Tag: Tom Lane

Arizona; The road to . . .

Post author By Tom
Post date May 7, 2021
No Comments on Arizona; The road to . . .

Departed Grand Rapids; Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 6:40am

The Road to Arizona

100 miles South of Chicago I stopped for gas … and beef jerky. Exiting I-55, WALLY’S edifice loomed like the Disneyworld of gas stops.

A plump-ish guy behind WALLY’s checkout counter, 30-ish, wearing his WALLY’S mask said, “Hi,” as I entered.

“Never been to a WALLY’S,” I said.
“This is our very first WALLY’S, just opened last week

Wally’s is Crate & Barrel shopping-curious to me; I couldn’t stop looking at stuff for sale. At the Beef Jerky bar, WALLY chefs sorted fresh cooked jerky emerging from the WALLY oven. WALLY coffee is named after Indonesian islands. I presented my WALLY goods on the check-out counter.

“Jerky Teriyaki,” the plump WALLY-guy said, “Can’t keep that in stock.”

Back on the road, a train pulling maybe 1,000 cars, double-stacked was railing North alongside I-55 as I drove South.

There is a lot of flat, tilled Ag land in middle America.

I turned West at Litchfield, Illinois – leaving Interstate 55.

Two-lane country roads lead me 45 miles to Drifter’s Bar, on the river bank where the Illinois River merges with the Mississippi. It was my day; Sierra Nevada was on tap. Out Drifter’s back door, on a raised deck, three old guys, 60-ish, dressed in denim, sipped beer. They ignored the rivers flowing by, while analyzing risk/loss of accepting their employers $10,000 pension cash out offer versus an annuity payment of $1,000 a year for life.

One of the analysts asked, “If we die, do our wives get the annuity?”
None of fellows had an answer.

My afternoon objective was the Grafton-to-Alton 15-mile Scenic Drive. The sandstone banks of the Mississippi rise 300 feet along this drive. Along the route, I followed a sign up a narrow drive to Tara Point. Fabulous north/south overlook of the Mississippi River.

Overnight in St. Charles, Missouri – embarkation point for Lewis & Clark. Found Schafly Bankside brewpub!

Lake of the Ozarks tomorrow.

Slept: Radisson Country Inn, St. Charles (Historic District), Missouri
Dinner: Schafly Bankside brewpub (take-out)

Day 2 – Thursday, April 8, 2021

Original Route 66 continues to be celebrated on the road to Joplin, Missouri

Gas used to be cheaper. Gary’s Gay Parita Sinclair Gas Station replica, Everton, Missouri

Slept:          Passed on Boots Motel, Carthage, Missouri
                     Alternative #1, Holiday Inn Express, Joplin, Missouri
Dinner:        Outback Steak

Day 3 – Friday, April 9, 2021

Departed Joplin, Missouri at 8 am. Roadside government sign alongside I-44 just West of the Oklahoma state line read ENTERING THE CHEROKEE NATION. The Cherokee still operate Trading Posts along the interstate.

Cherokee Trading Post, Oklahoma

An I-44 billboard outside Oologah, Oklahoma claims Will Rogers as their native son.

West of Tulsa the speed limit on I-44 changed to 80 MPH.

In Garth Brooks hometown, Oklahoma City, OK, every standing structure claimed Garth. A section of Interstate 44 is Garth Brooks Parkway.

Garth signage far surpasses Will Rogers signage.

Winds sustained at 60 MPH, per the 6 pm TV news in Amarillo, Texas, blew across western Oklahoma early afternoon. This Northerly blast lifted Oklahoma topsoil, carrying the dust towards Mexico; apparently leaving the Sooners little hope of a successful planting season. This has happened previously.

Old Route 66, USA highway to the west coast, runs just 100 feet alongside today’s I-40. I exit I-40, drive Old Route 66 for several miles through the rolling hills of central Oklahoma.

Expect by tomorrow I’ll see hard-luck Okies walking towards Bakersfield, California pulling their goods in wagons.

Slept: My Place motel, Amarillo, Texas (elevation 3,605’)
Dinner: Saltgrass Steakhouse

DAY 4 – Saturday, April 10, 2021

Palo Duro Canyon, 2nd largest canyon in USA (Grand Canyon #1) lies 30 miles South of Amarillo, Texas, down I-27. Texas State Parks charge me $8 to enter and drive the 16-mile loop through the floor of the Palo Duro Canyon. Cowboy movie scenery.

