Tag Archives: New York

The Jam Session at Bay Burger

There is a roadhouse family restaurant in Sag Harbor, New York, that we try to get to every Thursday night. Bay Burger makes really good burgers and their lobster rolls are delicious. We love their fresh veggie sides and their Joe & Liza’s homemade ice cream is wonderful (free ice cream on Wednesdays with your lunch or dinner – you can’t beat that!).

Although it’s jam-packed (no pun intended!) and chaotic on Thursday nights, we absolutely LOVE coming out to listen to the live jazz which is led by Claes Brandal and features the Thursday Night Live Band every week. If you miss coming out, you can always listen in to the Jam Session Radio Hour every Wednesday night at 7:00 EST on WPPB 88.3 F.

You never know who you will see there jamming and we have heard some truly world class entertainment (a week ago Thursday we saw world-renowned trumpet and flugelhorn player, Randy Brecker, and his beautiful wife, Ada Rovatti, a brilliantly talented saxophonist, jamming with the locals. There was a line-up of performers out the door that night, but the highlight was a young man of fifteen who stepped up to play sax with this cast of seasoned talent. I’m sure it was a night he’ll always remember, as we will, and he’ll be someone to watch in the years to come.

Window Shopping in Sag Harbor, New York

Linda in Newsletter

Night time is a great time to browse the shops in the small villages of the Hamptons. The window dressing is spectacular and each window tells a story! These shots are from a visit to Sag Harbor the other night after seeing Bay Street Theater’s excellent production of The Forgotten Woman. Enjoy!

“Life Is Good”

Linda in Newsletter

We’d been on the road for nine or so hours, daylight was gradually turning into twilight, and we were only 18 miles west of Ely, Nevada, our end destination for the day. Out of nowhere on the passenger side of the car bounded a large deer, hitting us in the centre of the grill, bouncing on the hood, then catapulting off the driver’s side roof into the ditch on the far side of the road. In the flash of a second, everything changed, as do so many occurrences in life.

We gradually rolled to a stop and off the road as much as we could with steam and smoke spewing out from under the hood and parts dropping on the highway behind us. The deer was quite dead we were sure, and we were so fortunate to not have been injured. We were both belted in, our air bags did NOT deploy (thank heavens), and the deer did NOT come through the windshield or the convertible top as he easily could have. All in all, we were very fortunate.

Our beautiful little car, however, didn’t fair so well. This little white 1999 BMW 3 Series convertible is Ron’s baby – just brought down last fall from a four year vacation in California. We’d just done a bunch of work on it, including work on the stereo system, and we were enjoying listening to some great music and, at the time of the accident, a superb audio book: The Boys in the Boat.

Our Poor BMW

A passing local motorist stopped to ensure we weren’t injured and called the Highway Patrol for us. I was able to reach AAA and get a tow truck out to get us to take us back into Motel 6 in Ely. We talked about the various alternatives with the tow truck driver, John, and learned that Ely had no transportation services or car rental available. Our only option, he suggested, was to rent a U-Haul to get us to the next larger centre to pick up a car rental. Ely really is in the middle of nowhere.

We needed to get to New York within the week, so Ron got creative. He went down to the local Chrysler/Jeep dealership the next morning and did some fast negotiation on a 2006 Jeep Liberty. When he pulled up to the motel, I had to laugh because the spare tire cover on the back reads “Life is Good”. It really is. One more white vehicle to add to our fleet (we have two other white cars as well)!

Our insurance company and the towing company made arrangements to have the BMW hauled and repaired in Elko, NV. We have no idea how we’ll get it, but I’m sure we can figure something out by the time the car is ready. We don’t plan to come back west until late October or early November, but I’m sure everything will work out as it always does. Life really is good.

On The Road To San Diego

Linda in Site News

We shared a lovely dinner and stayed overnight with David and his gorgeous girlfriend, Jake, at his newly and beautifully renovated home in Santa Barbara on our way south. When we got back to David’s after a delicious dinner downtown, we found a note on our car that had been left by one of his elderly neighbors to apologize for hitting and damaging the front end of our car which we had left parked on the street. Ironically, we had just had body work done on the BMW convertible in New York and the car was in perfect condition when we started our road trip. We were leaving early the next morning for San Diego, so Ron had to get a repair estimate as quickly as he possibly could before we left the area.

David and Jake

We had picked up a new used car (a 2002 Lincoln LS sedan) in Santa Clara to drive down to ensure that my Mom would be as comfortable as possible as she’d been having recent back issues and we knew there was no way for the three of us and all our “stuff” to comfortably fit and travel in our little BMW. The Lincoln needed a new air conditioning compressor, which our friend, Stretch, had ordered and it was to be waiting for us to pick up in San Diego.

