https://passportmagazine.com/stars-favorite-consignment-shops-west-hollywood-beverly-hills/

by Marlene Fanta Shyer

Artsy, liberal, laid-back Brighton is London’s coolest cousin. It’s an hour train ride from Victoria Station, and it won me over in just one weekend.

More than a seaside resort, its famed Brighton Pier (www.brightonpier.co.uk) offers an amusement park at one end, and cafés, shops, crowds, and fish and chips everywhere else, no matter what the weather. The Pier’s adjacent beach is long, wide, and free, the English Channel laps serenely at its rocky shore, and there are umbrellas, mats, and chairs to rent and people to watch. Should you prefer to see more of them, you might try the very private nudist beach a mile east, Cliff Naturist Beach. It’s shielded from the road and very popular with you know who.

That gay demographic is considered to be about 30,000 strong in this city of 250,000, so let’s call Brighton über-gay- friendly. One of the first cities in England to offer marriage equality meant that many early civil partnership ceremonies were conducted here. The city was also the one-time hangout of Oscar Wilde, who stayed at the seafront Royal Albion Hotel (www.royal-albion-hotel.co.uk) in the latter part of the 19th century. Unfortunately, the Regency-style hotel with its original columns and balconies is a bit sad and faded, these days.

To the west of the Pier, on the lower promenade, find the Artist Quarter (www.theartistquarter.co.uk), where more than a dozen artists produce and sell from their individual “arches,” aka shops. Ceramics, furniture, blossom paintings, you name it, are here.

Buy something, then celebrate at the city’s best gay bars, conveniently nearby: Legends (www.legendsbrighton.com), A Bar (www.abarbrighton.co.uk), and the less expensive Bar Revenge. Around the corner is Club Revenge (www.revenge.co.uk), the city’s biggest nightclub. It features dancing and occasional floor shows.

For a more intimate experience, find smaller, cozier bars on St. James Street, the “happening gay spot.”

Brighton’s top dazzle is The Royal Pavilion, built by George IV before he became a full-fledged king. He used it for assignations with his mistress, (a Catholic he was not permitted to marry), and for elaborate entertainments. You may need sunglasses inside to look up at the 30 foot chandelier in the banqueting room, decorated with carved dragons and dubbed “a diamond blaze.” Under it sits a table about as long as a tennis court, set with silver, gold, crystal, and the usual royal palace tableware glitter.

The red-and-gold Chinese-inspired music room was the scene of one of the first six gay weddings celebrated in the UK, in 2014. Stand on the hand-knotted Axminster and check out more chandeliers. These are all lotus shaped, and the large central one is encrusted with thousands of glimmering small shells. You can also choose to get married here or in one of the Palace’s many other spaces, but don’t overlook the sign out front: “No confetti please.”

For a nice break, check out the very genteel upstairs tea room, and when you’re through taking in the posh, meander through the estate grounds to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk). Find art nouveau decorative design, classic 20th-century furniture, Henry Willett pottery, and a gallery showing celebrations from around the world.

While there is no single major exhibition space in the city, nearby is the University of Brighton Gallery (www.arts.brighton.ac.uk) with its mix of student and big-name artists’ works. Design, photography, sculpture, you’re likely to see eclectic everything in this modern glass-and-steel building.

Some smaller galleries are located in the North Laine, the more arty and bohemian area north of North Street. The Lanes, between North Street and the sea, is the historic area. Forget the spelling discrepancy and get happily lost in the network of narrow streets and alleyways, with their surplus of quaintness, their bygone era mix of pubs, cafés, and shops, including many antiques.

On Regent and Kensington Streets in the North Laine, is a legal display of graffiti on one side of the street. Just outside the Lanes on Duke Street, is Fabrica (www.fabrica.org.uk), featuring large installations in the interior of an old church.

While here, you’ll want to make a chocolate stop at Choccywoccydoodah (www.choccywoccydoodah.com) or pick out a greeting card at Creasedcards (www.creasedcards.com), which has some of the cleverest on the planet. Head then to Church and Bond Streets to Gresham Blake (www.greshamblake.com), the bespoke gentlemen’s outfitters, where while you are measured for your finery, you might actually spot residents Nick Cave or Fat Boy Slim being measured for his.

