Tag Archives: Tourism

Tallinn, Above and Below

August 28, 2024travel, Uncategorizedculture, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

Our visit to the Nordic countries at the beginning of the summer season seems so long ago now, viewing it from the end of August. But, it still merits one more blog post!

When we discovered during our trip planning that Tallinn, Estonia is just an easy two-hour ferry ride across the Baltic Sea from Helsinki, we had to take advantage of the opportunity to add another country to our itinerary. We also read, and heard, that Tallinn had a lovely Medieval old town, on the Unesco World Heritage list, had many interesting sites, and was very walkable.

After a pleasant, uneventful passage on the huge ferry, we arrived at the port entry, and decided to walk to the Old Town where we had booked our accommodations. It’s not very far, but you have to cross a couple of very busy roads, and there was a lot of constuction, so it was not the most fun walk ever with roller board baggage in tow.

When we got to the vicinity of our Air BNB, we could not for the life of us find the entrance to the apartment building. Enter a very nice older woman who took us through a (secret?) basement passage, pointing us to the lobby of our building, and then disappeared. Was she a magical guide, or just a local who was more than done with us, once she had safely delivered us to the proper address? Either way, she did some clueless strangers a big favor, which boded well for our visit. (Come to find out, the entrance was virtually around the corner, but the directions were rather opaque.)

During our first foray into Old Town, we sought sustenance. It is de rigeur to try one of several pancake restaurants sprinkled throughout the area. This was not your light, airy and namby-pamby French style crepe, nor your doughy American breakfast offering. A heavy-duty affair, stuffed to the gills with meat, cheese (and maybe some nod to vegetables) arrived promptly to our table. Truth in advertising, the Kompressor has myriad choices of filled pancakes, and at very reasonable prices. Prepare to be as stuffed as the pancake if you eat it all. The dark wood interior also looks very Medieval (and maybe not redecorated since that era), to get you in the mood for exploring Old Town.

Stopping by the Visitor Center right in the heart of Old Town (where the staff all seems to have excellent English and are very helpful) will orient you to the city with maps, brochures, and answers to even your dumbest questions. We discovered (on our own, since we didn’t think to ask) that the Maritime Museum, which was just down the street from our apartment, had evening hours that day, and also a senior discount! It is located in one of the gate towers flanking the city, and is well worth a visit.

That was a highlight of the above ground cultural sites, but the next day, we did the below part. After venturing outside the gates to visit the market near the train station, and a very cool contemporary arts district, we finally figured out where the entrance to the Kiek in de Kök Fortification Museum was located. This museum complex includes an underground tour of the “Bastion passages,” an extensive series of tunnels.

Upon later comparing notes with a number of friends who have also visited Tallinn, not one of them had descended into this fascinating find. It is apparently not on too many of the “what to do if you only have two or three days in Tallinn” lists, but it was one of my favorite parts of our time there. Eerie, full of layers of history, and a cool respite from the unseasonably warm day, it hit several marks for this tourist!

My other favorite find was the (free!) medical museum, the Town Hall Pharmacy, purported to be “the oldest pharmacy in Europe that has continually operated on the same premises.” Just a couple of rooms, really, but very interesting and right in the thick of town center.

All in all, we really enjoyed our two nights, and almost three days in Tallinn. We missed a lot of things, naturally, but I think we packed in a good deal. Above and below, Tallinn ranks high in my recommendation of Nordic-adjacent cities to visit. Check some more details in the photos below, and feel free to let me and other readers know what you enjoyed if you have ever been there!

Steve eats pancakes in Tallinn — Steve tucks into a pancake (pictured is half of the pancake!). We got a salad to round things out.

There are a lot of levels in Tallinn, and a lot of ups and downs. And street art, too. Here, you can see how the lower and upper portions of the city form a sort of layer cake of building ages and styles.

The Maritime Museum entrance is right through this gate, in Fat Margaret’s tower. Like Finland, the Estonians do a good job of repurposing historic structures for new uses.

