Travels in the 2nd half

Tamarindo beach The Amazing Ms. D and I had a very long fall season. Between the tenth anniversary of Daughters of the Stone and our Artists After Maria exhibition, we were both pretty exhausted by the time the new year rolled around. So, with the help of our local travel agent, we did something we rarely do, we booked a beach resort vacation. We chose a trip to the town of Tamarindo in Costa Rica. It had several things in its favor. The weather on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica is pretty perfect this time of year. Highs are around 90° F (32° C) and it is the middle of the dry season. Tamarindo also offered both the option to veg out at the beach, and take tours if we wanted something “more adventurous.” Finally, Jet Blue Airlines offers a nonstop flight from New York to the city of Liberia which is the areas capital. So with easy travel and great weather, we had a chance to really relax and recharge. Tamarindo is in the province of Guanacaste, in Costa Rica’s north...

New York City is home to literally hundreds of museums. They each highlight a different aspect of art or history. Some art museums occasionally offer special exhibits on design, but there are two museums that are dedicated to the design of objects and commercial art, and I had the chance to visit them recently. Something I saw walking through Central Park I saw this also. Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum In 1896, Sarah Cooper Hewitt, Eleanor Garnier Hewitt and Amy Hewitt Green asked the Cooper Union, in New York City, to open a museum dedicated to the Arts of Decoration. They were able to do this, as they were grand-daughters of Peter Cooper, who founded the school. This museum resided on the 4th floor of the Foundation Building until it was closed in 1963, with the school citing financial issues. Over the next few years, a campaign developed to convince the Smithsonian Institute to take over the collection. In 1967, the Smithsonian agreed, and in 1970, the c...

Newport, Rhode Island, is a town of old money. It sits on Aquidneck Island in the Narragansett Bay. If you visit, there is a lot to see, and I would suggest that its Cliff Walk should be at the top of the list. The town of Newport was founded in 1639. It became the largest city in Rhode Island colony, and was home to a diverse population, including the first, and today oldest, synagogue in the United States. The town became a center for whaling and trading ships, which included playing a large role in the slave trade. In the middle of the 19th century, rich families started to spend the summer in Newport, building large “cottages” along the coastline. And it is a magnificent coastline. Many of the mansions sit along cliffs that overlook Narragansett Bay, and The Cliff Walk is a great way to see both these mansions and the views. Cliff Walk is a 3.5 mile path that, as its name implies, passes along the cliffs of Newport. It offers breath-taking views along the water. I sta...