Ringing in the New Year

 I always felt that New Year’s Eve was amateur night. Most years we stayed home putting puzzles together. It became a tradition.  In fact, we receive a 1000-piece puzzle from Santa each year. However, there are a plethora of ways to ring in the New Year. 

If you want to see how lucky you are in 2019 both Turning Stone and Del Lago casinos have a variety of New Year’s Eve activities and entertainment and, of course, offer packages that include accommodations.  I think it is best to stay off the highways on New Year’s so, if you have to celebrate away from home, then staying at a hotel is a

great option.  Most of the Syracuse hotels offer staycations packages for New Year’s Eve including the Crowne Plaza, the Genesee Grande, and the elegantly restored Hotel Syracuse.

There have been occasions when we have ventured out of the house and area to celebrate New Year’s.  One of my favorite events was the Mummer’s Parade in Philadelphia.  It caught us by

surprise because I had heard of the mummers and knew of their traditional string bands but what really amazed us were the Fancies in their elaborate float-like costumes. The Mummers have been doing the “Mummers Strut” down Broad Street in a parade that includes more than 10,000 men, women, and children in lavish, glittering costumes and can last eight hours! Besides the String Bands there are the Comics, Wench Brigades, Fancies, and Fancy Brigades. Watching the parade is free unless you want bleacher seats.

Before the parade we visited the Mummers Fest at the Pennsylvania Convention Center where there are many activities including watching the Fancy Brigades practice for their four-minute performance held after the parade. I was blown away by the performances which were like watching lavish four-minute Broadway-quality shows.  Of course, like most major cities, Philadelphia has other events such as the Macy’s Light Show and fireworks on the Delaware River waterfront.  I would love to go again.

Another family favorite on New Year’s was when we attended the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl floats are more spectacular in person because, on the TV, it is hard to appreciate the size of the floats. They were infinitely larger than I thought. However, it wasn’t the parade that was the best part; it was helping to build a float.  Each year, La Canada allows people to help build their float.  There is pre-registration but they also allow walk-ins if they need people.  Volunteers first watch a demonstration video and then go to their station to work – for a few hours or the day.  When our

family participated, John and I put the flowers in vials of water – a no-brainer job. It takes a lot of flowers to create a float.  There can be 18 million flowers on the Rose Bowl parade floats. For many the major event of New Year’s must include a football game and the Rose Bowl always hosts top-seed teams. There are other bowl games; last year our family went to the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix. 

If you are looking for an iconic celebration head to Times Square in NYC and celebrate with about one million of your friends waiting for the crystal ball to drop. Another way to ring in the New Year is to take a cruise to a sunny place.  We often book our flights to Asia on New Year’s because they tend to be more reasonable. 

Visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator who designed more than 1000 structures, of which 532 were completed. He is touted at America’s greatest architect and “The Man who Built America.” His architectural style was a reaction to the stuffy, ornate, and crowded look of the Victorian era.  He felt buildings should be inspired by the land and that there should be fewer rooms and that they should flow from one to another.  One of his most famous buildings is Fallingwater, near Pittsburgh. Built in the mid-1930s it was the summer home of the owners of Kaufmann’s Department Store. The house is built over the waterfalls and only two colors are used: the light ochre similar to the concrete and Cherokee red for the steel.

You don’t have to go to Pittsburgh to tour some of Wright’s most famous buildings. At one time Buffalo was one of the richest cities in the United States and the wealthy wanted the latest in architecture and that would be a Wright-designed building.  The Darwin D. Martin House is listed on the National Historic Landmarks. It is actually a complex of six interconnected building designed to look unified. The main house has a pergola that connects to the conservatory, carriage house with chauffer’s quarters and stables, the Barton House (for his sister and her husband), and a gardener’s cottage. The Martin House is considered an excellent example of Wright’s Prairie House style with horizontal lines, overhanging eaves, and central hearth. Even though the buildings had deteriorated an organization has been formed to restore the complex. 

Just south of Buffalo, on Lake Erie in Derby, is the summer home that was built for Martin’s wife. Called Graycliff, also on the National Historic Register, it was nearly torn down to build condominiums but the Graycliff Conservancy was formed to save and restore it. Martin’s wife, Isabelle, took an active part in designing the building with Wright, which was unusual for the time when males dominated society. She wanted a “severely simple, two-story house” and that it be flooded with “light and sunshine, including the maid’s rooms.”  She was instrumental in designing the extensive gardens. 

Both the Martin complex and Graycliff are open for tours; however, the Wright house in Rochester is privately owned and not open to the public. The Boynton House is also built in Wright’s Prairie style. 