Ron and I fired up our walkie talkies and got our damaged little caravan on the road to San Diego as soon as he was able to get a repair estimate in Santa Barbara. I was really anxious to ensure we got to the airport on time as my amazing little 83 year-old Mom was making her first solo trip – flying from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to meet us in San Diego to drive the Baja to Cabo San Lucas.

Mom Matthie

We got to the airport a little late and I was panicked. Ron found parking first and went in to find her at the luggage carousel while I found my way back to the airport and eventually secured parking. Ron found her there, as calm as could be, after having made friends with the airline escort who took her by wheelchair to the carousel area and, of course, several other people. Whew!

Ron needed to pick up the part for the Lincoln, so we took Mom to a nearby park and had an impromptu picnic (with the delicious sandwiches and food that we had prepared at Ron’s Mom’s home) and Mom and I had a chance to catch up while Ron was gone. We found a well-kept and clean motel for us, the Best Western Seven Seas (http://www.bw7seas.com), that had adjoining rooms for peace of mind. We had originally planned on crossing the border that day, but Mom seemed a bit tired, so we thought it best to let her get a good rest and we’d go into Mexico the following day.

Mom wasn’t terribly hungry that night, so we got her some soup and brought it back to her room for her. Ron and I headed to Old Town in search of Italian food as both of us had been craving it for some time. We wandered around to check out the sights and settled on Jack & Giulio’s Italian Restaurant (www.jackandgiulios.com) for dinner. The meal (we split Angel Hair Mediterraneo and Scampi Alla Giulio) and the bottle of 2009 Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico were great, but the absolute stand out of the meal was the basil orange vinaigrette they used on the salad we started with: an Insalati Cuere di Palma with hearts of palm, greens, tomato, and avocado. We almost licked the plate it was so good (Ron actually ordered more bread to sop up every drop of the dressing). Here is the closest re-creation of that dressing that I have been able to come up with so far:

Basil Orange Pesto Vinaigrette

½ cup fresh basil
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
½ tsp. sea salt
¼ cup olive oil

Add first 7 ingredients to your blender and pulse to chop and blend. Gradually pour in olive oil from the small opening at the top of the blender lid until mixture is completely blended. Chill 2 hours in the refrigerator and serve over greens or use as a dipping sauce for seared scallops or grilled shrimp.

We were really sorry that Mom hadn’t joined us for such a great meal, but she needed her rest after her first solo trip ever and all the excitement of the day. We shared many more great meals with her in the month she spent with us, however, and made some wonderful memories with her.

Fast Food…With A Difference

Linda in Site News

Neither Ron nor I are lovers of fast food, but we do make one exception when we’re in California: In–N-Out Burger (check out their full story at www.in-n-outburger.com). Ron introduced me to this regional chain three years ago and we look forward to a visit on every trip back to California for one very good reason – they do fast food REALLY well. Several renowned chefs are huge fans of the chain including Mario Batali, Antony Bourdain (who I ran into in Schmidt’s Market in Southampton, New York last summer) and Gordon Ramsay.

This chain was founded back in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder with a simple philosophy that lives on today: “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” Their first location was in Baldwin Park, California and In-N-Out Burger can now be found in 281 locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah. No location is situated more than a day’s drive from one of their regional distribution centers as they own and operate their own burger patty-making facilities in California and Texas. The burgers are made from fresh, 100% pure beef that is free of additives, fillers or preservatives of any kind and the patties are never frozen or pre-packaged. Every burger is cooked fresh to order, one at a time.

In-N-Out’s commitment to quality doesn’t stop at the burger patties. They bake their own buns and cut their own fries in every location, use real ice cream in their shakes and every burger is dressed with the finest and freshest lettuce, tomatoes and onions. They are an example of doing food right the old-fashioned way and NEVER compromising on quality.

Service is also a very important part of the In-N-Out Burger experience. Their staff is clean-cut, polite and very efficient. They are one of the few fast food chains to pay their employees significantly more than minimum wage and their staff reflects a very high standard.

On our way out to New York last spring, Ron picked up a great black t-shirt with the In-N-Out logo on the front and a classic vintage design on the back. It seems that everyone in the east (and throughout the USA) knows about this fast food chain and commented on the restaurant and the shirt itself.

In-N-Out have done something that few other chains have ever done – they’ve stayed true to their initial commitment and never compromised, despite their growth. Still family and privately owned, we sincerely hope that they never waiver from the standard they have set and firmly maintained since the restaurant chain was founded in 1948. Some things should never change.