More Modernism Week in Palm Springs

Today is the last day of Modernism Week in Palm Springs. Our Modernism activity was a tour of six homes in the Twin Springs condominium complex. All 40 homes in Twin Springs were designed and built in 1972 by architect in South Palm Springs. 

Two of the units we visited still have the original foil wallpaper and popcorn ceilings. Others have been remodeled but still keep with the mid-century theme.  

Palm Springs designer Arthur Elrod actually had a condo in Twin Springs and designed the interiors of many others. His three bedroom "model" home was one on the tour. 

Each residence was designed by Wexler to enjoy the outside vista and has an unbelievable view of either the San Jacinto Mountains or the desert-landscaped pool areas and stream. Large rooms, high ceilings, sunken master suite tub and sunken living rooms on the ground floor, with patios or full length balconies on the second floor, provide the perfect care-free, indoor-outdoor, Palm Springs condominium lifestyle.

VACATIONING IN SOUTH FLORIDA

In January, I spent a week in South Florida, a nice Winter break even for those of us who live in "Sunny California."

I spent a day in South Beach, the southernmost part of Miami Beach. Years ago, when I was a child in  Boston, many of my more affluent friends and relatives would spend the entire winter here. The hotels in South Beach were small; the architecture Art Deco.  By the 1950s and 1960, a bit to the north along Miami Beach, developers started building high rise housing and hotels. The Fontainebleau and Eden Roc were two of the landmark hotels that were built in this era. Visitors started gravitating to these places, leaving South Beach mostly as an inexpensive retirement community for aging seniors from the Northeast. The area eventually declined until the 1980s when the South Beach renaissance began.  The hotels were restored and modernized, Cubans fleeing Castro's Cuba gave the area a cultural mix, and the TV show "Miami Vice" presented the area as an appealing place to be.

Today, South Beach is booming and beautiful. Visitors come to South Beach from all over the world. There is always a modeling shoot or a movie filming going on. The Art Deco hotels are historic icons that now charge high rates and are always full. Along Ocean and Collins Avenues there is activity 24 hours a day.

While I've been to South Beach many times since the 1980's, it was not until this visit that I took the Miami Design Preservation League's Art Deco Walking Tour. The daily tours last about 90 minutes and cost $25 per person ($20 for seniors/students/veterans).  Reservations not needed; you can purchase your tickets online in advance or just show up at the Art Deco Welcome Center a few minutes before the 10:30 a.m. start time and purchase your ticket. 

The walk was mainly along Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. It is the hotels that have the most interesting Art Deco architecture. Our guide took us into the lobby of the Winter Haven Hotel (1939) and up to the rooftop pool and bar of the Congress Hotel. 

We detoured a few blocks to South Beach's Art Deco Post Office, on Washington Avenue at 13th Street. It's architecture, murals, and ceiling are worthy of a detour.

Another highlight of our tour was the mansion where Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace lived until his untimely death in 1997 when he was shot on the front steps as he was heading out for his daily breakfast at the nearby News Café. His mansion is not Art Deco, but has been an attraction since 1992, when Versace bought and opulently renovated it with such details as a 54-foot long 1000-mosaic swimming pool which is lined in 24-carat gold. It is now in the process of becoming Villa by Barton G, a luxury hotel with an upscale restaurant, Il Sole.  

After the tour, I had lunch at my longtime favorite, the News Café (since 1988). My father and I used to have lunch here every time I visited Florida. It's a popular, casual restaurant, outdoor café, bar, and international news stand, right on Ocean Drive. The News is open 24 hours a day. While other restaurants along Ocean Drive have become glitzy, with pushy "hawkers" trying to lure in customers, the News has remained low-key and seems to be as popular as ever. I had my "usual," the Mahi Mahi Sandwich...yum!!! 

And, just across from the frenetic activity along Ocean Drive is beautiful Miami Beach where there is always room to swim, walk, and sun.

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I spent another full day in Coral Gables at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. The garden is named for David Fairchild (1869-1954), a famous plant explorer, educator, and scientist who traveled the world in search of plants that might have potential use to American people. Fairchild retired to Miami in 1935 and, in 1938, created, with a core group of supporters, including Robert H. Montgomery, an accountant, attorney, and business man with a passion for plant collecting, this Botanic Garden on 83 acres of land. They chose this location south of Miami because it is the one place in the continental United States where tropical plants can grow outdoors year-round.

Admission to the Garden includes a tram ride through the garden, giving an excellent overview of its entirety.  After riding the tram, I further explored the garden on foot.

Right now, until May 31, 2015, Fairchild is exhibiting the glass art of Dale Chihuly.  This exhibit is the biggest Chihuly exhibit I've ever seen. The Garden is a perfect setting for the glass works that pop up unexpectedly, blending in and complementing the lush plants.

The Fairchild has several places to dine, including the Glasshouse Café that overlooks the Wings of Tropics exhibit and which has a Chihuly chandelier in the center of the dining room. There are several casual places to buy food as well as to picnic. 

  

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When I am in South Florida, I usually stay in Coral Springs, near where my parents lived in retirement, about half an hour's drive north of Ft. Lauderdale.  The nearest beach is Deerfield Beach, a beautiful beach with a fishing pier, walking paths along miles of beach, and several pleasant places to eat.  I like the restaurants that have seating facing the beach. This visit, I enjoyed a pleasant lunch on the outside patio at the Deerfield Beach Café which is open for three meals a day. It also serves to-go food to take to the beach and is a popular spot for an ice cream cone.