One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous public buildings is the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It is impossible to miss its unique spiral design. Wright was not thrilled with Guggenheim’s choice of NYC for his museum: “I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum, but we will have to try New York.” He thought NYC was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit. Visitors to the museum start at the top and walk down the gentle curving continuous ramp where they can access various galleries. 

Wright liked to divide his time between his two homes: Taliesin East in southwestern Wisconsin and Taliesin West near Phoenix. Both are open to tours and offer master classes in architecture along with special performing and visuals art events. 

On my long “To-Do” list I have added the Usonia District north of NYC in the town of Mount Pleasant. Wright designed the area deciding where each house should be built and personally designed three homes and approved the plans of 44 others.

Taliesin West, Heard Museum and Phoenix Art Museum

I have to admit I have never been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture. I guess it is too organic and modern; however I do like how Taliesin West blends in with the environment.  Personally, I prefer more traditional, classic architecture but our guide at Taliesin West, Lola, did a better

job of explaining the concept of Wright’s architecture than any of the guides we had at other Wright’s houses we have toured.  We

have visited the Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, Graycliff south of Buffalo (with a beautiful location on the lake), and Falling Water in Pennsylvania.  I love waterfalls and couldn’t understand why one would want their house built over the waterfalls.  I would enjoy looking at the falls.  Also, the rooms were small, with low ceilings and, if there were closets they were well hidden.  Wright was living at his home, Taliesin East, in Wisconsin and it seems he had some health issues so the doctor suggested he move to Arizona. He did and created Taliesin West.  Taliesin means the “brow” of the mountain and the Arizona house has a great view. “Taliesin West is a look over the rim of the world,” wrote Wright.  

Taliesin West is more than Wright’s home is it also a museum and a

school of architecture.  According to Wright, who wasn’t very tall, anything over six feet was unnecessary so all the ceilings are low.  The highlight of the visit was when our group visited the living room with a piano. An attractive young lady in our group sat at the piano and played a Mozart composition – awesome.  When Wright visited the Chicago World’s Fair he became enamored with Asia art so there are many Asian art objects throughout the house. The house had an amazing auditorium with outstanding acoustics.  

Our next stop was the Phoenix Art Museum. The entrance was interesting. The walls and ceilings were covered with what looked like bats but were in reality an art work called “Black Cloud,” a “plaque of 25,000 black paper moths and butterflies” meant to represent the annual migration of the monarch butterfly. I can always identify a Calder mobile but this is

the first time I have seen his paintings. The burst of color in his artwork resembled his mobiles. There was a fascinating art display of “paintings” that had moving characters obviously based on video games. The “Border Crossing” exhibit had a painting that showed the changes when cultures meet – a lot to look at. The creative mind knows no limits.  The “Past/Future/Present” exhibit included an artwork made out of nylon stockings. 

Entering the “Native People of the Southwest” At the Heard museum there is a 30-foot glass and clay art fence that needed close examination as there were many hidden images in the sculptures. I am intrigued by Kachina dolls. I thought Barry Goldwater’s collection was the largest but that is not true… the Heard Museum not only has his collection but many more. A Kachina doll is a

representation of a Pueblo ancestral spirit. Probably the only way I will ever see the Havasupai and their place in the Grand Canyon with the beautiful Havasu Falls is in the Heard’s Museum. I would like to visit but the 8-mile hike down to the village is more than I can handle.  I would have to take a helicopter for $85 per person one way and then it is still a hike of a mile or more to the falls and accommodations. 

Visiting Scottsdale

 When I realized that Scottsdale and Phoenix were about equal distance from the Phoenix airport John and I decided to stay in Scottsdale.  It was a good choice.  The Hotel Valley Ho is one of the Historic Hotels of America but vintage 1950s. It was a bit depressing learning that a hotel built in the 1950s

met the qualifications as an historic hotel.  The Hotel Valley Ho is considered by architects to be “one of the best examples of a mid-century hotel.”  It was a getaway for the Hollywood elite and is where Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner were married.  The hotel has beautiful gardens and two swimming pools. Sadly a cold front came through and it was too cold to go swimming but there is a lot to do in the area. The hotel has an excellent location on the edge of Old Town Scottsdale. In fact it is on the edge of the Art District.  

Old Town, as one would expect, has maintained its Main Street

look. Not far from the hotel we visited the Western Spirit: Scottsdale Museum of the West which is a Smithsonian affiliate. One of their current exhibits is The Rennard Strickland Collection of Western Film History, a collection of old west movie posters.  I was able to recall many of the old time movies.  It wasn’t surprising since, as a youngster, I was only allowed to go the movies on Saturday nights and it was when the cowboy movies were featured. Beside a great collection of artwork they had a wonderful collection of Hopi pottery that spans six centuries.


