John’s note: The Local’s Take is a series where I interview some of my favorite travel bloggers and turn the tables, asking them to share their hometowns with us. After all, what better way is there to learn about a destination than from a travel writer who calls it home? So join along and learn how to make the most of a visit to Orange County, California with Ava of  Be My Travel Muse.

Name: Ava Apollo
Hometown: Orange County
Website: Be My Travel Muse
Twitter: AvaApollo
Facebook: Ava, BMTM
Stumbleupon: http://stumbleupon.com/avaapollo
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/avaapollo
About: Ava is a 20-something from Southern California who blogs about adventure travel, posts photoblogs of off-beat destinations, and plans journeys based on inspiration from the interwebs.  Won’t you be her muse and share your best tips?

Tell us about Orange County.
Orange county (or the OC) is home to the most famous beaches in California – Newport, Laguna, and Huntington.  Directly South of Long Beach (Los Angeles County), Orange County beaches are safer, nicer, and less polluted than their Los Angeles counterparts.  Known equally well for the amazing surf, perfect weather, and silicone Barbie inhabitants, Orange County truly is a special place.

What makes Orange County unique?
I can’t drive this point home enough: the beaches are fantastic!  Newport Beach is consistently rated as the top California beach by people who rate such things.  Directly south, Corona Del Mar and Laguna beaches are spectacularly beautiful as well.  I also really like the slightly more laid back, surfer vibe of Huntington Beach, known as Surf City USA.

What is Orange County best known for?
Either the surf or the movie, Orange County, that terrible show, the OC (which was actually filmed in Malibu), and that truly wonderful show, Arrested Development.  Orange County was never a secret by any means, but the attention from Hollywood put it on the map as a ritzy, upscale vacation destination.  There’s no denying that it’s an enclave for the super rich and plastic, but there are some cool areas fitting for young beach go-ers as well, mostly in Huntington and Laguna Beaches.

Where is the best place to grab a pint/cocktail/glass of wine?
There are many! In Newport Beach on the Balboa Peninsula (you can get there by taking the 55 South until it ends), there’s Mutt Lynch’s, which is a dive bar with big windows that open up to face the ocean.  They serve schooners of beer and cider, or a “snake bite,” which is both.  For something even divier, head to Beach Ball to play pool.  For something divier still, Cassidy’s is for you.  All of these bars are within walking distance of each other between 25th and 17th streets.

In Corona Del Mar, some classier establishments include the Quiet Woman and Landmark.  Huntington Beach offers the Brewing Co., and Hurricane’s, which has a light up dance floor. If you want a club-like atmosphere, the nearest option is Sutra in Costa Mesa. Sometimes they have decent DJs, but if you really want to go clubbing, head to Vegas or Hollywood.

What’s a unique experience that can only be had in Orange County?
There are a few things: Watching the Wedge in Newport Beach – an area where the waves can reach up to 30 feet during the right conditions, is a personal favorite.  Surfers and bodyboarders love OC because the waves break fast and the surf is world class.  Also a fun activity, Huntington Beach hosts the US Open of Surfing every summer, bringing in top competitors like Kelly Slater, who won out in 2011. There is no question that this is a surfing hub.

If you have a little cash to burn, the sailing, diving, and fishing are great here too.  The Channel Islands that border the California coast offer kelp forests, purple hydrocoral, sustainable California Sea Bass, scallops, and HUGE lobsters.

Lastly, though you can see dolphins all along Southern California’s coastline, I almost always see them here, along with harbor Seals, and endangered Brown Pelicans.  Usually they can be viewed from the shore or one of the piers, but getting on a boat is even better.  I am being truthful when I say that every time I get on a boat in Newport Beach (and SoCal in general) dolphins come and swim in the wake without fail.  Every single time!

*a cheap dolphin-viewing option is offered out of Balboa Harbor across from the Balboa Pier. Discounts are regularly offered online (through Goldstar and Groupon) and in-person for $15 “whale watching” tours.  You probably won’t see whales unless you pay up and take a cruise that spends much longer out in the ocean, but this cheap cruise has many dolphin sightings.  Stand at the front or back of the boat for the best vantage point.

When is the best time to visit?
The shoulder seasons: May and September.  The Orange County beaches are very popular.  In the months of June through August, I sometimes wish I didn’t live here because if I leave my house to buy milk, it might take a half hour to get home and I may not be able to park when I get there.

About 100,000 people come to Newport Beach just for Independence Day alone.  May and September are usually still hot months with slightly fewer tourists. Weekdays are always much better than weekends when it comes to traffic and parking as well.

Also, when the beach is super crowded, it’s black balled (a flag with a black circle will be hanging from the lifeguard towers), meaning you can’t surf!  In the off season, however, the lifeguards board up their huts and surfing is open to all.

I love it in the off season, because we still sometimes get beautiful, hot beach days (we had a lot of them this winter).  The only drawback is the cold water, which cycles down from Alaska.  For most if not all of the year, the water is too cold to enter sans wetsuit.  This is true all along the California Coast. Many are surprised that our water is so frigid.

What’s the best way to get around?
You really must have a car and a reliable map or GPS, and there’s no avoiding it.  Public transportation in Southern California is pretty much nonexistent, and you really can’t walk from place to place – don’t believe anything to the contrary.  I’ve lived here my whole life and have never taken a bus, and I’m a big fan of public transportation!

It’s really unfortunate, but renting a car and sitting in traffic will be unavoidable.  Taking a taxi from Los Angeles to Newport Beach, for example, is prohibitively expensive.

Once at the beach, though, many visitors rent bikes and cruise along the bike paths from beach to beach.  It’s a lovely way to spend a day.

Are there any good day trips from Orange County?
A lot of people would say Disneyland in Anaheim, which is 15 minutes north on the 55 freeway from Newport Beach.  Get a park-hopper ticket in order to maximize the money spent.  Those looking to spend time at the Orange County beaches without having to pay Ritz Carlton prices often choose hotels in this area.

From OC, you can also head north on the 405 or 5 freeways to Los Angeles in about 45 miles (I won’t quote minutes, it could be 45 to 200 depending on traffic).  My favorite things to do in L.A. are seeing Laker games, finding amazing and unassuming eateries, and visiting the Getty Museum (it’s free!).  Honestly, the Hollywood walk of fame is one giant tourist trap that I’d avoid.

Head south on the 5 freeway to reach beautiful San Diego, or even Mexico, in about 2 hours driving time.

*A word to the wise, as of this writing in April 2012, Mexican border towns are still experiencing some cartel issues and violence.  It would be much better to fly in, and avoid Tijuana.

The San Bernardino mountains also offer great skiing and snowboarding, as well as the famously beautiful Lake Arrowhead.