Texas extends 50 miles West of Amarillo; leading into New Mexico. On the drive I’m looking north and south until Texas curves over the horizon – seeing endless flat, scrub land. A cattle watering station fed by a windmill pump, a bunk house at least 5 miles off Interstate 40.

Destination Tucumcari, New Mexico, population 5,000, a Route 66 tribute. Motel Safari, 1950’s throwback, has spotless rooms. Larry, the owner, has my in-room, 1950-style radio playing the Route 66 streaming channel.

Billboards featuring Burma Shave and Camel cigarettes line Motel Safari’s terrace. At Tucumcari Grocery, I restock the cooler in my trunk with Dos Sequis and ice. My afternoon is set.

Slept: Motel Safari, Tucumcari, New Mexico (elevation 4,091’)
Dinner: Del’s Restaurant (take-out)

Day 5 – Sunday, April 11, 2021

Slept: Holiday Inn Express Airport, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dinner: El Patio de Albuquerque, Margarita wine, Green Chile stew takeout

DAY 6 – Monday, April 12, 2021

20 miles West of Albuquerque the sun is rising behind me. 30 minutes later on the north side of I-40 the sign fronting Dancing Eagle Casino, visible to all drivers, reads,

^{ONLY NEW MEXICANS ALLOWED}

Should make social distancing an easy achievement.

Exiting I-40 at Holbrook, Arizona, just past The Wigwam Motel, State Road 377, a/k/a the Hash Knife Pony Express Trail, offers a two-lane shortcut to Mesa, AZ. No shoulder, no speed limit, no adjacent train tracks, can’t even see a mountain – just the Arizona high desert.

50 miles South along Hash Knife Pony Express Trail, the road begins to rise; up to 7,500 feet into Tonto National Forest – Kemosabe. The temp drops, desert scrub is replaced by Ponderosa Pine, 80 feet tall.

An official Arizona road sign portrays horses potentially galloping across Hash Knife Trail. Ten miles further, still in the low mountains of Tonto National Forest, 8 wild horses graze just off the highway.

My ears start popping as Mesa and the Phoenix valley come into sight.

I’m thirsty.

Slept:            Embassy Suites, Scottsdale, 4415 E. Paradise Village Pkwy,
Dinner:         Whole Foods Deli (take-out), preceded by an OHSO beer
Cigar:            Byron, $36 from Ambassador Fine Cigars

Day 7 – Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Heading towards the Mexican border via Tucson, Tombstone. Hope to see THE WALL. Maybe spot a Mexican Jumping Bean coming over the top.

Slept: Letson Loft Hotel, Bisbee, Arizona (elevation 5,538’)
Dinner: Contessa’s Cantina (Posole, Margarita)

Day 8 – Wednesday, April 14, 2021

A two-lane road leads past the shuttered Phelps Dodge Copper pit; a strip-mined relic last operated in 1975. The drive south from Bisbee, Arizona to Naco, a city shared by the USA and Mexico, is 8 miles.

The road into Naco gently down-slopes. From 2 miles north of the Mexican border, THE WALL looms on the horizon. Black steel rising 40 feet – visible east and west as far as sight allows.

Naco, Arizona is less than a village; streets barely paved with thin, worn asphalt. Rotting car carcasses decorate the yards of the 80 or so local hovels. Mexican-looking kids walk the streets between home-and-school. A five-minute sample of Naco, Arizona is enough.

Re-track back through Bisbee; a Cowboy town, a Western movie town. Low mountains contain Bisbee. First world refugees that couldn’t locate Alaska, populate Bisbee. Tequila rules, it is the featured happy hour beverage. Bisbee lies 20 miles south of Tombstone, Arizona.

Tucson is 80 miles to the north. No livestock to be seen along the Bisbee-Tucson route – just parched Arizona high desert stretching to the horizon.

Slept: Hotel (motel) McCoy, Tucson, Arizona
Dinner: Guadalajara Grill “Tucson’s Best Guacamole”

Day 9 – Thursday, April 15, 2021

Hotel McCoy is not a hotel, it’s a MOTEL – Tucson in the 1950’s.

The Hotel/Motel McCoy receptionist slides my room key across her counter, then pushes a chilled, blond lager towards me.

“Free when you check in,” she says. My kind of place.
“Want to try Arizona white wine,” she asks?

