Food Nazis, Canned Sodas, A Wee Bit of Cheese and Baseball - Oh Atlanta!!!

These Guys (aka Food Nazis) Have a Different Approach To Customer Service

Like the line from the Mick Ralphs tune Oh Atlanta  says - Oh Atlanta I Got To Get Back To You. So we usually get to Atlanta several times a year. Fortunately, the weather was fabulous during one of our recent trips to visit our very handsome and brilliant son and his even more brilliant and adorable wife, giving us ample reason to venture outside. Atlanta always impresses when it comes to places to eat, both fine and low rent, so we decided to try some old favorites and a few new ones. The design of many of these newer places, particularly in Midtown, with an eclectic mix of avante garde, industrial chic and Jackson Pollock,  is often at the cutting edge of trendy, which makes for a great aesthetic, if only temporary, before the next wave brings about new hipness requirements. Design now becomes fashion. As an architect and interior designer I get that. However, as my old Professor Gettle used to say, trendiness begets tediousness.   

 

Good architecture is NOT akin to a  pair of Gucci's or a $600 Michael Kors bag. However, in retail and food service, in particular, the line between the latest Armani soon to be on the half price rack suit and the industrial-rusty walled-spilled paint on the floor-retro graphics-ooh isn't this just the hippest place you have ever seen design aesthetic is very thin. Don't get me wrong, I am a lover of all things new in design. I just don't see Frank Gehry's creations being included in the pantheon of great western architecture like, say, a Richard Neutra house or the Chrysler Building. But, in Atlanta, at least they are trying. 

 

Design and aesthetics aside, one thing must be said about Atlanta. If you've a mind to, you can enjoy some very cool culinary delights in all manner of places, from the simple joint in a repurposed urban hay barn where they claim they grow everything on their menu in their very own backyard  to the more highbrow penthouse revolving eatery where they claim that  the beef in their restaurant comes from the offspring of a single bull named Bastion who feeds only on special organic free range grass in a small village in the Andes and they fly  it in fresh every day on their own refrigerated high speed modified F-15. Only beautiful people, or at least more attractive people with money,  eat in this beautiful enclave high above the city where Bastion's little ones are served only on sustainable extra virgin bamboo dinnerware. Now these places may or may not exist, but, any town that has a restaurant where patrons literally eat in the dark - Dining In The Dark - will surely have unique choices such as these I have imagined for Nomads traveling to The Big Peach.

 

No Nothing For You!

 

After visiting several new dining establishments in A-Town, I discovered a disturbing trend among some of Atlanta's more hip eateries.   Many of these places have developed a business model similar to the renown Soup Nazi of Seinfeld fame. The food is killer with an attitude to go with it, and I don't mean that in a good way. In their quest to become the NYC or Chicago of the south, these places are slowly taking a path which many young Millennials and Gen Y'ers have come to accept but this old Baby Boomer finds annoying and tedious.

Case No. 1 - Taqueria del Sol

This place has some of the best Mexican meets Old South cuisine served anywhere. With items like Memphis Tacos (pork & jalapeno cole slaw) or Fried Chicken Tacos (fried chicken & jalapeno mayonnaise) you can't go wrong. And with sides like spicy turnip greens or blue cheese mash potatoes, you can enjoy a well rounded meal to die for, literally. And the prices are very reasonable. However, you must follow these rules to ensure an incident free dining experience:

• Do not bring small children. To prove the point, they have no high chairs.
• Do not even think about asking to be seated until your entire party has arrived. If you try this, it can get ugly. And, of course, never, ever try and seat yourself.
• Make absolutely certain that you have studied the menu during your 30-45 minute queue so that you are ready to order quickly, without delaying the Colonel Klinkette at the counter. And she really prefers that you already have your cash or credit card in hand BEFORE you arrive at the counter. 
• And one item that annoys me. The soft drink you order comes in a twelve ounce can - i.e. no refills. I have always been afraid to order another one from my table, as I fear it would upset the natural flow and the precision with which this place cranks out more great food in less time than any place I have ever been - I think.  

Bottom line - Nazis or not - the food's worth the wait and the prices won't force you to dip into your Quicken Line of Credit. Just don't bring a kid or dilly dally at the counter!

 

Case No. 2 - Antico's Pizza  Napoletana 

The sign says BENVENUTI TO WORLD CLASS PIZZA. I don't think so! You are not welcome and the pizza is, well, read on. A partial list of Nomad complaints:

• These people at Antico's make the Soup Nazi look like Shirley Temple. The staff went to a special class to learn the nuances of being rude and disinterested.
• You have to sit at tables with strangers. Now I love new experiences as much as the next guy and I am not anti-social. However, the ambiance of this place is akin to eating in a muffler shop. Everyone is always yelling - at each other, at the wait staff or at the guy trying to steal their seat. And actually getting a seat usually involves some sort of threat of bodily harm.
• And best of all - The pizza just ain't that good. And the prices are ridiculous. Cucinella's in my current home town of Madison, Florida (population 2,769) made by a transplanted New Yorker and his kids and grand kids leaves Antico's in the dust.
• The last straw was the twelve ounce canned coke and no ice!

