Living on the Edge

Well maybe not the actual edge, just a healthy distance from the edge of cliffs, that is. That's what a girlfriend and I did this past few days.  We packed our bags, said goodbye to our families, and rented a cabin in Letchworth State Park in New York State.  I've lived less than a four-hour drive from this gem for almost my whole life and have never heard of it.

We started out making plans to visit Buffalo to see the art gallery and some Frank Lloyd Wright homes, but since the weather was supposed to be three perfect sunny summer days I thought we should take advantage of it and do something outdoorsy.  I began looking at parks in New York state and stumbled onto Letchworth State Park.  What a fantastic treat to find.

The park is long and narrow and follows the Genesee River as it winds through deep canyons, some with cliffs up to 600 feet high, and three waterfalls on its way to Lake Ontario.  

The park was founded in 1910 and there are beautiful historic buildings, including the home of Mr. Letchworth which is now the Glen Iris Inn - a gorgeous wooden hotel decorated with a wrap-around veranda and William Morris wallpaper.

There are miles of stone walls and beautiful bridges and wooden picnic shelters and cabins built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) during the depression in the 1930s.  

We went white water rafting which was lots of fun, but the water was a little low so it took 4 hours to raft down the section of river that usually takes 2 hours as we kept getting stuck on rocks. We had some good runs and it was a beautiful way to see the scenery from the water level. I so wish I could have brought my camera with me, but I couldn't risk damaging it in the rafts.  It was quite the workout and we were mighty hungry by the time we got back to the starting point.

My friend and I also went on some of the hikes and visited many of the lookouts and sketched and painted and took a bazillion photos - oh, wait a sec that was only me taking all the pictures.  

It was a relaxing few days away and I love discovering new places, especially ones as amazing as Letchworth Park.  Have you ever stumbled onto a wonderful place to visit when you were really planning on visiting somewhere else?  It's a great feeling, isn't it?

Linked to Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox

Jackie Evancho in Concert at Artpark, Lewiston, NY, June 28, 2013

Chuck Yates

I finally saw the Classical Crossover prodigy Jackie Evancho in concert.  My husband and I have been fans since just after she placed second on the America's Got Talent show in 2010.  Jackie has since come out with three studio albums, including ones that have reached platinum and gold.  She has sung for the President of the United States and the Japanese Royal Family.  She has sung with Barbra Streisand, Susan Boyle, José Carreras, Tony Bennett, and Sumi Jo.  She has sung for an audience of 100,000 people in Russia and 30,000 people in Taiwan. She has modeled for Guess jeans and acted in a movie with Robert Redford. And she is still only 13-years old! A good part of the magic is that not only does Jackie have abundant musical talent, but she is poised, polite, charming, with a humble attitude, a kind heart, and boundless energy.

I had the opportunity to see Jackie when she came to Toronto in March 2013, but that was the only possible time I could go to New York City with my son, so I had to pass on that concert.  

When we heard that Jackie was going to be singing at Artpark in Lewiston, New York, we jumped at the chance.  Not only was the concert on my last day of work, which is a great way to kick off the summer, but it is just over an hour's drive from home.

We arrived in Lewiston with enough time to stroll around the historic town and have dinner.  Lewiston is a quaint old town on the Niagara River right across from Canada.  We had never been there before but had seen it many times from the Canadian side.

Lewiston is famous for being the staging area for the Battle of Queenston Heights, the first major battle of the War of 1812. Although the British commander, General Brock, was killed in the attack, the Americans ultimately lost the battle largely because the local militia were unwilling to join the attack (you can read about our daughter, Kate, taking part in a reenactment of the Battle of Queenston Heights last October in this post).  

Brock Monument on Queenston Heights across the Niagara River in Ontario, Canada

Lewiston is also famous for being the final stop along the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves heading to freedom in Canada. Many heroic local citizens helped smuggle slaves across the Niagara River (you can read in the photo below the interesting story about Tryon's Folly, also called "the house of the four cellars", that was used to help smuggle slaves). Have you ever read the book Freedom Crossing by Margaret Goff Clark? The book is very popular with school children and was set in Lewiston, so the town erected a commemorative Freedom Crossing Monument.

Freedom Crossing Monument in Lewiston, NY

Lewiston is also known for Artpark, a concert venue that was the destination of our visit.  We arrived at Artpark at approximately 7:30 and moments later a tree fell down on nearby power lines causing a black-out to the entire town, including the concert venue.  Yikes! Was I going to miss a second opportunity to see Jackie? 

Artpark, Lewiston, NY

We waited about a half hour and, amazingly, by 8:00 the power was back on and we all breathed a sigh of relief. The concert began just 20 minutes behind schedule.  After listening to Jackie's CDs and watching so many YouTube videos of Jackie perform, I was excited to finally see the girl in action.

