In order to get the most of these road trip, you first need to read Merle's blog
Thursday, April 3
We head out on the Belt Pkwy. to
the Verrazano bridge and do pretty well until about two miles from the bridge
where it slows down a bit. The GPS,
“Clarice”, reroutes us around traffic in Staten Island and until one wrong turn
in NJ we do pretty well.
Our first stop is Wintherthur
Garden and Museum, which is actually in Delaware, to see the exhibition
of “Costumes of Downton Abbey.” Although
I never watched the television series, I could still appreciate the beauty and
detail of the displays, which also included photos and vignettes from the show
and its characters that really captures the fictional world presented in the
series. I’m not a big fan of the British dramas or comedies but you don’t have
to be to enjoy this amazing exhibition. The fictional Downton Abbey compares and contrasts the real life Winterthur of the time. Winterthur is now known for its
collection of American decorative arts and naturalistic gardens. In conjunction with the Costumes of Downton Abbey Exhibit, there is also a series of
afternoon and evening lectures, afternoon teas & English brunches and an
historic auto display lecture available at various times and dates. Visit the
website at: www.Winterthur.org
Lunch is at the museum in the Garden Café where you can choose from a
large selection at the salad bar, selections from a hot buffet, or the chef’s
“Downton Abbey” menu. My selection from
the salad bar included: roasted tomatoes with zucchini and basil, asparagus
spears mandarin, smoked cheddar with sherry vinaigrette, blue cheese fig tart,
poached salmon salad, yogurt dill cucumbers, and baklava.
Our next stop is at Sweet
Christine’s Bakery in Kennett Square, PA to taste their gluten free
organic products. I didn’t get the
usually bland gluten free taste and you could tell a lot of passion went into
their products. Their products are available on line and they are in the process
of moving to a new location. Check them out at: www.sweetchristinesglutenfree.com
We check in at Pennsbury
Inn Bed and Breakfast and we are greeted by “Tucker”, the pooch of the
Inn, who introduces us to the Innkeeper, Chip.
Chip shows us around the Inn and to our room which is bright and
comfortable.
Inns such as
the Pennsbury always fascinate me as being in the Inn can actually transport me
back to the times that they were built.
One funny thing I notice about most Inns is that there does not seem to
be one completely level floor or wall.
If you rolled a marble it would take a different path in each room.
Merle and I freshen up a bit and head back
into Kennett Square for dinner at Portabellos
. Owners Sandra Morris and
Chef Brett Hulbert treat us to a tasting of some of the restaurant's dishes.
“There’s a fungus amongst us!”
Okay – so I am not known for my
love of mushrooms. When I select a dish prepared with mushrooms I give them
away to numerous friends who love mushrooms but I will not eat any. I do not exactly know why because it does not
have to do with texture necessarily because I eat things like scungilli,
octopus and eel which are way worse than mushrooms! It’s more of an aversion
than a dislike for the taste. I think it
may have been a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits I saw where some mushrooms
growing in the basement of a house took over and ate the kids or
something.
I made a commitment to Merle that
I would at least try mushrooms on this trip, because what better place than the
Mushroom Capital of the World?
So, I try the mushroom hummus. Okay –
not bad at all – but it’s got other ingredients to cover up the mushroom - so
let’s continue.
Next are the appetizers
including: Portabella Fries with
horseradish crème fresh - Ok – also not
bad – but it’s fried and has horseradish – what would be bad? Firecracker
Shrimp – with a hot, sweet and sour sauce – My kind of dish. Exotic mushroom
crepes – with Shitaki, Mitaki, oyster,
and Porcini mushrooms in a Madera cream sauce. Okay those are a lot of
mushrooms!!!!!! But it still has the
Madera sauce. I’m going for it – it
looks great. Okay, pretty good! I’ve
survived eating mushrooms. Merle, who
loves mushrooms, is now in her glory eating the mushroom soup, which she says
is the best she has ever had. Okay. Mushroom soup is, well, all mushrooms. I go for it again. Hmmm, not bad again. In fact, it’s very good. So I am over my mushroom phobia for now! (At least on this trip.)
The passion that goes into the
preparation of the food and menu items is obvious
Friday, April 4
One of the best things about a B
& B Inn is the home made country breakfasts. This morning we enjoyed poached pear deluxe,
southern corn bread with fresh home made jams, homemade granola, pineapple
& crème fresh French toast and spinach & Asiago cheese chicken
sausage. A hearty breakfast to start us
on our day. There were two other guests
at the Inn this morning and we all enjoyed the fireplace while watching Tucker
scout out the wildlife outside. Tucker
is the boss of the Inn and is the guardian of the outside wildlife. The Inn is an actual sanctuary for wildlife
and it is Tucker’s job to see that everyone follows order. He notifies Chip if there has been a breech
in the deer fence, he keeps the squirrels away from the birdfeeders, and I
thought I may have even seen him hunting truffles at one point. After his hard work, a well deserved nap was
in order.