Bottom Line - On the Soup Nazi Scale - these guys take it to a whole new level. Unless you like average food in a loud, not particularly friendly atmosphere, pass.

 

Case 3 - Gio's Chicken Almafitanoi

This little place is in the same building as Antico's. Great food, decent prices, mediocre staff. Must be something in the air. Some thoughts on Gio's:

• The Pollo Tradizionale is all good. I had the Sorrento Lemon and it was worth the fifteen bucks.
• Though not Naziesque, the front counter girl was an obvious trainee, with that look that can only be described as a cross between bored and condescending.
• Like their sister place next door, there is only group seating. That was actually ok, because, the decibel level was considerably lower than next door. Call me picky if you like, I just don't like paying theses prices and eating in a room with the acoustics of a sewer pipe.
• And finally, when I asked the half hearted girl who was very interested in her I-phone if they had wine by the glass, she pointed to a row of "mini" wine bottles. So I ordered one and she disdainfully handed it to me after ringing it up. What is it with liquid refreshment being offered only in a small can or bottle in this town? I think I see a pattern here.

Bottom Line - I will go back. When the food is that good and not that expensive, the annoyances can be forgiven. And the itty bitty bottle of wine didn't suck.

 

Case No. 4 - Café Gio 

Advanced Nazi training is most evident at the gelato counter. This very small place is in the back of Gio's. Only three things need to be said:

• They informed us, rather rudely, that they don't give samples. Sorry, I am just not going to try goat cheese and raspberry latte gelato without kicking the tires.
• You have to pay before you select. No big deal. It's just weird and, may I say, somewhat Naziesque
• The gelato is not that good. If you think you are going to be transported to Firenza, where they have insane gelato on every corner, think again.

Bottom line - If you can find a parking space, go ahead. But you could do much better at Pelatos Gelato in the Virginia Highlands. Great people and great gelato.

 

And Then There's Bacado's - No Nazi's, Soup or Otherwise

 

At least one restaurant in Midtown Atlanta is bucking the Soup Nazi trend - Bacado's. Located in Midtown, this unique eatery has everything you need for a great night out - a funky, very hip interior design, complete with an open air "porch" at the back and supremely pleasant and helpful staff. From a very diverse menu, I took my son's advice and dined on the best twelve dollar hamburger this side of anywhere. Expertly prepared with a blend of brisket, pork and angus beef and cooked to perfection on a fresh grained bun, this burger will set you free, indeed.

 

One word of advice on the appetizers. I ordered a "plate" of the Thomasville, Georgia Goat Cheese. The cheese was excellent, but it was the single smallest piece of cheese ever served in restaurant. We had a good laugh and, I , being a good Nomad, actually cut up the cheese into four pieces for all to enjoy along with a nice, and pricey, bottle of Pinot Noir. As we enjoyed our morsels of cheese and wine, we had a great laugh at the lilliputian size of the cheese produced just thirty miles north of my home town. And finally, an entirely new concept in today's new urban restaurant obsession with long lines that prove we are the hippest of the hip - They take reservations - How Quaint!

 

And Then There Was Baseball

 

To top our weekend off in the Capital of the South, my son and I attended the Georgia Tech vs Florida State baseball game. With the great weather and a beautiful college setting on the GT campus, there is just no better way for a Nomad to appreciate the best parts of life than attending a baseball game with his son. What is it about food purchased at a baseball game? It just taste better for some reason. A burger and nachos with fake cheese - Oh Yea Baby! And, in this setting, the canned coke works. As luck would have it, we trailed until the sixth inning, when we took the lead and held on to beat the Yellow Jackets. All in all, a pretty good day. It's nice to know that you don't always have to go around the world to savor the best that life has to offer.

 

So next time you are in the hometown of the one and only Ted Turner, aka MOUTHOFTHESOUTH, enjoy the food and notate the attitudes for future reference.

 

Bon Appetit Y'all

 

D.L. Stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

 

Travel Quote of The Week - "If I ever get back to Georgia, I'm gonna nail my feet to the ground" - Lewis Grizzard - humorist, writer and raconteur.

 

Video Artist of The Week - Little Feat - These LA rockers combine blues, R&B, jazz and southern rock to bring a sound that makes you move. Check out an old Midnight Special performance with none other than Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt singing back up on the classic tune Dixie Chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - GLAMPING FOR THE "I HAVE TO HAVE MY OWN BATHROOM" SET

These Places Were Never In The Boy Scout Manual

 

Because I am constantly on the prowl for cool spaces in unforgettable places, I subscribe to way too many travel web sites and blogs. However, unlike such purveyors of mediocrity and really small fine print, Groupon and Living Social, and bundle sites such as Kayak and Priceline.com, who never, and I mean never, save you money, sometimes I get noticed with some pretty good deals on some pretty good places. And, of course, since this humble correspondent's only goal is to make you, the wandering vagabond that you have become, a happy camper, I am pleased to bring you some breaking news on actual camping.

