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Behind the walls at Eastern State

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Most folks do their best to stay out of prison.

At Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, people pay to get in and get an up-close and personal look at one of the nation’s most notorious prisons.

Around Halloween, Eastern State is more popular than ever as aficionados of gore flock to Terror Behind the Walls, the fright night that raises money to preserve the crumbling walls and historic character of the big house.

As prisons go, Eastern State started out well, thanks to Ben Franklin and other reformers who believed incarceration should help to mold prisoners into better people. Prisoners had their own cells and private exercise yards, the better to reflect on their misdeeds. They ate fresh veggies and had their choice of coffee, tea or cocoa at breakfast. You can see the skylight in Cell Block 5, photographed in 1998 by Elena Bouvier.

Visitors can see that spirit of reform didn’t last. The prison got crowded. Inmates doubled up in dark cells. And the petty thieves originally locked up at Eastern evolved into a den of hard-core criminals.

It’s fascinating to walk the corridors of Eastern and peer into ruined cells, as well as the posh, restored digs once occupied by gangster Al Capone, who served time for carrying a concealed weapon in a Philly theater. Capone got a cell equipped with Oriental carpets, an easy chair and a radio. Eastern’s baseball team got new uniforms.

You can tour the prison seven days a week, except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $8 for students and children. (The tour is not appropriate for kids under 7.)

Terror Behind the Walls is loud and scary, just the kind of Halloween treat guys age 16 to 23 would enjoy. It is way too graphic for children, so take your 12-year-old on the historic tour instead. Tickets are $40. But you can get a deep discount buying online, where the price drops to $25.

Philadelphia and Frank Furness

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A century after his death, Frank Furness is the most fashionable man in Philadelphia.

The Victorian-era architect’s Gothic-inspired designs include the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, which includes structural elements that enabled Furness protege Louis Sullivan to design the first skyscrapers.

PAFA’s retrospective, Building a Masterpiece: Frank Furness’ Factory for Art, is scheduled to run Sept. 29-Dec. 30. But it’s already in place, so if you want to avoid the crowds, go now. (We also will be looking at other fabulous Philly destinations over the next week.)

Serendipitously, The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins’ masterpiece depicting an anatomy class, also is in residence through January at PAFA, where Eakins studied in the mid-19th century and where artists still train today. So there are twice as many reasons to indulge in this uniquely Philadelphia artistic experience. (The freight elevator, used to bring in cattle and other large animals, still transports an occasional horse for students to sketch.)

Furness was born in Philadelphia in 1839 and died nearby in Nether Providence Township, Pa. in 1912.

In between, he served in the Civil War, earning the Congressional Medal of Honor for volunteering to carry ammunition to stranded soldiers across the open battlefield. (Learn about his military career at an exhibit the Historical Society of Frankford.) He served at Gettysburg, later designing a memorial there, and is buried at the hauntingly beautiful Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, also the final resting place of George Gordon Meade, who led Union Forces to victory at Gettysburg.

Furness and business partner George Watson Hewitt won a design competition to design PAFA, to be completed in time for the Centennial of 1876.

The Long Recession, which dragged on from 1873-1879, resulted in budget cuts. The concrete floor on the second level looks amazingly hip for Victorian times but in truth it’s much cheaper than marble. Blank friezes on the exterior, a counterpoint to the ornate facade, also were an economy measure.

There’s still lots of bling, with extravagant carved rosettes, gilding and sweeping staircases. It’s an amazing and clever building, with such innovations as skylights and the “curtain walls” that made skyscrapers possible. Exposed I-beams are part of the design. Cast iron pipes are trimmed out and decorated as columns. The spindles on the sweeping staircase are artistic interpretations of gears and piston rods cast in brass.

Furness — pronounced FUR-ness — is hot as, well, a furnace these days. But his heavy, ornate Gothic designs fell out of fashion in the mid-20th century as architects embraced minimalism. Many of Furness’ buildings were knocked down. His elaborate interiors at PAFA were sheetrocked over in the 1950s, hidden behind plain vanilla walls until a restoration in 1976.

His largest collection of railroad buildings, a trio of red brick structures including what is now the Amtrak station, are sited on the riverfront in Wilmington, Del. You will find Furness’ touch throughout Philadelphia and the ‘burbs, from the First Unitarian Church on Chestnut Street, where Furness’ father was pastor, to Merion Cricket Club.

Clearly, Furness built them to last.

 

 

Your shoes have a pal in KIWI

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My dad’s big, wooden shoeshine kit always contained a few tins of KIWI. Dad was born in 1928 — and KIWI already had been around for more than 20 years, keeping shoes shined and supple since 1906.