We head out to Longwood Gardens . As we all know too well, the winter was
brutal and Spring, so far, is more of
“Slinky” so there are no outdoor
blooms quite yet so we head for the Indoor Conservatory Gardens. There are flowers of every variety and color
imaginable. There is also a pipe organ
display which is pretty amazing. You could spend hours in the indoor
Conservatory alone but we had a schedule to keep so we head off to one of the
two restaurants.
There is the Terrace Café, and 1906,
which is the more formal sit down restaurant where we will have lunch
today. Our waitress Iva starts us off
with a Brioche bread with sweet butter and a complimentary chefs presentation
of English pea puree. It is the tiniest
dish I ever had but it was immense in flavor.
Merle explained what the term “amuse bouche” means. We shared ½ dozen raw oysters and a flatbread
with buttered lobster, artichokes and garlic parmesan. I had the Rainbow Trout with white Asparagus,
swiss chard, heirloom radish salad and a side of black garlic puree. We ended with a dish of Cappuccino crunch ice
cream.
We head off to The Woodlands at Phillips for a private
tour of Phillips Mushroom Farms.
We
start in the gift shop where there is every imaginable item, book, or gift in
mushroom form and fresh, dried, and jarred mushroom foods available. We also see a short video about the larger
state of the art Warwick Mushroom Facility in Warwick, MD. Phillips is the largest grower of specialty
mushrooms in the United States and distributes to locations east of the
Mississippi. I thought mushrooms just
grew in dark, damp areas and you pick them at that’s that. We would soon learn more information about
mushrooms than one would imagine existed.
And it is fascinating.
First off, I see once again the
passion that the people in Kennett Square have for their trade and their
products. The Phillips family is no
exception. This is a third generation
family run business and mushroom growing is a serious business. Jim drives us to the office where we have to
remove all jewelry or loose items and don a “beautiful” red hair net. We also have to sign an agreement about our
movement in the facility and health regulations. Unlike their new facility in Maryland, the
Kennett Square farms are what you might call down and dirty, but in a good way
for mushrooms. We enter various “stark”
buildings which have different rooms with different environments depending on
the type of mushroom being cultivated and harvested. There are Portabella, Crimini, Shitake,
Oyster, Maitake, Beech, Enoki, Royal
Trumpet and Pom Pom just to name a few.
And each one is grown in very different ways than the others. Wild mushrooms have their own varieties. Even
though I never liked eating mushrooms I always liked the smell and feel of
mushrooms for some reason. As we enter
room after room of growing mushrooms, I can actually distinguish the different
aromas of the different mushrooms. The growing of the mushrooms is very
detailed and labor intensive. The exact
procedure varies from variety to variety but is all based on “substrates” on
which “Mycelium” will grow. Mycelium are
the thread like cells that is the vegetative growth of the fungus. In nature – it can be a log or tree. On farms like the Phillips Farm, they
actually create the substrates. All mushrooms are hand picked. For more information on the farm, the new
facility and mushrooms in general, go to:
www.phillipsmushroomfarms.com
We head back
into Kennett Square to the Tree Top
Suites; the two bedroom apartment where we will be staying for the night. It
is a perfect place to stay and be right in the heart of Kennett Square. Go to www.treetopsuite.blogspot.com
Owner Kathi
Lafferty, is also the owner of The
Mushroom Cap, a store with, you
guessed it, mushrooms!!!, including gifts, fresh and dried mushrooms, books,
and their specialty – Snack N Schrooms mushroom chips. Check out the web site at: www.themushroomcap.com
Dinner is at Taste of Puebla, an authentic, gourmet,
Mexican restaurant. I think that there
are two key indicators as to how good a Mexican restaurant will be.
The guacamole and the
margaritas. We enjoy the Mole Poblano
which is comprised of dry Chile anchos, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts,
almonds, raisins, plantains, and chicken
broth. This version has no chocolate. We
also have the traditional steak Fajitas.
The most enjoyable surprise was the
“Aguas Frescas”. Homemade drinks
from fresh fruits. Merle and I try the
lime and cucumber which is perfectly sweet and sour at the same time. Dessert is the Pastel Tres Leches which is
homemade cake soaked with a mixture of three milks. Once word of this restaurant gets around
town, it should become very popular.