 

Yes, that's right - camping. Now, let's be honest. Camping is not everyone's cup of tea. For me personally, I was a Boy Scout for life. Sleeping in a tent and living in the woods was the highlight of my existence until I discovered girls. And I still have fond memories of the Smokies with mom, dad, and brother camping next to a roaring stream and eating food prepared in large skillets and other non-electrical outdoor appliances. It was 1950's high tech at its best. It is amazing how food that you would never eat at home actually taste good after a couple of days in the woods. As another aside, my brother was not, is not and will never be enamored with camping. He says since we learned to walk upright, we should no longer sleep on the ground.  And the activity of modern day camping with all of the current high tech gizmos, solar powered flat screens and infrared grills is well beyond the scope of this blog.

 

As entrepreneurial endeavors go, the guy or gal that thought people would pay big money to sleep in the lap of luxury in tents is apparently on to something. The growth of high and low end camping for nomads is proving that we urbanites long for at least some  assimilation with the great outdoors. However, Baby Boomers grew up with air conditioning, television and automatic dishwashers. And with the proliferation of suburbia, we have distanced ourselves from the real outdoors. Well, glamping, or camping for people like my brother, proves you can have your cake and eat it too. No sir, this is no driving stakes, sleeping in a bag or eating freeze dried whatever. This "style" of camping would have made even Teddy Roosevelt envious.

 

And Now For The Good Part

 

As I said earlier, I receive all manner of offers, deals and "packages" extolling the virtues of tripping with yet another "adventure" travel site for amounts worthy of a medium size line of credit. However, if you want to take the plunge into the great outdoors and don't want to break the bank, then you should check out the latest offer from the Vacationist travel site. If you are not a member, just join online for free.

 

GLACIER UNDER CANVAS has just about everything a yuppified camper - and I mean that in a good way- needs. King size beds and all the comforts of home in a nice walled canvas tent. And you get to wake up to the beauty of one of America's most grand National Parks. In addition to the sleeping tent, you have your choice of  a Safari Tent with a shared bath, A Deluxe tent with a private bath in an adjacent teepee or a Suite with an en suite bath. Prices start at $139 and top out at $276. This is important if not having your own bathroom is a deal breaker, since a majority of glamping places provide shared bathing facilities. And what urban camper, including yours truly,  doesn't need his or her very own loo while communing with the beasts of the field and the fowl of the air? I'm sorry, that's where I draw the line. I lived in a dorm my first year in college and that's the last time I ever shared bathroom facilities. It wasn't pretty. The deal ends March 31, so get busy before the prices go up.

 

And the choices for glamping don't end there. There are numerous luxury camping "tent hotels", yurts, and other alternative outdoor sleeping places to suit every pocketbook while getting you back to the land.  Many are located in some very exotic locales as well. For more information on glamping, check out Glamping.com. It gives some basics on the old/new way to sleep in the great outdoors and contains many links to other glamping sites. And if you want to see someone else's opinion on the best glamping places, then 10 of the Best Glamping Destinations for Travel Snobs would be a good place to start.

 

 

Head 'Em Up Move 'Em Out

 

d.l.Stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - PAIN BEGATS FUNNY IN THE MOST UNLIKELY PLACES

Writing, Grooming, Surfing and joie de vivre on AMAZON

 

Newsflash! Today's post is not about travel per se, unless you consider the reality that we still have to groom ourselves while traveling.  Unless you are Anthony Bourdain, who looks like he sleeps in a ditch most of the time, you need to get rid of that unibrow on occasion, not to mention those seemingly endless patches of hair growing in places you never would have expected when you were much younger. For men, in particular, nose and ear hair, disgusting though it may be, has to be dealt with, lest people talk about you in hushed tones. Some Europeans may find the presence of voluminous body hair to be stylish, even sexy, but we Americans have developed the No No Hair business model when it comes to unwanted growth in all the wrong places.

 

Women have been obsessed with good grooming since the ancient Greeks moisturized their skin with honey. But, let's be honest, all men are metrasexuals on some level. We shave, trim and pull out unwanted hair just like the girls. I don't think waxing is an accepted practice yet, but the search for grooming "tools of the trade" is never ending, which brings me to the central point of today's Alert.

 

Relevant Information Found While Surfing

 

As a writer, I am constantly reading other writers. That's one of the many rules laid down by "serious" writers. However, since I am addicted to trolling the internet, primarily to find the next best place to sleep, I have developed a chronic case of ADD. I have the attention span of an eight year old. The internet did it. But that's a discussion beyond the scope of this blog and gets analysis ad nauseum from TV shrinks and pundits 24-7. Because my attention span, or lack therof, is quickly approaching infinity, I take great delight when I read anything clever or interesting in something under the Twitter character max. BTW - It's very rare to read anything interesting on Twitter.  Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a piece of brilliant comedic writing on, of all places, AMAZON.com. Like a Dave Barry protégé, the reviewer captures the pain and glory of an ill fated "manual" hair remover. It's as if Dennis Miller were writing copy for an early SNL Weekend Update. After reading this little piece of serious humor, I felt the need to share it with my fellow vagabonds. If you are feeling low, this should brighten your day.

