My Crush on America: the science-y and musical theater-y!

In the last post, I discussed some of the many reasons why I now have a crush on America, thanks to the great road trip of 2011. The love-fest continues in this post, in which I discuss America through the lens of things I love -- musical theater and science!!

America is SCIENCE-Y!

My inner former-interpreter-at-the-Franklin-Institute LOVED all of the great science we were exposed to on this trip. The Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park was great -- lots of pretty scenery (red white and blue mountains!? how patriotic!), fossilized wood, and a Route 66 memorial (can you have a memorial for a road?!).

I also LOVED the Garden of the Gods, right outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado, where there were tons of beautiful red rocks, perfect for a hike before heading south to Santa Fe. I was particularly excited to discover vertical stratification on this rock, which means that the sediment gathered horizontally, then the rock got smushed into a vertical position, and then it eroded away to look like what we see today. Fact: science is so cool.

Our last day, Mat and I went to the beautiful Griffith Observatory in LA, which included a lovely planetarium show (that I half slept through, not because it wasn't interesting, but because I am physically incapable of staying awake during those), a lovely hike towards the Hollywood sign, and a wonderfully well-curated and interactive set of science exhibits. The periodic table of the elements was my favorite (mostly because it made me want to sing the Tom Lehrer song).

America is musical theater-y!

This trip featured SO MANY opportunities to plays songs from musicals that featured the places we were visitings. This is not exactly a new phenomenon for me -- I'm pretty sure every time I go to New York, there's a different NY-related musical theater song in my head, but this was 3,000 MILES of musical theater references (it's a good thing Miriam likes most musicals, or our friendship would be in jeopardy . . .).

If you were following along with #3000milestoHUC, you'll know the answers to this game. First person to name a musical theater song or lyric to go with all of these places that we passed gets a drink on me!

1. Ohio

2. St. Louis, Missouri

3. Jackson County, Missouri

4. Kansas City, Missouri

5. Oakley, Kansas (okay, no musical actually goes with this place, but you should be able to guess what show was in my head)

6. Santa Fe, New Mexico

7. Los Angeles, California

OH, and speaking of musical theater – remember that time Lea Michele showed up in a sushi restaurant two tables away from us? When we got to California, I got to meet up with some of my favorite former DC residents, Seth and Stacy K. I asked them to give Schutz, Miri, and I an LA experience for dinner one evening, and they seriously delivered! We got to a snazzy (but not too snazzy) sushi restaurant in West Hollywood, and as we were walking to our table, Lea Michele walked in! We were very polite and didn’t take pictures or try to talk to her, but needless to say, we were very excited about this celebrity sighting.

Next up: more reasons why this road trip gave me a crush on America: it contains a lot of yummy food and it's surprisingly energy-diverse!!

My Crush on America: the Pretty, the Historical, the Friend-ly, and the Huge!

I officially have a crush on the United States of America (but not in a worrisome, nationalistic way). I’ve been going around saying that for the past three weeks since Miriam and I finished our epic Road Trip across the country, but it’s still true. Want to know why? I’ll tell you.

1. America is PRETTY.

We saw the greatest sunset ever, in the most unexpected place (ever): Salina, KS!

We saw some of the prettiest rain (yes, rain can be pretty, too!) in Santa Fe -- there was a rain storm in FRONT of us, but we weren't in it, so we could take pictures from the side.

Yes, the photo below is of an entire field FULL of sunflowers. This happened multiple times throughout Kansas. How could that not be a wonderful state? Yes, the picture next to it is of clouds -- we ended up identifying the shapes of a bunch of clouds throughout the trip, but these were my favorites, because they looked like writing!

2. America is HISTORICAL.

The first bit of history we got on the trip was some family history for me, when we visited Bexley, Ohio, the section of Columbus where Miriam’s Aunt lived and where my mom and her siblings grew up!

My other favorite bit of history was the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. Truman has been one of my favorite historical figures since high school, and I've been talking about visiting Independence since then. (For your reference, current Other Favorites include Teddy Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, and James K Polk). Needless to say, I was VERY excited to go and learn, and the museum did not disappoint -- it was beautifully curated, and really moving at parts (there were great sections on the recognition of Israel, the Cold War, and civil rights), and I left feeling decidedly patriotic in the not-cheesy way.

America contains not-seen-enough friends.

I am one of those people who really likes all of my favorite people gathered in one place at all times. This is, of course, not particularly realistic, but it makes me a little sad sometimes. One of the best things about the road trip is that I got to see Seth, Stacy, Hilary, and Mat (who met us in LA), and got to meet Beni and Tyler, Miriam and Hilary's boyfriends!

Most wonderfully, this trip was a chance to spend hours and hours talking with my friend Miriam, who I see Nowhere Near Enough. We got to be ridiculous and silly and loud and just have a lot of fun catching up. I wish I could have a week off to do that with all of the people who are important to me.

America is HUGE

During our trip, I kept being reminded of one of my favorite Douglas Adams quotes:

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may thing it's a long way down the road to the chemists, but that's just peanuts to space.