In about 4 hours, you can drive to Las Vegas if you head east on the 15 freeway.  In short, there is a lot to do around here – but you really must have a car.

What is the best aspect of living in Orange County?
Hands down, the beach and the weather.  There are no mosquitos and the weather isn’t humid – my typical complaint of other beach towns.  I never turn on the heat in my apartment and I don’t have (nor need) air conditioning.  Also, it’s absolutely beautiful, and much cleaner than other beaches nearby.  The central location between Los Angeles and San Diego is the cherry on top.

What is the worst aspect of living in Orange County?
In the summer time, the congestion and litter due to the influx of visitors who aren’t always respectful of keeping the beauty.  Also, Orange County is essentially made up of very poor migrant communities and uber wealthy beachside communities.  It’s odd to see such juxtaposition, and the obvious divide between rich and poor.  There is no intermingling of the two – a common complaint about Greater Los Angeles.  Since I’m not really part of either pocket, I feel a little out of place sometimes.

But, when the warm sun is shining on my face, I look up to see dolphins playing in the crystalline dark blue waves, and I’m surrounded by people I love, I know there’s no better place to be in this world.

Thanks again to Ava for her participation in the The Local’s Take. If you’re a travel writer and are interested in participating in a future edition of The Local’s Take, get in touch!

Related posts:

1. Exceeding Travel Expectations at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse
2. Visiting Petaluma, California: The Local’s Take with Annette of Bucket List Journey
3. Visiting Kuala Lumpur – The Local’s Take with Amer of ‘Tend to Travel’

One of my new favorite websites is Roadside America – an online guide to offbeat tourist attractions across America. It lists the quirky, odd, eccentric, and unusual attractions that usually don’t make it into the guidebooks. I first started using this website on my recent trip to Kansas City and have been looking up unique destinations everywhere I’ve been since.

When I don’t have much time in a city to experience the larger, more time consuming sites, visiting these quick roadside attractions offers a great alternative way to experience aspects of the city. During a brief weekend trip to Kansas City in which I spent the majority of the weekend working, I was able to sneak a few sites from Roadside America in as I made my way around the city.

Castle Northmoor

My first stop on my self-guided tour was at Castle Northmoor, a residential castle built in the suburbs of Kansas City. The story goes that the builder, Harlan Shaver, was inspired by some of the other one-man castles around the country and began construction on his own. It is a three-story masonry tower with medieval paintings, massive wooden doors, a spiral staircase, and a rooftop patio, all guarded by a stately suit of armor.

The inside of the castle is private, but the outside and roof top patio are open to visitors. I climbed the spiral staircase on the backside of the tower to the roof.  It was a little surreal to be looking down on a suburban neighborhood through the turrets of a castle. There was a treasure chest on top of the roof containing miscellaneous odds and ends and a laminated magazine article about the castle.

Community Bookshelf at the Kansas City Library

When the Kansas City Public Library wanted to expand public parking at its downtown branch, they opted for a striking design, rather than adding a typical parking garage eyesore. Sticking with the literary theme of the library, the external façade of the garage is adorned to look like a giant bookshelf with the spines of classic literature tomes facing 10^th Street in downtown Kansas City.

The books’ spines are 25 feet tall and the titles were chosen based from a variety of reading interests suggested by Kansas City readers. Titles such as Charlotte’s Web, Truman, Catch 22, and To Kill a Mockingbird grace the side of this larger-than-life bookshelf.

World’s Largest Shuttlecocks

Ever since I saw Suzy Guese’s post about the world’s largest easel in Goodland, Kansas, I have been intrigued by these oft-forgotten world’s-largest roadside attractions. When I saw that the world’s largest shuttlecocks were in Kansas City (thanks, Roadside America) and were less than a mile from my hotel, I knew I had to go check them out.

I was surprised to find that the shuttlecocks are not a tacky tourist attraction but actually an impressive art installation on the finely manicured lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Initially, I thought they looked a little out of place in front of the beautiful neoclassical building. But after poking around for a few minutes and photographing them, they grew on me. They add an element of whimsy to the grand lawn.

Kauffman Center

Before I ever knew what the Kauffman Center was, I saw it from the highway while passing through Kansas City on another visit. All I could see was this spectacular structure that resembled two abstract seashells in the Kansas City skyline. On my return visit to Kansas City, I was determined to not only find out what it was, but to see it up close.

The Kauffman Center is a performing arts complex that holds two separate venues – one theater and one concert hall. It is an architectural wonder and an incredibly beautiful building. The architecture is minimalistic and modern, and the acoustics are phenomenal.

Unfortunately, I visited during the day before catching my flight back home so I didn’t have a chance to take in one of the shows here. Consider it added to my list of things to do next time I’m in Kansas City.

Every city has its own unique, larger than life attractions. What are some of your favorites?

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When I was in the second grade, we were learning about geography and our teacher handed out blank maps of the United States with a basic set of instructions: color in the states that you have been to.  At the ripe old age of eight, I had never stopped to count how many states I had traveled to, but as I started recounting previous vacations with my parents and began coloring in the map, I realized that I had been to more states than I thought.

Of course there was Colorado, my home state. But also the neighboring states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico (we do share a common border at the only place where four states come together, after all). And then there were all the states that I’d visited family in – Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. And a family road trip to Minnesota the summer before gave me that state as well as Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri on the way there and back. Finally, the requisite trip to Disney World when I was four gave me the far flung state of Florida.

And there I was at eight years old with 15 states under my belt. Some kids in my class had more, some had less, but I don’t think any other kid in my class was as profoundly impacted by that assignment as I was: it turned me into a state collector.

Today, it’s not something I like to talk about a lot for fear of being one of those travel braggarts, so rather than listing how many states I’ve been to in what would amount to an online pissing contest, I’ve decided instead to share some of my tricks I’ve used over the years for picking up states. If you’re a state collector, hopefully there are some tips in here you can use to inch you closer to fifty.

Get Creative with Road Trip Planning

Road trips are never about the destination, they’re about the journey, and when I plan road trips, I rarely plan the most efficient route. Instead I plan the route that will take me past the places that interest me the most, and hopefully I can pick up a few new states along the way. Road trips account for how I’ve picked up the bulk of my states.

When my sister moved to Florida for a semester in college, I helped her move. But instead of doing the drive straight through as fast as possible, we planned our route through some of America’s great cities that intrigued us. This roundabout route helped me pick up several of the states I was missing in the Southeast.

When it was time for her to move back to Colorado, I once again helped her make the drive. But instead of taking the same route back, we went a completely different direction, visiting some incredible cities and sites (and four new states) along the way.