 

An actual product and its review direct from AMAZON.com.

 

Groom Mate Platinum XL Nose & Hair Trimmer

by Groom Mate

 

List Price: $29.87

Price:        $18.88

You Save: $10.99 (37%)

• Groom Mate branded nose & ear hair trimmers are considered to be the finest battery-free nose hair trimmers available today. PHR Systems, Ltd. has been manufacturing these fine trimmers here in the USA since 1991.
• The Platinum XL nose & ear hair trimmer is made from 100% stainless steel and includes an unconditional lifetime warranty with a money-back guarantee if not satisfied.
• The Platinum XL trimmer has a patented rotary blade system that is guaranteed to never dull and to never pull or yank out nostril hairs.
• The Platinum XL trimmer will never cut or nick the sensitive lining of your nostril and nose hairs are gently and painlessly trimmed.
• A simple, safe and very effective nose and ear hair trimmer. Give yourself the gift of good grooming today!

 

 

 Ready to get out the credit card - right! Read on

 

One Star  OOOOOWWWWW!!!

Review by Schuylercat on Jun 3, 2010    

 

This little bloodthirsty monster works absolutely fantastic 99% of the time - spin and trim, gets the stragglers that electric back-and-forth models miss, easy and fast.

Then there's that 1%. It transforms, magically, into an instrument of evil Torquemada would have included in his torture kit. It becomes a little set of pliers, rather than a clipper.

Every so often it grabs a hair. It doesn't gently fondle the hair, and it doesn't caress the hair, and it doesn't bloody brush it: it grips it with the strength of ten frickin' Grinches, plus two, and...

It.

Will.

Not.

Let.

Go.

I swear I can hear it giggling over the sound of my screaming.

Torquemada Indeed!

 

So the next time you're standing in front of the mirror, getting ready for a night on the town in Paris, Valencia or some other exotic locale, staring at your state of the art hair remover with the dead battery, you can chuckle at the trailblazer that gave you the unvarnished truth about the one with no power.

 

Remember Fellow Nomads - Grass Doesn't Grow On Busy Streets

d.l.stafford
thenomadARCHITECT

 

SO WHAT MAKES A HOTEL WORTHY?

Great Hotels Are Like Great Art - You Have To Know What You're Looking At

 

My favorite professor in architecture school was on a mission. Both in the studio and his favorite class - we called it history and mystery - his obsession was a long and arduous journey to impart knowledge to his students. As a former student of  one of the founders of The  International Style, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, he insisted his young charges leave his classroom and studio with as much knowledge of the aesthetics, structure and meaning of great architecture, art and other artistic accomplishments, great and small, as he could impart. Many people are fond of the statement - I don't know anything about art, but I know what I like. Statements like that in the presence of Professor Gettle would get you a stern reprimand and an intense lecture on the nuances of Renaissance painters  versus Cubism or the reasons for the fluted grooves in Greek columns, which are many and beyond the scope of this post.

 

Determining the coolness factor or the aesthetic worthiness of a small hotel and its surroundings requires much the same level of "knowledge" about what you are looking at and looking for in a place that can take your vagabonding to the next level. It's similar to comparing a Frank Lloyd Wright house to one designed by a lesser talent. By combining the notions presented throughout this blog with your own timely travel research, you will develop an appreciation of all the factors that make a place worthy of your time and money. Ultimately, the goal is to develop the knowledge and experience to ensure that you know what you are looking at. If you believe, as any aesthetic vagabond believes, that architecture and design, when done well, can actually make your travels, indeed your life, better, then read on. Otherwise, skip the esoteric lingo and check out the latest "deal" from Kayak or Hotels.com. As someone once said when asked why he would spend $1,000 on a new suit as opposed to $200, he replied - Because I look much better in a $1,000 suit.

 

But Wait - It's Not Always About The Money

 

The focus of this blog has slowly transitioned, over its first three years, into an obsessive search for great hotels or other unique places to sleep that don't require a second mortgage to pay the rent. If you stay at The Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, for the ridiculous sum of $1,200 to $1,400 per night, everything, and I do mean everything, better be otherworldly, or there will be trouble. I'm just sayin'.

 

If you have unlimited funds, you will always have the perceived best at your disposal. Expensive hotels, especially "resort" hotels, spend an inordinate amount of time and money on services that a true vagabond doesn't need. I really don't need my luggage hauled to my room with the mandatory explanation of how the television works or where the hair dryer is. A hotel we stayed in not so long ago in Jacksonville Beach, of all places, did not have a coffee maker in the room or ice makers on the floor, requiring you to call room service to have those rather pedestrian conveniences delivered to your room with the expectation of a tip for each delivery. All part of the "total service" hotel experience - tedious!