HOTEL McCOY advertises, NO ELEVATORS, FREE ROOM-FRONT PARKING, EXTERIOR CORRIDORS.

***Entrance to Hotel McCoy, downtown Tucson***

Seen from Interstate-10, downtown Tucson, Arizona.

Slept:            Hotel McCoy, Tucson, Arizona
Dinner:         Sullivan’s Steakhouse
Cigar:           Anthony’s Cigar Emporium (BYOB), 4419 N Campbell Ave, Tucson

Days 10 – 11, Friday, Saturday, April 16 -17

Slept:           Hilton Airport, Phoenix, AZ
                     Hampton Inn & Suites, N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ

Dinner:       PV Pie & Wine, East Shea Blvd, Scottsdale (An OHSO venue)
                     Capital Grill (take-out)

Beverages: OHSO N. Tatum Blvd, OHSO N. Hayden Rd.

Day 12 – Sunday, April 18, 2021

The HASSAYAMPA INN, downtown Prescott, AZ, constructed in 1927, is the place to overnight. Named for the nearby HASSAYAMPA RIVER. Legend is that anyone who drinks from the Hassayampa River never again tells the truth.

Those who drink its waters bright
Red man, white man, boor or knight,
Girls or women, boys or men
Never tell the truth again.

Notable guests at Prescott’s HASSAYAMPA Inn include Will Rogers, Clark Gable, Steve McQueen and Tom Lane.

Whiskey Row, a block of saloons, serves as Prescott’s center point. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday drank with Wyatt’s brother Virgil (Prescott constable) preferring The Palace Saloon.

Along Interstate-17 in the Arizona high desert heading North towards Flagstaff, Arizona several “flat-top” mountains rise up. Tapping the steering wheel to Van Halen’s JUMP, I analyze the young Indian “buffalo runner” leading the bison herd toward and over the high edge.

Was the BUFFALO JUMP launched from a BUTTE, or was it a MESA?

This is a BUTTE

A BUTTE is taller than wide

A MESA IS wider than tall.

This is a MESA

Slept:            Hassayampa Inn, Prescott, Arizona (elevation 5,367’)
Dinner:         Hassayampa Inn bar
Cigar:           Hassayampa Inn terrace feat. propane heat lamps (40 degrees)

DAY 13 – Monday, April 19, 2021

Red Rock Scenic Highway, Arizona 197, leads South from Sedona. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper. The 35 MPH max speed limits damage. Vaccinated America is on the road.

I drain my noon Tucson Blond lager at the ShoreBird Bar in Sedona. I spin off my barstool. Five Navajo Indians sit at a nearby table; all morose, winkled, scrawny. Four squaws, one brave, heads bowed, mourning some shared agony. Three squaws pat the shoulder of the 4th.

In my mind, I approach their table with a tear in my eye, 72 years old, wise.

“Wounded Knee,” I say. But I don’t, I just walk by their table.

Arizona Highway 89A leaving Sedona (4,350 ft elevation) rises up going North through Jerome, Arizona and into Flagstaff (6,909 ft elevation). No shoulder lines the two-lane asphalt 89A. At 8,000 feet, just a potential plunge thousands of feet down beautiful red rock cliffs.

In Flagstaff, Majerle’s Bar anchors downtown Route 66. A real tall guy sits down at a nearby bar stool.

“You an owner?” I ask.
“Family,” he replies, “Jeff Majerle.”
“Did you play basketball for Coach Jon Constant at TC Central”
“Yup,” he says.

Dan Majerle has 3 Arizona bars, down from six when he was playing pro basketball for the Phoenix Suns (by way of Traverse City Central, Central Michigan University).

Slept: Radisson Country Inn, Flagstaff, Arizona (elevation 6,909’)
Dinner: Outback Steakhouse

DAY 14 – Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Vaccinated America is lined-up 40 cars deep at the entrance to Grand Canyon. Processing into the National Park requires 45 minutes: Cover charge; $35/car.

Peering down and across The Canyon from the South Ridge, elevation 7,000 feet; Stunning.

Walking the South Rim path, I’m within feet of cliffs dropping 5,000 feet – lots of the path has no restrictive fencing.

On the National Park South Rim path, I’m dizzy, clutching a branch on a scrub tree and gauging my pulse. A guy my age steps off the paved path, to the South Rim edge; peers over. I grow even dizzier.

On ledges jutting out from the South Rim, extending far off the National Park path, crazy people have found foot-holds – billy-goating out on rock ledges, next step down, the Colorado River (notice guy in red shirt, top of photo).

