Diana Ellefson. Travel. Write. Repeat.

New York City is known for being a leader in movies, fashion, food and of course, music.

New York’s position as the musical center of the United States started in the mid-1800′s and continues to present day. It started with groups singing religious hymns, military bands and family groups (those family groups really stood the test of time didn’t they…) and morphed into Opera with the opening of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1882 and Carnegie Hall in 1891,

In the 60′s, Greenwich Village was arguably the biggest musical neighborhood in the United States and in the 70′s and 80′s things really took off with the clubs like CBGB that offered new artists their first stage. (Side note: my good friend Lisa saw one of the first shows the Police ever did in a small club in Greenwich Village with basically a pallet for their stage. I am so jealous).

Each decade has its list of stars that made NYC their own and of course tons of these musicians are NYC natives including Lou Reed, Neil Diamond, Joan Baez, Sammy Davis Jr. and Billy Joel.

NEIL!!

But perhaps no decade can claim a bigger dent on the global music scene than what New York generated in the ’90′s. I know what you are thinking: “the 90′s? Wait, wasn’t that the grunge decade? Didn’t that happen on the West Coast”?
True, grunge did have a huge impact on music, but it wasn’t the only musical genre born in the 90′s — New York City actually was a very big player in the 90′s music scene and introduced some long term rockers and perhaps more well known— birthed most of the pioneers of hip hop and rap. In fact, New York was the only city with a major hip hop scene for many years. Guys like LL Cool J brought hip-hop to the mainstream for the first time while rap reached near perfection here from artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy Run DMC and Jay Z.

How do I know all of this? Well, aside from the regular research any good writer does and the fact that I am a big ’90′s music fan (yes, there are some exceptions: N’Sync, Backstreet Boys), I recently had the pleasure of leisurely roaming around the newest exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art : Looking at Music 3.0. This exhibit runs through June 6 and displays, through collected art in various forms, the influence NYC artists had on the music we listen to today.

The exhibit focuses mainly hip-hop/raps’ roots, but ample attention is also paid to the NYC Rock scene with videos from Grace Jones and eclectic recordings from David Byrn and Brian Eno.
Other ’90′s topics are also featured with festivals and ad campaigns focusing on the fight against AIDS, the impact of graffiti and MTV’s continuing presence.

In the center of the exhibit, a massive projector rotated music videos from featured artists and the videos emitted a blue and white flash that induced a prominent “head-nod” reaction by this visitor.

Original lp’s, cassettes (ahhh Nostalgia), interactive displays and smaller tv’s complete with wrap-a-round headphones that let you listen to music or watch videos of these NYC artists that kept MTV in the picture (come back MTV, please… no more reality shows…) such as my favorite-the Beastie Boys and their video Sabotage directed by the brilliant Spike Jonze.

Diana rocking out to the Beastie’s

a picture of the Beastie Boys featured in the exhibit

Nirvana and Pearl Jam will always have a place in my heart; grunge is part of my formative years growing up in Seattle, but these NYC artists really brought it and like the grunge heros from the opposite coast, they are music trailblazers that deserve their claim on the 90′s.

Some of the artists featured in the exhibit but not mentioned in this article include:
KRS-One
Slick Rick
Grandmaster Flash
Fab 5 Freddy
the Wu-Tang Clan
Salt and Peppa
Public Enemy

… to warm summer nights and concerts in the park!

Today’s Travel Tuesday picture was inspired by the 60 degree temps we had in NYC yesterday (I am deciding to be the bigger person and overlook the fact that it was in the low 30′s today).

This picture was taken last June during a crowded and lively Beth Orton concert in the River to River series downtown at Rockefeller Park. When I see live music on a warm summer evening with sweeping views of the Hudson River, Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, I can’t help but feel REALLY alive.
Ahhhh New York City, I love you.

The popular weight loss book “Eat This, Not That” showcases two different meal choices detailing calories, carbs, fat, sugars etc for each choice.
Usually, one dish may be more well known or look more appetizing, but that dish usually ends up being more fattening and just as tasty as the less known, healthier dish.