 

Finding a great hotel at a great price is not always easy. It depends on where you are headed and what you are looking for. It's easy in Europe, the UK being the one exception. Italy, France, Spain et al have scores of great places at great prices. And its hard in the good ole USA. If you do a lot of homework, you can find reasonably priced hotels in parts of California, the Northwest and the East Coast. Florida? Fugetaboutit, unless you go to Miami. And why would anyone do that on purpose? Boutique hotels are, indeed, rare in the Sunshine State. When planning a trip, you should include a few places that you would never tell your in laws what you spent because they would try to have you committed. As my old roomie used to say - What's a few hundred dollars in a lifetime? As in life, travel is about balance, right?

 

Many factors go into the creation of a great hotel. Today, I am going where no other travel blogger has gone before. I am taking the plunge. I am waxing eloquent. I am going out on a limb. I am barking up the big tree. I am going to give my favorite nomads a short version of the  unadulterated, unfettered, unabashed and extremely opinionated checklist to use when searching for the perfect place to R & R like a true Nomad.

 

Aesthetics DO Matter

 

A well designed hotel, like a beautiful woman, gives one pause to smile. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In hotels, less so. One of the discussions we have around here fairly regularly is the attempt to answer the modern architect's lament - Why do Americans embrace the McMansion model of residential design, as opposed to the beautiful, simple and elegant "modern" residential designs that were immensely popular in the fifties and sixties but gave way to the faux estatelettes that litter suburbia today. Whether it's a sleek modern, minimalist design or a repurposed prison built in the fourteenth century that is now an elegant twenty room boutique, the design of the place makes a difference.

Cibilo Creek Ranch near the art colony/town of Marfa, Texas proves this point in the extreme. A repurposed fort, complete with gun openings used back in the day for keeping attackers at bay, Cibilo sits amidst thirty thousand acres of hauntingly austere and beautiful Texas desert. Purchased and restored by a wealthy CEO, this "ranch" sports every quality one would expect in a five star hotel overlayed and inserted into an 1800's fort. The blend of ancient and new makes it memorable. Not to mention the killer beds, on site food and camels, yes camels, that roam the place.

 

Size Really DOES Matter

If anyone within the sound of this blog has ever stayed in a mega hotel and thought it worthy of their hard earned cash, by all means please let me know. There is nothing more tedious  than a thousand room hotel that is over staffed and overpriced to respond to your every need. You become a bit player in a kind of a ground hog day of valets,  room service with average food and lobbies full of hundreds of people thinking they have found the best of the best. The smaller, the better in my book. You get more real personal service because the people serving you are usually the owners who have invested their money and their lives in running their little part of the travel world. Only in environs like the intimate courtyard of a repurposed manse in Avignon can you sit with the owner and discuss how their unique place came to be. Designed by a Swiss architect and his artist wife,  the edgy Lumani B&B,  in the heart of the City of Popes, is just such a place. Small really is the way to go. 

 

And Speaking of Food

 

Food is the WD-40, if you will, of travel. We all agree you have to have a great place to sleep, but, without great food, you will eventually become a creaky, cranky vagabond. If you are staying in an urban hotel, the food choices are usually many. You should aways check with the owners of your hotel for the best spots. Many boutique hotels are located in places far away from the madding crowd. This fact usually requires that food be served on site. Dining on rabbit at Castello de Tornano, in the heart of Tuscany, was both a culinary and sensory delight that we still talk about. The fact that it was served in the former great hall of a vintage castle built in 1110 didn't hurt.

 

The Bed's The Thing

 

At the The Inn of The Five Graces in Santa Fe, you can actually purchase their bed "system" for the princely sum of $5,000. Now I have never spent that much on a bed, but, sleeping on one will tempt you to run up your American Express right on the spot. Resist the urge. You're on vacation, man! The point is - great little hotels usually have big, comfy beds.

 

You Need Stuff To Do Too

OK, you've slept well. You've eaten well. And you have money to burn, because you didn't spend the ridiculous sums and you didn't pay all the fees and tips associated with a big fat resort. No, if you followed all the Do's and Don'ts of finding the perfect little place, you ended up in an intimate boutique with a view to die for at a price you can brag about. But after the sleeping and the eating, a vagabond needs something to do. That's where the local environs of a hotel come into play. And personal preference becomes critical. If you happen to be one who lives for the urban delights of Paris, then, an isolated former hayloft turned country chic suite to die for in the middle of nowhere probably isn't your first choice. But, if communing with cows and rural artifacts is your thing, then say hello to the country life.

 

Recently, on our annual anniversary trip to a small five unit boutique, Wild Springs Guest Habitat, in the even smaller town of Port Orford, Oregon, we enjoyed the wild beauty and isolation of the Pacific, as well as world class art galleries and edgy art exhibits. All in a community with no more than three traffic lights. If you do your homework, you can have your travel cake and eat it too.

