolted into place. When Father Dobberstein needed help, he would walk to a local pool hall and hire laborers for cash and beer. He worked every imaginable mineral and crystal into his design, washing the  stones in his bathtub before cementing them in place. He traveled hundreds of miles to rock havens such as Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the Black Hills of South Dakota to collect materials. Glued into the grotto walls are semi-precious gems and  logs of petrified wood and in  the Christmas chapel is a remarkable 300 pound amethyst.

Laboring  for 42 years , Father Dobberstein built the largest grotto in the world. He did it mostly with muscle power, working until the moment of his death in 1954 .Viewed from a distance, the Grotto today looks brown and spongy. Many of the rocks  have dulled after decades in the weather. But the grounds are spotless, and the grotto itself is in excellent repair.Visitors are dwarfed by encrusted towers, cracked-coral tapestries, and irregular spires of petrified wood. Narrow walkways squeeze under arches, up staircases, around pediments, past alcoves. The entire mass tops out at 40 feet, surmounted by an empty cross with a marble Jesus slumped at its base.

We are not Catholics ,or even Christians, but the Grotto transcends religion .We are awed  by Father Dobberstein’ s creation , a testament to his faith and devotion. We are glad to have seen it .

After a quick , light lunch we drive back to Dodge City and thence to Sioux City, our final stop in Iowa. I’m driving and my wife who , as navigator, is busy looking at the map ,remarks on the number of Iowa counties that have Indian names.  Cherokee , Pocahontas,Osceola,Pottawattamie,Chickasaw, Allamakie. And then , of course , there are towns like the one we are heading for , Sioux City.

In Sioux City , we head for the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center ( 900 Larsen Park Blvd), a must for history buffs. It provides visitors a comprehensive picture of the historic expedition that opened up the West. It describes who was on the expedition , the roles they played and gives a feel for what it was like to be there . This is done by means of animatronic mannequins , computers , flip books , murals and other devices that bring the expedition to life . The Center also has an exhibit on Traditional Native Games , a Keelboat Theater and an exhibit of WW II Veterans stories . The photographs and histories of these vets make powerful reading . Here for instance is an excerpt from the story of Wesley Goodwin , a Sergeant in the U.S Air Corps and his return home : “He made it to Iowa in September 1945 and got off the train at Cherokee. He walked three miles before a former soldier driving a gas truck pulled over and gave him a lift home.”This fellow asked me if I was surprised people were driving by. I told him I was. He said the same thing happened to him when he came home. He’d lost a leg in the war.”

Things haven’t changed . We don’t honor our veterans sufficiently even today. You can read more of these stories yourself at www.siouxcitylcic.com/ .

The only man casualty of the Lewis and Clark expedition was 22-year-old Sgt. Floyd who was probably laid low by a burst appendix.There is a Sergeant Floyd Monument on the banks of the Missouri nearby , a 100 foot tall obelisk of white sandstone . We had intended to go there but having seen a model and read his story at the Center we decide to give it a pass.

Instead visit the Palmer Candy Co . ( 2600 Highway 75 N) . It is a family owned company that has been in business since 1900 and is well-known for its manufacture of Bing Candy bars,  Gummi Worms etc. We get there pretty late in the afternoon ( it closes at 4.30 ) and have only time for a hurried dash through the museum area with its displays of antique equipment and  packaging . We linger in the Candy and Gift Shop where we purchase Twin Bings and Chocolate Covered Raisins . Bings must be a regional specialty because I’ve never come across them back east . They have a cherry cream center covered with a nutty chocolaty coating and they are delicious …  as I realize after I’ve left the Center. I wish I’d bought more.

Sioux City is our last stop on our virtual tour of Iowa. I think we’ve seen almost all that we intended to see. If we have any regrets , it is that we did not go to Keokuk whose Mississippi River Museum and Lock 19 are worth seeing .

Next : South Dakota

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The Armchair Traveler in Iowa … III

Day 4 of a virtual journey through Iowa

Next morning , we spend some time over breakfast talking about where we want to go next. So far we’ve been to Council Bluffs , Des Moines , Iowa City, Amana and Cedar Rapids . We had planned to go to Dubuque next but it doesn’t seem worth it .  It’s a 75 mile drive from Cedar Rapids to Dubuque and the only two things of interest  are the Crystal Lake Cave and the Fenelon Place Elevator Co. The Crystal Lake Caves don’t seem that impressive  to us who have been to the Luray Caverns in Virginia and the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand.  As for the Fenelon Place Elevator Co , it’s a funicular railway and we’ve experienced it in Pittsburgh and also near Sydney , Australia . The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium sounds interesting but we will be seeing the real Mississippi later in our travels . Why go to a museum ? There’s also the Old Shot Tower at the corner of River and Tower Streets . A 140 f t high tower , it used to produce three tons of shot daily during the Civil War. Molten lead produced on the ninth floor was dropped trough screens into water the bottom as finished shot.  Interesting but … Scratch Dubuque.