This fall, I will keep my suede shoes and boots looking fit with KIWI Suede & Nubuck Protector. (Fashion watchers, I ask you: how come suede is in season in fall and winter, when there are lots of wet leaves and slushy streets to mar its lovely finish? ‘Tis one of the great mysteries of the Well-Dressed Universe.)

Thank goodness for this handy spray product. It’s a convenient cousin to KIWI Protect-All, which provides water and stain protection for leather and fabrics, typically the type you send to the dry cleaners.

(Mystery No. 2: Why are shoe products called Kiwi? Answer: Because the inventor’s wife hailed from New Zealand. This could come in handy if you are ever a Jeopardy! contestant.)

The suede and nubuck defender goes on clear. It does not darken the color of your footwear, handbags or gloves. Truly. And it is quite effective in shielding your pricey shoes and boots so that you can enjoy them for more than one season. But remember, no puddle jumping!

Hint: Apply KIWI well before you head to the Blizzard Ball. The process takes some time.

Here’s how to use it:

  • Position the can about 10 inches from your target.
  • Spray evenly over the surface. Use a light hand. Don’t saturate your Louis Vuitton bag.
  • Allow the finish to cure for 24 hours.
  • Apply a second light coat.
  • Reapply as needed, depending on wear and tear.

You can find the products at Walgreens, Walmart, Target and lots of other stores. Expect to pay about $7.49 per can.

 

Awash in Hollywood glamour with California Faucets

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California Faucets is reviving the elegance and glamour of Hollywood’s yesteryear with its Art Deco Collection. That is notable news for those of us who get excited about luxurious faucets and the other special touches that elevate our homes.

The geometric curves, linear symmetry, and bold contrast in materials and colors that marked the design movement are highlighted in the collection, which teams  matte black handles with sleek polished nickel.
Picture Louise Brooks, with her angular dark bob in a shimmering satin gown,  reborn as a faucet.

I am a Jersey girl — who now lives in Delaware. But I do appreciate California Faucets, which truly are made in California. In fact, I have California Faucets in a bathroom in my own home, a vintage stone colonial, and enjoy them each and every day because they have the look and heft of older faucets — but function with the ease and reliability of modern plumbing.

Beautiful faucets are a constant source of pleasure, like a fabulous watch or a luxury car.
So, how do you interpret Art Deco? This collection is a natural match for black and white tile or stone and crisp, white fixtures.

The Classic Moderne faucet is cool and timeless, inspired by the neoclassical architecture that influenced art deco design. It displays a graceful, low-arc spout that is subtly contoured. The design also features angular hex escutcheons and handles with sleek metal index buttons.

Empire Moderne takes its inspiration from Manhattan’s art deco designed Chrysler Building. Like the landmark, it is tall, streamlined and symmetrically geometric.

Deco Moderne is inspired by Cubist art. The spout and wide spread lever handles are curved to facets and planes.  That technique allows the surface to reflect light. A classic yet avant-garde look.

List price for the 8-inch widespread Classic Moderne faucet is $755. The Empire Moderne faucet lists for $890. And the Deco Moderne faucet is $668.

 

 

 

Mannie, get your gun! Cabela’s is booming with new stores

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What do Rogers, Arkansas, and Christiana, Delaware, have in common?

Both locales are getting new Cabela’s, the iconic destination for hunting, fishing and camping gear.

Even though I have never so much as caught a fish, I have always enjoyed browsing at Cabela’s store in Hamburg, Pa. All those rods and reels. Meat grinders. Big beds for hunting dogs. A cafeteria that serves buffalo. (The meat, that is, not the big, shaggy beast.)

Closer to home, Nebraska-born Cabela’s is building a 110,000-square-foot stone-and-log stand-alone emporium to manliness at Christiana Mall, just north of Nordstrom. Ideal for his and her shopping! Customers can start hunting for buys there in 2014.

Founded in 1961, Cabela’s is in growth mode, with stores opening this year in Arkansas and Washington State. The Cabela herd will expand with seven stores in 2013.

A plug for pluggz, a kicky flip flop

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While the world was flipping for flip flops, I was looking for any casual footwear that didn’t have that uncomfortable thong between my toes.

Then the folks from pluggz asked me to give their earthy-but-hip flip flops a try. The soul of this iconic summer fave is its sole, which includes a carbon and rubber plug. The inventor says the plug acts as a conduit for electrons to flow from the earth to our bodies, thus neutralizing free radicals.

“The mostly synthetic materials that are used in today’s footwear break the flow of energy between the earth and our bodies,” says Sharon Whiteley, founder and CEO of LISTEN Brands and a hottie in Entrepreneur Land. “As I understood this connection, the product created itself for me.”