At The End Of The Day

When its all said and done, the perfect vagabond hotel comprises those attributes that take you to a different time and place that feels right. Everyone is looking for God's Country. If you are passionate about travel and do your due diligence while planning your dream vacation, you will find your little piece of heaven on earth. In the city, in the country, by the sea or in the desert. Travel changes you in ways you never expect. And it goes a lot better when you are in a place that meets your aesthetic, emotional and cultural needs. So, happy hunting. Great travel requires inspiration and an unwillingness to settle. But when you sit with the ones you love and raise that glass of local vintage, under the big tree overlooking the big sea, you will know that it was worth it.

I hope 2014 takes you to places you never knew existed. Remember, the yellow brick road had a lot of curves in it, not to mention the interesting characters along the way.

 

See You Somewhere Over The Rainbow

 

d.l.stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

 

Travel Quote of The Week - “The major advantage of domestic travel is that, with a few exceptions such as Miami, most domestic locations are conveniently situated right here in the United States.” – Dave Barry

 

Video Artist of The Week - Steely Dan - The purveyors of Post Modern Jazz Rock bring excellent musicianship and lyrics, sarcastic and ironic, that only Fagan and Becker understand - But its still great listening and very tight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELL HELLO DALI - IT'S SO NICE TO SEE YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU BELONG

Finding A Good Hotel In The Land of Snowbirds Proved To Be A Bit Of A Challenge

Dateline - Saint Petersburg, Florida. Back in the day, like so much of old Florida, Saint Pete, where I lived and worked for five years in the early 2000's, was getting long in the tooth. Then, in the early 1990's, a renaissance began and brought this small enclave of condos, marinas and foot friendly parks and walkways into the twenty first century. When we lived there, we enjoyed the weather, great music and entertainment venues and the best airport on the planet.

 

Living in God's Country here in North Florida gets very tedious around January and February. Overcast skies, rain, cold and absolutely nothing to do makes one antsy at best and ornery at worst. So, it's only natural that any vagabond worth his or her salt would long for warmer climes and something - anything - to do. For some time now, we have talked about revisiting one of the few places we have lived to see the new DALI Museum and, this time of year, enjoy the always great weather in the little city by the bay. So, we decided to pack a few things and head south to our old stomping grounds for a little culture, some great food and warmer temperatures. The three day road trip did not disappoint.

As I started planning our trip to see the father of surrealism, eat some great food and bask in the warmth of the Florida sun, finding a hotel became a challenge. First, this time of year is very busy due to the snowbirds, with money to burn, coming south from Minneapolis, Newark and Buffalo to enjoy spring baseball and great weather. People from that part of the country are a demanding lot and tend to play a significant role in the cultural clash between know it all "Yankees" and people who just don't get in much of a hurry. One guest in the lobby of our hotel could not understand why the parking valet did not automatically take his one bag to his room. Kind of pushy and kind of a pain. As Georgia native Lewis Grizzard, the author of such classics as "Elvis is Dead and I'm Not Feelin' Too Good Myself" said - "We don't mind you eating our food or dating our women, we just don't wanna to know how you do it in Cleveland". Second, while Saint Pete is a beautiful small city, complete with repurposed buildings of many vintages, many green spaces and parks and numerous great restaurants, its selection of hotels leaves a bit to be desired.

My original plan was to stay in the renovated Vinoy, a Mediterranean Revival hotel originally built in 1925 and completely renovated in the 1990's for the princely sum of $93 million. It is now a Marriott property. However, when I went to check for reservations, I was stunned at the price of $369 per night. As a true vagabond and lover of small hotels, I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a room at a Marriott. So, I kept looking and found a much more reasonable room at - close your ears - the Downtown Hampton Inn. That's right, this blogger of all things great and small in hotels - this loather of chains - actually stayed in the Hampton Inn on Beach Boulevard in little ole Saint Pete. Before you say shame on me, consider this - the Hampton is Trip Advisor's No. 1  rated hotel in Saint Pete. In addition, it is in a great location with 40-50 restaurants within easy walking distance and, with 92 rooms, it has all the things you expect in a high quality, small hotel. A decent, well outfitted lobby greets guests. Our room boasted a nice subtle interior color scheme, an ample sitting area with a small couch and easy chair, a small in-room bar with sink and fridge, a great bed and a  balcony to enjoy the weather. The staff was excellent and the price was not earth shattering. One exception - chain food is chain food. We just couldn't bring ourselves to chow down on the corporate microwaved munchies at breakfast.

 Nomads Must Have Great Food To Make A Thing Go Right

 

Not only does Saint Pete have fabulous weather, it also has more quality restaurants per capita than any small city I have ever lived in or visited. Seafood, steaks, fusion, Italian - even tapas - you name it - Saint Pete has something for every taste and pocketbook. For serious foodies, the following places will get you started on the road to culinary delights:

Moscato's Bella Cucina: Very diverse menu and a great wine list. It was packed on a Sunday night! This place is a keeper for Italian food lovers.