The Alaska/Hawaii Problem

I knew Alaska and Hawaii would be the two most difficult states for me to visit. I certainly wouldn’t be able to pick them up as part of a road trip across the country – they’d have to be destinations in their own rights. Further complicating this issue is the steep prices associated with traveling to these far flung destinations.

In order to visit these states on the cheap, I began looking at the travel deal sites (such as travelzoo) for special pricing to the 49^th and 50^th states. On rare occasions, these sites will have ridiculously low prices for off season travel or last minute availability.

For Hawaii, I ended up finding a last minute flight + accommodation package (which I almost always avoid) for the ridiculous price of $337 for 4 days/4 nights on Kaanapali Beach in Maui. A coworker of mine spent close to four times that amount for his trip to Maui only four months earlier.

This deal had a limited range of available dates and required immediate booking, but I was able to convince work to let me take a few days off on short notice and took off for Hawaii a few days later.

Don’t Miss Opportunities at Border Cities

Cities like Washington D.C., Memphis, St. Louis, Portland, New York City, and many others have metropolitan areas that straddle state borders. If I ever found myself in these cities, I would make a point to spend some time exploring the portions of the city that were in other states.

Some border destinations to consider: Portland, Reno, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and Omaha.

While many destinations straddle two states, there are a few that occur at the intersection of three states. While the majority of the Memphis metropolitan area is in Tennessee, the city spills over the Mississippi river into Arkansas and south of the Tennessee border into Mississippi.

National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee

Another destination that lies at the intersection of three states is Yellowstone National Park. Though most people think of Wyoming when conjuring images of Yellowstone, small pieces of the park (and a good deal of lodging for visitors) lies just across the Wyoming border in Montana and Idaho. Visiting Yellowstone was actually how I first picked up Idaho, before a return visit to Boise cemented it in my list years later.

Find a Reason to Visit North Dakota

I don’t want to pick on North Dakota, because I actually really enjoyed my trip there. But before I ever went to North Dakota, I struggled to find a reason why I’d ever go there. It wasn’t on the way to or from anything for me unless I was going to Saskatchewan, and I didn’t have immediate plans for that.

To this day, the question I get most about this endeavor is, ‘how did you visit North Dakota?’ and my answer is simple: I made it a priority and found a reason to go. For me, that reason was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which features broad, sweeping badlands landscapes with impressive buttes, herds of bison, and wild horses. Classic western vistas are the highlight of this park, and I wanted to see it for myself.

So I planned a weekend trip with a stop by Mount Rushmore on the way, spent a couple days at the park, explored the small town of Medora, and enjoyed every minute of it. Now when I hear people criticizing North Dakota, I’m quick to defend it and I always recommend Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

So the question to answer when trying to collect states is what is your North Dakota and how can you make a visit out of it? What is the state that is either impossibly out of the way or that you think you have no interest in actually visiting, and how can you get there? Who knows, you might end up finding something spectacular that you never knew existed.

Finally, I think it’s worth noting that destinations should not be visited just to ‘check them off’ a list. I think this can sap some of the fun out of travel. But, if I have the opportunity to visit a new place, I’m going to take advantage of it.

Now It’s Your Turn

Are you a state collector? How about a country or continent collector? What tricks have you used in order to visit a new place? Let me know in the comments.

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In business travel, business always comes before travel in regards to my priorities on the road. In other words, I have to take care of things in the office before I can enjoy the sites of whatever city I may be in.

At times, this has posed significant challenges and limitations to what I can see and do on a given trip. Many attractions keep limited hours, and it’s not uncommon for most museums, cultural institutions, and historic sites to shut their doors right at 5:00. Unfortunately, I generally have to maintain a presence in the office for an hour or two after most of these sites close their doors.

Because of this, I have adapted my sightseeing. I tend to primarily focus on things that are open at night or can never close – like restaurants, specific neighborhoods, public parks, or the rare sites that do keep late hours.

However, when attractions are open early I’m known to make an effort to drag myself out of bed and do some sightseeing before going into work. This was the case when I visited the West Side Market in Cleveland and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

When I was working in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, etc.), I was near a site I had always wanted to see – Colonial Williamsburg, a unique historic district depicting life in Colonial America with buildings dating back to the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

But Colonial Williamsburg presented an especially difficult challenge to see during the workweek. Colonial Williamsburg’s official hours of operation are 9:30 – 4:30. Because I’m in the office from 8:30 til at least 6:00 every day, there was little chance of me being able to see the sites on my schedule.

But instead of getting discouraged, I got creative. I knew that Colonial Williamsburg wasn’t a separate, fenced off attraction. It is actually integrated into the modern day city of Williamsburg, comprising several city blocks on the east side of town. Furthermore, a ticket isn’t required to enter the streets of Colonial Williamsburg; the ticket is only necessary to enter the shops and houses and to see the shows offered.

Armed with this information, I developed my plan of attack. I would visit first thing in the morning, before the buildings were opened to the public, and spend an hour or so walking the grounds of Colonial Williamsburg before returning to work for the day.

While Williamsburg was relatively close to where I was working, it was still a 45 minute drive, so in order to make it up and back in time, I had to leave early. I was out the door at 6:00 am and arrived at the historic park a few minutes before 7:00. I parked in the nearly empty visitor’s center parking lot and crossed into the historic district.

I spent the next hour enjoying the quiet stillness of the Colonial Williamsburg. It was a cold, silent morning. Frost clung to the eves of 300 year old houses and my breath clouded my view as I tried to get a better look at the stately old buildings. I wandered up and down the streets, past a church, a tavern, and an assortment of small shops, all shuttered.

It was a ghost town, and I was the only lonely soul in it.

I would have loved to have stayed all day exploring the town, visiting the houses and shops and conversing with historial re-enactors, but unfortunately my time had run up and it was time for me to head to work. I left Colonial Williamsburg behind, jumped in my car, and made it into work just after 9:00. As the rest of my coworkers were just beginning their days, I felt like as though I’d already seen more that morning than I would at work all week.

It was an incredible experience to stroll the ancient streets of Williamsburg and it was absolutely worth the early wake up call. However, I know that I barely even scratched the surface of what the site has to offer, and that still bothers me. While I was physically in Colonial Williamsburg, I did not truly experience Colonial Williamsburg. There were no colorful re-enactors on my visit. No demonstrations of how life was lived in the Colonies. I didn’t even get to go inside a single building.

My experience was completely different from the majority of visitors (and not in a pretentious, ‘I had a more authentic experience than you’ sense). No, I did not see the real Williamsburg – I visited while it slept. Most people spend at least a day wandering around the town, taking in shows and demonstrations, and interacting with ‘inhabitants’ of the town. There are even hotels on site for those who want to stay multiple days.

But me? I spent just over an hour there. Unfortunately, it was all I had to spare given my schedule.

