food sensitivities: none. Professional enthusiast. Will travel for a sandwich. Stayed for the drinks. Special focus on Japan.
Joined August 2021
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in honor of all my international friends coming to the US, i offer you a warm welcome from our beaver shaped, golden gates of america.
inspired by @shaunvlog_
There have been so few people that have had the capacity for as much influence as this man.
He created a culture and exported it to the world. A Japanese contribution to humanity.
どうもありがとうございました, Tetsuya Chiba.
Olana, Hudson, NY. Like Midnight in Paris. A painting you can walk into.
As part of a last minute excursion to New York City, our trip planner, shout out to @claudeai, suggested we visit the Olana house.
Frederic Church was the most famous American landscape painter to ever exist, and, like Thomas Jefferson, a planner as well as an executor. His house is one of the greatest architectural achievements in the entire country and was almost lost for good when the last of the family died in 1964 and the heirs put it up for auction, paintings and all.
It's since been revived into a thriving museum and tourist center where you can enjoy the grounds for free or dive deeper for a couple of Hamiltons.
The stunning views carry on the artist's great legacy. It's a living embodiment of how he saw the world.
Now for the gold box.
From the lawn it's a gazebo made of mirrors, and it does exactly what mirrors do, throws the leaves and the lake and whoever is standing in front of it right back at you. Then you open the door and the mirrors go dark. The whole inside is a winter sky, scratched into the silver so the sunlight comes through the lines. Glaciers on the walls, clouds and a sunburst overhead. Ellen Harvey drew it all full size first, then had it engraved. If you know Church's paintings, The Icebergs and Aurora Borealis are hiding in there, and so are a few protest signs.
Church had a summer house somewhere around this spot. It shows up on his 1886 plan of the property and nowhere else. This has been standing in for it since last summer, and it comes down at the end of the month.
Thatcher McGhee's, Denville, New Jersey.
I was showing around a friend from Texas, and there's something you just can't get better anywhere else than on the East Coast, a proper Irish pub (sorry Ireland). This one is in a decently affluent area, but also a very homey feeling place. The kind of spot where random people will just start talking to you on the street in a very kind and thoughtful way. It happened a couple times when we were walking around on our way to this hefty dinner.
The place certainly has a sense of humor with all of its life lessons painted on the walls and the Halloween costumes that were building up for the big day. Service was a bit slow, I think it might've been transitional. Or perhaps the issue of just not being able to find workers for the right price. Regardless, we got everything we wanted and more.
The Guinness was a perfect pour and they even have their own red ale, which was pretty dang good for a house beer. Me being a glutton, I opted for the smorgasbord labeled a Taste of Ireland. It has the chicken pot pie, shepherd's pie, bangers and mash and something else, including the kitchen sink. Bonus points if you can figure out what the last offering is.
And in proper fashion, this place has no rolls or bread, which my friend from Texas was a little surprised by. But what they do have are traditional Irish scones, which go great for breakfast the next day.
You can't have it all, but at least you have luck on your side.
McDonald's, Oak Ridge, New Jersey. Berkshire Valley Road.
This place is upside down and backwards. You're not sure what is real and what is not.
Is it like this? Is it like that? Maybe it's just like that thing I saw before. And ooh, look, fun games! How could you not feel like a kid again? Rack up the points! Just like an arcade.
What's for damn sure is, like the unique flavor of a Hershey bar, nothing else tastes like this. And everyone in this restaurant looks way happier than the CEO when he's forced to eat his own food on camera.
Don't make a habit out of this. But enjoy every second.
Jimmy Geez North, Oak Ridge, NJ. Wednesday night.
A return to an old time favorite. One of two locations, and by far my favorite wing destination in New Jersey.
On the sacred hump day of Wednesday, wings are half off. You can't keep the people away from this place. Not only are the base wings the most crispy and excellent platform to deliver sauces, they have several dozen of them that include wet and dry options.
If this is your first time, you have to have the DTS, which is Jersey style (sort of a secret) with lemon and pepper added in. I opted for the contrast of a darker Nashville hot, which was very well received. Their blue cheese has a unique presentation, with the blue almost like specks of ground black sesame seeds.
The beers they have on tap range from dive bar to some of the best gastropubs the Northeast has to offer. It feels like a family owned restaurant with the nicest staff around. And the love extends to people of all shades and sizes. Whether you just got off a hard day of manual labor or stock trading, everyone is welcome.
See you next week.
A very unexpected trip to a very beautiful place, especially this time of year.
It's almost like one of those old Japanese temples you see where there are brightly colored maples everywhere. Something around a brook where water that once flowed freely is beautifully decorated with leaves of every shade. A spot so immaculate, you can take several different compositions and they are captured without a single flaw.
Nature did all the work here. We’re just here for the ride.
Batch Microcreamery, Center Valley, PA. Right outside the theater.
After that tremendous documentary, we had to find some way to cool down. Even in the chilly fall weather, we needed something extra.
As if life was a simulation (we're still not sure), the perfect ice cream oasis appeared as soon as we left the theater.
Ecce! 32 Flavors!!
After trying a few, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too sweet. I ended up opting for the banana strawberry because of the excellent texture. It was almost like thick marshmallow fluff and felt very nice on the palate. And every now and then I do enjoy that artificial banana flavoring. If you're looking for bare bones farm stand ice cream, this isn't for you. But I'll take anything after a documentary where you see everything.
The greatest documentary ever created.
It's not an opinion, it's a fact.
130 years of arts and sciences coming together to birth a documentary that will take another generation, or five, to surpass.
The levels of layering and creativity and mind fuckery are something out of a top 5 crime thriller. A work of cinematic art from @nathanfielder, Lance Oppenheim and @A24.
A doc like this this is simply too unique to ever be replicated. Much like the creative shock induced by the notorious Sopranos ending, it’s an unparalleled moment in time.
You have to see everything.