Highway Arizona 64, heads East from Grand Canyon’s Visitor Center, a 25-mile drive, the entire drive within the National Park, along the Canyon’s South Rim. In several spots along A-64, the driver’s view of The Canyon is unobstructed; Dizzy.

Desert View Watchtower, the Eastern gate provides a last “stunning” lookout over The Canyon.

     A nearby National Park Guide says, “Some visitors hike all the way to the canyon’s bottom, 6 hours down.” She continues, “Then they try to hike back to the top, 8 to 12 hours.”
     A voice in her tour calls out, “That hiker is running out of daylight.”
     “We rescue about 6,000 people each year who can’t make it back up before dark.”

Departing Grand Canyon’s East Gate, the 35-mile drive into Cameron, Arizona on Highway 64 is “stunning.” Grand Canyon tributary canyons carve through Eastern Arizona high desert. I pull into a clapboard Navajo Co-op. Sign says, BUFFALO BEEF JERKY. Navajo’s do not make good beef jerky.

Winslow, Arizona is 2-hour, 30-minute drive SE.

The Grand Canyon alone, was worth this Road Trip.

Slept: Best Western Plus, Winslow, Arizona (elevation 4,850’)
Dinner: La Posada

DAY 15 – Wednesday, April 21

Inside La Posada, the Turquoise Room, a first-class restaurant – with an acceptable bar offers excellent Margarita’s. La Posada’s backyard is the primary rail yard for all East/West rail traffic crossing the Northern Arizona desert.

Winslow, Arizona, was once a hallowed stop on Route 66. Completion of Interstate 40 many years ago relegated Winslow to “almost forgotten.” Abandoned motels, gas stations, storefronts line old Route 66. With one exception; La Posada Hotel.

La Posada also serves as the Winslow, Arizona Amtrak Station. Every other day Amtrak’s Chicago to LA train stops at the rear gate at La Posada at 5:40 am. On alternative days Amtrak’s’ LA to Chicago train chugs to a stop at 8:50 pm.

Having consumed a La Posada Margarita, the two Best Things to Do in Winslow are:

Take a photo of a tumbleweed rolling down Old Route 66.
Take the exit to Interstate-40 heading either East or West.

Slept: Inn of the Governors, Santa Fe, New Mexico (elevation 7,199’)
Dinner: La Choza; #1 New Mex. restaurant, Santa Fe Reporter (take-out)

Day 16 – Thursday, April 22

Slept: The Brady house, Colorado Springs, CO (elevation 6,035’)

Days 17/18, Friday/Saturday, April 23/24 – 1,240 miles to Grand Rapids

Slept: Townplace Suites by Marriott, Des Moines, Iowa
Dinner: Flemings Steakhouse

Florida St. Pete downtown; Hollander Hotel

Hollander Hotel – downtown St. Pete

Post author By Tom
Post date February 11, 2019
No Comments on Hollander Hotel – downtown St. Pete

A hotel that causes me to smile

Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida – not the beach

421 4^th Ave North Street

Why this place appeals to me

“The Hollander is old Florida,” says a guest sitting on the hotel’s front porch. Old Florida? Maybe: The Hollander is stacked with once-upon-a-time stuff. STUFF packs the lobby, hallways and rooms of the Hollander.

An 80-year-old wooden phone booth stands a few feet from the hotel’s Check-In desk in the lobby.

“Phone doesn’t work, but it generates conversation,” says Will the front desk clerk at The Hollander.”

The Hollander Hotel; hip? Boutique? Hard to classify, The Hollander simply causes me to SMILE as I roam the building and its contents from time past.

Built in 1933, just as Prohibition ended. The basis for the original name is mystery. The Hollander went through several reinventions; it was a Travelodge, then the Bond Hotel. And then sat empty from 1990 until it came back to life in 2013 as downtown St. Pete’s boutique-ish, lodging venue; offering a spa, a coffee shop/bakery and a tap room.

A poster on the wall of The Hollander’s outdoor front deck proclaims,

1933 prohibition finally ends

FREE NEWSPAPER ANY DAY THE SUN DOESN’T SHINE

I SMILE!

The wall of the stairwell connecting the lobby to the upper 3 floors is hung with images of earlier St. Pete. Couples in the 1950’s, wearing 1950’s-style bathing suits, sitting in the sand under 1950’s beach umbrellas cause me to SMILE.