McCovey's is Closing in Walnut Creek

In 2003, the Dudum family, in collaboration with baseball Hall of Fame first baseman, Willy McCovey, opened McCovey's Restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek.

The Dudum's are known for their celebrity-themed restaurants and McCovey's theme was baseball, particularly the San Francisco Giants. It was truly the ultimate sports bar...in shape of a baseball diamond and with baseball and other sports memorabilia decorating the walls, ceilings, and even the floor. Television screens, broadcasting sports are visible no matter where you are sitting.

Back then, Willy McCovey used to drop by fairly regularly. I got to meet him one day when he and I were there for lunch.  Usually, he "held court" in the private dining room off the main dining area.

Sadly, McCovey's is closing the day after Super Bowl, February 2.  Word has it that McCovey's is hoping to relocate to San Francisco, closer to AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants' home baseball park. A Los Angeles hamburger chain is going to be filling the Walnut Creek space and the empty former gym space next door (if this is true, the restaurant will fill the length of a city block!!!).

Last night, Jim and I had our final meal at McCovey's.

We are both fans of their pulled pork.

Jim went all out with the Pulled Pork Dinner that comes with three side dishes.

I was a bit more conservative, ordering my "usual," the Pulled Pork Sandwich.

For collectors of Baseball memorabilia, McCovey's is selling all its signed baseballs and authentic bats for half price.

Farewell, McCovey's...Walnut Creek will miss you.

Tea at Tal-Y-Tara Tea & Polo Shoppe

A tea room and an equestrian shop in San Francisco's outer Richmond district in a mostly-residential neighborhood?  As I walked down the block of California Street between 26th and 27th Avenues, I was more than a bit hesitant about what I would find inside this shop with a full-sized horse statue out front. This was my introduction to Tal-y-Tara Tea and Polo Shoppe.

In fact, when I saw this horse head peering out of the doorway, I seriously thought about turning around and going back to my car.

But, alas, I couldn't leave because I had invited Harriet here to celebrate her birthday with Tal-y-Tara's Queen's Tea.

Once inside, we settled in to what turned out to be the best afternoon tea that I've ever had in San Francisco, and maybe anywhere.

The shoppe is small and cluttered in a very comfortable way.  The front part of the shoppe features equestrian wear and gear. The tea room is at the back but there is seating throughout the shoppe, even in the front area.

The furniture is mismatched and no two tables are alike.  I felt like I was going to tea at the home of an English person whose family had lived in the place for many generations.

The menu offers several fixed price, multi-course tea services. All courses can be ordered a la carte, as well.  While we were there, some people just stopped by for a cup of tea and a scone and others came for an entire tea meal. The customers on a weekday afternoon were of all ages. All the food is prepared here.

We started by ordering our tea. While we were deciding on salads and scone flavors, we were served a plate of biscotti, made from their scones.

Since we were having the Queen's Tea, our tea sandwich selections included one of each of six different sandwiches of each of us.  The sandwich bread is called a Motorloaf. Its recipe dates back at least four generations in England. The Motorloaf was traditionally used as a picnic item that could easily be wrapped up and carried when one motored off into the country.  It's a semi-sweet dark bread that contains raisins and walnuts.  The sandwiches are made from bread cut out of the center of the loaf and are served inside the loaf.  Our sandwich fillings were cream cheese and cucumber, egg salad with capers, cheese and chutney, smoked turkey with watercress, black forest ham with mustard, and smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers.

The serving plate was garnished with fresh fruits and cream cheese and butter to put on the part of the loaf that was not made into sandwiches. I noted that several customers had the loaf wrapped up to take home for later enjoyment.

For our side salads, Harriet had the Mixed Greens and I had the Wedge with Blue Cheese and Peppered Bacon.

There were three flavors of scone available on this day.  Harriet had the Lemon Vanilla and I chose the one with Currants.  The scones are served with Devonshire Cream and Jam. 

Our final course was English Trifle, a traditional sweet dessert made with cubes of pound cake, fruit jam, and a rich custard that is poured over it.

We lingered at Tal-y-Tara for more than two hours, enjoying every mouthful of our very tasty and satisfying tea.

Not only did I enjoy the freshly-prepared food, I enjoyed the personal service as well. Also, in contrast to most Bay Area complete tea services, Tal-y-Tara's is not overwhelmed by overly sweet/rich cakes and cookies.  It was just right for my tastes. 

The Queen's Tea costs $39 per person. It is substantial enough to be your main meal for the day. 

The Prince Harry ($25 per person) includes tea, shortbread cookies, motorloaf sandwiches, and scones. The Prince William and Lady Katherine ($35 per person) adds salads to the Price Harry. And, the Queen's Tea adds the English trifle to all of this.

Parking is free on the street and, in this part of San Francisco, it is not too hard to find a place to park.

As I walked to my car, I looked back and bid the horse farewell, with a promise to return again soon.

One last note:  There is currently a Groupon available for tea service at Tal-y-Tara which offers a substantial savings on your choice of tea service for two.