For footwear to go with your new outfit that’s kind to our four-legged friends, head over to Vegetarian Shoes (www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk) in the North Laine where no cute animals were killed to make any of the boots or slippers they sell. It’s one of a kind in the UK.

Also one of a kind is 64 Degrees (www.64degrees.co.uk) on Meetinghouse Lane. Chumps? Rump? Fregola? They’re not shoes. It’s not a dance. It’s lunch! Considered by foodies to be the most exciting dining spot in the city, you’ll be rewarded by the brilliant way mundane chunks of beef, pork, fish, or chicken have been transformed into beautiful, tasty jewels on the plate in front of you. Sit on a stool and sip Picpoul or Malbac while watching cute guys in black aprons fuss over each work of culinary art, incorporating precisely the bit of fregola needed. The headwaiter Chris, a dead ringer for George Clooney, is also good for the appetite.

For a more traditional dining experience, the New Steine French Bistro (www.newsteinehotel.com/restaurant) is like being invited to a friend’s place; dinner is served in a cozy dining room with a bay window and a fireplace. For traditionalists, a sirloin steak with chips, for the more adventurous, skewered St. Jacques with chorizo, rice, and spinach timbale. For everyone, the crème brûlée is also highly recommended here.

Across the street from a betting parlor is an elegant white-tablecloth restaurant perfect for celebrating a win. 24 St. Georges Restaurant (www.24stgeorges.co.uk) is also its address. Your plate arrives, looking pretty as a picture and tasting like it should win a Certificate of Excellence, which it did, in 2014. It’s featured in Michelin and considered number one in Brighton.

Where will you stay? There are large luxury hotels like the Grand (www.devere-hotels.co.uk) or the Hilton Brighton Metropole (www.placeshilton.com/brightonmet), but sometimes the small places are much cozier and save you from credit card shock later. A ten or 15-minute walk from everything is Snooze (www.snoozebrighton.com), a gay-friendly, homey, hip guest house. Hats off to the courage of using the entire color wheel in the same room, for flea-market items cleverly turned into retro élan, and also to the great English breakfast, the warm welcome and friendly atmosphere here.

Tempted now to visit Brighton? Oscar Wilde wrote, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.” Next time you’re in London, do.