While I was in Atlanta recently, I had only a short amount of time to roam the city but there were so many things I wanted to see. That got me thinking–when traveling on a time schedule (and/or on a budget), one can’t possibly see all hot spots in one location or even if there is the time, who wants to only see more appetizing the popular fattening crowded sights?

So, I decided to start a semi-regular series here on Travel. Write. Repeat. called “See This, Not That”. Unlike the diet book, both dishes spots I profile in each city are worth eating seeing, but if time or money is a factor, try following my suggestions to see this and not that.

*Please email me or leave your comments and ideas on other See This, Not That spot ideas so I can check them out and feature them here (and of course, give you credit).

For the first entry in this series I have decided to feature my hometown of Seattle, Washington.
Seattle, surrounded by water and mountains, is wonderful city to visit and while it does rain-quite a lot-it is not a rain that ruins plans (unless you are planning on going camping or doing anything outside on the 4th of July… but I digress…)

With so many things to see in the general vicinity, if time is not an issue, I would say to get outside of the city to check out Mt Rainier, take a ferry to the San Juan Islands or walk about any of the quaint neighborhoods within Seattle (i.e., Ballard). But, if time and money are short, you MUST see something Seattle is famous for, so…

See This: EMP
Not That: the Space Needle

The Experience Music Project (“EMP”) (which also features a Science Fiction Museum) is nearly next door to the Space Needle but it definitely holds its own in this much visited neighborhood. The building, that at first was an unwelcome eyesore to the Seattle skyline (from the outside, it looks sortof like a heart–the actual organ in a body), is now a colorful, recognizable symbol of Seattle and with an admission price of just $15, it is one that is not to be missed.

EMP on a cloudy Seattle day with the base of the Space Needle in the background

EMP, as their website states, is “dedicated to the exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music. By blending interpretative, interactive exhibitions with cutting-edge technology, EMP captures and reflects the essence of rock ‘n’ roll, its roots in jazz, soul, gospel, country and the blues, as well as rock’s influence on hip-hop, punk and other recent genres”.

Rare memorabilia (hand written lyrics, instruments and clothing once owned by music legends) and a giant floor to ceiling guitar cyclone that, bragging tidbit here, I, the author helped fabricate while working at a design studio in the ’90′s when EMP was being built.

Part of the guitar cyclone
photo courtesy here

At EMP visitors can view rare artifacts and memorabilia and experience the entire process from beginning to end on what it takes and is to be a musician.

Many exhibits are featured permanently but traveling exhibits come through as well.

Famous local boy Jimi Hendrix is a proud feature. Artifacts from his early days in Seattle to his more famous gigs in New York City and beyond as well as vintage films and interviews of Hendrix can be seen up close and give vision to his personal side. An immense guitar wall displays Hendrix’s Woodstock Fender and visitors can witness an interactive sound system demonstration showing how Hendrix used effects pedals to modify the guitar into a more complex instrument.

In April of this year Nirvana, perhaps the most famous band to come out of the grunge age, will be showcased.
Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses will run for 2 years and while many of the pieces are part of the permanent collection, the website hints at these other rare pieces that will also be on display:

-The reel-to-reel tape machine owned by Kurt Cobain’s aunt, on which a young Kurt Cobain recorded material for his early bands
-Cobain’s handwritten lyrics for many Nirvana songs
-Numerous instruments, including pieces of the first guitar Cobain destroyed onstage;
-Dave Grohl’s drum kit; and Krist Novoselic’s bass guitar used during the recording of “MTV Unplugged.”
-Cobain’s often worn yellow cardigan
-Candid snapshots capturing the band’s early years, from their beginnings in Aberdeen, Washington to the media frenzy that erupted after Nevermind and interactives that will allow guests to dive deeper into the history of the band as well as allow guests to make their own mark by including their own personal stories.

Much money (billionaire Paul Allen is the mastermind behind EMP) and time went into creating and re-creating EMP to make it one of the top music museums in the country; it is a must see while in Seattle.