So America is clearly not THAT big. But it is big enough that we drove over 3,100 miles, for seven days, over 12 states (four of which were new for me). That's crazy! Check out the awesome Foursquare-generated map of everywhere we stopped:

Stay tuned for Other Reasons I have a Crush on America -- hints: it's science-y, yummy, and musical theater-y!

Cross Country Road Trip Extravaganza: Seeking Ideas, Music, and Suggestions!

The fantastic Miriam Shira Farber and I are driving cross-country this summer, to get Miriam and her belongings and to Los Angeles so she can go to Rabbi school. We'd love your help and input as we plan out our trip.

Specifically we are looking for:

• couches to crash on, if you know anyone in Kansas off of route 70/40 (at least as far west as Salina), Santa Fe, NM, or Flagstaff, AZ. (Hey, if you're lucky, we might even do our famous interpretive dance of the Lorax!)
• recommendations of delicious places to eat along our route (see below) - we do love to eat!
• suggestions for fun places to stop along the way - national parks, museums, quirky things, anything that will satisfy our not-so-inner nerds, etc.

Our route is (with routes/interstates in parentheses);

• New York-Columbus, OH (80 to 76 to 71)
• Columbus, OH-St. Louis, MO (70)
• St. Louis-Kansas (70)
• Kansas-Denver, CO (70)
• Denver-Santa Fe, NM (25)
• Santa Fe-Flagstaff, AZ (25 to 40)
• Flagstaff-Los Angeles (40 to 15)

We are also looking for help with our entertainment in the car! If you have a favorite radio station, let us know! And the most exciting and fun part...we're asking for musical sponsorship of parts of our drive! Make us a mix/playlist to get us through Kansas! Or a themed playlist to enter California! Our respective music collections are pretty heavy with Broadway and feminist folk, but we'd love to broaden that a little...

And if you'll be along our route between July 31 and August 7, let us know! We'd love to see you!

Feel free to share this and spread widely!!!!!!!

Love,

Miriam and Rachel

P.S. - Watch out for the live Twitter feed of the trip! (@MiriShira and @rachelkatiegold, trip hashtag to be determined)

I Love the 80's (apparently)

This past Saturday night, I got the lovely opportunity to support a cause I care about AND celebrate the birth of one of the coolest Washingtonians, Emily PG of Wild and Crazy Pearl fame. The event in question was an 80's Prom Night to support Planned Parenthood of Metro Washington.

I must admit that at first I was a little skeptical, for though the 80s is the decade of my birth, my wardrobe tends to be reminiscent of the 50s or 20s if anything, so I didn't know what I'd wear. Lucky for me, my friend Shelby P has an extensive collection of 80's gear she was willing to share. The final outfit was a ridiculous amalgam of ruffly green miniskirt (thanks, Sarah K.!), pink tights, leg warmers, my favorite Tink tank top and a fabulously ruffly eyelet white top (complete with Anne of Green Gables-esque sleeves!). Yes, I am dancing like an old man in the below picture. But you can see most of the outfit!

In addition, I tend to assume (further proof about what they say about "assuming"*) that I don't like 80's music -- it turns out I mostly just don't like Broadway music of the 1980's (with the exceptions of Merrily We Roll Along and Into the Woods, of course). I also tend to assume I don't know popular music that does not involve doo-wop or Missy Elliot, but again, I underestimated my own musical lexicon and found that I recognized (and LOVED) almost all of the songs that were played. 80's success!

These are my friends. They are very photogenic. (Also, the photographer, Jim Darling, was awesome. He got Gavi's hair in mid-motion!)

This is me. I . . . am a dancing fool. And apparently, not so much photogenic as incapable of making normal faces (or not dancing like an old man) when behaving like a dancing fool.

Needless to say a fabulous night of dancing and singing and time with friends and celebration of the lovely Emily P. G. (with whom I have NO pictures. sad panda. so here's one of her in her FABULOUS prom dress):

*It makes an ass out of you and me. It's a thing.

because it's about to go back into the vault . . .

I'm pretty sure no commentary is necessary, other than to mention that Brian Stokes Mitchell is a total dreamboat and that the lyrics of thing song make me so happy.



Hope you had a lovely Passover if you celebrate! Back to bread so soon!

Have an Egg Roll, Mr. Goldstone!

Or in this case, Pho, cheesecake, baked eggs, mac and cheese, and waffles!

So some of my friends here in DC like to tease me that I spend more time out of DC than in DC. This is not entirellly true, but I do enjoy traveling, especially to New York, home of many of my favorite people in the world and much of my favorite theater in the world. This past weekend, Arielle G. and I ventured northward for a jam-packed 48 hours of friend-and-theater visiting. It also featured a lot of ridiculously good eating, which I describe here for your reading pleasure.

Despite a slightly difficult start (our bus was 45 minutes late, and we took a long stop AND there was traffic – boo!), we got to New York mid-afternoon on Friday ready for food and friends and good times. We had originally planned a 2nd Avenue Deli lunch with Sarah K, but that had to be delayed, so instead we met Mat S., best friend and New York Tour Guide extraordinaire, for Pho at Saigon Shack. I had never had Pho before, so was excited to try (especially since the Courthouse crowd talks about it all the time), and it did not disappoint. I went for the classic Pho with beef, and piled on the fun food-accessories– thai basil, sprouts, and lime!

