The Cousin Carousel

Yay! New England in August

On a one-week jaunt through New England, I saw a total of 33 cousins, including spouses and children, in three states, and four different settings. 

There was a Clark family reunion in New Hampshire; a Cohn family reunion in Vermont and Boston; and a first time meeting with “new cousins,” in Hull, Mass. I am so glad that this collective of cousins resides in New England, a perfect excuse for swampy, soupy Washington DC. 

We woke up to the news that our flight to Manchester, NH was cancelled. Fortunately, an hour later we got a flight to Boston. Close enough. We took an Uber from Boston to Manchester, the normal drive of an hour plus took twice as long because of a van fire, and a preponderance of Friday traffic. As we approached Manchester we heard a radio commercial advertising a “colossal lobster roll.” Our ears perked up, or is it pricked up?  The 99 restaurant was only 7 minutes away. You can guess what happened next. 

New Hampshire 

Family reunion, New Boston

New Hampshire is a sweet little bite-sized state in the heart of New England. Once you get accustomed to the jarring “Live Free or Die” license plates, you can enjoy all that the state has to offer. Mountains, beaches, streams, lakes, lush greenery, gardens, and farmland. 

New Boston, happy hour under the oak

The reunion was held at a house on 200 acres of unfarmed farmland in New Boston. The enormous family home (constructed in the 1700’s, expanded in the 1930’s) was purchased by my great aunt Lois Warren and her husband Winfield Shaw in 1916, and has remained in the family. I asked what time we should be there on Friday night and my cousin replied by text that dinner would be at 6:30 p.m. or 7:00, but first they were all going to Happy Hour at The Oak. I thought The Oak was a bar. But it’s the enormous oak tree in the front yard that Cousin Rhoda (who lived to age 99) planted when she was 16. There were 20 people at the reunion ranging in age from 91 to 18 months. 

Touring the house with Elizabeth

The cousins took us on a tour of the house with detailed descriptions of the architecture, art work, and furniture. It turns out that these cousins are just as interested as I am in preserving and archiving family photos, letters, and other memorabilia. As one cousin said, “You’d think we were related or something.” 

Reviewing the photos with Heather, Elizabeth, and Arden

The next day we had brunch at our hotel The Grand at Bedford Village with second cousins I was meeting for the first time, Alison and her husband Hank who live in Portsmouth. Alison is also very interested in the family history and is applying for entry to the Mayflower Society, based on our lineage. 

Alison and Hank

Vermont 

Touring the grounds

I have long eschewed this nice little green state because it lacks what I consider the best part of New England, the ocean. But it has what my cousins consider the best part of New England—mountains and  skiing. And it’s just beautiful in the summer. My cousins Bill and Sue moved to Northfield, Vermont from Boston about a year ago. They have an enormous property, a four-story house, a wrap-around porch, an art studio, a garage, a greenhouse, an orchard, a pond, and vegetable gardens. 

Bill, Charlotte and Sue

Max, Ben, and Bill

As Sue said, “we didn’t do a very good job of downsizing,” the usual path for retirees, but they love it. Their favorite ski area is only half an hour away.  Sue and Bill are both artists and her artwork fills the house, while his ceramic sculptures dot the property. Daughter Charlotte was there visiting from New York City, and they invited the rest of the next-gen younger cousins to dinner: Ben and Max and his bride Britt, who have also moved to Vermont. 

The next day we went to Bartlett Falls, a waterfall that cascades into a large natural pool of fresh water. When I was looking through the crystal-clear water, and up at the boulders that shaped this perfect swimming hole, I described it as a “Vermont concentrate” experience.

Bristol, Main Street

 

We had lunch at Snaps in Bristol, a classic small town that looks like a movie set.

We stopped at Canteen Creemee, where I had a "maple creemee,” a soft serve ice cream unique to Vermont. It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. 

That night we ate at a Thai restaurant in Randolph called Saap. It was delicious, but we were somewhat distracted by the fact that a man at another table fell to the floor after his chair broke. He was a 20-something, so he bounced up like a rubber ball. 

Bartlett Falls

Massachusetts 

Eric and Julia

On the road from Vermont to Massachusetts, we had the “best meal at a rest stop,” at the Common Man Roadside Market and Deli in Hooksett NH, (93 South). Not only did I have the grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough toast of my dreams, but the accompanying fries were outstanding. I’m somewhat of a French fry connoisseur, if those words can go together, and these were perfect-- hot, well-salted, and crunchy. 