The concert was a definite thrill to experience her obvious talent, to hear the pure clear high notes and the rich full deeper tones. It was also fun to see all of Jackie's charming mannerisms out in full force. While her voice sounds like it is from someone much older, her youthful energy is evident in her stage presence. At the end of every song she responded like any enthusiastic child by giving sweet double-handed waves, giggles, and pert little "thank yous".  Unfortunately, her inexperience was also evident on stage as it resulted in some awkward moments between songs and amateurish stage exits. She would do well to work on introducing more of her songs and developing some of the patter that help with the necessary transitions in a concert.

I hadn't expected to feel any anxiety during the concert, but I'm a bit of a worry-wart and I get anxious if I feel someone is uncomfortable or they might hurt themselves. In this case, Jackie initially seemed a little uneasy. She was constantly adjusting her hair and looking over to the right to where I assume her mother was waiting in the wings.  In addition, during the first part of the concert her high notes were sometimes slightly weak and breathy, which made me worry about her voice as we were just beginning the concert.  Fortunately, though, she hit her stride and by the second half of the concert she seemed more at ease, she stopped adjusting her hair and looking over at her mother, and her voice seemed stronger. This also meant I could relax and enjoy the concert.

Jackie looked every inch the star in her flashy dresses.  She wore the two dresses in the photos below for this concert (although I don't have photos from the actual concert and these pictures were taken from the internet). I loved the bodices of the dresses, but not so much the poufy skirts.  They were a little too frilly for my taste, although they do give her good stage presence.

via Best of Jackie on the Web

Photo taken by Andrew Snook via the Examiner at Jackie's concert in Atlanta 2013

Did you notice Jackie's bare feet in the photo above.  Interesting, eh?  We were sitting in the seventh row, so the stage floor was just at eye level and we could see her little feet under the billowing skirt of her teal dress as she padded across the stage. 

I think the bare feet are adorable, but they've got me pondering.  Why no shoes?  Is she trying to relax and calm herself down? Is it a little rebellion against all the formality and adultness in her life?  Does she "hear" the music better through her feet?  Has she grown and the dress is now too short unless she is barefoot?  So many questions and so few answers.  Whatever the reason, I think it looks cute seeing her little feet under her frock

Update (emailed to me by a Jackie fan):  it seems to be fairly common knowledge among long-time Jackie fans (and I think that Jackie or her mom may have even tweeted something about it at one time), that when Jackie is wearing shoes she would at times catch the edge of her floor-length dresses and sort of stumble when walking, while the bare feet allow her to feel where she is walking and help prevent any mishaps.

And do you know where Jackie is appearing next - in the PBS special that will be taking place in Washington D.C. on July 4th. You go girl!

P.S. To find out more about Jackie and see video clips of Jackie singing, you should check out the blog Best of Jackie on the Web.

P.P.S  To see more photos from the Lewiston concert see this post.

Five Days in New York

It was a busy five days in New York, but we managed to pack in a lot of fun things. I came up with an itinerary before we left so we could work from that and modify as needed depending on the weather and timing. We are a museum and art gallery loving family so a large chunk of our time was spent visiting some of the world's best. In addition, William loves poetry and music so Greenwich Village was top of his list and my parent's were keen on seeing Peck Slip, a small street just south of Brooklyn Bridge that is named for our ancestors. If you've been to New York then you probably have your own ideas for things to do, but if not then our itinerary might inspire you - that is, if you love museums and are up for long walks.
Day 1 We arrived in New York about noon so had time to hit the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in the afternoon.  The MOMA consists of six floors of modern paintings, photography, and sculpture.  One of the floors had art that is a bit out there, but the rest were one famous painting after another.  

  And then we visited Times Square in the evening.

It was on a news feed in Times Square that we learned that Mario Bergoglio would be the next pope (couldn't have been a more incongruous setting for such news.)

Day 2 The next day we walked through Central Park and then visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is an enormous museum with the most amazing collection of both art and artifacts.  It really has something for everyone.  We toured the Egyptian section together and then split up so everyone could go to their favourite galleries.  I spent most of the day in the Period Rooms and the Impressionist Paintings. Heaven!  Do you split up when you go to museums and art galleries?  We find it keeps everyone happy and then we share our highlights with each other afterward.

We had tickets to the opera, La Traviata, that evening at the Lincoln Centre.  We were on the fifth balcony up and still had a great view and could hear everything.  It was our good fortune to be able to be there for the opening night of La Traviata with Plácido Domingo singing. The opera was wonderful and even though I was initially disappointed that the sets were going to be modern and minimalist, I found them really interesting in the end.

La Traviata (Source)

Day 3

The next day we took the subway down to the South Street Seaport Historic District in lower Manhattan as we wanted to visit the street named after our ancestors, Peck Slip (you can read more about it here), and see Brooklyn Bridge.  The area was badly hit by Hurricane Sandy and was a shell of its former self with many of the stores and restaurants still closed. Nevertheless, we enjoyed seeing the beautiful old ships against the skyscrapers.  