But would I do it again? Absolutely. And I will do the same at future sites on future business trips. For me, it is more important to take away some notion of a site such as Williamsburg than to miss it altogether. I have to be creative and I have to be flexible in order to experience the locations I travel to outside of the office, otherwise what’s the point?

When we are planning trips, whether for business or pleasure, we all go through the stages of deciding what we can and can’t include in our itineraries. Some of us are more organized planners than others, but we all go through the same process at one point or another.

We weigh the pros and cons of what is important to us, what we have time for, what is along our particular route, etc. knowing that there is no way we will ever ‘see it all.’ We must make decisions, and of course, there are tradeoffs and consequences to those decisions. In this case, I chose work (therefore preserving my job AND my ability to travel for free – an easy choice) over a full day visit to Colonial Williamsburg.

In the past I would have just conceded the visit altogether. However, now my adopted travel motto of ‘make the most of EVERY travel opportunity’ wouldn’t let me. It required creativity, flexibility, and concessions, but I made it to Colonial Williamsburg. And if I find myself in Southeastern Virginia not on business, I know where my first stop will be (hint: it’s not my old office).

Have you ever wanted to squeeze one more attraction, activity, or food experience into a previous trip? In the future, how can you get creative with your itinerary in order to make that happen?

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As I drove around the streets of Hampton Roads, I kept seeing one pervasive bumper sticker. It seemed as though wherever I was, at least one car on the street would have this sticker clinging to their bumper or their back windshield. It had different manifestations – as black sticker, an orange sticker, a white sticker – but the text was all the same. “Doumar’s – Part of What Makes Norfolk Great.”

The sticker itself did not give me any inkling into what Doumar’s was. But as I was sitting in the office and hunger gnawed away at me, I decided to do some research. A quick Google search returned all the results I needed – Doumar’s is an old fashioned drive-in restaurant that had rave reviews and was even featured on ‘Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives’, a popular show on the Food Network that features the best cheap eats in America.

Unfortunately, Google also revealed another limiting factor – this place was nowhere near my work so unfortunately it would have to wait until dinner.

After finishing work for the day and building my appetite, I jumped in the car and sped off to Doumar’s. It was a damp, rainy night, but I could see the sign advertising their cones and barbecue from a quarter mile or more down the street. As I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted by the sight of a restaurant that time forgot.

Doumar’s is a product of a bygone era – the American drive-in. So popular in the 1950’s with the expansion of the suburbs, the automobile, and the consumer culture, the drive-in has since become a relic of the past with only a handful of true, independent, drive-ins still in operation.

But Doumar’s has stood the test of time. It is about as old school as you can get – no outdoor menus, no radio to phone in your order – just car hops who bring you your menu and meal with a smile. Yet they continue to drive a steady business, serving hungry locals and curious visitors alike.

Since it was a colder night, I opted for their dine-in service so I could get out of my car and into the restaurant. The interior appearance matched the exterior, and it seemed as though there hadn’t been a renovation in my lifetime (or possibly my parents either). This place isn’t faux-retro…it is absolutely authentic. Orange vinyl seating, dusty photographs clinging to the wall, and a neon ’Doumars’ sign overlooking the whole place help give the restaurant its unique character.

I grabbed a seat and a menu and began evaluating my choices. Much like the decor, the menu hasn’t changed much either. Pork barbecue with slaw, tuna fish salad, and a ham sandwich on toast are just some of the classic selections off the menu. And luckily the prices feel retro as well – I was able to get my pork barbecue sandwich for $2.30.

I was surprised at the speed of service – less than 30 seconds after I placed the order at my table, the waitress was back with my sandwich – served wrapped in some sort of cling wrap with a toothpick driven through the middle to hold it all together.

I unwrapped the sandwich and began eating. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the food – working across the South has given me a greater appreciation for barbecue – but for the price paid it was a great value.

As I sat finishing my sandwich, I browsed the rest of the menu for dessert. After all, this place was called Doumar’s CONES and Barbecue and had two ice cream cones flanking its iconic sign out front – how could I come here and NOT get an ice cream cone?

But only as I started to browse the dessert menu and look around that I realized just how integral the ice cream cone was at Doumar’s, and more importantly, just how important Doumar’s is to the ice cream cone.

It turns out (and I honestly had no idea before my visit) that Doumar’s actually invented the ice cream cone at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. As the legend goes, Abe Doumar had an old waffle iron that he used and would then ‘roll up’ the waffles and top them with a scoop of ice cream. He brought a modified version of his machine to the World’s Fair in St. Louis where it gained immense popularity and notoriety. And the rest is history.

The original machine that was used at the World’s Fair can still be seen in Doumar’s today, and even more surprisingly, is still used to make the ice cream cones they serve! Albert Doumar, Abe Doumar’s nephew, comes in to hand roll the cones each morning on the old machine.

Knowing this history, I had to try one of their ice cream cones. I opted for a classic – a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of chocolate – which seemed fitting at this institution. Again, the food came out extremely quickly, and to my surprise the cone was warm.

The ice cream itself was nothing to write home about – but at least it was a good value. And the cone? It was actually pretty damn delicious. I think all ice cream shops should start serving their cones warm.

I finished up, paid my astonishingly low bill, and left back into the wet night. As I drove away back to my hotel I thought about the true rarity of what I just experienced. It wasn’t that long ago that these types of establishments were up and down every main drag in small towns and big cities alike.

But Doumar’s has persisted. To put it in perspective, since Doumar’s has been at their current location in 1934 (and not including the time they spent in various shacks along the beach) there have been 13 US Presidents, a man landed on the moon, and a burger stand from San Bernardino grew to become the largest restaurant empire in the world (think golden arches).

All the while, Doumar’s just kept doing what they do best – serving food quickly and for very little money to the hungry masses in Southeastern Virginia. Hundreds of thousands of restaurants have come and gone since, yet Doumar’s continues steadily on – serving up pork sandwiches and ice cream cones regardless of the changing attitudes and pressures of the outside world.

Perhaps this is what has led to their success; they’re old-school, they stick to their core competencies, and over time have built a substantial loyal following through word of mouth.

Only time will tell if Doumar’s will carry on long into the future, but based on the brisk pace of business they were doing on an otherwise slow Monday night, business looks to be steady.

Related posts:

1. Mt. Trashmore in Virginia Beach – Let’s Fly Kites on a Mountain of Trash
2. Visiting Richmond, Virginia – The Local’s Take with Megan of ‘A Suitcase and Stilettos’

If you’re going to The Kentucky Derby for the infield experience, don’t go expecting the high class affair you see on television. That experience can be found at Millionaires Row and the Grandstands. Instead, the infield is a much more low-brow affair, though many would argue that it is the more fun experience of the the two.