The Space Needle

One of the most recognizable structures in the world, the Space Needle is Seattle’s most well known and visited spot. If you have the time (lines are long in the spring and summer), the money (admission fee to go to the top is $18) and it’s a sunny day, the Needle can be a great experience. On a clear day the views are fabulous: snow capped mountains, evergreens, crystal blue waters and the hip city and beyond are breathtaking. If it isn’t sunny— the view is still there, somewhat, but it isn’t nearly as grand. The rotating restaurant also has the view (ask for a table at the window, not an inside booth) but be prepared to spend a pretty penny to get average to less than average food: it is clear that the view is built into the price.

Regardless of which spot you choose— enjoy your time in Seattle. Try and stop at Pikes Place Market for a coffee at the first ever Starbucks (walking distance from both EMP and the Needle) and buy at fleece or two before climbing the largest indoor rock wall in the US at the flagship REI store.

REI flagship store

Ahhhhhhhh the beach, or as we say here, the shore. I can’t wait to be down the shore this summer and on days like today, where I once again see flurries floating from the sky, it seems like summer may never come.

This picture was taken on a hazy humid day in Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey

Whoo hoo — check it out!
See my guest post on GotSaga on some things to do in NYC that aren’t technically mainstream, including: the Brooklyn Museum, Prospect Park and the church turned rave club turned boutique shopping center known as the Limelight Marketplace… click here to see what else!

Brooklyn Museum

Prospect Park

Limelight

Read, enjoy and come visit the best city in the world!

Today is Groundhog Day and for some reason I always associate Groundhog Day with a Tuesday. I’m not sure why, maybe because its Feb 2 and Tuesday is the 2nd day of the work week… I don’t know. What I do know, is that since it is Groundhog Day and that crazy movie with the same name starting Bill Murray showed us that we can “relive” the prior day, I will act as though today is a re-do of yesterday so I can post a Travel Tuesday picture I should have posted yesterday. Wow. How is that for some justification?

Yesterday’s Today’s Travel Tuesday picture takes me back to Firenze, Italy (Florence). I enjoy images of clean laundry air drying on apartment verandas and those images become elegant perfection for me when seen from quiet cobblestone alleyways such as this one in Italy.

A few years ago I started a basic blog that highlighted the fun, interesting and sometimes craziness of my move from Seattle to New York. It started out as a vehicle for my family and friends to see what my husband and I were up to on our new adventure but it turned into a site that, still surprising to me, had regular readers from all over the world. The blog didn’t document my daily life activities, but more so what note worthy things we saw as we became residents of the left coast (i.e., road trips to nearby states, playing tourist at the Jersey Shore, getting lost in the streets of Brooklyn). To be honest though–the mundane did rise to the surface at times with posts on things like my dogs looking incredibly cute in their new argyle sweaters or my moaning and groaning while sick on the couch one horrible weekend a couple of years ago.

About a year ago, as I started to do more freelance travel writing for actual money (whoo-hoo), I found less time to keep up this personal blog and began devoting most of my time to my freelance gigs and my new travel website–my “real” website. I decided I needed to brand myself to broaden my freelance career and to me that meant writing pieces more “professional” in nature, more career-centric. So after some internal debate, I decided to close down my personal blog and focus on my “real” website displaying articles on travel and lifestyle — some with deep personal insight, humor or with unique views on the what/where/why — of specific places. All of the articles though would showcase my “real” writing.

Happily, over the last year my “real” website has brought me added visibility within the writing community and has led me to some amazing freelance opportunities. My “real” website has morphed into a very integral part of my writing career and I spend evenings lying in bed thinking of article ideas, upcoming trips or how to learn computer code so I can alter my website on a whim. My postings, while generally lengthy, are not done on a regular basis and the pieces I do decide to post occur as the result of multiple drafts and are of the caliper I would feel comfortable pitching to a magazine. I am proud of my “real” website postings and edits and rewrites are what this profession is about, but I realized that even with my freelance gigs multiplying (yay!), I spent more time thinking about writing than actually writing.

