The Perpetual Tourist

Jamaica Plain is a small, hip neighborhood in Boston with heavy Latin influence. It’s where I stayed last week in freezing cold winter Boston, and even though it was colder than Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, there were things in JP well worth visiting, even in winter.

I was staying in the Forest Hills section of JP, which is a T stop at the end of the Orange Line, about a 20-minute ride from downtown Boston. From this T stop, you’ve got a short walk to Centre Street, where I found some of the best food in town.

A short stretch of Centre Street is home to a cluster of businesses, a handful of yoga studios, some trendy shops and boutiques, and lots of good eatin’. Or as they say in Boston, “wicked good.” Sometimes being a vegetarian on vacation sucks because you can’t find any restaurants with options for you, but this is not a problem in Jamaica Plain. Not only do vegetarian choices abound, it should be pretty easy to find organic vegan entrees as well.

My first stop was the The Purple Cactus. This small cafe specializes in southwestern-influenced burritos and wraps with a twist of international flavor — with lots of choices for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. I can’t speak for the meat side of the menu, but I give my highest recommendations to the Squash & Corn burrito and the Tofu burrito. Wait, wait, don’t gag! I am NOT a squash fan, but when I had a bite of my husband’s burrito, I loved it. And he tried to steal all the tofu from mine, even though he is a self-proclaimed tofu hater. I have a feeling we would have loved anything on the menu. Added bonus: the burritos are large enough for two meals and cost less than you’d spend on one frozen dinner at the grocery store. Check out The Purple Cactus menu here.

Pretty much right across the street from The Purple Cactus was Bukhara Indian Bistro, where I enjoyed my favorite dinner of the trip.  Whenever I’m in a new city, the first thing I do is find the nearest Indian restaurant, and this one did not disappoint.  The menu was larger than most, prices were a touch higher than most other Indian joints, the atmosphere was classy and the service was good.  It wasn’t my favorite Indian Restaurant ever, but it was definitely yummy — worth the train ride even if you’re not in JP already.  I tried a new drink here, called the Salty Lassi.  If you enjoy salt, you’ve got to taste this beverage.  It’s as salty as the traditional food is spicy… so it’s not for everyone.  (They also have the more common Mango Lassi for the less adventurous.)

Unfortunately, when you’re stuck at a bridge table for twelve hours a day, you don’t get much time to savor your meals, so I didn’t get to sample all the other eateries on Centre Street.  The locals tell me I missed out on plenty.  Based on The Purple Cactus and Bukhara, I definitely believe it.  All in all, the weather for my week in Boston gets a D+ (and I’m grading generously there), but the food gets a solid A.  If you must get stuck in Beantown in the winter, duck inside one of these restaurants to warm up.

At least your taste buds will be comfortable.

Forgive me for all this focus on Portland lately, but I’ve been spending a lot of time here. We only flew back to Virginia a little over a week ago, but now we’re back for a previously unplanned 9-day stay. When we landed at PDX at noon on Saturday, lunch was our first priority. My in-laws picked us up, and I remembered my mother-in-law saying there was a restaurant called Nick’s she loved in Portland for its tabouli, so I suggested going there.

Had I known that it wasn’t Nick’s (a sandwich-shop sounding name), but Nicholas Restaurant, a Lebanese diner, I may not have suggested the place. I’m a very picky eater, and don’t like to try new things when it comes to food. I’d never had Lebanese before, and I wasn’t in a particularly adventurous mood. My mother-in-law kept saying how wonderful the tabouli would be, but that did little to improve my outlook. I’m not a tabouli fan.

A look at the menu perked me up. There were lots of choices, many vegetarian and vegan (I’m a strict vegetarian and love it when a restaurant offers more than one option for me), and while most were things I’d never heard of before, a look around at the other tables got my mouth watering. Everything looked and smelled very good.

My father-in-law told me that he first discovered Nicholas Restaurant years ago when a Lebanese friend of his brought him there, saying that it was the best Lebanese in Oregon. I don’t know how many Lebanese dining options there are in the state, but it’s good to know I was starting at the top.

When the food came, it didn’t take long for me to drop the last of my reservations. I’d ordered the Spinach Pie with feta, which was described as a traditional Lebanese pizza. When it arrived, it looked more like a calzone and tasted nothing like pizza, really, but the first bite won me over. Delicious, four stars, can we come back tomorrow, please?

The portions are enormous, and combos come with a huge (I estimated about 20″ in diameter) pita and some of the yummiest hummus I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t love the tabouli, but liked it at least as well as any other tabouli I’ve ever had, and we all felt very satisfied with our meals. There were enough leftovers to feed us all for dinner, too, while the prices were lower than most meals half this size anywhere else.