After having our tickets scanned and passing through security at the gates of the legendary Churchill Downs racing venue, we entered the tunnel that would lead us to the infield. As we walked through the dark and damp tunnel, I could hear the muted roars of the grandstand crowds. We waited in nervous anticipation as we took steps to the end of the tunnel. The Kentucky Derby infield awaited us.

When we walked out of the tunnel and into the infield, I was met with sensory overload. Visually, the Kentucky Derby infield is unlike anywhere else I’ve been. It is an amazing place for people watching.

While you won’t see $3000 suits and $600 hats in the infield, it has still maintained many of the traditions of the Derby experience. For instance, many people still dress up (though generally not in designer labels) and Mint Juleps are downed in unbelievable quantities. However, with no real view of the racetrack, the fans in the infield have turned themselves into the attraction. Here is a list of things you’ll only find in the infield (and not the grandstands) at The Kentucky Derby:

• Outrageous costumes including the KFC Colonel and two people dressed up as a horse
• An impromptu slip and slide made out of tent tarps and mixed alcohols
• People in various states of undress
• Mud wrestling
• DJs and dance parties
• Plenty of bros hi-fiving and shouting ‘whoooooooo!’

Dressing the Part

Around 50% of the infield was dressed in typical derby attire. For girls this meant dresses and large floppy hats. Guys were wearing polos, button ups, ties (and bowties), and khaki or linen pants.

Knowing that it’d be warm, I opted to dress for comfort in the weather and went with something simple yet in the spirit of the event: a button up, tie, suspenders, and linen shorts.

There were plenty of guys dressed in FULL suits complete with vest and jacket. Given the heat that day, I was not envious. One derby moment I’ll never forget was seeing one of the guys in a seersucker suit physically rip the arms off of his suit jacket and shirt, leaving them on the ground of the infield and turning his outfit into the first sleeveless suit I’ve seen.

Eating and Drinking (but mostly drinking)

The infield at The Kentucky Derby is made up of a few different and distinct areas. There is a main drag where vendors set up shop and food and drinks are peddled. Turkey legs, hot dogs, burgers, pretzels, and other typical ‘event’ food was being served. Inconspicuously absent was burgoo, the beef stew I had mentioned wanting to try in my last Kentucky Derby post. In fact, I neither saw nor heard of burgoo the entire time I was in the infield which was a little disappointing.

While beer was the cheap drink of choice for most revelers, there was still significant demand for the signature drink of the event – The Mint Julep. Of course I had to partake in the concoction consisting of bourbon, mint, and simple syrup served over ice.

For $11, I received a generous pour of bourbon. Given the temperatures on Derby day, the strong Julep was a cold and refreshing relief from the heat.

I learned that the Mint Julep isn’t the derby’s only signature drink; the Oaks Lily is also another popular cocktail served at Churchill Downs. It is named after (and served at) the Kentucky Oaks – the race of fillies (female horses) held the day before the Kentucky Derby. It is made with vodka, sweet and sour mix, cranberry juice, and triple sec.

As evidenced by the trashcans overflowing with beer bottles and julep cups at 1:00 PM (3.5 hours before racetime), it was clear that the infield goers liked to drink. The Kentucky Derby’s own website says the infield “compares only to Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras…an experience of acceptable excess and is forgivably risqué—a place where you overeat, overspend and over flirt.”

But the derby isn’t only for those who are intent on blacking out. In fact, most of this chaos is confined to an area known as the third turn (it is on the inside of the third turn the horses make on their lap of the racetrack). Much of the rest of the infield is actually quite tame with people sprawled out on blankets, watching the races on the video monitors, or just chatting with friends.

Winning and Losing Money

Despite the prevalence of online sports gambling, the wagering at Churchill Downs is still handled the old fashioned way – through a wagering window. In the infield, the windows line the track along the homestretch and the crowds were lining up for them throughout the event.

Before the final race started, the PA announced that over $11 million dollars had been placed on the race at Churchill Downs alone, or a little over $73 per person in attendance. We placed some modest bets but were well below the $73 average. Clearly there were some big spenders at the track that day.

Before my derby experience, I thought betting on horses meant choosing the winner. While that is one way to bet, I learned a whole slew of other ways to wager money at the track. Here are some of the main betting options:

• Win – betting on the horse that crosses the finish line first
• Place – betting on the horse to finish in the top two
• Show – betting on the horse to finish in the top three
• Exacta – picking the first two finishers in order
• Trifecta – picking the first three finishers in order
• Pick Six – picking the winners of six different horse races

These other scenarios can yield lesser or greater payouts based on the odds assigned and offer a popular alternative to betting on just the winner.

The betting process was fairly simple for a couple of gambling novices. After waiting our turn in line, we told the bookie which race number we wanted to bet on (FYI – there are races all throughout the day, the actual Kentucky Derby was the 11^th race of the day), what kind of bet we wanted to place, which horse(es) we wanted to bet on, and how much we wanted to bet. After handing over the cash, we were given our betting slips to redeem if we won.

I placed an exacta bet that Gemologist and Bodemeister would finish one and two and a win bet on Bodemeister. With bets placed, it was time to settle in and find a spot to watch the race.

The Race

At this point I should mention that almost nobody goes to the infield of the Kentucky Derby to actually watch the race. Why? Because it’s damn near impossible. Many people in the infield go the entire day without so much as even seeing a horse. There are a couple of vantage points where fractions of the track can be seen, but they are few and far between. There are small video screens at turns two and four broadcasting the action, but given their size and distance, they are only visible from certain portions of the infield. This is perhaps the best view of the track from the infield and it was packed with people come racetime.

If you actually want to watch the race, you’re much better doing so from your television at home. Because of this, many of the revelers are more than content to pay no attention whatsoever to the race and continue partying.

Since it was my first Kentucky Derby, I had a goal of actually seeing a horse. We staked out our spots at the fourth turn about a half hour before the main event began. From there, we had an obstructed view of the starting gate and the final turn the horses would be making before entering the home stretch. We waited in anticipation as the excitement built.

After what seemed like hours under the hot Kentucky sun, we heard the horn player blow his familiar tune signifying the impending start of the race. The starting gun cracked, the gates swung open and the horses tore onto the track. A blur of brown streaked across my field of vision and before I knew it, the horses were gone, stampeding around the track. From here all I could do was watch the feed on the video monitor. Bodemeister jumped out to an impressive early lead. You can catch the video footage of the actual race here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As the horses rounded the third turn we heard the roar of the crowd crashing towards us like a wave around the track. As the horses came through the fourth and final turn, they quickly flashed through our segmented field of vision once again before charging on through the finish line.