Young Julia

We made a special trip to Newton to have dinner with my cousin Julia and her fiancé Eric at Mida. We were there to celebrate Julia’s birthday, but just a day before they had announced their engagement. So it was a double-double celebration. 

JFK Memorial Library

We had time to kill before our fourth and final cousin encounter, so we went to the fabulous John F Kennedy Memorial Library, which was designed by IM Pei, a magnificent glass building with a view of the water from every direction. 

Next we drove to The Parrot, in Hull, Massachusetts to meet some first cousins for the first time. It’s a long story, but in brief, after both of my parents died, I discovered that my mother, Lynn Warren, was not my birthmother. My father once had a liaison with Peggy Foley from Portland, Maine. And I was the result.  

Two years ago I met Peggy’s niece Kathy, whom I’ve dubbed Saint Kathleen because she was the first person who could tell me about Peggy.  This trip to Hull was to meet Kathy’s brothers (Peggy’s nephews, James and Michael). When I told them about all of the cousin visits over the past week  said “They’re all second cousins I don’t have any first cousins.” 

James corrected me and said, “Well you do now!” They welcomed me like a family member, pointed out some resemblances, and were a delight.

James, Mike, Kathy 

JFK Memorial Library

Oh Canada!/Berkeley Bounce-Back

 

View from the condo

Vancouver

I have trouble thinking of Canada as an international destination. Aren’t they just our neighbors to the North? Can’t we just run up there without much fuss? The place I summered as a child, Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was full of Canadians. I'm pretty sure they just hopped in their cars and drove down from Montreal. Now we are stopped at the border, coming and going.

My friend Jane and I were in Vancouver for our first time, so we had a lot of ground to cover in three days. Our Airbnb condo was on the twenty-second floor and we had sweeping views of the city. And we were near the Gastown neighborhood where people go to have a gas, or get some weed, it is dotted with cannabis stores. And there’s a famous steam clock that burped out some gas, lights and calliope music every thirty minutes. People stop to listen, watch, and photograph it, but we just saw it as a lot of hot air. 

Cherry pyramids at Granville Public Market

Provence in Coleur on Granville Island

Our first morning we fell for that old tourist trope, the Hop on Hop Off Big Bus. We wanted to catch it “midstream” instead of at the origination point, and we walked aimlessly for an hour trying to find the pick-up stps. We finally took a cab to Canada Place, the Big Bus Headquarters. The bus stops at several Vancouver highlights, the Olympic Cauldron, the Cruise Ship Terminal, Stanley Park, Chinatown, and Granville Island, where we got out. We loved it there, restaurants, a huge Granville Public Market, sunshine, seagulls, and good shopping. What's good shopping?  Stores that have things you won’t find anywhere else, and when someone says ‘where did you get that’ and you say ‘a tiny shop on a tiny island in Western Canada’ you know you won’t see them wearing it the next day. 

"Jetson's" skyline

We ate at Popina where a lobster roll went for $39. It had about as much meat as a claw on a Maine lobster and was padded with coleslaw. We sat on the Ferry Dock and looked at the skyline of skyscrapers in downtown Vancouver which Jane thought looked like Orbit City, the Jetson’s metropolis.

Cielito Lindo 

Accidentally walked into Muse Cannabis 

I didn't think we needed to go to the airport too early because it’s just Canada to California for goodness sake. But Jane wanted to go three hours early as is recommended for international flights. We needed every minute of it. US Customs has set up a pre-clearance system at Vancouver airport. Oddly you are welcomed to the US before getting on the plane. 

 

Bouncing back to Berkeley

San Francisco Embarcadero

Ippudo Berkeley with Nila

The Berkeley Beiser brothers, Peter and Franky, picked us up at the airport and drove us around for the next two days, anywhere and everywhere we wanted to go. The first night we went to dinner at Ippudo Berkeley, the ramen restaurant I had so loved in Japan. I got my beloved gyoza and spicy noodles, but they had anglicized the menu to include French fries and matcha cheesecake.  

Shattuck Plaza Hotel

We stayed at the Shattuck Plaza Hotel which was delightful, except for the sound of a gurgling ghost in the wall. Great location, only a 15-minute walk to Nila and Peter's place.