Keokuk has a lot going for it : The Keokuk Dam, Lock 19 ,and the Keokuk River Museum . Unfortunately , Keokuk is at the south-eastern tip of the state and it would add almost 200 miles to our trip. Regretfully, we decide to pass on Keokuk. Because of the distance involved , we also decide against seeing the Effigy Mounds near Marquette in northeast Iowa.

The route we finally agree on is Cedar Rapids — Waterloo/ Cedar Falls – – Fort Dodge — West Bend — Sioux City. We plan to do it in two days .

The route finalized , we set out for Waterloo , 55 miles away. We take I-380 north and in less than an hour reach our destination . Interstates may not be scenic but they sure are fast and convenient. In Waterloo, we make a beeline for the John Deere works and we arrive well in time for the 10 AM tour. John Deere manufactures tractors  and engines at separate locations and the tours are 90 minutes each. We chose to visit the tractor works( 3500 East Donald St.) and the 90 minute tour is both  interesting and informative .  We are surprised and impressed to know that the John Deere co. has been in business for 175 years . The company was founded by John Deere , a blacksmith in Grand Detour , IL. and his first invention was a steel plow which he fabricated from a broken steel sawmill blade. Today John Deere’s green colored tractors ,and  harvesters  are famous all over America for their quality and dependability. The factory tour done , we stop at a nearby diner for a sandwich and a Coke and push on to Cedar Falls , a town contiguous to Waterloo. We are there to see the Icehouse Museum .

Ice houses were buildings used to store ice throughout the year, and were commonly used prior to the invention of refrigerators. Some were underground chambers, usually man-made, close to natural sources of winter ice  but many were buildings with various types of insulation. During the winter, ice and snow would be taken into the ice house and packed with insulation, often straw or sawdust.. It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during summer months. The main application of the ice was the storage of perishable foods, but it could also be used simply to cool drinks, or prepare ice-cream. I had thought that icehouses were in use only in the New England States but apparently they were built in other states with very cold winters .

The Icehouse Museum in Cedar Falls is a circular building built in 1921 and it stored between 6,000 and 8,000 tons of ice cut from the frozen Cedar River. On display are  items used in cutting, harvesting, storing, selling and the use of natural ice. Blocks of “ice” are stacked as they would have been in the ice house with the tools used by the men who delivered ice to homes and businesses throughout the area.Life-sized photos of two early ice men along with several different types of ice-boxes, a large two-horse ice wagon, original photos and an information panel that explains the process of cutting ice, help visitors to understand this unusual industry that existed in almost every town in America in the last half of the 1800′s and early 1900′s. Visitors can test their strength by lifting blocks of ice and imagine the chill of working on the frozen river.The kitchen highlights an ice box with an “outside” door for ice deliveries, a coal range, pie safe, and cistern pump. An outhouse and other “conveniences” of that time show what life was in the early days of the 20th century. Very interesting and we’re glad we put it in our itenerary.

We have a fair distance to drive in the  afternoon so we search for a place where we can eat light . Not having eaten Chinese on this trip , we stop at the New Century Buffet on University Ave . It is an old-fashioned joint and has a typical Cantonese menu with some unexpected additions : French Fries , Onion Rings and Fried Biscuits !! We stick to the Chinese food and split a pair of  egg rolls , Shrimp Almond Ding and Moo Goo Gai Pan . The last two dishes  used to be Chinese restaurant staples  but they have virtually disappeared from restaurants back east ; diners want  Hunan and Szechuan dishes on the menu and owners try to oblige . The visit to the Icehouse Museum has put us in a nostalgic mood and  the food at the New Century Buffet  adds to it.

It’s a hundred miles to Fort Dodge and we intend to take it easy once we get there so we dawdle over lunch before finally getting on the road. We mosey along Us 20 W and talk about our trip and the sights we have seen and those that we have missed. Compared to our home state of New Jersey , these mid Western states are large and the distances between attractions are considerable . Consequently , we’ve had to scratch some stops because of the driving involved . Keokuk is one such town and Marquette ( with the Effigy Mounds) is another. Had they not been so far out of our path we might have given them a shot . Other attractions have been discarded  because either they are similar to those we’ve already seen or because they  seem to live to be over- hyped.  We tell ourselves we are going to be very selective with our sightseeing in the future.

Someone had commented on the number of anti- abortion billboards on Iowa highways . He’s right ; there are more than a few. We also can’t help noticing the number of signs for colleges , most of which we have never heard of.  We’ve seen  this not just in Iowa but in many other states as well.  I wonder what the graduates from these colleges can look forward to. How will the ever tightening job market regard their degrees , particularly if they are in liberal arts or theology ? Sometimes , I think education is just a business like any other . Perhaps MOOCs and online instruction are the  way to go .

Caught up in the conversation , we don’t notice the miles fly past . Before we know it , we are in Fort Dodge .

When checking out the attractions of Fort Dodge , there was nothing that particularly appealed to us . The Blanden Art Museum is reputed to be a great small museum but we have already seen our share of museums . Instead, after checking into our hotel ,  we walk all over the town and a pleasant little town it is . There are those who complain that American towns are all the same , that they are boring. Maybe so , but I enjoyed our walk through Fort Dodge. Perhaps its charm lies in the fact that it hasn’t changed much  over the decades , that it is at once familiar and comforting. We stop for a while at the Oleson Park with its Music Pavilion but the heat soon drives  us indoors . We have an early dinner at our hotel and plan for the morrow , our last day in Iowa.