My eyes darted back to the video monitor. With only a short distance left to go, Bodemeister lost his steam and I’ll Have Another charged from the middle of the pack to claim the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. But from the infield, we were unable to make out the numbers of the winning horse on the small video screen. We knew Bodemeister had come in second, but we had NO idea who had just won the very race we were attending.

I was holding betting tickets not knowing if I’d won any money or not. My solution? I had to ask my friends back home who were watching on TV. Needless to say, they got a good laugh out of my situation.

Upon learning that Gemologist hadn’t won, we followed the stream of people towards the exits.

Reflections

The Kentucky Derby was incredible – it is an amazing spectacle of sport, but more so a spectacle of American culture. It’s not just Kentucky culture and the traditions of the derby, but also the local flavor and traditions brought by attendees from all over the country. I met derby goers from Texas, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, California, and Wisconsin. Each brought their own unique way of celebrating to the infield at Churchill Downs.

And what was even more incredible was how many Derby veterans were in attendance. Many people come back to this event year after year after year, and it’s not difficult to see why. I have yet to experience anything like it – the culture, the tradition, the bizarre spectacle, and yes, the horse race. I’m already counting down the days until the next derby.

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Greetings from the Kentucky Derby in beautiful Louisville, Kentucky! Today I’m taking in the ‘Run for the Roses’ from the legendary Churchill Downs racetrack. While I’m out in the infield with the masses experiencing the festivities (and doing my best to actually see a horse), I wanted to share a list of interesting facts about the derby with you:

-The Kentucky Derby is the first race in the ‘Triple Crown’ of horse racing – The Preakness and The Belmonare the two others. The last horse to win all three races and claim the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978.

-Churchill Downs has been the host of the Kentucky Derby since it was built in 1875; the grandstand facilities seat around 50,000 people.

-The race is nicknamed “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses that is draped over the winning horse.

-The distance of the race is 1.25 miles and is usually completed in a little over two minutes.

- The fastest time ever run at the Kentucky Derby was 1:59 by Secretariat, a record that has stood since 1973.

- Burgoo is a popular meal eaten around the Kentucky Derby; it is a spicy meat and vegetable stew often served with cornbread.

-80,000 fans pack the infield of the track where the atmosphere is decidedly more casual than in the grandstands.

- Only three fillies (female horses) have ever won the Kentucky Derby; there is a separate fillies-only race held at Churchill Downs the day before called The Kentucky Oaks.

-The traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby is the Mint Julep, an alcoholic concoction consisting of bourbon, mint, and a sugar syrup served over ice, typically in a frosted silver Julep cup

-The Kentucky Derby first ran in 1875. It has been run every year since.

- The official song of the Kentucky Derby is “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Collins Foster which is performed just before the race.

-Millionaires row is nickname given to the seating area where the rich and famous take in the race. Presidents, celebrities, and even Queen Elizabeth have attended past derbies.

-The Derby Hat Parade is the term used to describe the mass of elaborate and elegant hats that adorn the heads of the Kentucky Derby attendees (similar the Easter Parade in New York City)

-The winning horse with the longest odds in Kentucky Derby History was Donerail who did so with 91.45 – 1 odds in 1913.

-Only 16 seconds separates the fastest and slowest ever Kentucky Derby runs

Alright, it is time for me to get back to the festivities. If you’re not following me on facebook yet, go take a look. I’ll be posting some photos from the event throughout the day.

Have you ever been to the Kentucky Derby or a Kentucky Derby party?

photos courtesy of poppingseed, VeloSteve, toddpage

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John’s note: The Local’s Take is a series where I interview some of my favorite travel bloggers and turn the tables, asking them to share their hometowns with us. After all, what better way is there to learn about a destination than from a travel writer who calls it home? So join along and learn how to make the most of a visit to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Kae Lani of  A Travel Broad.

Name: Kae Lani Kennedy
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Website:  A Travel Broad
Twitter:  @ATravelBroad
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/atravelbroad
About: Kae Lani Kennedy is a freelance travel writer based out of her old hometown of Philadelphia (for now). She funds her vagrant lifestyle through a myriad of tricks and trades she’s picked up over the years. When she’s not on a plane, train hopping or biking somewhere, Kae Lani is relaxing and tending to the roof garden of her South Philly home. She writes for a collection of publications, both online and in print, and can be found working out of cafes throughout the city.

Tell us about Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a city that has a rich historical heritage. I can ride my bike a few blocks and be at Independence Hall where the founding fathers sat, arguing with one another and hashing out one of the most important documents that our country was based off of. On top of that, Philadelphia offers up some delicious world-class food, pristine nature preserves and parks, fascinating museums, as well as fun activities for any type of traveler.

What is Philly best known for? Well, other than being the home of some of the American Revolution’s coolest rebels including my personal favorite, Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia is known a lot for being the location of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. Most Philadelphians I know, including myself, see no offense in this show. It’s surprisingly quite accurate, because the creator of the show is a Philadelphia native, and for that reason, it’s pretty darn hilarious. Also the weather is awesome here, and most days it is always sunny. We are also the home to the Philadelphia Cheesesteak, The Rocky Series, Will Smith, and just-okay M. Night Shyamalan movies.

What are the can’t-miss sites? If you’re a history nerd like me, then you’ll absolutely love reliving the Revolution through the eyes of our founding fathers. Many of the historical sites here are actually free! These include Independence Hall, Franklin Court, and the Liberty Bell.

If you love nature and the outdoors, then biking along the Schuylkill River will give you a new perspective on the city. The Schuylkill River Trail gives the atmosphere of being secluded in nature while still being in a bustling city. Follow the trail and you’ll see historical locations including the Art Museum, the Waterworks, Boat House Row, several parks and nature preserves as well as Laurel Hill Cemetery, where visitors can check out lush gardens and some of the coolest headstones, monuments and tombs.

Philadelphia is also known for being a very “Foodie” city! I guarantee you’ll never go hungry. We have world famous chefs cooking up unique dishes and serving up masterpieces. We also have the classics like hoagies, cheestesteaks, pizza and more along with every ethnic dish you can imagine. Good luck trying to get a chance to sample everything. I’ve lived here a lifetime and there’s still fantastic dishes and crazy food joints that I have yet to experience.

When is the best time to visit the city? Anytime during the year! There’s always an event happening, which makes Philadelphia not only a fun place to live, but also a cool place to visit over and over again. Of course, the coolest time would be in the summer when we host the 4th of July! What better way to celebrate Independence Day than in the place where it all went down!