It’s my fourth visit and I’m again seduced by Prague’s streets. Walking in the city is like stepping into an old pen-and-ink drawing. Gothic spires in light and shadow reflected in a river, cobblestones after rain, towers and lovers, and there you have it. What doesn’t show is the Czechs’ affinity with Americans. This city never lets me down, even when tourists’ backpacks jostle and there are long lines waiting to get into its teeming hot spots.
On this visit I confine my meandering to the city’s historic core, Praha 1, which is divided into five districts filled with mythical scenery and outdoor cafes. No need for trams because within this area I can walk pretty much everywhere, which is a big part of the city’s charm.
Located in Hradčany (Castle District) St. Vitus Cathedral, is Prague’s centerfold attraction. This masterwork was built in the 14th century and is the largest and most important in the country. To walk again through its bronze door and look up at the vaulted ceiling in the light coming through stained glass always guarantees a spiritual hit. Most impressive inside is the St. Wenceslas chapel, where relics of the saint are stored, but sorry, one can only view its paintings of Christ and semiprecious jewel treasures from the doorway.
This is pretty much also the case at the iconic Prague Castle where Kings and presidents and their ilk have their offices. It’s the biggest castle on earth and we, the commoners, may stroll the glamorous premises and check out the gardens. Admission price varies and there are student and senior rates.
Around the corner is the narrow Golden Lane, possibly named for the alchemists who once lived there. One reputedly died with a lump of gold in his hand but one can’t be sure he actually created it out of base metal. Some claim poor sanitation caused the streets to flow with urine and thus, Golden Lane. In any case, the place has really been cleaned up.
These attached houses have this year been painted in Easter Egg colors and are now generally spiffy. Originally built in the sixteenth century as houses for King Rudolf’s marksmen (who must have been pintsized guys) these are teensy houses with bitsy rooms. Some are outfitted as if for residences for castle staff in later centuries–seamstress, baker–and one, number 22, was where Franz Kafka did his writing in the early twentieth century. I can easily picture him writing his cockroach story here. Number 14 was inhabited by a fortune teller who predicted Hitler would die soon but didn’t predict that she would. The Gestapo came and killed her. Number 16 housed a Renaissance tavern, but note the modern egg display that looks like midcentury (20th) kitchen design. Other houses are small shops, selling everything from napkin rings to books to puppets. Puppet theatre was big in this country 150 years ago so marionettes are to Czechs as wooden shoes are to the Dutch. Everywhere!
At the end of Golden Lane is Daliborka Tower, named for its first prisoner, Dalibor z Kozojed, a popular supporter of the oppressed, sort of a Czech Robin Hood. He played the violin while waiting in a dungeon to die, touching the people of Prague, who brought him food, drink and sympathy. The authorities were afraid to announce the date of his execution, but finally, the music stopped. The famous Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, turned this sad story into a famous opera, “Dalibor.” His statue stands near the Charles Bridge, which is pure romance at night. During the day, it’s stomping ground for musicians, souvenir mongers, and views of the Vltava, which flows under it. The river inspired Smetana’s beautiful piece of music, also known as “The Moldau.” It’s on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdtLuyWuPDs
Another composer, Antonin Dvořák, is famous for his New World Symphony; his likeness stands in front of Rudolfinum, Staré Město Strana, (Old Town), the Czech concert hall located on the right bank of the river. Programs and tickets for concerts are available online: http://www.ticketsonline.cz/
Among the city’s (and country’s) other claims to fame are its ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell , and its sklo, or glass. The beer is available everywhere, but for purists, look for one of the 180 pubs designated as tankovna where the beer is unpasteurized and reputedly more authentic. My Czech grandma drank it from a tumbler. (About $.90-$2.95 for half a litre, or just under one pint)
For the best of Czech glass, head to Moser, Na Příkopech 12, in Nové Mĕsto (New Town) or on Staroměstské náměstí, (Old Town Square.) That is the number one purveyor of lead-free glamorous, signed pieces ranging from small paperweights to museum-quality sculpture. The company was started in 1857 and Ludwig Moser could not have predicted that his glass would be a hot item on eBay in 2012. I discovered another superb glass designer, Karen Feldman, www.artelglass.com, who has a shop at 29 Celetná, nearby in Staré Mĕsto (Old Town.) Her pieces run anywhere between $50 to $5000. They’re outstanding.
Glass chandeliers? I found them at Erpet Bohemian Crystal, Staroměstské náměstí, (Old Town Square.) Thumbs up for the most expensive, at about $14,000, but I’d have to have it shipped and rewired. Too big for the powder room anyway.
