Valentine’s Day: Fanning or Finding Love at an Art Museum

by Jamie Rhein on

Art museums make me feel amorous. It’s true. A walk through rooms filled with paintings, particularly if they’re from the Impressionism art movement, soften me right up. The sounds of shoes on marble or wood floors, the polite guards making sure people don’t get too close to the artwork, the creativity and genius of human beings in an outpouring of color and images. Yum!

Evidently, I’m not alone in my mushiness. According to a survey done by the 24 Hour Museum in the United Kingdom, 65% of the respondents said they would take a person to an art museum to make a favorable impression. (Hmm. impression. Impressionism. Is there a connection here?) Some (20%) said they had fallen in love in a museum. Was it in front of a Renoir, I wonder?

In this one research article I came across by Courtney Spousta, she points out that in the movie Play It Again Sam, Woody Allen’s character goes to the Modern Art Museum in NYC looking for love. Throughout the article, she cites examples of how certain nights at art museums are geared to help people mix and mingle. At the Milwaukee Art Museum there are even speed dating events. The last one was on February 2, it seems.

This month there are some art museums I came across that are capitalizing on the romance and love theme.

If you do head to a museum with that special someone or you’re out looking for that special someone at an art museum, it wouldn’t hurt to read “Cupid on the prowl” by Mary Louise Schumacher. She gives some tips on what to say to impress particular types of people and what not to say.

Oh, and the most romantic art museum in London according the the 24 Hour Museum survey? It’s the Victoria and Albert.

Celebrate Your Love at…. White Castle?

by Justin Glow on

Looking to really impress your lady friend this Valentines day? Treat her like a princess, and go to White Castle.

On February 14th, between 5:00 and 8:00 PM, select White Castles around the country will be serving their world famous sliders in a candle-lit presentation, complete with hostess and your own personal server. If you’d rather keep the romance private — in front of the fireplace, perhaps, or the porch of your trailer — you can take home Cupid’s Crave Kit for everything you’ll need to reproduce the romantic atmosphere of your local White Castle. Check their website for a participating location near you. Reservation required.

Still a little apprehensive? Check out these photos from a group of love birds who celebrated their special evening at White Castle in 2006.

[via Kottke]

Newport Winter Festival: a reason to leave home

by Jamie Rhein on

Maybe winter seems like a time to bundle up and stay inside, but here is an event that might get you to think again. The Newport Winter Festival in Newport, Rhode Island has 150 offerings over a 10-day spread. From Friday, February 16 to Sunday, February 26, it looks like the whole town is involved. There are mansion museum tours, tours of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, dances, scavenger hunts, plays, ice-carving demonstrations, restaurant deals etc., etc. If you can think of it, the festival has it.

This is the Newport’s 19th Winter Festival with a lot of press attached. That spells organized. You can check on the website for specific events that only happen at specific times like the 12th Annual J.P. Serpa Chili Cook-Off (Feb.17) and the Karaoke Idol Off the Curb (Feb. 24). Most events are on-going, meaning they either happen throughout the day or at least once a day. With a festival button you can get into some venues free or for a reduced admission. Special event tickets can be purchased on-line.

Longing for Peanut Butter While Abroad

by Neil Woodburn on

There are two food items I miss greatly while traveling abroad: Mexican food and peanut butter.

Peanut butter is one of those strange local culinary loves which isn’t much appreciated outside its country of origin–sort of like vegemite and Australia.

Growing up with the tasty spread I simply imagined it was available to hungry ten-year old kids all over the world (except in China where the children were always starving). But it wasn’t until I finally left the country for the first time that I discovered no one outside of America likes peanut butter (again, sort of like the Australia and their foul vegemite).

When it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn’t find any peanut butter to eat while backpacking through Europe, I was overcome with what always happens when faced with something you can’t have: you want it even more.

The funny thing is that when I finally returned home from living abroad for many years and could eat all the peanut butter I wanted, the urge to do so had completely vanished. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually spread some atop a slice of bread. But, I bet if I headed out on the road again for an extended time, I will start lusting after it once again.

And so it was with fond nostalgia that I came across an article in Iceland Review about an American expat living in Reykjavik who, you guessed it, is lusting after peanut butter. Her experience finding a palatable jar was no different than the anguish I went though, with one exception: she eventually found a jar for a whopping $11 and an expiration date that suggested it had been sitting on the store shelf for a very long time.

I’ll leave you with one quote of hers I found both amusing and astute;

“The texture, smell, and taste of peanut butter pretty much grosses out any self-respecting Icelander I’ve encountered in my year here, which has been a lot. They don’t get peanut butter in the same way that I don’t get hardfiskur (dried and salted fish), sheep balls, or rotten shark. Since we mutually agree on that, we’re on the right track.”

Cross-Country Skiing at the Enchanted Forest- a yummy option

by Jamie Rhein on

If you love cross-country skiing and you love desserts, not a bad combination since cross-country skiing is a great calorie burner, head to the Enchanted Forest XC Ski and Snowshoe Area near Red River, New Mexico for “Just Desserts” Eat and Ski, February 24. (to get there from the Enchanted Forest website, click on events then click on the Just Deserts link.)Tables laden with homemade desserts from Red River restaurants will be set up at various spots along the trail for skiers to sample. Tequila Lime Pie, Black Forest Cheesecake and Mountain Berry Cream Flan will be among the 18 different options.

If you can’t make it to this event, consider another time. I’ve been cross-country skiing at the Enchanted Forest three times myself-once on a solo weekend vacation and twice with friends. Each time was as good as the next. With trail names like Jabberwocky, Little John and Cheshire Cat, this is perfect place for those who have never cross-country skied before and those who are experts who don’t mind company.

Because the trails cover 33km of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, there are opportunities to take in vistas, tucked away places and loads of mountain scenery. Trails are well marked with their level of difficulty so you don’t go wandering off into treachery if you’re a beginner or waste your time with a ho-hum feeling if you’re looking to try out your technique. If you don’t have your own equipment, rentals are available. Red River is a neat town to enjoy for a night or two. It looks a bit like a tourist town-which it is, but that ensures good places to eat and stay and things to do when the day’s skiing is done. I like Red River because it’s not as crowded or polished as Taos or Santa Fe. There’s a more down-home, casual feel that made me feel comfortable, particularly when I was on my own.