Are there any unique festivals or celebrations in Philadelphia? Well, other than having a killer 4th of July celebration, Philadelphia is home to one of the coolest Beer Week celebrations. Many cities have Beer Weeks, but Philadelphia is one of the best areas to brew beer because of our location on the perfectly pH-balanced Delaware River. Therefore, we have tons of cool breweries concocting neat recipes all over the city. Philly Beer Week takes place during the first week of June, meaning it’s doubly awesome because it always falls on my birthday!

What is the local delicacy? When people think of Philadelphia, their minds drift to the Philly Cheesesteak. As a Philadelphian, I rarely go out of my way to go and purchase a Cheesesteak. It’s not that they’re bad, but frankly, tourists always crowd the lines. If you’re visiting Philly for the first time, then please partake in the tradition of eating this roll of thin strips of steak swimming in cheese wiz. But if you want a real local experience and feast amongst the natives I suggest you go out to brunch. We are a humble tribe of people who love French Toast and Mimosas at 1pm.

You can also eat a soft pretzel. In a state that produces 80% of the country’s pretzels, we do have an appreciation for all things sour dough. True Philadelphians consume 12 times more soft pretzels per year than the rest of America and we observe April 26th as National Pretzel Day, commemorating the pretzel’s contribution towards our city’s economy and its role in shaping our heritage.

Describe a perfect locals night out. There’s plenty of fine dining restaurants and swanky bars in center city, but if you want to immerse yourself in the real Philadelphia, I suggest you hit up one of the many dive bars in the area. What’s cool is that you don’t have to worry about the way you’re dressed because these bars attract a diverse community. Our main goal is to go out with friends, possibly meet new and interesting people and drink awesome beer while doing it. These bars also have pool tables, Karaoke nights and sometimes feature DJs.

My personal favorite is when AMC brings out a new episode of The Walking Dead, my local bar, 12 Steps Down in the Bella Vista neighborhood, has a viewing party where fans can come and watch the show together. They also serve up insane specials, which are all usually zombie related.

Are there any unique/interesting neighborhoods? Northern Liberties, South Philly, and the neighborhoods surrounding UPenn are gorgeous neighborhoods with a real sense of community. Here, you’ll find community projects such as parks and gardens where neighbors pitch in to clean up empty lots and transform them into parks for all to enjoy as well as gardens with fresh produce to feed families.

You’ll also find that the sides of buildings in these areas become large canvases for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is a community effort to turn outdoor urban spaces into art. Mural artists create insane paintings on the sides of buildings that are up to three stories tall. Usually, the art depicts important events and people who influenced the community.

What’s the best way to get around? In 2011, Philadelphia took the number five spot as America’s most walkable city. Biking is also pretty feasible here. I believe that if you’re driving or taking the public transportation, you’ll miss something interesting. Almost every block in Philadelphia has something interesting going on and you could possibly miss it if you’re speeding by on a bus.

What is the best aspect of living in Philadelphia? The best part about living here is definitely being close to so much cool history and heritage events. I have the benefit of living in a quiet community that is still close to the lively atmosphere of an urban city. I also love that there’s always an event happening that I can go to and because Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, I can pretty much bank on always meeting nice and interesting people. I’ve been to a lot of cities in this world and many of them tend to have similar aspects, but I have yet to find another city that is anywhere near Philadelphia’s personality.

Thanks again to Kae Lani for her participation in the The Local’s Take. If you’re a travel writer and are interested in participating in a future edition of The Local’s Take, get in touch!

header photo courtesy of cocoabiscuit

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As I mentioned in my post about Reigniting Travel Enthusiasm during my last visit to New York City, I was determined to get out and take advantage of what the city had to offer. During my last few visits, I hadn’t spent much time getting out and seeing the city. I was a hypocrite; I was NOT making the most of my travel opportunities and was content to lounge at my friend’s apartment instead.

To reignite that enthusiasm, I was determined to have one New York City experience that had been on my list for some time – taking in the view of  the New York City skyscrapers from the top of Rockefeller Center – also known as Top of the Rock, and of course I was dragging my local New Yorker friend with me.

While the Empire State Building might be the more popular observation deck to visit, Top of the Rock was not lacking visitors. Without making online reservations, visitors can expect to wait a couple hours before their assigned visitation window. Thankfully, we booked our tickets online ahead of time for a 7:00 window – perfect timing to watch the sun set over the island of Manhattan.

The Experience

When we arrived, we were led into the waiting area in the bottom of Rockefeller Center to board an elevator. The elevator whisked us up a couple floors – to the top of the waiting area. Here we went through security, an obligatory photo booth where we recreated the famous ‘lunchtime atop a skyscraper’ photo, and were once again herded into another waiting area where we were treated to some films on the history of Rockefeller Center.

After waiting our turn, we were guided through a set of hallways to another elevator – this time it was the elevator that would actually take us to the Top of the Rock. It looked like any standard elevator but once we started moving, the lights shut off, the ceiling became transparent and videos of Rockefeller Center were projected as we shot up 70 stories to the roof.

When we arrived at the top, it dawned on me that between the waiting areas, movies, and elevator rides, almost an hour had passed – giving the sun plenty of time to set while we were inside. I dashed to the windows to see the last slivers of a red sun fall below the horizon. When booking my ticket, I had not accounted for the actual time it would take to get to the Top of the Rock – something to take note of if you’re ever planning your own visit someday.

The Views

Though I was a bit disappointed that we’d missed most of the sunset, I was treated to the twilight hour – when the sky darkens and New York’s skyline lights up with a million twinkling lights.

The star of this view is the Empire State Building. When I visited, it was still the tallest building in New York City, however, as of this past Monday, One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan has since taken that title. If you look in the background of the picture above, you can see it under construction.

Top of the Rock provides a 360 view of New York City and the surrounding area: Queens to the East, New Jersey to the West, Central Park and the Bronx to the North. At the southern tip of Manhattan I could make out the Brooklyn Bridge spanning the Hudson into its namesake borough. I felt like I could see forever – and I figured if I squinted, maybe I could see all the way to Philadelphia.

The Feeling

New York City is a BIG place. Walking along the sidewalks through the canyons of skyscrapers, it’s easy to feel insignificant and lost in this megalopolis. But from the Top of the Rock, I had a completely opposite feeling. In one field of view, I could see the East and Hudson Rivers, Central Park, my friend’s apartment building, 5 Pointz, and more. It helped bring the city into perspective.

For a fleeting moment, I saw the city from a  new vantage point. And though I soon returned to the streets and sidewalks below, I’ll never forget my new found view of the city.

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2. MoMA PS1 Art Museum in New York City – Unexpected Gallery Surprises
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Many visitors to New York City are familiar with the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA for short. On its walls hang some of the most breathtaking and beautiful pieces of art in the world. The collection includes luminaries such as Van Gogh, Dali, and Matisse. Paintings such as ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Persistence of Memory’ draw visitors from all over the world.