Flip flops that are good for you? That is a lot to expect from beach brogues.

OK, OK, I thought. I’ll give ‘em a test schlep — and then report what I think.

Will I flip for pluggz? Or declare them a flop?

When I opened the box and beheld the pluggz I was concerned about the plug. It looked downright uncomfortable. I have a large closet filled with shoes—from Ferragamo loafers to towering Badgley Mischka stilettos—and not a one has a plug embedded in its sole.

Still, pluggz has aesthetic appeal. I don’t see the satiny finish on these flip flops at the discount store. Ditto for the embellishment, the stylish little disk on the side. Pluggz come in three classic colors: gold, silver and black. Full sizes run from 5 to 11.

But what about the feel? Are they worth the $39 price tag? I slipped on my pluggz and sauntered out to my yard. As I strolled on the grass, the pluggz felt darn good, although I confess I did not discern an enhanced flow of electrons.

The next weekend, I traveled out of town for a friend’s party. I packed my pluggz and put them on as I headed to the hotel pool. They were very comfy on the concrete decking around the pool. No worries about slipping with the 100% rubber sole. They looked nice with my swim suit. No tugging between my toes. What more can you ask from flip flops?

Now that I have plugged into pluggz, I am wearing flip flops more often. On the patio. In the bathroom. In the garden.

But what to do when the weather turns nippy?

Not to worry. This fall, pluggz is coming out with a new line of adorable Mary Janes and ballet flats.

Extra! Extra! The Scotsman delivers good news for guests

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The Scotsman, a luxury hotel sited in a Victorian era newspaper building, is good news for travelers to Edinburgh.

It’s so close to the Royal Mile of museums, shops and restaurants that a newsboy could easily hurl a Sunday paper there.

Extra! Extra! In addition to location, The Scotsman offers friendly, efficient service and such vintage charms as a coal fire glowing in the lobby grate. The magnificent Italian marble staircase, which the brass used to climb to the executive offices, remains in place.

I am upgraded to an editor’s suite, which features a bay window and an antique desk that might have been around when The Scotsman published its first newspaper at the site in 1905. Closets and the TV are behind raised-panel doors crafted from the deep, rich wood you would expect to find in the library of a country house in an Agatha Christie mystery novel. The windows are dressed with heavy, tweed curtains. The bathroom is large and well-appointed with a huge tub, heated towel rack and a radiator so efficient it will dry hastily rinsed socks in an hour flat.

The Scotsman also stocks Highland Aromatics, the best darn shampoos, lotions and soaps I have ever enjoyed on my travels. (More on the line in a future post.)

The hotel is part of Connoisseurs Scotland, an association for unique luxury properties throughout the country. Like a daily newspaper delivered to your doorstep, The Scotsman focuses on every-day courtesies. There is a chute in the entry way to the suite, where room service can deliver food and drink. I place my shoes in the chute for a complimentary shine. The next morning I find what appear to be new shoes. But, no! They are the same, serviceable Mary Janes, splendidly cleaned and polished.

There’s also the North Bridge Brasserie, the hotel restaurant, which focuses on traditional Scottish fare and locally sourced produce, meats and fish. A few nibbles from a recent menu: roasted North Sea squid with smoked Shetland mussel fritters; Loch Lomond Arctic char with a warm salad of Ayrshire new potatoes and grilled leeks; and Chef Paul Hart’s twist on traditional Scottish haggis, topped with Glenfiddich single malt whisky jelly.

With his piercing blue eyes and bristle of white hair, Ivor, the affable and efficient doorman, looks a lot like my grandfather, Allan Sinclair II, whose father hailed from Scotland. Ivor, who donned his kilt when the hotel opened in 2001, is grandfatherly in his helpfulness, patiently giving directions to the spa through The Scotsman’s warren of corridors.

The cavernous space that once accommodated the presses is now home to a stainless steel swimming pool. The pool is surrounded by other aquatic amenities, including a steam room, hot and cold shower heads and a whirlpool spa.

Both the pool and fitness center are open to local members, which gives guests an opportunity to mingle with Edinburgh natives. Chatting with the locals in a bubbling whirlpool is a decidedly civilized way to gather shopping tips.

Prices start at around $250 for a studio room, including VAT, full Scottish breakfast and spa access. Expect a copy of The Scotsman at your door, bright and early.

 

The high life: 10 top mansions

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The rich are very different. For one thing, they tend to build huge houses.

Keeping up with the Joneses is no easy task. Consider Lonely Planet’s list of 10 Greatest Mansions and Grand Houses.