 

La Note, Berkeley

We had breakfast at La Note where they serve lattes in soup bowls. A woman at the next table told Jane she looked just like Tinkerbell, and that her daughter loved fairies, and they had recently seen Peter Pan. Jane insisted she did not look like Tinkerbell, but I told her any comparison to an adorable cartoon character is a compliment.

The real Twin Peaks

Jane had lived in San Francisco in the late 70's, early 80's and hadn't been there since, so she wanted to see how much it had changed. We started with the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero, which was definitely new since her time. Then we went to the highest point,Twin Peaks, a show I followed religiously that has nothing in common with this Twin Peaks. Next the Mission District, where we walked on Valencia Street, which we found fairly charming, and then up Mission Street which we didn’t, but we did stop for lunch at a good Mexican restaurant,Taqueria Cancun.

Murals in the Mission District

 

We requested that the next stop be Pacific Heights for the higher elevation, higher income level, and the higher priced shopping. We found all this and more. Peter found a way to kill time at Browser Books.  Jane found her favorite store, Suzane, whose Georgetown pop-up had recently closed. We drove by some of the Victorian/Edwardian houses called Painted Ladies, but these didn't have their makeup on.    

Yimm Oakland

 

We met Nila and Franky for dinner at a fun Thai restaurant called Yimm in Oakland which was yum, and then went for ice cream at Humphry Slocombe, known for its unusual flavors like Secret Breakfast which is bourbon ice cream with corn flake cookie blend-ins.  

We promised Jane a rose garden

Berkeley Rose Garden

It’s quite easy to entertain a florist in Berkeley. We took Jane to Berkeley Rose Garden, and then a walking tour of homes and gardens in the Berkeley Hills. 

Chez Panisse 

 

Jane took me to Chez Panisse for lunch, which was there when she lived in San Francisco, and Alice Waters was already the belle of the chef community. It lived up to its reputation.

Berkeley Hills Garden

I love Berkeley. Jane loved it too.  I’ve been so many times now that I know my way around, the weather is nice, the views are great, and you never know who you are going to meet.  Before we knew it we were talking to a scientist from Kitt Peak Observatory in Tucson whose job it is to map the universe. 

 

I asked him if there were signs of life out there and he assured me there are. So make sure your passport is up to date.

Berkeley Garden

Japan Part Two: Kanazawa and Kyoto

 

Deep in the roots of Japan

Hida Furukawa, Shirakawa-go

We left Takayama with a driver and a tour guide, and made a brief stop in Hida Furukawa, a nearby suburb where we went to the Hida Furukawa Festival Exhibition Hall. They show an excellent 4-D movie about the festival which I highly recommend.

Latte at Kanokoya Coffee and Waffles, Hida Furukawa

The tour guides seem to call each other to alert them to any peculiarities of the client; and clearly they got the message that I need a mid-morning latte. 

Shirakawa

Our next destination was the village of Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. The "go" suffix means village, but it also means you have to go because it’s so charming, it’s so different, and because tourism is its only source of income. 

Our guide steered us to an out of the way Soba noodle restaurant Sobasho Yamakoshi for lunch. Soba is made of buckwheat, so it’s the most nutritious choice compared to its noodle friends Udon and Ramen.  It's like choosing pasta made from chick peas, a healthier than thou choice, but Soba happens to be delicious a well as nutritious. We also ordered vegetable tempura which was a pile of various unidentifiable greens that the guide said the owner picked out of the forest that morning. I believed him. 

Shirakawa

Shirakawa is an isolated mountain village that gets 10 meters of snow in the winter, and 300 years ago someone came up with a brilliant architectural solution, gassho style housing, an A frame (they called it praying hands) design with a thatched roof. I mean thatching on steroids, some of it up to three feet wide. 

Kanazawa

Samurai garden, Kanazawa

We continued our drive winding through the mountains and Japanese countryside. Then we were dropped off at the Hyatt Centric Kanazawa which is indeed at the center of Kanazawa and serves as the anchor of new train station, shopping mall, and restaurant complex. 

Kenrokuan Gardens, Kanazawa

Kanazawa is the Seattle of Japan and gets 185 days of rain per year. They cleverly have a city-wide borrow-an-umbrella system where you grab one as needed and return it to another swap spot. Our guide  took us to the Namagachi samurai district, where the one percent lives, the Kanazawa Castle Park, the beautiful Kenrokuan Gardens and the amazing Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, which alone is worth a trip to Kanazawa. 