However, less than three miles away in Long Island City, Queens, there is a second lesser known MoMA – MoMA PS1; so called because the museum is in a former New York Public School that last closed its doors to students in 1963. 13 years later, it reopened as one of the first and largest museums dedicated solely to contemporary art.

My visit started normal enough – the first gallery we entered contained paintings from Henry Taylor, a Los Angeles artist who portrays everyday people, scenes, and objects (such as family members, Denny’s restaurants, and boxes of detergent) through his art.

John’s Note: Right after I took this picture, I was quickly scolded for taking pictures inside the museum, so I apologize for the relative lack of pictures from here on out – every picture I took had to be done so discretely.

Living Art

After I finished browsing this first gallery, any resemblance that MoMA PS1 had to a typical museum was quickly abandoned. I realized this when entering the next gallery as I was greeted with a sign bearing a simple warning:

“This gallery exhibit contains live animals.”

There was NO way I wasn’t going in the gallery after seeing that. The sign didn’t allude to what types of animals were inside or whether or not we’d be able to interact with them, it solely indicated that there were animals in the gallery. My curiosity piqued.

The gallery itself actually contained several separate old classrooms and in the first room, I found a relatively simple ‘piece’ of art – it was comprised of a couch, plenty of empty boxes, some small mouse toys, a litter box, and three cats. The room almost looked like someone’s apartment – not what I was used to seeing at an art museum.

But the cats weren’t just subjects in an art exhibit, they were also available for adoption to visitors. Once all the cats in the exhibit were adopted, they were replaced with new cats from a local shelter. The artist responsible for the piece is passionate about animals and this was their way of helping raise awareness for the of cats still looking for homes.

The second room had a very large terrarium in the middle of it with a large and statuesque iguana basking under a heat lamp. Similar to the cat room, this piece aimed to raise awareness as well. In this case, it was demonstrating what the baby iguanas that people buy in pet stores can grow into, and the space they require to live. Since space is at a premium in New York City, the message was that it doesn’t make much sense for many New Yorkers to be keeping these iguanas as pets.

The third gallery did not actually contain living animals, but it did have plenty of living plants. In it, a medley of real fruits and vegetables stood on individual pillars. Despite the produce being part of the art exhibit, it all looked very fresh. A small sign indicated that the ingredients were turned into a salad at a specific time that the guests in the museum are able to enjoy.

Is it art? I don’t know, but I thought it was a pretty unique idea.

All three of these rooms had me thinking about art in ways I never have before. This art wasn’t just visual – it was interactive. You could reach out and scratch the cats behind the ear, feel the heat of the iguanas lamp, and eat the eggplant that was part of an art exhibit earlier in the day – all things I’d never done in an art museum before.

40 Voices in Unison

As I continued to wander through the old school halls of MoMA PS1, I encountered more unique galleries. One of my favorites was in a large, open room with 40 individual speakers standing in an elliptical shape around the perimeter. When I entered, I could only hear quiet conversations emanating from them.

From the center of the room it sounded like a cluttered mess of conversations but as I approached each individual speaker, I was able to make out bits and pieces of conversations. Each speaker represented a specific microphone placement in front of a unique performer in the group where the audio track was recorded. Suddenly, the conversation stopped.

And then from the quietness, a voice began singing. I was standing near the front of the room and as far as I could tell, the voice was coming from just one of the speakers near the back. Before long it was joined by several more in harmony, all singing a 16th century Latin chorale hymn.  Slowly and steadily, the other voices joined in. Before long, each and every speaker in the room had a unique voice singing, all together in harmony.

From the center of the room it sounded like a typical church choir performance – one strong unified voice. However, as I walked around the perimeter of the room, I listened in on individual singers selectively by standing next to a specific speaker. For the first time ever, I heard the individual melodies that make up the much more complex harmonies of a church choir. The song was beautiful, but being able to hear each and every singer individually added another layer of depth to the haunting song.

Hearing the unique singers’ voices gave me a greater appreciation for their talent. I was amazed at not only how well they can sing, but also by the fact that they can keep track of what unique and individual part they’re singing while being surrounded by 39 other people all singing seemingly different parts. As I stood and listened, I closed my eyes to appreciate it more deeply – something I’d never done in an art museum before.

MoMA PS1 continued to surprise me with each new gallery. I had pet a cat and listened to 40 voices harmonize in unison all in the confines of an old public school. But the last gallery was perhaps the most surprising – and my personal favorite.

Burrito Art

As we climbed the stairs to the next floor of the museum, I heard more music. This time, it wasn’t classical church choir music. Instead, it was an upbeat piano and electric guitar driven rock-and-roll song – similar to something Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band might play. There were no vocals, and when I got closer to the room I realized that it was the same short tune playing on an infinite loop.

As I approached the doorway, I began to wonder what would be accompanying the music in the room. To my surprise, there was nothing in the room. It just looked like an old, empty classroom – devoid of desks, chalkboards, and backpacks. The sun was streaming through the windows, and the room did have a nice view of Long Island City, plus the song was actually pretty catchy – it was a perfectly pleasant place to be – but it still didn’t seem like art to me.

I was still trying to understand just what the piece was when I saw the title placard.

It read, ‘Chicken Burrito, Steak Burrito.’

This only confused me more. What did a chicken burrito and a steak burrito have to do with rock music and an empty classroom? But just as I was about to give up on the piece, my friend pointed out something on the windowsill. There, basking in the sun lay two burritos – presumably containing chicken and steak. I loved it.

I’m sure plenty of people will say that this is not art. To a certain extent, I’d agree. It’s not art in the traditional sense. It didn’t require a lot of artistic talent. I’m not sure if it required much creativity either.

But when I saw the burritos, I immediately started laughing. I loved the sense of humor about the piece. I was confused by the music and the setting, but it all made me feel good. The anonymous rock and roll on continuous repeat, the sunshine streaming in through the classroom windows, and the two burritos resting on the window sill as the star subjects of the artwork – somehow it all worked.

Everything in this museum made me feel something. There were no boring pieces at MoMA PS1. I have been to other museums containing artistic treasures, historical artifacts, and famous paintings. But none of them offered the surprise and whimsy of PS1. After seeing the famous pieces at the superstar museums of New York City, MoMA PS1 was a refreshing and unexpected change of pace.

Have you ever had any unexpected surprises at a museum?

MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue,
Long Island City, NY, 11101
(718) 784-2084
http://www.ps1.org
Hours: 12:00pm – 6:00pm Thursday – Monday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday
Cost: $10 adults, $5 students and seniors
TRR Tips: I’ll leave you with a simple tip on this one: keep an open mind!

40 part motet picture courtesy of ps1.org

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