The tourist mecca of Old Town is the world-famous medieval Astronomical clock. l always look closely at its adornments, which can seem a bit confusing. There are three basic parts to the clock, originally created in 1410: There’s a calendar dial representing months, an astronomical dial representing the sun and moon, and the popular wooden apostle statues and a representation of Death–when small trap doors open and they march out on the hour. I enjoy this spectacle for the fun it is, and skip walking up the clock tower steps, although there’s a nice city view at the top. According to my guide, in these crowds it’s also time watch my wallet.
Pickpockets hang out wherever tourists gather, like Wenceslas Square, Václavské náměstí, (New Town) which is the business hub of Prague. This was the city’s beating heart my first visit, and now it’s more the beating heart of cash registers, with too much chain store action. The chains also proliferate at the Palladium, Náměstí Republiky 1, (New Town) which used to be an army barracks, and is now a five floor pink palace full of shops and restaurants, many whose names I recognize . Chain stores also line Pařížská, the high-end shopping street, the one in which one finds Dior, Cartier, Rolex et al, priced higher than airport duty-free.
To look at older stuff, I head over to Antique Vladimír Andrle at Křížovnická 3, very near the Charles Bridge. I admire a 14 karat gold 19th Century chiming pocket watch priced at $11,000. The shop also has many less expensive timepieces, and everything else: a vase, icon, ring? My January birthstone is another Czech staple, garnets are here and everywhere.
The shop is one of Andrle’s several locations, and this one is located in the Four Seasons Hotel, (www.fourseasons.com/prague) considered to be one of the two best here, along with the Mandarin Oriental (www.mandarinoriental.com/prague).
This time I was happy to stay at the Buddha Bar, a small and sexy hotel created by a tech-maven with a movie-set sensibility. Red lacquer, gold serpents, red sheer curtains, and black terrycloth bathrobes– the designer obviously had a hot Mandarin romance on his mind. My room had a drawer of chilled wines in the fridge as well as a comp espresso coffee maker. And, the staff was wonderfully obliging when I needed yet another tutorial in remote controlling the draperies, bathtub-view TV and, no kidding, the toilet/bidet.
For budget hotels my guide praised the well-located the Leonardo (www.hotelleonardo.cz), a few steps from the Charles Bridge.
I asked to see the best contemporary art galleries and my favorite was the museum-like Kampa, U Sovových mlýnů 2, in Malá Strana (Little Side). The gallery is devoted principally to Czech art and is in an area with an overdose of bucolic charm. With its Kampa Park, Devil’s Brook canal and Michael Gabriel’s welcoming red horse sculpture, it all makes for a good way to spend an aesthetic afternoon.
At a random coffee stop at a courtyard cafe, I also stumbled across a cute cottage gallery, the Hradčanská Galerie at Hradčanské námĕstí 12 (Castle District). It features the work of another Czech, Josef Kalousek, and one painting I wish I’d bought. The gallery owner is friendly and speaks English, as everyone in Prague seems to these days.
Even the smallest restaurants’ menu choices come with a translation. When it comes to Czech food I say, “when in Rome…” and indulge. My guide recommended Alcron at the Radisson Hotel, Štĕpánská 624 (New Town) as one of the city’s tops, but for a more casual dinner, I found the new and lively, LaRepublica, Jakubská 8, (Old Town) near my hotel, very Czech, pubby and fun. Our waiter Honza looked cute in his red vest and there was a four-piece oompah band on a balcony that happened to be playing “Hello Dolly” as we walked in. If they’re playing American show tunes, and a main dish can be had for ten dollars, what could possibly be bad? (Well, the smoking. Be warned, people are still lighting up everywhere, including restaurants.)
Another memorable dinner was at the Plzeňská Beer Hall Obecní dům, Námĕstí Republiky 5, (Old Town) reached by going down a long flight of stairs in a gorgeous Art Nouveau building. Inside is a large space filled with Tyrolean chairs, bright lights, and a typical Czech menu. The nation’s favorite dish is Svíčková Na Smetaně, which is a sirloin bathed in a sauce made from root vegetables. It’s traditionally served with dumplings and cranberries. Our dinner, served with one beer and one wine came to a total of about $39 for both. Also, the bread served here and everywhere is dense, dark and outstanding.
I did eat a non-Czech lunch at La Finestra, Platnéřská 19, Staré Mĕsto. It’s top of the line Italian, near the Charles Bridge and next door to a specialty deli. I never got to the new vegan/vegeterian Maitrea Restaurant, Týnská Ulice 6, (Old Town) It’s highly regarded and reasonable, at about eight dollars a dish.
Next time! It’s what I always say when I leave Prague, where I was born in a house where there is now a florist shop, where the Párky, the grilled frankfurters, are the best in the world and the 100-year old car, the Skoda, is still going strong. Next time I’ll save my shoes and try the Segway: Vlašská 364/2, Malá Strana (Little Side), explore the gay Vinohrady district and the Jewish Quarter, learn more Czech. For now, Děkuji for thank you and Prosím for please will have to do.