The Abe Hays Family Spirit of the West Collection of saddles, spurs, badges, and clothing was extensive. Plus there were mockups of a saloon, store and sheriff’s office.  I liked the factoid part. One said that the U.S. Calvary pursuing Apaches could travel 25 miles a day but the Apache, on foot, could run 75!  And, one time Geronimo wanted to see the “big water” so he ran all the way from San Madres to the Gulf of California. What a man! 

We visited the nearby Desert Botanical Garden. I wish there had

been tickets for their Luminarias which is featured every Christmas. In the evening 8000 luminaries are lit (most have candles) by 200 volunteers. At the entrance there was a Chihuly glass sculpture.  His work is easy to recognize. There are also unique sculptures scattered throughout the gardens. Docents were available to answer questions and give demonstrations. 

There is no doubt about it my favorite museum was the Musical Instrument Museum. We had to drive to it but most things we visited were easy to get to off the I-10. Near the entrance there were two impressive Vanuatu slit drums. There is a piano in the grand lobby where a young lady was playing – nice introduction to the museum. Qualified guests are invited to play. I could have spent hours in the Geographic gallery

– it’s a trip around the world through music with tableaus that not only featured the musical instruments of an area but also the clothing and other artifacts. Most vignettes had a video of the actual ethnic groups playing some of the instrumentation in native apparel. It seems humans must have music in their life and can make it out of anything in their environment from bones to fruit to oil drums.  “Music is the language of the soul” and something everyone can enjoy regardless of their culture. 

Thinking about winter getaways

It is never too early to start planning your winter getaway especially if you plan travel during the holidays or school breaks. Travel gurus will say the best time to book air tickets is on Tuesday and the cheapest days to fly are mid-week, and for U.S. tickets they suggest start looking three months in advance and five months ahead of time for international tickets. I don’t think it is ever too soon to start looking. We already have our tickets for December. When I am booking air tickets I have a figure

in mind and when I find something reasonable I buy and never check again. I usually by our tickets to Asia in May, try to fly midweek, and avoid holidays if I can. If you are flying internationally check when the country you are visiting have holidays; for example, in Asia Chinese New Year is a very busy time. Sorry to say this but I have always found the best international air deals to be with foreign carriers and they offer better service. We have found it financially beneficial to take the train to NYC and a taxi to JFK because we often get great deals on ANA (All Nippon Airline) which is one of the top five best airlines. 

Often some of the least expensive flights are to Aruba, Bonaire, and

Santo Domingo.  The ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) are out the hurricane belt and great destinations.  Think out of the box – try something different. I have seen great deals to places in Nicaragua and Columbia. 

If you are thinking of buying a time share, condo or even a house in some sunny location – do the math first.  Do you want to have to deal with two properties – taxes, utilities, maintenance and being locked into one destination? As strange as it sounds it does not cost us any more to winter in SE Asia than staying in snow country.  We often stay at the same place for a couple weeks – we love Ngapali Beach in Myanmar but we also like to try something new.  Last year we really enjoyed our stay at

the Holiday Inn Resort in Penang, Malaysia. We are planning to go there again this winter.  It always pays to join an airline’s or hotel’s customer loyalty program. We have an Intercontinental Hotels (think Holiday Inns) credit card where we can get and use points.  This coming winter we are considering the Holiday Inn Resort in Batam, Indonesia – room with breakfast is $79. The hotel has three outdoor pools and one indoor swimming pool, but alas it is not on the beach but with three pools we might not care.  There are always condos, apartments, and houses to rent but I don’t want to do the cooking and cleaning.  If I wanted to do that I could stay home.

If you are thinking of places in the U.S. check out St. George Beach south of Tallahassee – there are a lot of places to rent, golf courses and an amazing beach. Instead of pricey Hilton Head consider nearby Fripps Island which is lovely. If it is not a beach you are interested in there are great places in Arizona

like Tucson. Get a feeling for the Old West in Bisbee and we loved the woods around Prescott. Looking for something artsy? Check out unique Arcosanti. There is someplace for everyone this winter. 

Finding Santa in the North Pole

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” But, where does he live? Ask anyone – young and old: “Where does Santa live?” The answer may be Alaska, New York, or Colorado and they would all be correct. I have been to several “North Poles” but not the geographic North Pole.  I’ll leave that to more intrepid explorers.

Alaska is where the spirit of Christmas lives all year long. The streets of North Pole, Alaska have Christmassy names but the main attraction is Santa’s House with the 42-foot Santa outside waiting to greet people and his reindeer are nearby. As one might expect Santa’s House has all sorts of Christmas paraphernalia. If you go to their website you can have Santa send a “personal” letter to someone.