Next month I am heading to New Zealand for vacation and my Aunt Cindy, one of my biggest supporters and an avid reader of my now defunct personal blog, asked me where my writing will be posted during the trip so she can follow and read up on my NZ adventures every day. Every day.
I started an email to say that I probably wouldn’t post everyday–that I don’t do that anymore. “Instead,” I typed, “I will probably write a large introspective piece on NZ that will likely appear in some form on my website but would end up being one that I’ll submit to a travel magazine“. As I reread my email draft to her — I stopped myself. Why can’t I post about the trip everyday? Aren’t I a travel writer? So what if one day I write about something that doesn’t have a conclusion that ties in nicely with a clever opening quote? So what if some of my posts on my “real” website aren’t feature story material for the latest issue of an adventure travel magazine? While trying to become a more professional “real” writer, I seem to have forgotten the basic rule that all writers must adhere to: Write. Just write.

By writing daily, a writer develops her voice and gains perspective through reader feedback. For me, when I wrote more regularly, article ideas worthy of publication in mainstream media often came gushing out without much forced thought. By getting back into writing everyday–on what I am passionate about–travel, in all of its forms, I know I will be helping myself to become a better and more successful “real” writer.

So Aunt Cindy, you can check my “real” website everyday while I am in New Zealand–and other times, because I have decided to take a step back to go forward, and just write.

My latest article on www.seenyc.com is for those visiting NYC for the first time or for the 100th time. Everyone that comes to this city–including the locals — needs to eat and boy do I have some suggestions!
To guarantee a memorable dining experience, visit one of Mario Batali’s many restaurants scattered throughout the city.

long line at Babbo–Batali’s flagship Greenwich Village restaurant

For my full article, please click here and let me know which of his restaurants you like best!

Batali posing with perhaps his favorite ingredient

The title of this post is what I heard from more than a handful of people when I told them I’d be vacationing in Panama. They didn’t always say the “not” part out loud, but I knew they were thinking it because I was even thinking it myself. My engineer husband though was very excited to see this amazing feat of engineering wonder so I knew I’d be participating in the hard-hat tour whether I liked it or not.

The purpose of our trip to Panama was for scuba diving near the border of Costa Rica (the same handful of friends that dissed the Canal were surprised that Panama had anything other to see/do than visit the Canal. Yeah… I need new friends), but since our flight arrived and departed from Panama City we wanted to see all this historical city had to offer and of course the Canal, so we stayed in town for a couple days.

On our last day in Panama City we toured the Casco Viejo, the “old city” shopping for authentic Panamanian molas and before having a nice final dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city– Scena we visited the famous Canal.

apartments in the main square

the author in front of a huge door at a huge church in the center of town

Just a background for those of you who have forgotten what you learned about the Canal in your middle school history class:

The Panama Canal is a 48 mile ship canal that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and acts as a key conduit for international trade. Traffic has risen annually from about 1,000 ships in the early days to 14,702 vessels in 2008.

One of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken, the Canal had a huge impact on shipping between the two Oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. Instead of traveling the 14,000 miles around Cape Horn, a ship now traveling from New York to San Francisco via the canal only has to go 6,000 miles.

The concept of a Canal near Panama dates to the early sixteenth century. The first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership, but was abandoned after 21,900 workers died, mainly from disease and landslides. The United States launched a second effort, (with 5,600 more deaths) but were successful in opening the canal in 1914. The US kept control of the Canal until 1977 when US President Jimmy Carter gave the Panamanians free control of the Canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the Canal that led to full Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.

As with toll bridges, ships passing through the Canal must pay a fee. This fee is usually based on the size of the ship and the most expensive toll I could find recorded was a Disney Cruise ship that paid $331K to pass through in 2008. According to the tour guide at the Canal, this fee is around the norm these days for all large ships.

In case you were wondering… it seems that they charge ANY kind of vessel that goes through this passage. The least expensive toll recorded was .36 cents charged to an adventurer that swam the Canal in 1928 (where did he keep the money)?