At the top of the heap is Marble Palace Mansion in Kolkata, India. Lavishly built in 1853 it is filled to the rafters with marble inlay in a blend of neoclassical and traditional Bengali architecture. It’s still privately held and the owners aren’t fussy about dusting. In fact, some of the furniture is covered in old sheets.  You can see it on tour, but you will need a permit from West Bengal Tourism.

No. 2 is the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Penang, Malaysia. Built in the 1880s, this indigo-blue Chinese courtyard house was home to Cheong Fatt Tze, a prominent Chinese figure in the newly established Penang Straits Settlement.

Master craftsmen brought in from China built 38 rooms, five granite-paved courtyards and seven staircases. In all, there are 220 windows. Architectural elements include splendid Chinese timber carvings, gothic louvre windows, russet brick walls, porcelain cut-and-paste decorative shard works, and art nouveau stained glass panels. To ensure harmony, the layout is based on feng-shui principles. As befitting a mansion, it’s furnished with a rare collection of sculptures, carvings, tapestries, and other antiques.

Part of the mansion has been converted into a hotel, so you can really live it up. And the currency rate is on your side. Rates range from 420-800 Malaysian Ringgit. That’s $132-$252 in U.S. dollars. Or get a taste of the high life on a guided tour.

Among the Downton Abbey set is an inexplicable choice, Falling Water, a sylvan get-away in Pennsylvania designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that came in at No. 6. Cool? You bet. A mansion? Not even close.

Here are the other grand digs on the exalted list:

  • Werribee Mansion in Australia, built at the height of the Victorian age when the gold rush made Melbourne the richest city in the world.
  • Villa d’Este, outside Rome, transformed from an abbey to a pleasure palace by Lucrezia Borgia’s son.
  • Castle Howard, England, the site of Brideshead Revisted. So grand it took three earls to build it over their lifetimes.
  • Chateau de Chambord, a 16th century French mansion in the Italianate style, so big it could house a small city.
  • Catherine Palace, glowing with gilt in the style of tsarist Russia.
  • Sleeper-McCann house, a 40-room summer cottage in Massachusetts  overlooking Gloucester Harbor.
  • Powerscourt, Ireland, a 13th century castle opulently restored in the 18th century.

Daiquiris with Papa at Cuba Libre

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All through July, you can celebrate Ernest Hemingway’s birthday—he was born on July 21—with authentic Cuban food and drinks at Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar at The Quarter at Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City.

Chef and partner Guillermo Pernot will pay tribute to Papa by offering his creative spin on the traditional menus from El Floridita, one of Hemingway’s favorite Havana hangouts.

The writer never met a drink he didn’t like but his daiquiris were his favorite. In honor of National Daiquiri Day on July 19, Pernot has developed drink specials, specialty cocktails and bar bites.

“It is impossible to think of Ernest Hemingway without acknowledging how important Cuba was to him, and this menu is our tribute to one of the finest American authors and some of his favorites from Havana,” says Pernot, a two-time James Beard Award winner who connects diners to Cuba through his dinner series featuring native Cuban chefs, as well as culinary trips to Havana.

Pernot has concocted seven refreshing cocktails, priced at $9 a pop, including the Dinger, a blend of Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, Cuba Libre 5 Year Rum, muddled limes and grenadine with a candied ginger rim. Select El Floridita cocktails will be $5 during Cuba Libre’s daily Caippy Hour throughout the month of July.

The El Floridita dinner menu, served July 15-22, is a three-course, prix-fixe menu priced at $39. Options include: Crema Floridita, lobster Velouté soup with seafood medley or Cóctel de Camarones del Golfo al estilo Hemingway, fresh Gulf shrimp, poached and chilled, with Nuevo Cubano cocktail salsa; Papa y Mary, a surf and turf’of petit filet mignon with culantro béarnaise and lobster rings with enchilado sauce or Pargo “Ambos Mundos,” Malanga-crusted, crab-stuffed red snapper with vanilla and roasted sweet onion sauce; and Alaska Tropical, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and panatela cake with rum and mint liquor-flambéed meringue or Papa Hemingway Sorbeto.

In addition to Atlantic City, Cuba Libre has hip, friendly locations in Philadelphia,Orlando,Fla., and Washington,D.C.

Hello world!

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Welcome to EatShopGo, the place to read about food and drink, shopping and travel.

Your guide is Eileen Smith Dallabrida, the founder of SmithReports, who reminds you that the world is your oyster–preferably served with champagne.

Expect updates on some of your favorite destinations, as well as places you haven’t discovered yet. Thanks for visiting. Come back often!