The first portion of the underground museum is a collection of stone carvings from various locations, relocated in theme rooms to this expansive space. It was really the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

This might give you some inkling of the extent, and levels, of the series of underground passageways. It goes on and on through space and time, revealing that the tunnels were used as a route for the military, a bomb shelter, a storage area for Russian propaganda, a punk rock band practice space, a homeless encampment. As if the sort of creepy space was not creepy enough, there are mannequins dressed in period clothes, colored mood lights, and even some ghostly hologram type stuff.

There’s also an above ground portion of the underground museum (three or four floors worth) which is part of remaining section of wall in this once-totally-walled city.

My “art shot” of the Orthodox Cathedral, from one of the upstairs windows of the museum. We ventured into this impressive edifice but found it to be dark, gloomy and not at all inviting. It’s pretty from the outside though.

Red flowers in foreground at a park in Tallinn, Estonia — You can take a tram or bus to other parts of the city, if you get tired of the historic Old Town, or just want to find out what else Tallinn has to offer. We trammed it to the Kadrioru Park, home to Tsar Peter I’s summer home, Kadrioru Castle (reminiscent of Versailles, and now an art museum) which was closed for the day by the time we got there. We visited the Japanese garden, shown here. One could spend a whole day just visiting this park.

Art shot #2, the Town Square turned upside down in an apothecary jar.

A Perfect Day in the Swedish Countryside

August 7, 2024travelTourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

Though it seems like a while back now, I wasn’t done reporting on our trip to the Nordic countries back in late May/early June. For one thing, I felt compelled to write about the beautiful day we had in the Southeastern Swedish countryside with our friend Gunhilde.

Our day started at Gunhilde’s current home, which has been in her partner’s family for nine generations. It is a picturesque complex of buildings, stained red in by the traditional method, including a sprawling farmhouse and various outbuildings. (Someone else’s) herd of white cows graze placidly in an adjacent meadow, and the property backs up to the woods. In other words, a setting straight out of a Swedish fairy tale, but minus the mischievous elves and other supernatural and sometimes malevolent beings.

After a leisurely breakfast and gathering ourselves together, we drove to the largest nearby town, making a stop for some errands before our first adventure: a Moose Safari. Basically, you drive your car around a fairly long loop trail in the woods, where the owners have gathered a bunch of moose in a natural setting (for safekeeping I guess, as well as to delight visitors). The moose seem pretty content with this arrangement. (And, this is better than encountering a wild, loose moose around a bend on a country road, it is to be noted.) We learned a lot about moose habits from the informative signage! We did see at least five or six moose, and the “bonus” – a slightly mangy herd of American bison.

Next, back home to the farm, to embark on a scenic walk to a nearby lake. We made an important detour from the lakeside into the farmland to visit Gunhilde’s favorite tiny bakery shop to pick out pastries. (More about how the pastries fit into the perfect Swedish day below.) By way of the lake, and then a stroll through the woods, we looped back to the farmstead.

By then, having had our exercise, we were ready to put the pastries to good use. I think we ate a light dinner first, but then indulged in our pastries not so much as “dessert” but in the traditional Swedish manner of fika. Fika is sort of like a coffee break, or afternoon tea, but really the only rule is that you get to eat some delicious pastries of your choice (cinnamon or cardamon buns are classic), sip a hot beverage, and chat, laugh, and generally enjoy yourselves with friends. You could do fika alone, too, but pastries are still a must, and it’s more fun with company.

The last act of the day was to go pet the cows (Gunhilde sang them a song) and watch the sunset. “Last act” since the sun doesn’t set in the Nordic countries in the summer until almost ten p.m., and is up again by 4 a.m.!

All in all, a really wonderful time and a great break from visiting the cities on our agenda. Experience it here in photos, and here’s hoping you had your own perfect summer day this season. If so, feel free to tell us about it in the comments!

A view of the farmstead, house on left, stables/garage on left, outbuildings in back.

Breakfast in the Nordics usually involves bread, cheese, fruit, veggies, muesli, and yogurt. If you’re staying at a hotel that offers breakfast, it is quite a spread involving a lot more food, but here, the basics and then some!

This was my best photo of a charming moose we encountered “on safari.” (Unlike safari in Africa, you can hang out the window to get a photo and don’t worry that something is going to jump in and eat you for lunch.)

In case you ever wanted to know the most intimate details about moose, such as how they can tell what direction the wind is blowing, you can find out in several languages.

