Last year my awesome partner Katy (aka Unicorn) hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Having hiked extensively in my younger days I was quite jealous of her adventure, but suffering several knee injuries and surgeries my through-hiking days are over….
Paris. Chasing the romantic ghost.
May 31, 2018
When I asked my daughter if she could pick any place in the world to see she chose Paris. A city hopelessly entwined with the collective consciousness of postcard stereotypes and cartoon romanticism. Both deeply longed for in my…
The Columbia Room (DC) – May 9th, 2018
May 17, 2018
The Columbia Room is a small cocktail bar tucked away in a DC alley that has a list of awards and credits including the Spirited Award’s Best American Cocktail Bar, the Washington Post’s Best Bar in DC, two years…
Pineapple and Pearls – May 8th, 2018
May 14, 2018
I was visiting Washington DC for a couple of nights and chef Aaron Silverman’s two Michelin starred Pineapple and Pearls came highly recommended. The website is a bit mysterious with no sample menu and very few photos. The restaurant…
Bitterballen, hotchpotch stampot, jenever, and haring. Hunting down traditional Dutch food in Amsterdam.
May 10, 2018
Honestly, when it comes to northern European food, I hadn’t heard good things. But I have to say I fell in love with traditional Dutch food. Tasty bar snacks, hearty home-style meals with long simmered meats, a variety of cured…
Walking every goddamn inch of Amsterdam’s Old Centre, the canal rings, and the Jordaan.
May 3, 2018
I know the trope. Go to Amsterdam, get baked, sleep with a Ukranian prostitute. It’s so pervasive that that’s all that anyone seems to think about Amsterdam. Just the mention and you get the squinty nod of wishful collusion….
You better Belize it! Getting slow on Caye Caulker, Belize.
April 20, 2018
This place made me feel good. A little piece of paradise. I can imagine myself one day dropping off the grid and tending a thatched-roof sand-floor bar waiting on the next massive hurricane to sweep me out into a windex…
C215 (aka Christian Guémy) and Hazul Luzah. A look at street art from Barcelona, Spain and Porto, Portugal.
April 16, 2018
While I was in Barcelona, I was drawn to the street art there. Seattle also has a high level of street art and I recognized some local sticker artist’s work. But I was specifically drawn to an artist C125…
Seeking Zen. Exploring the Buddhist temples of Kyoto, Japan.
April 12, 2018
Kyoto is the religious and cultural center of Japan. It has over 2000 active temples, 1600 Buddhist and 400 Shinto. Spared most of the destruction of World War II, it remains one of the best examples of prewar city…
The West Virginia hotdog and other sandwiches of my youth. A tour of classic diners and drive-ins of Huntington, West Virginia.
April 5, 2018
Huntington, West Virginia is my childhood home. Where I was born and raised. And where my family still lives. I grew up exploring the beautiful decay and abandoned industrialscapes that once boomed here some time before I met the…