My husband enjoyed the tour as his engineering background sort of pre-disposes him to that enjoyment. For me–it is interesting yes, I was surprised at my interest. BUT–I have been to the Ballard Locks SO MANY TIMES (in Seattle that this to me was just the Ballard Locks, on a larger scale; and with no clam chowder restaurants within walking distance

I kid, I kid. The Canal is an amazing world wonder and its construction brought a great deal of international presence (and a bit of money) for Panama and after being in that country and meeting the wonderful people — I am very grateful for that.

Here are some pics of the Canal that we snapped:

The beginning of the Canal from our hotel in Panama City.

for more info on the Panama Canal visit this website.

Maps are an essential part of a travelers life — even for nomads such as me. When I am traveling I do enjoy wandering cities aimlessly and even getting lost on purpose, but I do like to know where I am and what cool [fill in the blank here] (i.e. statue, market, bathroom,church) I may be near.

To many people, a map is a map. But let me tell you — there are differences. Maps can be a work of art. In fact, my need of maps goes beyond pure function. I’d have to be in dire straights to purchase a map that does not have an artistic flair to it; one that wouldn’t make the cut to be hung on my “map wall”.

The Michelin maps, AAA and other “public service” type maps exist and while they serve a purpose–they don’t bring the added flair that make the city I am lost in come alive through paper.
Maps can also be journals (the Moleskin brand is a favorite of mine) or trip diaries. They can be cut up once the trip is over to add to diaries, scrapbooks, or letters. They can be reused again and again in cities that you have yet to explore fully (still do that in NYC). They can be given away to a lost tourist in your own city (done that) or as a gift to friends you may be traveling with. The fun, 3-D, colorful or cartoon like maps may not be as exact in scale or detail as their boring counterparts, but hey–thats why you have google maps on your phone, right?

My admitted love of maps keeps me looking over my shoulder expecting to see others shouting “nerd alert! nerd alert!”, but I don’t officially buy into that label–at least not until I start coveting the Michelin maps.

Here are some of the more artistic maps that I love (and use).

Moleskin City Notebooks
As a writer and a traveler, Moleskin makes a product that I feel is near superb. The blank pages, the convenient size and the city specific maps allow this journal to become a travel portfolio for each different city. What a wonderful way to remember your trips.

photos of the Paris City Notebook

Pop-Up Maps
These maps are more fun than function but do give the user a general idea of the architectural layout of a city.
Two pages open to display 3-D features of the buildings with a pictorial backdrop of the city (i.e., Washington, DC as seen in the pictures below). The second page has drawings of the buildings with information on each building. This company also sells more standard fold out maps that are slightly more functional, but still have the appealing and artistic drawings.

ORK Posters!
Ork Posters! started in Chicago as an artist made etsy.com business by Jenny Beorkrem and has grown into one of the coolest visual maps you can buy documenting the neighborhoods of various cities [Chicago is below]. Of course, you aren’t going to bust out this map while lost on a street corner, but after you have visited the city, you can proudly hang this piece of art and begin (or add to) your collection.

VanDam Maps
This is MY brand! I love these pocket size foldable maps and I have many. They are functional, cool and fit into the pocket of my jeans or in my pocketbook with ease. They unfold to show different areas of the city and neatly fold right back up into themselves. Genius!

Click —> vandam map video to see an AWESOME video of how the map works and yes, I already know it is borderline nerdy to have a video of a map, but it is mesmerizing.

MapEasy
MapEasy makes a great map that is durable and flexible whether you meticulously fold it back to its original shape or crumple it quickly in your pocket as you run to the train. The guide map version they sell is the one I like best and when I have some downtime (um, because I missed said train) I enjoy the hand drawn detail and the ratings and pricing they give right on the map location for restaurants, museums and the like. It is detailed with the perfect amount of information and the print is just the right size to keep your eyes from crossing. It also looks really good on say, a map wall.

map images of barcelona