“WESTSYLVANIA”

“Westsylvania” is the catchy new name for a werewolf-free territory that encompasses 12 disparate counties in western Pennsylvania. Scattered over 500 square miles of pretty country in and around the Allegheny Mountains, it is a fine fall travel option, combining foliage glamour with the added plus of colorful tourist attractions. There are at least seven, counting both of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masterpieces as one.

Less well known than Fallingwater, is Kentuck Knob. Built in 1953, the home is built on a hexagonal grid, constructed entirely of red cypress and native fieldstone, and looks as if it had just gone up yesterday. In typical Wright fashion, it cuddles itself into its site, which overlooks the Youghiogheny (pronounced yok-a-gay-nee) River Gorge and surrounding mountains. The current English occupants, Lord and Lady Palumbo, have added personal items that diminish the don’t-touch-museum-quality of the glass-walled interior. With its (added) kilim-covered chairs and family photos, it’s an architectural wonder, but also a snug home in which one can picture oneself sipping a cup of hot tea after a long day’s hike through the property’s sculpture gardens. And who but Frank Lloyd Wright could have invented the car port? Here is the prototype.

Fallingwater, in trouble since one of its cantilevered platforms was discovered to be listing and cracking some years ago, is currently being held aloft through some engineering legerdemain of suspension wires. The house’s familiar shape of horizontal concrete slabs still can take one’s breath away, the way it’s fitted into the mountainside to look as if it grew out of it. And the waterfall next to it seems to have been designed for it, instead of vice versa. Inside are all the genius built-ins, skylights, quirky windows and enough seating for all the friends and family of Mr.and Mrs.Kaufman (of the Kaufman department stores) who commissioned Wright to build it, and whose son finally donated it to posterity.

A short drive away in Johnstown is a museum dedicated to the city’s own holocaust. The flood of 1989 is harrowingly depicted in the Johnstown Flood Museum in unforgettable, graphic detail. The exhibits feature the recorded voice of the disaster’s last survivor recounting his own gripping experience, an award-winning documentary film that puts one into the very heart of that day in May, and photos of survivors–some who lost seven or eight children–that touch the heart. The museum is an eye-opening walk through the history of human carelessness and unnecessary loss of the lives of more than 2000 men, women and children.

More cheerful is the Incline Plane, right nearby. It’s a funky trip one can take up a mountain in a vehicle that looks more like a freight elevator than a cable car. It’s the highest and steepest anywhere, and for three dollars, it’s up and then down, with a lunch at the Incline Restaurant and a photo opportunity between. For more fun, head west towards Nemacolin Woodlands in the Laurel Highlands region. This enterprise was the whim of one Joe Hardy, owner of some 400 lumber stores, who bought a broken-down property for three million some five years ago and transformed it into a titanic resort. Whatever one looks for in a vacation brochure is here in person: A couple of golf courses with major credentials, splendiferous swimming pools, world-class restaurants, art, sports clay pigeon shooting, kids’ entertainment, elaborate spa, you-name-it. Activities are available to guests, also to day visitors, in a setting that’s a mixture of Hollywood gradiosity and European ritz.

About an hour’s drive away and not far from Altoona, is the county of Bedford. Collectibles and antiques lovers will find 27 retail outlets scattered through the countryside here; an old hotel now gutted and transformed into three stories of old stuff is right in town. It’s called Founders Crossing, sits on the corner of Pitt and Juliana Streets and also sells local crafts. No matter how long one browses, it’s just not enough.

In the heart of Altoona is the remarkable Pennsylvania Railroad Museum. Even museumphobes will find provocative its three-dimensional displays, featuring a wax-museum type series of exhibits. The most memorable is the story of “Jim”, a black dining car steward who appears here in lifelike form, to present an oral history of his forty-seven years on the PRR on tape. He lived through the civil rights movement and one experiences it with him, getting it through his eyes and ears. Also on view is a re-creation of the typical home of an Italian railroad worker, an authentic barroom and a newsstand, featuring a talking newsboy, who animatedly describes his own life.

Last in the Westsylvania loop is the Victorian town of Bellefonte. This is a hop, skip and jump from Penn State University, and might be just the place for a nice, relaxing walk. The little city is historically significant because it was the first Pennsylvania town with its own court housed in a public building. As a result, it attracted the area’s best lawyers and politicians, becoming the state’s political center. It is the birthplace or childhood home of seven of Pennsylvania’s governors. Bellefonte was reputedly named by Talleyrand, who visited the site in 1795 and first saw the natural spring at the city’s south end. “La Belle Fonte!” he supposedly cried, and the spring is still the heart of this city of 7000. What is available in every tap free there, is bottled and shipped to us for a price as Evian or Dannon, among others. A local walking tour is called “Gingerbread and Iron” an apt description of Bellefonte’s authentic architecture and camera-ready streetscapes. A historical footnote is that Bellefonte is the home town of the Mills Brothers, and if they sang about a lazy river, they might have had in mind Stone Creek. It runs through Talleyrand Park here, and is filled not only with trout, but with an overflow of nostalgia.