My only criticism of the restaurant is that everyone’s meals came out at different times. The soup I’d ordered for an appetizer came several minutes after my entree, and my father-in-law and I had finished our meals before my husband and mother-in-law got their entrees. That was annoying, but the meal was so good that it’s easy to overlook this problem. The enormous pita that came out at the beginning was enough to keep everyone happy while waiting for the last of their meals. The entire small dining space was crammed full of customers while we were there; perhaps at a less busy time, the kitchen would keep up with orders better.

Nicholas Restaurant is located at 318 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214; phone: (503) 235-5123. Open Mon-Sat 10-9pm; Sun 12-9pm. This picky eater gives it her highest recommendations. Bon apetit!

www.flippin-seaman.com

Maybe it’s just the excessive heat, but this summer has felt longer than most.  Nothing against summer, but I’m ready for autumn.  Football and fall foliage are some of my favorite things, but I’m especially looking forward to my annual apple-picking trips.

It’s not quite apple season here in Virginia, but farms all across the country are geared up for the start of pick-your-own season.  As the crops come in, farms will open their gates to visitors who will come from near and far to pick their favorite fruits fresh off trees and vines.  It’s a great excursion for families, groups of friends, and culinary artists looking to get a deal on their jam-making supplies.

I usually make a weekend out of it with friends.  We go down to Nelson County, Virginia, to pick apples at my family farm, which is also open to the general public for pick-your-own apple days throughout the season.  We then pitch our tents on the farm and spend the night eating apples and drinking spiked cider by the campfire.  The next day, the more skilled among us (not me - I’m an eater, not a cook) take their remaining apples home and create delicious things like apple butter and apple pie to share with those of us who wish we were talented enough to make these things ourselves.

www.flippin-seaman.com

Apple season is coming soon, but right now there are blueberries, peaches, and blackberries (in the northern US).  Pick-your-own excursions are great fun for kids, and then you can take your load home with you for cooking projects with your family.  Then later in the fall will be pumpkin season — get your Halloween jack-o-lanterns direct from the patch.

In addition to having a fun day outdoors with your friends and/or family, you can save a lot of money on fresh produce when you buy directly from a farm.  To find a pick-your-own site near you, visit this website.  You’ll also find great recipes for what to do with all the fruit you’re going to bring home.

If you find you can’t possibly eat all the goodies you picked (that’s often my problem), be a hero and bring them into your office to share, or have your kids take them to their friends at school.

With the way all of our cities are rapidly morphing into concrete jungles, I think time on a farm is valuable for everyone, but especially kids.  A pick-your-own farm trip is a great excuse to get some of your extended family together for some fun on the farm and a celebratory feast.

Mmm, tofu...

I’ve been a vegetarian for sixteen years. When I was a kid, I was really self-righteous about it, but I’ve mellowed. I don’t like to be the reason people bend over backwards, so usually if a group I’m with wants to go out to eat, I just quietly order the soup and salad, or maybe a vegetable quesadilla, and I don’t bitch about it.

Honestly, I don’t mind ordering the same two or three things every time I go out, so as long as there’s at least one vegetarian item on the menu, I’ll make do. It’s actually easier than when I tell people I’m a vegetarian, and they all want to take me out to an Ethiopian restaurant, because all carnivores think that all vegetarians’ favorite food is Ethiopian.

Meh. Some vegetarians love Ethiopian food, and so do some meat-eaters, but for some reason, everyone who knows I’m a vegetarian always wants to take me out for Ethiopian. Or Thai. And I’ll tell you a secret: I’d rather have a soup and salad at your favorite steakhouse. I don’t like Ethiopian or Thai. For more on the plight of the modern vegetarian, I found this hilarious essay on Slate that pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.

But now it’s time to turn our attention away from the complaining and onto the kudos. LocalEats is a website that identifies the 100 best restaurants in each of the 50 largest cities in the US — through careful criticism and thorough taste testing, not just polling the residents.

In addition to listing the best food by city, there are top ten lists by category, including the top ten vegetarian restaurants in America.

Five-Grain Croquettes with Carrot-Leek Glaze and Thyme at Angelica Kitchen

It’s no surprise that first on the list is located in New York City, where most of this nation’s finest food is found. Not only is the food at Angelica Kitchen green, the whole restaurant is — environmentally friendly, that is, “where sustainable agriculture and responsible business practices are the main ingredients,” according to the restaurant’s website. You don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy this top restaurant — you’ll eat here for under $25.