And we saw Peck Slip the street where our ancestors had a tavern back when it was New Amsterdam.

As you can see they are working on upgrading the infrastructure on Peck Slip so the middle of the street is a construction site.  Peck Slip is wedge-shaped because the centre used to be open water where the ships were moored.  About 1810 the centre got filled in and was used as a market space and eventually became a parking lot and walkway. There was some talk of making it a nautical-themed park, but I'm not sure if that is still in the works.

The photo below shows the oldest building on Peck Slip (from 1807) with one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge just peaking over the elevated roadway on the right side of the photo. Although this is not from the same time period that our relatives lived there, which was back in the 1660s, it is the building that has the most historic ambiance so I was drawn to it.

We then walked through Chinatown and the Lower East Side to get to the Tenement Museum.

Since time was moving on, we decided to split up and my parents toured the Tenement Museum and William and I went to Greenwich Village.  Splitting up was a good decision as we both loved what we saw.  

William had printed off a very interesting walking tour of Greenwich Village that we followed (which he found here). It featured lots of the place Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg and other lovelies hung out/lived/wrote poetry/played music/threw up/got into trouble etc.  Great fun!

In the photo below you can see a close up of a poster on the door of Cafe Wha? that was part of our tour.  I'm not really much into music, but even I've heard of almost every one of the musicians that got their start at Cafe Wha?.  It still is a live music venue although it has a very run-down appearance, but really this place should be a museum.  

That evening William and I went to hear some quartets play at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall.  Isn't that the most beautiful hall - just loved those empire chandeliers and the blue curtains.

Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall

Day 4 In the morning everyone except me visited the Frick Collection (I'm saving it to go to with Jonathan.  We didn't have time to visit the Frick when we were in New York for our 5th anniversary and we haven't been back to New York with each other since.)  Then we all went back to the Met again as we had more to see and we all adored it.

That evening William and I took the Staten Island Ferry so we could get a view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty at twilight.  Truth be told that was my reason, but William wanted to ride the Staten Island Ferry because it was mentioned in Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl ("and the Staten Island ferry also wailed").

Day 5 William and I walked through Central Park to find Strawberry Fields - a memorial to John Lennon (which was much smaller than I thought it would be).

And then we visited the Guggenheim Museum - the building is as beautiful as the paintings.  I always feel I should strap on roller skates and start at the top and work my way down - what fun that would be!

The long tubes across the centre hall of the Guggenheim were one of the art installations.  It wasn't until we got up close that we realized those coloured parts were liquid. It must have been difficult to install across the great open space. They looked really beautiful with the light shining through the coloured sections.

And then it was time to go.  Sniff.  Sniff.  

Isn't that a great photo we got out of the airplane window.  Amazing to think we had been walking through Central Park and right past that big reservoir just hours before.

It was a fabulous five days.  We saw lots. We did lots.  We walked lots!  My mother wore a pedometer and according to it she walked over 40 kms and William and I walked further.  There is so much to see and do in New York that you never feel like you have enough time.  Mind you that was all the energy I had as we got home on Sunday evening and it was right back to work the next morning, which meant I dragged myself around all week.

For those of you who have been to New York, what were your favourite things to do (I'll add them to my list for my next visit)?  We loved visiting the places we did, but it might have been a little museum/art gallery heavy for some.  Do you visit museums and art galleries when you travel?
I'm working on a post to show you where we stayed (it is a fantastic hotel), how we got away with only carry-on luggage, and how we saw New York on a budget (although that is a bit of an oxymoron).

Mid-March in Manhattan

I'm back and am happy to report that we all had a wonderful time in New York.  Turns out New York is my Mom's second favourite city (after Amsterdam) - who knew?  
Given that New York is a little further south and closer to the ocean, spring is slightly further ahead there.  So although most of Central Park looked like this,

if you looked closely you could see some spring flowers blooming.  Do you know how exciting that is for someone from frozen snowy Toronto.

The weather wasn't very warm and we actually got snow on our second to last day.  I was just happy it wasn't rain as a little snow is a lot easier to deal with than getting wet with rain - and the snow was so pretty in Central Park. 

Early spring is a funny time of contrasts with spring flowers for sale in outdoor shops

and bouquets of spring blossoms in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

along with skating rinks in Central Park still being used.

It was St. Patrick's Day when we were in New York.  People were decked out in green hats and necklaces,

and bleachers were set up along 5th Avenue for the St. Patrick's Day parade,

and rows of buses lined side streets to drive the parade participants home.

And we saw a glimpse of the parade itself (from a window at the Met as we were more interested in seeing the museum than the parade).

We enjoyed the flowers and St. Patrick's day fun and didn't let any mere snowflakes get in our way of us enjoying ourselves - including eating street vendor food in the snow on the steps of the Met.

I'm sorting through the loads of photos I took and will have some more posts soon.  I love the freedom and creativity that using a digital camera allows so I can take endless amounts of photos (and I do), but it sure does make a big editing job when you come home.