Along the lake walk, with ever present birches.

Exterior, bakeshop, which is attached to the barn of the farmstead. They also sell plants and second hand items.

Interior, bake shop. Steve contemplates our purchases while Gunhilde works out the cash-only payment.

View of the boggy stand of woods, extremely atmospheric!

Our fika spread from the bake shop! I don’t recall what each of these was, but they were all scrumptious.

Nature treated us to the perfect ending to a perfect day.

There’s More to Baltimore

May 31, 2023UncategorizedBaltimore, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

Baltimore…so close to DC but a whole other experience. A couple of weeks ago, my sister was visiting from South Carolina, and we took a brief but action-packed journey to Charm City. She had some Marriot points, so we stayed “in style” right on the Inner Harbor near Pier 5. A room with a view from the 14th floor, no less.

The first things we did, after checking into our hotel, was to walk around the harbor to the Visitor Center. Here we met an amiable older gent named Sonny, who took us under his wing and gave us excellent suggestions on sites and how to get there. Handing us a map of the bus routes, he explained the free circulator bus that would get us just about anywhere worth going.

We ignored his first suggestion of visiting Fort McHenry, as we wanted to stay closer to the harbor. Instead, we took the short walk over to Cross Street Market in the Federal Hill neighborhood, and had a delicious Haitian vegetarian meal from one of the stands. Next, a visit to the incomparable American Visionary Arts Museum, also in the neighborhood. A brief but free water taxi ride later, we were back at our hotel to rest up before dinner. We picked Sonny’s choice, one of the oldest restaurants in nearby Little Italy, Chiapparelli‘s. Even though I thought there was no way to fit more food into my stomach, we then walked to Fell’s Point for gelato.

Our second day, we set out on the Circulator bus to the Johns Hopkins University campus, where the Baltimore Museum of Art is located. (First, we had to fortify ourselves by walking a few blocks east to a commercial strip of neighborhood for some coffee and bagels.) I was especially impressed by the Cone Sisters collection, which includes a lot of Impressionists and things that the rich sisters had bought from Gertrude Stein when she needed money.

Next, we set off for Lexington Market. You can’t take a free circulator bus there directly, so we had to do some map-reading to figure it out, but it was only about four blocks from the purple line route. The last time I visited Lexington Market, it was in the “old building” which is right next door to the “new building” which most businesses have moved to. Except Faidley’s, the quintessential destination for what is touted as the best crab cake in Baltimore, which we had to experience. Indeed, it is a masterpiece, especially eaten standing up at a wooden table. The patina of their of the old location, open since 1886, will never be matched if/when they move to the new building.

After a visit to the nearby graveyard where Edgar Allen Poe’s mortal remains reside, we realized that the “arts crawl” in the Bromo District that we had signed up for was – horrors – actually the next week (duh!), but that gave us a good excuse to go back to our hotel and chill for awhile before seeking a light dinner, and then indulging in a marathon Food Channel watching spree.

The next morning, we awoke to the golden light bouncing off the harborscape, packed up and took ourselves to the iconic (but perhaps overrated) Miss Shirley’s Cafe‘s downtown location, and drove back home. Only the fact that we had walked many miles both days kept us from having gained five pounds.

Left: View from the “Bird’s Nest” at the American Visionary Art Museum, looking toward main building and downtown. Below: Baltimore painted screen exhibition at the museum.

Despite its many good points, trying to get from one point to another within the Baltimore Museum of Art is not intuitive in the least. We must have gone through the Jon Waters Rotunda, where this curious piece of art resides, at least four times to reach other exhibitions!

Now, that’s what I call a crab cake! It’s at least the size of a softball, maybe bigger.

Golden morning light on the harbor, looking west.

California, Part III: Around Los Angeles

March 27, 2023L., Los Angeles, travelLos Angeles, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

We completed our recent California trip in and around L.A. We took the Coastal Highway (AKA Rte. 1) most of the way up from San Diego, with many beautiful views of the ocean. They remained “from afar” because it was so chilly with almost gale force winds all the way. Finally reached L.A. just in time to get caught in rush hour. (Which is not hard to do since it lasts, like, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. most days.) But we were treated to the spectacle of the snow-capped mountains flanking downtown L.A. so it wasn’t so bad.