The eastern half of the US dominates the vegetarian list, but I was surprised to find Texas with a restaurant in this top ten category. (When I visited Texas, my only gripe was the lack of vegetarian fare.) Spiral Diner & Bakery in Fort Worth made the list for its superior all-vegan menu.

Spiral was the 2007 VegNews Restaurant of the Year, and has recently opened a location in Dallas as well. The menu prices can’t be beat — expect a hearty vegan meal for under $10.

Looks like meat -- tastes much better; www.spiraldiner.com

The others in the top ten are Beans & Barley in Milwaukee, WI; Blue Sage in Southampton, PA; Cafe Brenda in Minneapolis, MN; Green Zebra in Chicago, IL; Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, CA; Irregardless Cafe in Raleigh, NC; Real Food Daily in Los Angeles, CA; and Tommy’s in Cleveland Heights, OH.

Most meat-eaters scoff at vegetarian eateries, certain they can never be satisfied with such rabbit food. But note that the above establishments are not called the best restaurants for vegetarians — they are the best vegetarian restaurants, for everyone. Try something off one of these menus — I bet you won’t even miss your meat.

When I was a junior in college, I had the opportunity to travel to Australia with my interterm class. Interterm is the three-week session in January at my alma mater where students can either get a dreaded requirement out of the way quickly, or go on trips or take a class that can’t be offered for a full semester (I got to take a swordfighting class my freshman year). One of my history professors took a group of kids to Australia each year, and I was lucky enough to be one of those kids.

If you want to get to Australia, this is a great way to do it. Traveling in a group made it much cheaper than going on my own, and going with a prof who’d been twenty times already was great, because he pointed out all the little things we might never have noticed as novice tourists of Oz. Our group spent time in Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne, and we packed more into our time there than the Travel Channel could fit in a six-hour miniseries. For now I’m just going to focus on a few of the little things that you may not think about seeing or doing that made my time in Sydney spectacular.

Paddy’s Markets

People who like to shop will want to set aside a whole day to spend at Paddy’s Markets. If you’re not a real shopper, maybe four or five hours will be enough for you. Paddy’s is part mega-mall, part flea market, and it’s HUGE. I literally spent a whole day there and saw maybe 50% of it all. In the lower area, vendors set up booths and tables just like a flea market, and sell everything you can think of — food, clothes, souvenirs, jewelry, and so much more — all at very reasonable prices. When I was there, the US dollar was worth two Australian dollars, but now the currencies are trading almost one for one. Still, the prices are low and you’ll be able to stretch your spending money at a place like this.

Opals

Australia is famous for its opals, and once you get there, it will be impossible to miss all the stores selling the gorgeous gems. These make a great gift for loved ones who don’t get to make the trip with you, so keep that in mind. When you buy any high-dollar item in Australia, you will be charged the local taxes, but you can get a special receipt from the stores that allow you to recover this tax money when you leave the country (if you are not an Australian citizen, that is). Remember when traveling with opals that they are very fragile gems — pack them carefully.

Boulder opals and black opals are the deeply colored, dark stones you’ll find. These are much more rare than the white or milky opals typically seen in jewelry. They will be more expensive, but they’re cheaper in Australia than anywhere else, so if you want them, this is the place to buy. I had a very good experience shopping at Flame Opals in Sydney, but there are plenty of other opal vendors all around. Do some comparison shopping before settling on the first thing you see, because there are so many choices!

Indian Food

Australia has a large population of Indian people, and there are lots of Indian restaurants all over Sydney. The food isn’t Americanized like it is in the Western hemisphere, and I’ve had few meals in my lifetime as delicious as the Indian food I ate in Sydney.

Keep in mind when you dine out anywhere in Australia that tipping is not expected like it is in the US. Tips are always appreciated, of course, but servers are actually paid real wages and restaurants do not put this burden on their customers. A 10% tip is very gracious, and is about the most that would be appropriate for good service. If you are dining with large groups, tips are somewhat more expected, however.

Wine

Australian wine isn’t exactly world famous like French wine or Napa Valley wine, but Australia is the world’s 4th leading wine exporter. According to a coach (not “bus”) driver I had on a tour, Australia only exports the worst of its products — Foster’s, Kylie Minogue, and its bad wines. (His words, not mine.) In other words, just because you haven’t found good Australian wine elsewhere in the world, that doesn’t mean you won’t find it in Australia. I definitely recommend sampling the local wines when you dine out.