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The Armchair Traveller in Iowa … II

Day 3 of a virtual journey through Iowa .

Refreshed by a good night’s sleep , we wake up early  and dawdle over a continental breakfast before setting out for the Herbert Hoover  National Historical Site  in West Branch , 13 miles away. We arrive just as it is opening and spend a few minutes at the Visitors Center , familiarizing ourselves with the layout and deciding which attractions we want to concentrate on ; there are many things to see.

There is much to admire about Herbert Hoover , our 31st President , who helmed the nation from 1928-1932. The son of a Quaker blacksmith , he was orphaned early , was brought up by his aunt and uncle , obtained a degree in Geology at Stanford , worked as a mining engineer in Australia , China and many other countries , traveled the globe and made a fortune by dint of hard work. His wife , Lou Henry , a banker’s daughter whom he met at Stanford is no less praiseworthy. Theirs was a marriage of equals. Unfortunately for Herbert Hoover , he became President at the onset of the Great Depression and is mostly remembered today being unable to cope with it . This is unfair because the factors leading to the Depression existed before he came into power and he did not have enough time to deal with them .He did a lot of good things and ,both before and after his presidency , he did a lot to combat famine all over the world.  Tapped by Harry Truman , a Democratic president , to help with famine relief , his efforts helped feed a billion people . The nine galleries at the museum help set the record straight about this remarkable man . You can access them and other fascinating artifacts of the period at www.hoover.archives.gov .

On the grounds of the museum you can see the two room cottage which his grandfather and father built with their own hands and where he was born.  There is also a replica of his father’s blacksmith shop. On the hillside  nearby  are the simple graves of  Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover . Standing there , reflecting on the journey of this orphan boy who rose to the highest office in the land , one feels a rush of emotion both for him and for the country where such a journey is possible. Or should I say ” Was possible ?” It would be difficult, perhaps impossible,  to duplicate it in this day and age .

In a reflective mood , we drive to the Amana colonies about 20 miles away. The inhabitants are  descendents of a German sect , known as the Inspirationists because of their belief that God through the Holy Spirit inspired people to speak ( prophesy). Persecuted for their beliefs , they first settled and prospered in Buffalo , NY. Attracted by the cheap , fertile farmland in Iowa , they migrated there in 1843 settling on 26.000 plus acres and establishing seven villages :Amana , East Amana, West Amana , South Amana , High Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana and  Homestead . Amana means ” Remain true” and for almost a century they lived a communal life , working their farms collectively . The great Depression  brought  changes as they realized that the communal life inhibited individual goals and aspirations . The Amorites then formed a corporation to mange the farms , mills and other enterprises. Today, the name Amana is mostly associated with high quality household appliances ( refrigerators , dishwashers, dryers etc) but Amana has  other ventures including business services.

The villages are beautiful with brick or clapboard houses and well-kept gardens. It is a very bucolic setting and we might have spent more time except that we had been to Maytag Farms the previous day.  We  made some quick visits to various shops such as the General Store , the Blacksmiths shop, the Communal Kitchen , Winery and smokehouse. The displays were all enticing and the people very friendly . With great restraint , we resisted buying everything in sight , contenting ourselves with some salt water taffy.

For lunch we repaired to the Ox Yoke Inn which features German specialties  as well as steaks and ham. Since we wanted to keep light , we stayed away from the Kassler Rippchen , Sauerbraten , Jaeger Schnitzel , Knackwurst and Bratwurst . Instead, we split a BLT and a Grilled Multicheese sandwich. Sated but not stuffed , we headed to Cedar Rapids and the  National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library which has a remarkable backstory.

The museum is located beside the Cedar River  and in summer 2008 the river overflowed its banks almost completely destroying the museum . Over the next three years , the museum was completely re-built on an adjoining site 12 feet above the original site. The new museum building, three times as large as the original ,  is imposing , a stark contrast to the Herbert Hoover Museum which we have just left. There is a beautiful amphitheater and outdoor terrace next to it and inside is an impressive Grand Hall with a huge chandelier. It has  interesting exhibits of jewelry , textiles ,lace , beaded costumes and other artifacts that offer a glimpse of Czech and Slovak history . Our visit coincides with a travelling exhibit of pins belonging to Madeleine Albright , the former Secretary of State . ( I didn’t know of her Czech ancestry). The pins are ornate and beautiful and we spend some time admiring them . Another exhibit that commands our interest is a photographic collection Prague 1968, photographs documenting the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. You can sample it at http://paulgoldsmithphotography.com/

That was quite enough sightseeing for one day so we find ourselves a motel , rest for a while and go for dinner to the  Granite City Food and Brewery.  I reward myself with a Northern Light Lager and my wife has a glass of white wine as we peruse the menu . My wife decides on the Crispy Shrimp Tacos and I settle for the Granite City Reuben .  Very good , very filling .  Afterwards, we walk around for a bit and then its back to the motel room and sleep.

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