We’ve housed a number of Smithsonian interns over the years, and kept close some of them. Madeeha Ahmed and her family have adopted us. We stayed with Madeeha at her cozy apartment near Echo Park several days, and visited her mom’s for a delicious Pakistani-American feast one night, and had fun playing with her niece and nephew and visiting with her sisters and brother in law. Another former intern, and 2022 Festival assistant, Andrea Mayorga, invited us to Santa Clarita for an outstanding Guatemalan-American feast with her family. Needless to say, we did not lose any weight on this trip!

Along with visiting friends, eating lots of good food, and taking some walks around Echo Park and Silver Lake, we visited the new(ish) Academy of Motion Pictures Museum. The museum is located next to the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art (LACMA) and not far from the La Brea Tar Pits. It’s quite large, with rotating exhibits focusing on different films which illustrate the complex business, and magic, of movie-making. (Something that I have been long fascinated by, but then who isn’t?) The Godfather exhibition brought back a lot of memories – not all good. Spoiler alert – remember the horse head in the bed?

Our trip to California all seems like a dream (a chilly and often damp one) now. Isn’t that the way with vacations?

Madeeha and Steve live the good life, sipping coffee at Woodcat on Sunset Boulevard.

Swan boat on Echo Park Lake. Note snow-capped mountains in the distance.

One of my favorite things on display at the Academy museum was this set of facial hair. A mustache for all occasions!

Of course, many more famous things are on display, like these Jack Skellington heads showing various emotions.

More hipster action from Steve and Madeeha, this time brunch at Sqirl.

California Part II: San Diego Delights

March 17, 2023#sandiego, tourismBalboa Park, San Diego, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

The second portion of our recent California trip took place in San Diego. The trip down there from our rental car pick-up spot near LAX was pretty grueling, as it got dark and started raining (during rush hour on the I-5) which was no fun at all for Steve the Driver. But we made it to the pleasantly retro Old Town Inn, and found a yummy kabab joint open later than nine p.m. near downtown before crashing.

The choice of San Diego as a destination spurred from a wish to visit my old high school buddy, Linda and her significant other, Tom, who spend the winters there. They drive across country from Western Massachusetts in their well-appointed RV, before the snow threatens to fly, jeep in tow. They park their home on wheels on Mission Bay, situated perfectly to view both sunsets and fireworks at Sea World. Nice!

Since they are semi-locals, they suggested an itinerary for the day which began with breakfast in Pacific Beach at an iconic restaurant, World Famous, steps from the beach. There’s a porch with heaters, which is good because despite our hope that San Diego would be warmer than San Francisco, it wasn’t much and the wind was wicked. (Still, some intrepid surfers were out there on the waves.)

We planned to spend the rest of the day, which you can do easily, at Balboa Park. Most people seem to know the park because the world-class San Diego Zoo is there, but, covering 1,200 acres, there a lot more to keep you amused. We stayed within the ample confines of a section of the park which once housed the 1915-17 Panama-California Exposition. (Why Panama you ask? Celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal, is the short answer.)

Today, the several-blocks-square cluster of buildings and other grandiose features left from the exposition (which, according to historic record, was not a really big success) house museums, displays, and theaters, and flank gardens, fountains and open arched arcades which, with some imagination, can transport you to — hmm, not sure where exactly, but a sort of part European, part Disneyland place with international flare.

A visit to the Visitor Center in the complex is suggested to get a map to keep you on the right path(s). We started at the Mingei International Museum (which it being a Tuesday was one of the only attractions in the park open), which features, naturally, international folk art and craft. There were two current exhibitions, one on piñatas and one on beads, both really well done.

Next, we descended into the charming Japanese Friendship Garden complete with koi ponds and a flowing stream, a bonsai display, and well-groomed paths lined with flowers, trees and statuary. Next, a tour around the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages, offering a sampling of cultures from around the world. (Only three of the 34 were open by three p.m. Most are only open on the weekends, and those open on weekdays seem to close early in the afternoon.)