Sydney is one of my favorite cities in the world, and I hope one day I can afford another trip back. Maybe I should get in touch with my old professor and see if he’s accepting applications for chaperons. I’d recommend it to anyone who has the chance to visit. Of course you’ll want to see all the things the city is famous for, like the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, and all the beaches, but you’ll be shortchanging yourself if you skip over all the little things that give the city so much flavor.

Enjoy your trip down under, and please bring me back some opals:)

I have to start this post with a confession. I have always harbored a not-so-secret hatred of Texas. When I was in high school, I competed in the Destination Imagination Global Finals my junior and senior years, and even though all fifty states and many countries were represented, the Texans were everywhere, and they really dominated the competition. I’ve harbored resentment ever since, and the fact that our current president is from Texas has done little to improve my views on the state. I admit all this because only now can you truly understand just what it means for me to say that I love it here.

When we arrived on Saturday afternoon in San Antonio, our first order of business was to fill our stomachs. We decided to drive downtown and just pick something that looked good, then spend the afternoon sightseeing. For a big city, traffic in San Antonio was a relatively minor issue. The roads were never too jammed, and there was plenty of parking wherever we went, which was a pleasant surprise after spending the weekend in Traffic Hell, aka Washington, DC.

As we approached downtown, people were lined up on the streets for a parade, and there was some sort of street fair going on. We soon learned that we’d arrived in the middle of Fiesta, an annual city-wide celebration featuring several parades, parties, and other festivities. We parked and wandered through the street vendors peddling cheap souvenirs and classic Texas food and drink, which is mostly meaty Mexican food and daiquiris the size of bird baths. So far, Texas was a lot of fun, but my one complaint was the difficulty finding vegetarian fare.

At 3:30pm, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant along the San Antonio Riverwalk called Casa Rio. Even at 3:30 in the afternoon, the place was packed. In fact, we’ve been eating at odd hours each day that we’ve been here, and no matter when we enter a restaurant, the places are full. Either Texans eat round-the-clock, or we selected all the best restaurants in the city. The latter is quite possible, as Casa Rio had some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had (albeit a limited selection of vegetarian options, which was typical of everywhere we ate), and by far the best margarita I’ve ever tasted.

Whereas getting to tourism hot spots in many cities means lots of driving and searching, the best of San Antonio is all right in one convenient area downtown. The Alamo, the former mission and fortress, and site of the famed 1836 Battle of the Alamo. Tours are offered daily, and admission is free.

After taking in the local (and national) history at the Alamo, the San Antonio River Walk is nearby. Also free, the River Walk is made up of two sidewalks that run along the banks of the San Antonio River one story below street level. Lined with shops, restaurants, and bars, the River Walk will guide you along some of the city’s finest architecture and landscapes. If your feet are too weary for the walk, or if you just want a guide to explain all the sights to you, maybe a boat tour is what you’re looking for. Rio San Antonio has daily tours leaving every 15-20 minutes.

I was in San Antonio for less than one full day, but thanks to the convenience of everything, I was able to take in most of these sights in a single, delicious margarita-fueled afternoon. I had other engagements outside the city for the rest of my trip to Texas, but I’m really looking forward to an opportunity to return here. It’s been a lovely visit, and I’m starting to see why Texans are so proud of this place. If only there were more vegetarian options and fewer Bushes…

What do you call two days of rain in Oregon?

A weekend.

I got that one from a local in Portland who then assured me that it doesn’t always rain in Oregon.  Sometimes it snows.  Nevertheless, I still say it’s beautiful here and there are lots of things worth getting a bit wet for.

When you come to Oregon from far away, the only easy way to get here is through the Portland International Airport, which has a lot of tourist appeal itself.  With art and unique architecture filling every part of the building, it’s certainly the most interesting airport I’ve ever seen. 

Once you’ve landed, you won’t need a car to experience Portland.  The city has a great public transit system that runs on biofuels.  Take the light rail or a streetcar to the hotel of your choice, and then plan to take in the rest of your vacation on foot.  The mostly flat geography and the numbered streets make the city very pedestrian friendly.  Just be sure you have a good raincoat, and don’t bother blow drying your hair.

The first place I visited in Portland was Powell’s Books.  All the locals told me I had to check it out, that I’d never seen anything like it.  Well, I have seen something like it, but I admit you don’t come by a bookstore like this just any day.  Powell’s is a three-story sprawling mammoth of a new & used bookstore, and they claim to have everything.  They didn’t have the two titles I was looking for, so no, they don’t have everything, but if I had been in the market for something a little less Virginia-regional-history, I probably would have found it at Powell’s, so I won’t let that sour my impressions of the place.  It’s great.  Go there when you go to Portland.

