Tidy Tidbits: Diversions

TO GO OR NOT TO GO?

This was the week that was and that was the question.  To go, or not to go.  So, this week we went.  We went to see a play and the theater was about two-thirds full.  Then we debated going to our regular orchestra concert with friends and decided to just do it.  It was a wonderful concert (more about that later), and we were pleased that there were empty seats on either side of us and empty ones in front.  Overall, the hall was only about a third full, and in the lobby, folks were standing farther apart than usual and there just weren’t as many people.  The rest room was somewhat empty, but I noted that every woman took longer to wash her hands, practicing thorough scrubbing and at least two rounds of “Happy Birthday.”

CULTURE COMMENTS

(source: Sarastomagazine.com)

The play, Into the Breeches!, takes place in 1942 and involves a group of local women putting on Shakespeare’s Henry plays while their men are off at war.  The women play the men’s roles in this comedy, and there is one hilarious scene where they practice their manly walks with appropriate appendages.  Overall, I found it enjoyable, but not my favorite. There are some more serious moments around the issues of race and sexual orientation which give it punch.   Sadly, for our local audience, the remainder of the performances have been cancelled.

The Sarasota Orchestra is hosting eight guest conductors this season as part of its recruitment process for a new music director.  Friends and I went to a morning interview and concert preview with Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, and then to the concert that evening.  Titled “Beethoven and Bartok,” it included Beethoven’s lovely fourth piano concerto along with Bartok’s last work, Concerto for Orchestra, considered by many to be his best one.  Despite the small audience, the orchestra’s playing was bright and energetic and Lockhart a fluid conductor whose remarks to the audience before the Bartok added to the richness of the experience.  Alas, that was the only performance; the Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances have all been cancelled.

COCOONING

With COVID-19 looming large, our area, like so many, is closing down.  Museums, schools, theaters, and libraries are all shutting their doors and cancelling events for the next several weeks at least.  We cancelled a trip to Pennsylvania and are monitoring the situation regarding both domestic and international travel in the months ahead.  So, what to do?

I think many of us will be reading more, watching more on our home screens, and walking.  Here, we have dog walkers, those who saunter, those who power walk, and a few runners.  If I am out on the boulevard, I have a very good chance of encountering one or more of my neighbors for chit-chat.  That’s a good thing and most welcome. 

CURRENT READING

These are both books in progress. I will finish the mystery this weekend.  Both relate to Ireland.

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

This is a crime novel set in Galway, Ireland and is the first by this author.  A young man dies by his own hand, or so it seems.  Detective Cormac Reilly is assigned to a 20-year old cold case that is connected to the current possible murder. He was the rookie detective on the old case and met the young man who just died, Jack, when he was five years old. The characters are intriguing and I’m curious to know how Jack’s girlfriend, Aisling, and his long-lost sister, Maude, are interconnected with the events of twenty years ago.  McTiernan’s website states that this book has been optioned for TV and that she has written two other novels with this detective.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

I have just begun this nonfiction work which was on several 10 best lists last year.  It’s about The Troubles and one reviewer said it read like a novel.  So far, it’s dense with detail, but I will get back to it once I complete the mystery above.

Note: Keefe photo from newyorker.com Cover photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Sarasota Scene: Theater, etc.

CURRENT THEATER

This past week we enjoyed two plays at our own Asolo Repertory Theatre.  The Lifespan of a Fact is a witty and fast paced 80 minutes of discussion, argument, and negotiation between a young magazine fact checker, a noted author, and the magazine editor.  It’s based on real events.  Since our son was a fact checker at The New Yorker early in his career, this play appealed to us.  As always, the staging was creative and the acting excellent.

We also went to Murder on the Orient Express, probably Agatha Christie’s most performed work since it has had life as a film and a TV series as well as a stage play.  The Asolo makes all its own sets and even constructs sets on commission for cruise lines and other theaters.  The revolving train set for this performance is simply amazing!  On one side a dining car, on another several staterooms and on another more seating.  Combine that with the use of projection and sound effects and you almost feel you are on a real train.  Two of our favorite actors, Asolo regulars Peggy Roeder and David Brietbarth, also have roles.

DINING ON LONGBOAT KEY

We had dined at Shore LBK during its soft opening some months ago and decided to brave the traffic during “Season” and take our friends.  We and they were delighted with the meal we had and with the water view!  Yes, Shore is large and loud, but both the service (our waitress had a nice sense of humor) and the food were superb.  Two of us ordered the red snapper over arancini cake and spinach, and the other two tucked into the ribs and the swordfish.  Our reservation was for 5:30 pm and, while early, this was good since as we neared the end of the meal, the dining room was busier and noisier.  