So is the historical Bellefonte Rail Station and a main street that looks like a page torn from a history book. A few days spent in Westsylvania might inspire the visitor to ask, “How could they ever leave it?”

WALK ON WEST HOLLYWOOD –

Find your soul in West Hollywood, of all places? Absolutely. Spirituality can be found between the blue-painted lampposts of “The Boulevard” and its neighboring streets, beckoning you and your stress with open doors and open arms.

At the Metropolitan Community Church at 8714 Santa Monica, you may make friends either with God or with other gays and lesbians at the Sunday morning worship services, or attend Bible Study or HIV/AIDS support on Wednesday nights, or Recovery groups on most other nights. “The circle is ever widening,” Reverend Neil G. Thomas says, and the congregation also represents the transgendered, straight and bisexual. Similar Christian-based congregations, including those who are Russian-speaking, are at the popular WeHo Church and Worship Center, also on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Kol-Ami means “Voice of my people” and is a glamorous reform synagogue with a very ambitious agenda for the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual community. The “betterment of humanity” is part of it, so is “social justice,” “education,” and of course, “religious worship,” which takes places every Friday night and once a month on Saturdays. The synagogue performs life cycle ceremonies, (commitment, naming, funerals, and so on) and there are speaker events, cultural programs, an annual dinner/dance, social action and interfaith programs. This very welcoming congregation is headed by Rabbi Denise Eger, and each service is followed by a coffee-cake social, so God knows, you might find a new friend.

Feeding your soul is one thing, feeding your stomach another. Combine them both at the casual Abbey, where religious statues–St. Francis, for one– hold sway and God’s furry creatures, if they’re well-behaved, are welcome on the patio. A pot of free condoms waits at the bar and in the rear are private curtained alcoves for praying or, more likely, a bit of heart-and-soul cuddling. No matter what your persuasion, if you get a star next to your order, you get a free meal here.

Another sort of religious experience is a browse through the famous Bodi Tree Book Store, where the shelves are lined not only with New Age tomes but also the candle, crystal and incense accoutrements you’ll need to take home. Or, head for the perfect mind-body place at the Angel City Gym on Melrose Avenue, which mixes kick-boxing and Pilates weights with a metaphysical ambience of live turtles and koi fish in a rock pool, an atmosphere of tranquility and a real fireplace, in case you’re in the mood for a bit of hearthside meditation.

You’ve been good and now reward yourself with a pinnacle spiritual high: a visit to Maxfields right across the street, a shop which can only be called heavenly. Is it a museum? A gallery? An experience! Here are diamond rings shaped like skeletons, Lebovicci light sculptures, men’s fashion$, vintage luggage, an Italian Giotto bicycle with a price tag of $9,175. Best of all is the platinum cell phone that comes with a year of free concierge service, $20,000. Whether or not she got a direct line to the Above, Gwyneth Paltrow was one of its first customers.
When you go, don’t trust the Higher Power to choose a hotel. For great value, try the Best Western, for celebrity watching, Le Parc, for intimacy, Le Montrose Suite Hotel, for location, the Sofitel. And for clothing optional, the all-gay San Vincente Inn.

WASHINGTON, MISSOURI

What’s happened in Washington, Missouri, since the zither factory closed? Wine, among other things. After the glaciers melted away in this region, the residual benefit was a rich soil needing no irrigation, just waiting for the grape. This dot on the map, an hour’s drive from St. Louis, is now home to four serious wineries. They have sprung to life here on Route 94, along what they call a “Weinstrasse,” which means Wine Street in German, and evokes the area’s principal heritage. As a result of a collection of glowing accounts sent back to Germany by a farmer who had recently settled here, many immigrants followed to this Missouri River Valley region in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Blumenhof Winery, established in 1979 by a descendant of one of those German settlers, is open every day for tasting and sales (except on the four major holidays) and although its wines cost half of what comparable bottles sell for in Sonoma, it has already won competitions and medals in Texas, Florida and California. A grafting of two types of grapes – chardonnay and seyval – has resulted in the silver-medal prizewinning Blumenhof Chardonel 1997.