After a bit more wandering around, we took a brief walk through a garden full of strange and wonderful succulents, and then contemplated an early dinner. Where could we see the sunset over the ocean and eat local seafood at a reasonable price? Back where we started from, it turns out! So, we backtracked to World Famous, enjoying a symmetrical ending to a great day.

Breezy and chilly Pacific Beach, the starting point.

This is a piñata, believe it or not. The exhibition showed how artists are “pushing the envelope” of piñata making with very small and very large iterations as well as artwork using piñata materials, making political and social statements, etc.

Overlooking the Japanese Friendship Garden from above.

An example of the splendiferous architectural wonders left over from the California-Panama Exposition.

Otherworldly cacti in one of the many Balboa Park gardens.

And… back where we started from. We enjoyed the sunset from the comforts of our table since the wind and chill never let up. (The World Famous might think about cleaning their porch windows.)

California, Part I: San Francisco Sojourn

March 10, 2023San Francisco, travelSan Francisco, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

A nice, warm, sunny escape from Northern Virginia to California seemed like just the ticket for late February/early March. The only part of that to come true, however, was the “escape” part as it was hardly warm and all too often not sunny during our whole trip. Especially in San Francisco, our first stop on the journey.

Still, we had fun visiting and hanging out with daughter M.E. and other friends, and seeing some of the sites. Since she’s lived there for a number of years, there is not much that we haven’t already visited at least once, but we found a few new diversions.

A visit to the Disney Family Museum in the Presidio was one of the first stops. Why is this museum in SF you ask? According to a helpful museum guide, it is because Walt’s daughter Diane lived in SF and wanted it close to home. No matter, it is interesting and more expansive than meets the eye at first (it just keeps going and going, chronicling Walt’s life from birth to death, and covering the evolution of the creative output we all know and most of us grew up with). Okay, so it may white-wash some of the not so great aspects of Walt’s personality and politics (see for instance this list of the not-so-nice). But, still, a good diversion for a couple of hours, and well done exhibitions, interactives and video clips that bring back memories.

Nearby, the new Tunnel Tops Park offers a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay and downtown SF. That view will never get old. We also caught a sunset at the ocean – at that point is was so cold and windy that we jumped out of the car only long enough to snap the sunset and ran back in – no lingering on the beach watching the few crazy surfers.

My birthday having been earlier in February, I had requested a mother-daughter birthday celebration at a Tiki Bar, of which there are many in SF including the original Trader Vic’s. We chose the Tonga Room in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel, downtown. (You could take a cable car part of the way there but we took the bus.) Totally over the top, and one tall $20 drink, which includes at least five types of liquor, will serve to set the mood.

The SF visit also included a performance of M.E.’s improv class, a visit to her high school friend Suchana (who impressively just defended her Ph.D. at Stanford), lots of good food including a dinner with friends/colleagues Elisa and Kyle, and a walk in the mostly gloomy, occasionally sunny, Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden. All in all, despite blooming flowers, palm trees and citrus fruit growing in backyards, chilly outside but warm and comforting inside with good company all around.

Here are some snaps of the highlights.

Steve was wearing a mask more to keep warm than to ward off COVID and other germs.

This is what makes creating film a lot like doing the Festival. Behind Walt Disney there was a whole host of creative talent, many acknowledged here and many more remaining anonymous I’m sure.

It always interests me afterwards what I decided to take photos of. I was smitten with the range of colors in this display about making color animations.

I’ve never been to Disneyland (yes to Disney World though) but this scale model was fun, and also huge.

Behind the railing at the Tonga Room. Which is where you have to stand unless you want to eat something (not worth it) and actually get a table. But it is still fun and makes dancing to the cover band easier.

My Mai Tai. Very potent! Stole the umbrella from someone else’s abandoned drink as you don’t get one with a Mai Tai but I really wanted one.

Breakfast, bordering on lunch, at a Mexican place near our basic hotel the Geary Parkway Inn.

M.E.s half of the Improv class takes a bow after the first part of their performance. So fun!

Indian lunch with Suchana to celebrate her impending Ph.D. defense.