Installation at Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art

The guide recommended Ippuda for lunch, a ramen restaurant where you can order mild, medium, or hot, and specify your noodle texture.  Ippuda started small but now has 100 locations in Japan and 60 around the world. No wonder, the founder has been named Ramen King and is in the Ramen Hall of Fame. 

Geisha District Kanazawa

Imai Kinpaku Workshop and Store

Kanazawa produces 98 percent of Japan’s gold leaf. In that city everything that glitters is gold. They even serve gold ice cream cones. You can buy gold flecks by the bag to brighten up your cocktails and dinner plates. 

Kyoto 

Kyoto Tower

The Thousand Kyoto lobby

The Thousand Kyoto was our favorite hotel, luxurious, modern, with an artistic portrayal of “wind” in the lobby, and a nightly light show on its huge staircase. Best of all they had an amazingly resourceful staff who helped me find my cell phone which I had left in a taxi! 

Heads or tails?

Our first day was rainy so the guide rearranged our tour to include covered activities.  We arrived at the Nishiki Market which seems to stretch to infinity, and more covered shopping at the Teramachi and Shinkyogoku arcade. Then we sloshed around in the old town but told the guide we were "templed out." He proceeded to test us on our temple knowledge and when we failed several questions, he said “See, so you’re not templed out.” Darr said “I am now. "

Japanese pancakes Okonomiyaki

For some reason they seated us with a stranger

We parted ways with the guide and had Japanese pancakes for lunch at Issen Yoshoku. They are not pancakes as we know them, they reminded us more of enchiladas and are stuffed with cabbage, meat, seafood and sprinkled with seaweed powder. 

Bamboo Forest, Arashiyama

The next day off to Arashiyama, a beautiful section of Kyoto with a bamboo forest. Adjacent to the forest is an estate once owned by a famous samurai movie star Okochi Sanso Garden. We sat quietly in a beautiful tea house where I sat on the floor and practiced copying a Buddhist saying with an ink brush and copy. Sadly I can’t read it. But I know it was something wise. 

Bamboo Grove

Tenryu Ji Temple, pond and island garden

Then on to an enormous Buddhist site Tenryu Ji Temple, big enough to accomodate the three types of Japanese gardens, a pond and island garden, rock garden and tea garden. We stood on the Togetsuky Bridge where we learned about a strange tradition of fishermen using herons to catch their fish. Darr who has photographed many a heron slurping down a fish asked how they get the fish away from the heron. You don't want to hear the answer. But the guide says the heron-regurgitated fish are delicious. 

 

Welcome to Nara Park

Feeding frenzy

No visit to Kyoto is complete without a day trip to Nara, an hour away by train. Nara Park abounds with tame deer that will eat rice cakes out of your hand. They can get a little pushy though, and there was a sign warning tourists that the deer can kick, bite and headbutt.  But when they bow their heads, which they do for food, it's so cute.

 

Great Buddha

Also in Nara is the Biggest Best Buddha: Great Buddha Hall Todai Ji Temple. The enormity of the Buddha is stunning, his nose width is 98 cm,  mouth length is 133 cm, and his feet thickness is 223 cm.

The guide took us to lunch at Momoshiki where we were introduced to the gyodi beef on rice bowl. There is a way to eat it our blond German waiter explained.  First plain, second with three spices; and third in hot broth. Yummy. Nara's signature dessert, shaved ice, was not as good as the name of the restaurant, Café Groovy. 

Fushimi Inari Shrine Too many people with the same idea

Unfortunately, after a three transfer train ride that afternoon I was too tired to see much of the Fushimi Inari Shrine, the one that is pictured in every travel story about Japan. I had reached my limit. I was deered out, subwayed out, shrined and templed out, and had to sign out. 

But what a great trip! 

Tender treatment for pineapples

        

A note about food:  A friend who has rather refined taste said don’t worry about restaurants in Japan, everything is good. He was right. There is not much not to like in land of fresh fish, perfect rice, delicious noodles and gyoza.  Enlivened by lots of teriyaki and soy sauce. And macha ice cream. A few recommendations: coffee and pastries at  the tiny cozy Cafe de Ginza after shopping; another skyview restaurant in Tokyo En; conveyor belt-delivered Sushi Kuinee in Kanazawa; Sobasho Yamakoshi  outside of Shirakawa; Sushi Tsukiji and the elegant Kizahashi in Kyoto; and Momoshiki in Nara.

Dinner at Kizahashi Kyoto

A touch of whimsy