RECENT READING—Historical Fiction

The Last train to London by Meg Waite Clayton

(Sfexaminer.com)

In high school, I never cared much for history and managed to go through college without taking any history courses.  As an adult, I’ve become a fan of good historical fiction and have learned some history and gained insights into events through the experiences of fictional characters.  Ms. Clayton is not an author I had previously encountered despite her having written a number of noted novels.  

I found this novel about the Kindertransport of mostly Jewish children out of Nazi Europe to England especially compelling.  Clayton has two parallel narratives going that eventually intersect.  In 1936 Vienna, writer Stephan Neuman is the privileged teenaged son of a wealthy chocolate family.  They are Jewish. He becomes friends with Zofie-Helene Perger, a mathematically brilliant Christian girl whose mother is the editor of an anti-Nazi newspaper.  Each of them has a much younger sibling, he, his brother Walter (who has a beloved stuffed rabbit named Peter), and she, her sister Johanna.  When new laws against Jews are enacted, the young people can no longer meet.  

Simultaneously, Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer lives in Amsterdam with her husband Joop and has already begun dangerous clandestine expeditions to Germany to bring young children to Holland.  They have no children of their own due to her several miscarriages, a fact that weighs heavily on them.  How the lives of the three principals unfold and how they all end up on a train together is both emotionally wrenching and intellectually satisfying.  Truus was a real person who indeed brought six hundred children out of Germany to England plus more.  She became known as Tante (Aunt) Truus.

The novel is written in short chapters with very descriptive titles that alternate focusing on Stephan, Zofe, and Truus.  They read somewhat like vignettes, capturing a particular moment in time that moves each one’s story forward; yet they are done with a light, matter of fact touch, even though the conditions and events being described are often horrific.  It’s a novel of courage and love midst great danger. I am now motivated to read some of Clayton’s other novels.  (~JWFarrington) 

Savannah Dining: From Grits to Chocolates

EATING SOUTHERN

You will not go hungry in Savannah.  Portions are generous to very large and shrimp and grits appear on almost every menu.  Other local favorites are fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese, ham and biscuits, and crab meat.  Here’s where we dined.

Husk

We had lunch in their upstairs dining room which was largely empty and pleasingly quiet.  Service was excellent and while we ate more than we had intended, we found the food delicious.  Their homemade pimento cheese with benne crackers and the ham and biscuit starters were both great.  We also sampled the roast cobia with sour grits and collard chow chow (slightly different) and the pastrami tongue sandwich (man-sized).  This is upscale sophisticated dining and the menu changes frequently.

Gryphon

This charming café, located in a former apothecary and set up like a library, is owned and run by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).  It is cozy and welcoming and a relaxing spot for lunch.  We enjoyed the very shrimpy shrimp salad, the crusted medallions of goat cheese on a mound of greens, and the salmon club sandwich.  Our delightful waitress was a current SCAD student.  

Six Pence Pub

For a change from just Southern cooking and because it was a cold day, we opted for comfort food at this English style pub.  The shredded beef pot roast with mashed potatoes, gravy and baby carrots hit the spot for two of us.  Our friends ordered the shrimp bisque and a salad and one of their hearty sandwiches; both were pleased with their choices.  And the Chief Penguin succumbed to the bread pudding with whipped cream.  Beer and wine, of course, were available. 

The Olde Pink House

First off, the pink house is a large mansion with a beautiful deep pink exterior.  Our hotel concierge felt it had become more touristy in recent years, so we lowered our expectations and were pleasantly surprised by how good everything was.  There are many dining spaces and ours was large and tastefully decorated, but noisy.  The maître d’ stopped by to ask how we were and would have re-located us had we insisted, but we had already ordered drinks and so declined.  

They specialize in Low Country cuisine and the menu is extensive with many choices of platters, appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, and sides.  Having had lunch out, we ordered mostly appetizers and salads.  The shrimp, crab and sausage spring rolls with honey mustard drizzle were delectable as was the sautéed shrimp in ham gravy with a cheddar cheese grits cake.  

Equally pleasing was the BLT salad:  fried green tomatoes, bacon, and lettuce with a buttermilk thyme dressing.  Their rendition of a chicken potpie was not as satisfying as the one at the 1540 Room, this from a lover of potpies. 

Vic’s on the River

This is a very popular restaurant and given its location was crowded and busy the night we dined here.  Pluses:  excellent jumbo lump crab cakes with Parmesan risotto and baby arugula, tasty meat loaf, reasonable sized portions (except for the humongous wedge of meat loaf), and nicely presented romaine wedges with cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices on the side.  Minuses: Very noisy and we felt a bit processed, read hurried, by the wait staff.