Dispatch from a Happier Time

March 16, 2020Guadalajara, Guadalajara, tourism#guadalajara, Mexico, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

After our trip in mid-February to Guadalajara, Mexico, I planned all sorts of topics to write about, as I had with trips to France and India in the past. Happy things, bright and sunny things, reflecting the excitement of traveling to a new place full of color, light and warmth.

Then, within a few weeks, the dreaded COVID-19 hit full force and suddenly, despite the early arrival of spring flowers, things seem bleak, bleached out, and hand-sanitized for your protection. My mother’s assisted living facility in South Carolina is closed to visitors; we are teleworking which is okay in the short run but will get old I am sure; and the larger world full of students trying to learn from home, social distancing, and semi-empty grocery shelves is the new reality.

Still, I wanted to share a few lovely moments to add cheer to a cheerless situation. And I might write a couple more blogs on specific topics such as the voladores. But for now, our wonderful trip seems like a dream. And let’s hope our current situation does not turn into a nightmare.

Gaby and M.E. goof off with guavas near a natural warm spring which we took a soak in.

Murals, but famous and not so famous artists, abound in and around Guadalajara. This one was on a small island in the middle of Lake Chapala.

Steve, M.E. and Gaby pose in the late day sun in Tlaquepaque, a town full of crafts, mariachis, and people having a good time.

Kalorama by Call Box

January 29, 2020tourismCall Box Project, Tourism, Washington DC; Sheridan Kaloramabetty.belanus@gmail.com

On a recent walk in DC, my husband and our young friend Gabriel and I parked the car at Woodley Park and wandered around, through Adams Morgan. We took a couple of turns and found ourselves confronted by the rarified architecture of Sheridan-Kalorama.

This historic district is home to ambassadors, politicians (and their relatives), ex-presidents, and various other rich folks. Gabriel, an avid smart phone user, gave us a running commentary as to whose house was whose, but there was another form of interpretation that, to me, was a lot more fun: repurposed call boxes.

What’s a call box? Well, according to the project’s web site, call boxes were used in the past (from “the 19th century” until the 1970s when the 911 system made them unnecessary) to call police or firemen in emergencies. You may have noticed them on city street corners – boxes of various shapes on a pole, painted red.

In 2003, the committee heading this project starting working to turn the abandoned call boxes into “mini-museums” with interpretive labels on one side, and original art work on the other. There are sixteen of them; we only saw three or four. Finding them all could make for a fun scavenger hunt/walking tour.

The “Women of Influence” box is located just inside a security fence surrounding a stately home. All along this fence is a sign that warns the viewer that you will be violating the law if you get any nearer. This turns out to be Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s digs. The call box is more interesting than that fact in my opinion.

The women of influence include Eleanor Roosevelt and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.

Another box detailed the history of a nearby house called The Lindens, which was built in Massachusetts in 1754 and moved to Washington, DC in six railway cars and reassembled in DC in 1935. Without the call box, you’d just walk past the house and probably admire it, but you’d have no idea it was so well traveled.

You can read about the rest of the Sheridan-Kalorama call box mini-museums here. There’s a map of the neighborhood so that you can embark on your own walking tour as well.

“Kalorama” means “fine view” in Latin, and the view is indeed fine there, which we found out as we walked across the bridge back to Woodley Park as the sun was setting.

Swiss Sojourn in West Virginia

May 15, 2019#HelvetiaWV, tourismHelvetia, Tourism, West Virginiabetty.belanus@gmail.com

West Virginia may seem like an unlikely place for a tiny Swiss American town. But, as a folklorist, I often expect the unexpected. Cultural adventures that might surprise other people don’t faze me and my colleagues.

So, it was with delight that my friend and colleague Arlene and I set off, after interviewing ginseng trader Tony Coffman, for an evening in tiny Helvetia, WV, which was a stopover highly recommended by former Smithsonian co-worker and current head of the WV Folklife Program, Emily Hilliard. Emily was so excited about our visit to Helvetia that she helped, via email, to rally a bevvy of locals, which led to an impromptu creek-side party.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we had to make sure to reach the town before five p.m., when the Kultur Haus (sort of general store and museum, as well as post office, rolled into one) closes for the evening, and in order to have enough time to eat dinner before six, when the Hutte (the town restaurant) shuts down for the night. The Kultur Haus is the home of a charming collection of Fasnacht masks – well, if you find giant leering faces and fancifully menacing creatures charming. Fasnacht is the Swiss answer to Mardi Gras, and during that wintry celebration, hundreds of people descend upon Helvetia.