Cassis American Brassiere and Bakery: Great breakfast, great bakery and ridiculous gourmet ice cream. The peach will set you free!

Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant: A great way to test your palette with a menu of everything. Excellent choices for munching dozens of different foods from egg plant to stuffed pork. The interior is elegant old school too with excellent tile work and metal sculpture.

Saint Pete Has Always Had Great Weather - Now It Has A World Class Museum

The primary reason for our sojourn to Saint Pete was the newly constructed Salvador Dali Museum. Since our hotel was centrally located, we walked the few blocks to the building which houses the largest collection of works by the famed surrealist outside of his native Spain. The story of how the City of Saint Petersburg came to be the gate keeper of this large collection of Dali paintings is one of the most improbable in the world of fine art.

 

The story goes that A. Reynolds and Eleanor R. Morse, from Cleveland, Ohio, bought their first Dali in 1943 and continued buying works over a forty year period, amassing an impressive collection of over 1,400 works by the father of surrealism, which they displayed in their home. By the late 1970s, realizing that the collection needed a more permanent home, they decided to donate the collection to a museum. The only caveat was that individual works could never be sold and the entire collection had to remain intact. This stipulation caused many museums to take a pass. However, the City of Saint Petersburg saw the possibilities of housing this great collection of world class art and renovated a warehouse to house the collection. How's that for vision? The collection remained there until January, 2011, when it was moved into new digs and is now permanently housed in an amazing building worthy of one of the most visionary artists of the twentieth century. According to the museum's web site, the building is indeed an architectural tribute to the master:

 

"Designed by architect Yann Weymouth of HOK, the new building combines the rational with the fantastical: a simple rectangle with 18-inch thick hurricane-proof walls out of which erupts a large free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the "enigma". The "enigma", which is made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass, stands 75 feet at its tallest point, a twenty-first century homage to the dome that adorns Dali's museum in Spain. Inside, the Dali houses another unique architectural feature - a helical staircase - recalling Dali's obsession with spirals and the double helical shape of the DNA molecule."

 

The Dali, a cutting edge building housing some of the most thought provoking, masterfully created paintings, sketches and water colors ever created, reminds us of the life enhancing power of great architecture, the mother art, and other great works of art. From the massive Hallucinogenic Toreador, full of personal symbolism, to the religious vision of St. James of Compostela to the many smaller works by this master surrealist technician, you realize why we must have the true creative adventurers lead us to make our own vision brighter and more profound. In addition to the great works of Dali, the museum also featured a small show of works by Andy Warhol, proving that modest talent, great marketing and timing can take you places in the art world.  If Warhol had been a pop song writer instead of a pop artist, he would have been know for having "great hooks", lyrics and music that pull you into a song, but, don't necessarily affect you on any meaningful level. I don't care how many varieties of soup cans Warhol painted, Dali he aint'!! But it was an interesting counterpoint to the genius displayed in the main galleries.

 

So, if you need a breather from the low temps, unending rain or snow and boredom of late winter, head down I-75 to Tampa Bay and check out the cool little city of Saint Petersburg, the Dali and one of the truly great collections of art in the world. You will be a Blue Nomad No More.

 

Best Get Busy My Fellow Vagabonds - Time Is Slip, Sliding Away

 

 

Me encanta el arte

 

d.l.stafford

thenomadarchitect

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel Quote of The Week - "One certainty when you travel is the moment you arrive in a foreign country, the American dollar will fall like a stone". Erma Bombeck

 

Video Artist of The Week -  Hot Chicks Playing Hot Strings - BOND. This quartet of classically trained fiddlers brings a new approach to classical music with infusions of rock, jazz and pop. I saw this unique group perform at the famous Mahaffey Theatre in Saint Pete, considered by many to be Florida's most acoustically perfect performance venue. Another good reason to visit the little city by the bay.

 

 

HIP, HIPPER & HIPPEST - GET YOURS TODAY!! HIP HOTELS BOOKS ON THE CHEAP

It's Hip To Be Square - Especially If You Are A Book

 

That's right, the books are indeed square. I promise - this is the last time. My annual  YOU HAVE TO GET THESE BOOKS IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS NOMAD, VAGABOND OR WANDERER AND SEE SOME OF THE COOLEST HOTELS ON THE PLANET  shameless book plug. And I don't even get a commission. I have sung the praises of this great book series since the first day I started this blog. As a matter of fact, the first one I bought helped inspire me to share my erudition about great travel and design some two years ago. I have since bought most published editions of this superbly illustrated book series featuring hotels of extraordinary design, from repurposed ancient ruins to cutting edge modern spaces,  by some of the most talented designers working today. More often than not, these two extremes are combined in innovative and thoughtful ways to create some of the most unique places to lay your weary head.