New York State has its own North Pole nestled in the Adirondacks

near Lake Placid. It is one of America’s oldest theme parks. The North Pole is open all summer and also weekends in November and December. There are rides, shows, shops and an icy “North Pole” you can touch, but the highlight is meeting Santa and telling him your secret wishes. Visitors can feed Santa’s reindeer. This is a favorite with grandparents who visited when they were youngsters.  It is a step back into a quieter time.

Colorado has its own North Pole theme park in Cascade near Colorado Springs. Children will enjoy the more than a dozen rides including a miniature train, magic shows, feeding the goats and, of course, meeting Santa.  The quaint village in the park has plenty of shops. The park is open during the summer and on designated weekends between September and Christmas.

There is also one in Canada. Bracebridge, Ontario has a Santa village located halfway between the equator and the magnetic North Pole. They say it is where Santa spends his summer which is when the village is open.  I guess from September to December Santa and his elves are too busy making toys so the park is closed except for a few days around Christmas day.  As one might expect there are rides and other attractions.

You can take the train to the North Pole on the Polar Express.  I loved my trip with my grandchildren.  We left from Williams Depot in Arizona for a journey through the dark and quiet wilderness and made a special stop at the “North Pole” where we saw Santa and he came aboard the train to greet everyone.  We believed in Santa so we got a special bell in keeping with the story line in the book. The experience is based on “The Polar Express,” the classic children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg.  New York State has seven locations where people can depart on the Polar Express including Utica. The train ride is so popular that tickets sell out fast.  

Santa can be spotted in many places when he is not at the North

Pole including Santa Claus, Indiana where they have a 22-foot tall Santa statue “Dedicated to the children of the world.” And, Santa loves a parade especially when he can be seen riding on a float waving to his adorning fans.  I think Santa’s favorite parade is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City.   Santa and his elves have to work hard most of the year so they have time to make appearance in parades, stores, and other places. 

Great train trips

There is something about the mournful sound of a train that calls for one to hop aboard and see the world. Some trains are legendary such as the Alaskan trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks and the Australian Ghan that now goes from Darwin to Adelaide. There are many trains worldwide that offer excellent experiences. Some travel short distances while others cover a whole continent.

1. Denali, Alaska: Maybe you won’t see any of Alaska’s famed wildlife on the ride between Anchorage and Fairbanks but scenery from the double decked dome rail cars will mesmerize as it enters the Nenana River Canyon and crosses the Tanana River on one of the world’s longest single-span bridges.
2. Fort Bragg Smoke Train: The California train chugs through towering trees, tunnels, over bridges and past open meadows on what is known as the “Redwood Route” following the same route it has since 1885. On the Northspur Route a barbecue in the redwood forest is included.
3. Polar Express: Nearly every state has a Polar Express that takes the young and young-at-heart to the North Pole while the book of the same name is read, cookies are served, and songs sung. When it arrives at Santa’s workshop, the jolly fellow boards the train and gives those who believe a bell – just like in the book.
4. Verde Canyon: Located in Arizona near Jerome and Sedona the train runs from Clarkdale to Perkinsville through the walls of Verde Canyon, near ancient Native American sites, with bald eagles watching from their nests.
5. Greenfield Village: Some historic villages have incorporated trains as part of preserving their heritage. Such is the case of Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village in Michigan where visitors can tour the village on a train pulled by one of the village’s historic steam or diesel locomotives.
6. Adirondack Railroad: Hop on board the train in Utica, New York, and head to Thendara through the forests, past pristine rivers, breathing the fresh mountain air while enjoying the beauty of the six-million acre Adirondack Park. Relive the golden age of railroading when the Adirondacks played host to the rich and famous on their way to the Great Camps.
7. Strasburg, Pennsylvania: Ride through Pennsylvania Dutch Country on the Strasburg Railroad that started in 1832. It didn’t purchase its first passenger car until 1861 when President Lincoln made his inaugural train ride to nearby Lancaster and nearly 5,000 people showed up to cheer for Lincoln during his four-minute stop in Leaman.
8. Peru’s Hiram Bingham: One of the most luxurious train trips is aboard the Orient Express train to the mystical ruins of Machu Picchu. The day starts sipping mimosas while watching folk dances followed by gourmet meals with a guided tour of the ruins, along with the excellent service one comes to expect of the Orient Express.
9. The Little Trains of Wales: There are several narrow gauge steam railways in Wales, some of which have been in operation for over 100 years. They have been lovingly restored and maintained. They offer a leisurely ride through the beautiful countryside, past lakes to small picturesque villages.
10. Australia’s Legendary Ghan: One way to get the feel of the immensity of Australia is to take the Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin witnessing the varied landscape and traveling through the vast barrenness of the Outback. The entire trip of nearly 2000 miles takes about 24 hours.