But it was sunny and warm on this May evening as we parked near our abode for the night, the Beekeeper Inn, and there was hardly another person in sight as we took the short walk between the historic wooden buildings. After visiting the Kultur Haus, we settled into our dining experience. We met the keeper of the town web site, Dave Whipp, for dinner and he offered advice on menu choices, historic background on the town, and told us stories about some of the inhabitants, past and present. I had homemade sausage, which was covered in tasty tomato sauce and accompanied by sauerkraut, a potato pancake, and hot apple sauce. Arlene went for the bratwurst. Just when we thought we could eat no more, we surrendered to warm buttery peach cobbler.

Rolling out of the restaurant, we walked the short distance back to the Beekeeper and were greeted by Clara Lehmann and her husband Jonathan Lacoque, filmmakers, and their five year old twins, and Clara’s mom Heidi. Clara grew up in Helvetia, went away for awhile, but returned to raise her family. Thanks to the internet (which apparently they get there, although cell service was blissfully nonexistent for us during our whole visit), they can do work from this most isolated spot for big clients like Google. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a film about her grandmother, one of the biggest movers and shakers and promoters of Helvetia, who passed away recently.

Soon we were joined by the next door neighbors, a concert pianist/composer (originally from England), and his wife, a nurse (originally from Louisiana). Wine, beer, more food materialized, and the cheerful conversation punctuated by the babble of the creek stretched until darkness, the evening chill and some early mosquitos drove everyone toward warm beds.

The next morning, a sumptuous breakfast at the Hutte set us up for the whole rest of the day. Reluctantly, we pried ourselves away from the table and left for more West Virginia adventures. But the memory of the good company, local charm, and global connections lingers on. Aufwiedersehen, Helvetia. Hope to be back some day. There are still plenty of choices on the menu of the Hutte to try!

Arlene resorts to reading the paper map over breakfast.

Some of the many Fastnatch masks at the Kultur Haus.
View of the Beekeeper Inn from the Hutte.
One of the Hutte room views.

Florida, Part 2: Great Men and Chickens

March 9, 2019chickens, Florida, Great Menchickens, Florida, Great Men, Tourismbetty.belanus@gmail.com

Florida as we know it today, one might conclude from formal public art and street signs, was created by Great Men. Of course, we all know that is not true, but Great Men are on display almost everywhere around the state. Ponce de Leon, though he failed to find the Fountain of Youth, did “discover” Florida (as the History Channel explains, this happened on April 2, 1513). His name is commemorated in parks, streets, and a whole town in the state.

Henry Flagler came much later, but is credited with inventing tourism in Florida. Although one encounters Flagler’s name in many places in Florida, we learned all about Flagler while in Key West, through a very illuminating exhibition at the Custom House museum. One of his chief feats was masterminding the Florida East Coast Railway, an enormous and costly venture (in funds and number of workers killed during the construction) linking the most remote but also the most populated and economically successful of the chain of islands to Miami. Voila, tourism is born, sort of.

We did not drive the length of the highway that now follows Flagler’s accomplishment, but arrived on the water via the Key West Express from Fort Myers. The day before taking the boat down, we explored this fine town and discovered that most things there are named after Three Great Men who wintered there: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone. Statues of this threesome lounge in the middle of a fountain in Centennial Park on the edge of downtown.

So much for Great Men. Let us now turn to chickens. Key West is proudly quirky, and one of these quirks comes in the form of “gypsy chickens” which roam the streets, yards and parks freely. Forget the famed six-toed cats of Hemingway’s adobe (speaking of great men); chickens rule in Key West, whole families of them. When we got tired and bored of battling the tourist frenzy of Duval Street, we settled on a park bench (which are few and far between in Key West unfortunately) and watched the chicken show, featuring dueling crowing roosters, and hens clucking in complaining “mom tones” to their tiny fluffy offspring.

Florida. So much more than warm winter weather, palm trees and water, water everywhere. Even more than great men and chickens.