 

I have stayed in many of the featured hotels and have yet to be disappointed. This is the only series of books where you can get the skinny on places to drop anchor as diverse as the one of a kind Cibilo Creek Ranch , a small boutique hotel/resort in a repurposed fort built in the Big Bend of West Texas amidst 30,000 acres of haunting natural beauty. We enjoyed the expertly prepared food at the grand table along with the other guests. Or the Vecchio Molino, Umbria's answer for those who want to sleep in another time and another place. You can still see the rushing water from the old mill through the floor of the main social space. And for the truly adventurous, you can check out the Wigwam Motel on Old Route 66 in Holbrook, Arizona for a paltry $56 per night. In my humble opinion, no serious traveler who desires to stay in really cool places off the beaten path should be without these great books.

 

You Can Get A Great Travel Book & A Coffee Table Book In One For A Song!

 

The newer editions of this series are in the $30 price range. They are worth every penny, as they are not only a great travel resource but look really great on your coffee table. The photographs and descriptions are a delight to the eyes as well as the intellect. Lay one of these on your Noguchi glass original or retro knockoff and your guests will know beyond any shadow of any doubt that you are a highly urbane and sophisticated aesthetic vagabond. Recently I was doing some  travel research for some upcoming trips we were planning and stumbled across the travel book deal of the year. Holy galloping globetrotters!! You can get most of these great books on AMAZON for one red copper penny. That's right - one cent. Most have shipping of $3.99, so you are getting a great travel book for a scant four bucks total. In this world of overpriced everything, these deals should make even the most frugal shopaholic positively giddy. Most of these books are used, but, at a penny plus shipping, who's going to quibble? Some are a little more and, as I stated earlier, the more recent ones are pricier.

 

The Fine Print

 

Now, you must be asking yourself - What about the fact that some of these books are older, some going back to 2001? So, caveat emptor. Do your homework, as any Nomad should. Use these great books as inspirational starting points to find some truly amazing places to sleep. Use the internet to check out the web sites and review sites to calm your jitters about a place that was featured before you became the wise vagabond you are today. Of course, like all hotel books, bundle sites and reviewers, the prices listed in the book are largely irrelevant. But, all in all, these are great books for the serious traveler for whom design is a big deal.

Just in case you are wondering about the credentials of Herbert Ypma, the photographer and writer of this excellent trip through the best of the best. Don't worry. According to the short bio,  Mr. Ypma has lived on three continents and visited every state in the USA by the age of thirteen, except Alaska and Hawaii. I think this guy knows of what he speaks.  And he covers everything you ever wanted to know about amazing places to sleep. The books cover countries, cities and unique categories, including Hip Hotels USA, France, UK, Italy, Orient, New York, London, Paris, Budget, Escape, City, Beach & Ski. Finally, they have a Hip Hotel Atlas, which includes many of the places in a massive coffee table book which will impress even the most jaded tour weary traveler. You can read more about this compilation in an earlier post, Vagabond Alert No. 16 - If You Are A Serious Aesthetic Vagabond, Buy This Book.

Finally, after you have perused all of the cool places you want to stay, you can checkout  The Hip Hotels Web Site, where you can sign up for a newsletter or  read timely information about newly discovered great hotels. And, of course, if you are new millennium hip vagabond, they have a great app for your mobile device.

 

 

Read - Dream - Go

 

d.l. stafford

thenomadARCHITECT

Travel Quote of The Week - “Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.”

― Isabelle Eberhardt, The Nomad: The Diaries of Isabelle Eberhardt

Video Artist of The Week - The Beatles - John, Paul, George & Ringo. If you don't know them and, even worse, if you don't like them - Well, that would be just a pity now wouldn't it? Fifty years ago this week - From 1964 - Ed Sullivan - All My Lovin' to Get Back on The Roof 1969, their last performance. Six Years. Twenty No. Ones. 500 million records sold. Simply put. The greatest pop/rock band of all time. Gator Bowl/World Tour 1964 - 9th grade - I was there. I didn't get my hair cut for two months.

 

RANDOM VAGABOND ALERT - AMAZING IN MOSCOW

Amazing Grace In The Most Unexpected Of Places

I have never been to Moscow and, quite frankly, it's pretty far down on my bucket list. However, my old college roomie sent me this "amazing" rendition of one of the greatest gospel hymns  ever written. The Russian singer delivers this song with soul from somewhere deep inside and the others singing with him help capture one of the most powerful and touching versions you will ever hear. The short Wikipedia introduction about Amazing Grace says:

"Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognizable Christian hymns in the English-speaking world. The text by English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton (1725–1807) was first published in 1779. The words describe in first person the move of a "wretch" from a "lost" to a "found" state by a merciful act of God.

Over 6,000 recordings of this ancient song have been made. From Ray Charles to Johnny Cash to Il Divvo to Arlo Guthrie at Woodstock, no less, this hymn of power and belief has become an anthem to lost souls and believers of every persuasion. This version captures the essence of the great lyrical beauty and the soulful quality embodied in this timeless gospel classic. In a word - it's amazing!

 

I'd like to teach the world to sing, indeed - Enjoy!

d.l.Stafford
thenomadARCHITECT