Our next stop is
the Market at Liberty Place to
listen to some live music. The Market at Liberty
Place is a space that houses a mix of merchants selling freshly prepared foods,
produce, and other retail goods. It also hosts live music and other events. We take a look around but it is fairly
crowded and there was no place to sit so we stay for awhile and then walk back
over to Flickerwood Wines which is
also having live music. We are given a
nice cozy spot in the back, right by the band, which tonight is John
and Charrity. The duo and the
crowd are great. I am enjoying my glass
of red wine when I noticed that a large table of about 10 is now being brought
food from Portabellos across the
street. What a great way for merchants
to bring people together and make them really happy. If you eat at Portabellos you can bring in
wine from Flickerwood and if you drink at Flickerwood you can bring in food
from Portabellos, or anyplace else. It
is a great night to celebrate as it is also Charitty’s birthday and John had
just gotten engaged. Merle and I stay until the band stops playing and walk to
the apartment to get a good night’s sleep. Check on updates for shows and
tastings at: www.flickerwood.com
Saturday April 6
We start the day at Country Butcher which is a family owned
gourmet market. Breakfast is at the Café
and I have a breakfast sandwich with 2
eggs, Asiago cheese, and bacon. The Meat Market on site has house-made
sausages, that are nitrate free..
The
Cheese Market has local & International artisan cheeses, Charcuterie, and
assorted pates, and olives. I think we
tasted more cheese than I could even keep track of. The Deli Market has
fresh made sandwiches and salads and other house-made products. The Market has every product you could
imagine and the Bakery has home-made cakes, cookies, pastries and bread.
Add that this is one big, friendly, welcoming family and staff and you
can spend hours here. In fact, Merle and
I did! Dan and Dorothy Boxler made us
feel like we were long time friends.
Once again, the passion for the trade is evident everywhere you look and
in everything you taste. Dan, a master
butcher, is more than happy to answer all our questions. Look around on some of the walls and you
will see some incredible artwork done by Dorothy. See more on Facebook and at www.countrybutchermarket.com
I could have stayed here
the whole day but we had to get over to the Brandywine River Museum of Art.
The galleries were on three floors and included the Heritage Collection,
a Special Exhibition, Still-Life and Portrait Paintings, N.C. Wyeth Gallery, Andrew Wyeth Gallery and the
Bayard & Mary Sharp Gallery. Nice
collections in a manageable space made it an enjoyable outing.
We head on back to Kennett Square again to check
out some more of the local shops. Mrs. Robinsons Teas was a small shop
featuring both loose and bagged teas with a large selection of Roobis , which
made Merle happy. If we check out tea we
have to check out coffee and walk down to Philter. You think like filter? But it also means: “1. a potion, charm, or drug
supposed to cause a person to fall in love. 2. a magic potion for any
purpose.”
If you are a coffee
drinker this is the place to go, and the definition is perfect. Once again, this would be a new experience
for me. I would not call myself a coffee
drinker. I have milk and sugar with some
coffee added for flavor. Philter offers
hand crafted coffee. You can choose from
several fresh blends offered that are described on a board in a way much like
wine is. The precise number of beans are
ground and put in a warmed filter and then brewed to a precise temperature and
time for an individual cup of coffee.
Yes, each cup is brewed individually.
So, not only did I have to eat mushrooms, but now I have to drink coffee
black. I could, of course, add milk and
sugar, but that would be kind of like buying a prime piece of meat and boiling
it for stew. So I drink it black and it
is very good. It is not too strong at
all and you can really taste the flavor.
They also have bakery products to go along with the coffee. It is newly open so the web site is not
totally up and running but you can also visit the Facebook page. www.philtercoffee.com
Okay – so now we walk
into Ecoboutique and run into Doug. How to explain Ecoboutique
and Doug? Two thoughts : Unique and Pay it forward. With many of the products – something is
given back to a community. For example: With
the Tom’s shoes – when a pair is purchased, a pair is given to a child in need.
With United by Blue – for every product sold, United by Blue removes one pound
of trash from oceans and waterways.
There are many
product lines to choose from. Jewelry,
shoes, clothing, chocolate, books, candles, etc. I choose a BellaRyann bracelet. The bracelets come in gold or silver and have
a charm on it. You can choose from
Zodiac signs, birthstones, letters, sports or hobby symbols and other
varieties. The great thing about the
bracelet is its unique corkscrew design.
You just slip it over your wrist and with one hand and squeeze the bracelet to adjust the
band. I choose the silver with a
sailboat charm. Not a kayak, but close
enough.
And what about
Doug? Easy. Back to that word passion
again. When you are in the store, you will
hear and see the passion he has. www.ecoboutiqueksq.com
Tonight we spend
at the Hilton Garden Inn. There are several great things about this
Hilton that I like: The adjustable
comfort bed that you can set to your own comfort number, the Keurig coffee
maker in each room, and the indoor pool and hot tub. We had several leftovers so we just made
ourselves comfortable and finished off what we had left.
Sunday, April 6
We had planned a
few other things for today but we were able to do them yesterday so we just had
a leisurely drive home today.
The Brandywine
area and Kennett Square in particular, are unique in that so many of the people
we met, had this passion for their products and trades that you don’t see
anymore. People who care and people who
share, and they partner together to make it all work. What a great way to start off the 2014 Road Trips!