The Augusta and Montelle Wineries, both owned by a former TWA pilot, have also produced medal winners. Augusta is most proud of its “Cynthiana” – described as “earthy”, “robust” with a “raspberry bouquet and a vanillin aftertaste”. Both the Augusta and especially the Montelle have taken advantage of valley and ridge views by building elaborate decks furnished with picnic tables. Here, weather permitting, people come weekends to picnic, listen to music and sample the whites, the reds, the blushes.

Last on the Weinstrasse is the Sugar Creek, with its lively atmosphere and singing host. He will talk wine and tell you that “La Rustica is good!” and perhaps also recommend Michael’s Signature Red. Like the other three, this winery is casual, one can buy hamburgers or wursts or bring one’s own, and depending on weather, listen to live music weekends between April and October. Dancing in the property’s gazebo is not discouraged.

For teetotalers, Washington has more: a corn cob pipe factory and museum, for one thing. One should say THE corn cob pipe factory, because it is now the only one in the world. If you haven’t seen anyone smoking a corn cob pipe lately, you may just not be looking hard enough. Although the pipe, originally made famous by Douglas MacArthur, has waned in popularity, one and a half million are still sold every year. The stem, originally made with cattle bones and reeds is now made of plastic. The bowl is gouged from special corn grown for the purpose, the cobs aged two years. These days the pipes are sold mainly through drugstore chains to older men and college boys. Want one? They retail from $2.50 to $20 and tobacco is not included. One should not visit Washington without making tracks to the homestead of Daniel Boone, a twenty mile ride out of town. He lived the last twenty years of his life here in a small town now called Defiance. The home sits on his 856 acres, is authentic, with many pieces of furniture the original furnishings. Boone’s house was thought to be the most exquisite home west of Mississippi and included elegant parlor and dining rooms, as well as a fourth floor ballroom. On the premises is also an old schoolhouse, a chapel and the home of a rich merchant of the period. There is hot controversy about Boone’s burial plot, claimed by Kentucky, but his remains are believed to be right here on this property. In any case, the “Boone Settlement” contains 150 sites of national historic value.

The area’s hands-down top restaurant, American Bounty, offers big-city quality and is to be found right in town on Front Street, which faces the Missouri River. A dinner entree of sauteed crabcakes with “kaffir lime essence, Tasmanian fire onions and red pepper aoili” goes for $17.50. Other entrees begin at about $13.95 and stop at $20.50. Other agreeable dining options in town are Char-Tony’s, or Elijah McLean’s. Walking off lunch might be a pleasure along the historical Katy Trail, the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. This nature preserve and biking-hiking trail stretches for two hundred miles across the state. It travels through valleys, remnant prairies, open pastureland, dense forests; bike rentals are available. A less ambitious form of exercise might be a walk through the Shaw Nature Reserve, with its thirteen miles of hiking trails amidst various wetlands, restoration of native vegetation, groves and fields and a wildflower garden. There is a three dollar admission charge here and children’s admission is free.

Many Bed-and-Breakfast accommodations are to be found in the Washington area. The elegant Schwegmann House overlooks the Missouri River, is in the National Register of historic places, and serves an elaborate breakfast. It also offers a suite with a massage tub for two. La Dolce Vita, another local B-and-B, also offers a “million dollar view”. The owners make and sell wine, and in addition to gourmet breakfast, make available afternoon snacks, and of course, offer a taste of the house wines, including “the best red in Missouri.” Nearby are also two motels, The Ramada and a Best Western, many antique shops, and the quaint sort of Main Street shops missing from all the chain-store malls throughout America. Washington is an unspoiled part of the Show-me state that wishes to show us how down-home and friendly Missouri can be.

Washington area Chamber of Commerce: 1-888-7WASHMO
Web site: http://www.washmo.org