Pickles! Giant pickles! I have only seen pickles like these at Gus's Pickles in NY. I couldn't resist one of each flavor. Just some of the many delectables at the insane Jungle Jim's in Cinci — including "preserved lemons," which I've never ever even heard of.
More of the retail weirdness of Cinci's Jungle Jim's, a giant gourmet food/bev one-of-a-kind superstore. Est. 1972
My first trip ever to Cincinnati's bizarre and magnificent Jungle Jim's has yielded not one, but two highly sought-after Ginger beers (ales)! Looks like the forecast calls for Dark-n-Stormy cocktails
I had a full physical today and all the indignity that is included therein:
Well, it finally happened…My car got the boot this morning.
And it's kind of a relief, I have to admit. I was at Gumbo Ya-Ya doing Laptop Lunch and so The Boot didn't really affect me that much, in terms of convenience. Except to my wallet, of course. The whole thing was handled on the phone. Once I went outside and there was a boot on my car; later I went outside and there wasn't a boot on my car. Voila.
The problem was that I owed about $150 in parking tickets. Why didn't I pay them? I guess paying parking tickets just doesn't really (will never, in fact) rank on my radar very much.
It's not a policy of mine, per se. It's just an unfortunate pattern of behavior.
You might wonder if getting The Boot will change that pattern: Probably not. I'm honestly just relieved that the tickets are paid now, and that I can go back to getting tickets like a normal person, without having to worry about whether or not I'm going to be booted or towed if I find the need to park somewhere w/o feeding the meter.
(For some of you who read my blog regularly, this may sound familiar. Tomorrow, I'll post the essay that I wrote about how I got my bike towed and enormous good came of it.)
Silverware, table service, entrees, plates.. It ain't what it used to be, but it beats the dining on planes hands down.
"there we were, dramatically gazing out the window upon rural Vrginia." (Amtrak is made for these sorts of idle vanities and silliness)
Mi gran amigo!
If all major Amtrak stations had cool vaulted-ceiling malls, maybe that would lure shopping-obsessed Americans back to the rails.
Those dudes say so.
I knew it: Amtrak trains ARE smaller than they used to be.
Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com
phone: 859-539-1877
fax: 702-224-2133
Glorious light kicks off our return train trip to kentucky. (iPhone
photo using tiltshiftgen)
Delicious times in the village! Lucy and I kind of struggled to pin down our 1st cocktail, but eventually landed in the capable tequila-drenched hands of Adam at Mayahuel. What you need to know: my Oaxaca Old-Fashioned was a-mazing, and that Adam is coincidentally "from Lexington." (kind of — until he was, like, six). Highly recommended.
Mick Jeffries mick@mickjeffries.com
phone: 859-539-1877
fax: 702-224-2133
Made with tiltshift for iPhone. Super cool (I typed this because it's
true)
My fist shot from a slew of new iPhone camera apps. This is from
bestcamera, which has builtin upload tools. Finally.
I have to admit: I wasn't initially wild about the idea of going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. The simple reason: I was kind of having flashbacks to the idea of going to New Year's Eve in Times Square in 2001, when I lived in NYC. Not that I went — I didn't — but the horror stories of being penned up for six hours in Times Square still resounded in me.
The Macy's parade wasn't like that at all. It was great! And I should have known — it's one of the most venerable parades in the world, right?
It's true that I did a bit of strategizing the night before, but they were thrown completely to the wind (even I'm not dumb enough to try to convince NYPD to let me squeeze through to somewhere they don't want me to be.)
After the parade, Lucy and I found ourselves somewhat hemmed in by meandering foot traffic by the thousands and made an unlikely exit: down the street elevator to the 57th st./7th ave. subway station. It was kind of like a movie: One minute lost in a sea of bodies, then pouring ourselves into a very full elevator; then doors closing and unlikely quiet; and finally doors opening onto a delightfully less-crowded underground world.
About 17 hours from Maysville Ky, we're approaching NYC & Penn
Station. Cardinal train No. 50 is sparsely populated by the final
destination folks like lucy and I. Its been a great trip and we'll do
it again on Sunday... Thanks, Amtrak!
(last approach video: The Last Waltz -- in which Rick Danko says
"happy thanksgiving everybody!")
Lucy and I are riding Amtrak's no. 50 Cardinal to NYC for
thanksgiving. "It a different world on the train," says Lucy. I agree.
This conductor pictured has spent 15 minutes chatting with some recent
boarders, who coincidentally were childhood acquaintances of his.
There's so much special about riding the train; The riders are
friendly and relaxed. It's not flying. And it's not the bus. People
ride the train because they want to. Not because it's fast or cheap.
People on the train talk to each other. Which seems rare and cool in
today's travel climate. Lucy's right: it is a different world on the
train.
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Today happens to be the anniversary of the patenting of the "paper pencil" by Frederick E. Blaisdell in 1895; aka the china marker aka the non-repro marker… an elemental tool in traditional proofing. At least, back in the day…
Everything look good? Signing off!
(full disclosure: I'm not holding one)
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Esquire's resident cocktail guru, Dave Wundrich, offers up a fabulous election of warm-you-up drinks featuring a little whiskey, brandy, and hot buttered rum. He's one of my heroes, and go-to guys when I'm looking for my next cocktail project. One of the great things is that he offers his personal analysis on these drinks, which helps communicate the charm of well-made cocktails. Check out the selection 