Aside from the rain, I can’t think of a good reason why you would possibly want a car in Portland.  As you walk the streets of the city, you’ll find some of the friendliest locals in America, a plethora of cafes and pubs at which to rest your walking legs, and best of all, the Horse Project. 

The sidewalks of Portland date back to the nineteenth century, and hundreds of iron horse rings remain from days when folks used to park their horses instead of their cars.  A local artist started the Horse Project as a way to get people to take notice of this piece of history by securing tiny plastic horses to the rings all over the city.  They’re not so numerous that they’re obvious — you still have to look for them — but there are enough of them that pedestrians who keep their eyes peeled will surely spot a few of them.

As a big city, much larger even than Oregon’s capital city of Salem, Portland has plenty of things to see and do, from professional sports and museums to fancy restaurants and nightclubs, but it’s Portland’s beer that separates the city from other metropolitan centers. 

You can’t walk two blocks in Portland without passing a pub, most of which are independent and many of which offer unique microbrews.  The local king of beer is McMenamins, which also makes its own wines and distills its own liquors, but the locals I met directed me to Hedge House, a pub that is literally a house, right in the middle of a residential area, which serves New Old Lompoc brews and some of the tastiest pub fare I’ve ever had.

With everything to see and do (and eat and drink!) in Portland, it’s a great city to visit for a few days.  But when you’ve had enough of the big city, it’s only a short trip to one of Oregon’s many natural wonders.  Wherever you’re headed in Oregon, though, don’t just fly into the airport and skip town immediately.  Portland is definitely worth some of your travel time.

I would not call myself a health nut, but I am fitness conscious. The gym is part of my daily routine and my fridge is stocked with items that taste great and also won’t make me feel guilty about eating. But if I let myself skip too many days of exercise, or indulge my sweet tooth too much, it can be a real battle to get back into my healthy habits — which is why vacationing can be dangerous.

Certainly it’s great for my mental health to take a trip, but all that eating out and all that lounging around can really wreak havoc on my fitness agenda. After all, it’s sort of a vacation tradition to stop at Cracker Barrel and Hardee’s and munch on m&m’s and salted peanuts in the car. Then of course sampling the local flavor is never as enjoyable when you only allow yourself to get the salad. Forcing myself to diet while on vacation is never successful or fun, so instead I just make sure to work healthy choices into my travel agenda.

If you’re staying in a hotel, you probably don’t have the option to cook for yourself, and even when you do, it’s more likely that you’ll be eating your meals in restaurants anyway. It’s fine to eat what you want — you are on vacation, after all — but don’t lie to yourself about what you’re doing. In the past, I’d rationalize my gluttony by promising myself to work out twice as hard and really watch what I eat when I get home. I think a lot of people do this — but when you spend a week or more overindulging, it’s damn near impossible to turn the willpower back on immediately. When you get home, you’re going to have to play catch up at the office and probably catch up on some sleep, too. Does that really leave time for extra exercise?

My parents go on a lot of cruises. They eat like kings and laze around all week, then come home ten pounds heavier. Dad throws himself into exercise and cuts himself off from any but the healthiest foods, and sheds the weight by the end of the week. Dad is not a real person. Real people are like my mother, who comes home more exhausted than when she left, and spends the next week complaining that she can’t be more like my father who can lose his vacation weight almost instantaneously.

So back to those healthy choices. Most people gain weight on vacation, but as long as you aren’t a complete pig, your vacation doesn’t have to be a huge fitness setback. A nice thing about vacation is that you do have plenty of opportunity to have fun and be active at the same time. In your day-to-day routine, your fitness time probably isn’t the most enjoyable part of your day, but when you’ve got 24 hours a day to plan any way you like, you can work exercise into your day without having to go to a gym. Do some sightseeing on foot to casually and enjoyably burn off the calories from your hotel’s breakfast bar. If you’re at the beach, go swimming in the ocean, or take surfing lessons. If you’re in the mountains, go for a hike with your camera around your neck. Do whatever you want — it’s easy to work active activities into your itinerary, and you won’t have to guilt yourself about what you’re eating or lie to yourself about what you’ll do when you get home. Plus, keeping active while on vacation will make it easier to get back to whatever fitness routine you practice at home.

The key to a great vacation is finding a balance between indulging yourself and making enough healthy choices that you don’t regret it all later. Eat what you want, have fun, and stay active. You may come home a little bit softer around the middle, but it will be easier to get back on track physically as long as you don’t completely let yourself go in your time away.