Edgar’s Proof & Provision

Wall of bottles in the bar

Bar cum dining venue in the De Soto Hotel.  Noisy, but the drinks and the food were very good, especially the seafood chowder, fish tacos and chicken wings.  Also, the wicked garlic chips with chipotle dip.

1540 Room

Breakfast and dinner venue in the De Soto Hotel.  We had breakfasts here and one dinner on a rainy night.  The skillet chicken potpie was excellent.  One of our group also had their version of shrimp and grits.

SWEETS

Other than the bread pudding the Chief Penguin enjoyed one lunch, we skipped desserts.  That said, we are chocolate lovers and so could not resist stopping in and then purchasing a few truffles at Chocolat by Adam Turoni.  In 2011, this millennial brought a box of his own homemade chocolates to his dinner hosts and, from there, was born this firm.  

Turoni’s flavor combinations are innovative, his creations beautiful to look at, and even better to taste.  The shop we visited, one of two in the city, is modeled as a library with shelves of books interlaced with shelves of chocolate.  You pick up a tray, a bit like an old-fashioned card catalog drawer except narrower, and walk around filling it with the chocolates you wish to purchase.  The truffle flavors range from Mint Julep Truffle to Coconut Meltaway with white chocolate to a Café American to Blood Orange and more.  Double yum!

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Experiencing Savannah: Squares & Art

We met friends in Savannah and enjoyed four days of exploring this very walkable city.  It is one of the most pedestrian-friendly small cities I’ve ever visited.  Our hotel in the historic district was centrally located between the river to the north and Forsyth Park to the south.  Neither was more than a 15 to 20-minute walk and we walked everywhere, despite some rainy and then cold weather! There are several trolley firms offering hop on, hop off tours which we considered doing but never did.

Fountain in Forsyth Park

SAVANNAH SQUARES

Founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe who founded the colony of Georgia, Savannah teems with history and is made beautiful by its many historic squares.  Today there are 22 squares created in the 18th and 19th centuries, and each is an oasis of calm with live oaks dripping with Spanish moss, benches on which to contemplate the world, and usually a monument or a statue of a famous person from Oglethorpe himself in Chippewa Square to John Wesley near the mother church of Methodism.  

James Oglethorpe

In addition, camellia bushes and azaleas, an early blooming flush of pink, provide color.  Dotted around the squares are a number of historic churches, more elegant architecture, including the Independent Presbyterian Church with a layered green spire atop its steeple.

Independent Presbyterian Church

  Savannah’s city hall has a prominent golden dome, a beacon in the sky as one approaches the river.

RIVER WALK

Savannah’s riverfront is crammed with seafood restaurants and small shops and the once important centers of commerce, the Savannah Cotton Exchange and Factors Row.  We found this section somewhat touristy, but enjoyed our saunter along the river promenade where you can catch a ferry across to the convention center or just stop to peruse the panels about Savannah’s maritime history.  

We watched a colorful container ship come into port and then walked almost to the end of the promenade to see The Waving Girl.  Florence Martus waved her handkerchief to each arriving and departing ship for many decades.  

ART MUSEUMS

For us, no visit to a city is complete without checking out a local museum.  Here we visited two art museums.  The Jepson Center is a stunning piece of architecture, very contemporary and not at all like any of the surrounding buildings.  It’s located on Telfair Square and is one of the three Telfair Museums.  

Katniss by Katherine Sandoz

The building has lots of glass and the lobby and skylights make for interesting patterns on the lobby floor and walls.  The hanging installation by artist Katherine Sandoz adds color and whimsy.  Two exhibits, “Machines of Futility:  Unproductive Technologies” and a highly interactive one on nature and art, highlighted communication and climate change.  

The Chief Penguin and I were surprised and then delighted when we put on 3-D goggles and watched “Immerse” to see the very familiar coral reef tank at the California Academy of Sciences.  This was our work venue for seven years and immediately we were transported back in time—and space!  We then learned that Steven High, director of our local Ringling Museum of Art, served there as director for several years.  Small, small world!

We also visited the Telfair Museum of Art, the oldest art museum in the South, which was built in 1818-1819 as the mansion home for members of the Telfair family.  On the docent tour, we learned about the architecture and that this family had several plantations and owned more than 600 slaves.  The surviving member of the family, Mary Telfair, willed the house to the Georgia Historical Society expressly to become a museum. 

The Bird Girl

 It opened in 1886 as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences and for some years was a teaching institution as well as an exhibitor.  The art collection is small, but there were some interesting pieces including the sculpture, The Bird Girl, related to the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and a special exhibit called “Savannah Faces” by more contemporary artists.

Savannah also has a museum devoted to Prohibition and several house museums including the home of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts. All diversions for another trip.

For details on where we ate on this foray, see my next blog.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).