We went back to Mat’s apartment for a brief relax, and then went down the block for Arielle’s first Wafels and Dinges truck experience. I first enjoyed the fabulousness that is the waffletruck back in December, and have been vigorously talking it up ever since. It turns out we were a little early for the truck, so we ducked into a liquor store to pick up some wine for Shabbat, and while we were there we tried cucumber vodka (surprisingly refreshing). Anyway, we eventually got our waffles, which were just as delicious as I remembered (the trick, I have learned, is to get NO toppings, that way you can maximize delicious-sugar-crystallization-flavor). This time, I also got a side of spekuloos, this spread made from cookies (how they make a spread from a cookie I don’t know, but when something is this delish, you go with it).

Saturday night was a fabulous Shabbat dinner at Casa Jonathan/Ruthie/Naomi, which was wonderful and full of friends and yummy food. Mat and I hopped to an Outlaw event at Bartini, which was mostly unremarkable, except when we got back later that evening and I realized there was still glitter in my clothing. Oof.

The next morning, we met the lovely Sarah K. and Katherine C. for brunch at Centro Vinoteca, right in Mat's neighborhood! Mat, new fan of Web 2.0 tools and eater extraordinaire, wrote a fabulous blog post on his blog Waffles, Fries, and Beer (which you should read). He covered most of the wonderfulness, but I'll add that a. complimentary things (especially warm pancake with a lemon curd) are the WAY to my heart, and b. my food, the Three Baked Eggs Amatricianna, with crispy guanciale (a kind of Italian bacon), sourdough, and parmesan, was out-of-this-world yummy.

The wonderfulness of the trip continued with some Broadway (to be discussed in my next post), and in between we went southern, J.T.-style, at Southern Hospitality in Hell's Kitchen. Apparently, in addition to being excellent at making my heart throb in the late 90's, Justin Timberlake is also good at picking a menu for his restaurant. Our choices of creamed spinach, mac and cheese, honey cornbread and pulled chicken were a WIN for the evening.

After the last show, we ended the weekend with a little Junior's cheesecake (and a chance to see Missy M.!). A seriously perfect weekend full of eating. I'm full just thinking about it again!

Pica Taco: One of the Culinary Wonders of DC

I tend to believe that all things are better with a little avocado (or a lot of avocado -- I really overdid it with guacamole at this year's Super Bowl party). I also think that tongue is one of the more delicious things in the world, and that a well-made taco is better than a fancy meal. So when my friends Suzy G. and Jason H. introduced me to Pica Taco this summer, I knew immediately that I had found one of my favorite places in DC. It is a wonderful place that features well-made tacos, tongue, AND a little avocado. Score.

Jason and Suzy often go for breakfast tacos, a lovely Thursday morning pre-work tradition. I’ve joined them a few times, but it’s a little difficult for me to be functional before work. There are also lovely tacos at non-breakfast times, and I’ve tried most of the kinds they have – barbacoa and chicken are pretty good, but lengua (tongue) and the fish taco are fantastic.

Pica has two locations – one at 16th and Columbia and one at 14th and Florida. I tend to frequent the 14th and Florida location more often because it’s close to home, but the 16th and Columbia one is conveniently on the way back from the Zoo. I’ve been proselytizing (I know, Jews aren’t supposed to, but tacos are different, right?) about this for months, and this morning, I got Catherine H. and Emily P.G. of Wild and Crazy Pearl fame to join me (thanks ladies!).

The meal began with Coca-Cola from a bottle. Restaurateurs of Washington, the way to my heart is through a glass Coke bottle. Just so you know. Pica Taco also has other fun fruity drinks and sodas, but I always get the bottle of Coke.

All of the Pica Tacos come with two tortillas, because the yummy stuff inside is hot and because you make a mess when you eat at Pica Taco. This restaurant is not for the dainty-at-heart. As I said to Catherine and Emily as we left, “I’m a little bit of a slob.” Pica accounts for this by providing a second tortilla for each taco.

The lengua taco involves an onion-y cilantro-y salsa on top, and really tender tongue inside. I learned from a young age to love good deli tongue (thanks, Bub!), and I really like it in this form as well.

The breakfast taco (the one on the right below) is a wonder. It’s just eggs and beans and cheese on a tortilla, but it some how manages to make me ridiculously happy every time I consume it. Something about the combination of those flavors really works.

The fish taco is my personal favorite. It involved delicious white fish (tilapia?), seasoned with a peppery rub, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, some radishes, and most importantly, some avocado on top. A lot of the people I’ve gone to Pica with put hot sauce on top, but I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy, so I just squeeze a lemon slice on top. Suzy G. has mentioned multiple times that Californians, who are known for being a little picky about their fish tacos, think this is one of the best fish tacos they’ve ever had.

Tacos are wonderful most of the time, but Pica Tacos hit the spot morning, noon, and night. So get some tacos and a Coca Cola, and make sure to say hi to the lovely Sylvia. And you're welcome. You're seriously going to love this place.