How Far Down the Block?

st pete, pier, florida, tom lane, cigar, hollander, kerouac, vintage, boutique hotel — The Pier, downtown St. Pete in 1950’s

Expressway I-375 routes you onto 4^th Avenue leading into downtown St. Pete. The Hollander is on the corner of 4th Street North and 4th Avenue North; just a few hundred meters from I-375 merge point with 4^th Ave.

The Hollander front porch is a magnet for lodging guests. Travelers share weather updates from home-base, almost always somewhere north. I light a Macanudo cigar . . . and SMILE.

The Hollander is a timepiece of Florida history. The wide veranda porch features padded, rattan chairs. Half of the porch hosts outdoor diners being catered by the staff from The Hollander Tap Room; the other half of the porch is seated by visitors that are chatting . . . and SMILING.

Hollander Hotel, front porch

Entering the front door of the lobby, the vintage-style front desk is evident. After checking in, I skip the elevator, choosing to walk up the stairs to my 3^rd floor room. Hallway flooring is 2.5” maple strips installed during construction in 1933. The slats refinished lacquer-bright, featuring scars acquired over the past 80 years. The wooden seams creak with every step. I SMILE.

The Coffee Shop just past the Tap Room offers not only traditional French pastries, but Italian cannoli. Cannoli make me SMILE.

On a Saturday morning, I step into the first floor Tap Room; the Hollander restaurant. Brunch is featured on weekend mornings. At the edge of the bar, a sign suggests a do-it-yourself Bloody Mary, almost a brunch itself – I SMILE.

When the Hollander re-opened in 2013, the former glory and the name were both restored. It breaks the mold of the everyday branded chain hotel. How to describe? Unshackled lodging?

Why you might be nearby?

St. Pete Beach is a 20-minute drive from the Hollander. Four of Florida’s Top Ten Beach Bars, chosen by an annual vote conducted by FLORIDA Beach Bars web site, lie within walking distance of one-another at St. Pete Beach. A Florida pub crawl, eminently do-able.

Lesser Known Facts

The Hollander Hotel drips character, with non-uppity charm. Rooms feel Florida-warm. I drift back. Maybe to another era, or maybe just a decade. The façade of hotel today, remains exactly the same as when constructed in 1933. The Bonnie & Clyde era look causes me to SMILE

“The City of St. Peter” Florida was named in honor of St. Petersburg, Russia. The name chosen by Russian-born railroad builder Piotr Dementyev (Peter Demens).

Jack Kerouac authored On The Road, his roaming-about-tale of travel on America’s newly paved highways of the 1950’s. Kerouac owned a home in downtown St. Pete in the late 1960’s.

Television had highjacked Kerouac’s theme, creating Route 66 (1960–1964). Weekly episodes followed two untethered young men “on the road” in a Corvette seeking adventure; jumping from temporary job to temporary job.

Town-by-town from Chicago to California the two protagonists, Buzz and Todd, roamed. They bore a resemblance to Kerouac. Kerouac, didn’t like TV’s Route 66. He felt the show’s creators had ripped off his On The Road. Kerouac wanted to sue, but on October 20, 1969, in St. Petersburg, Florida he lost his chance. At 11 am that morning in St. Pete, Kerouac was sitting in his favorite chair drinking whiskey, chasing it with malt liquor, and working on another book.

He began to vomit blood. Blood transfusions later that day, failed. Kerouac’s liver was failing, due to an untreated abdominal hemorrhage suffered in a bar fight several weeks earlier and aggravated by booze. He died at 5:15 the following morning. Kerouac drank – a lot.

Local Recommendation

Stroll downtown Beach Drive SE; the city side of Beach Drive is lined by the shops and watering holes. Manicured city parks line the bay side of Beach Street. Late model luxury and vintage classic cars maintain an all-day parade.

Parkshore Grill, Beach Street, offers refuge under their sidewalk, tabletop, umbrellas.

Something for Nothing

The Hollander provides free shuttle from hotel to downtown St. Pete; serving a 10-block area.

Parking at the Hollander is free.

Every Saturday morning from October to May, St. Pete hosts a downtown farmer’s market in the parking lot at Al Lang Stadium, a half-mile walk from The Hollander. Local vendors sell, fruits, foods, goods while live music plays.

6 pm Sunday evening, sitting on the Hollander’s outdoor front porch, piped-in music plays. Will, the Hollander desk clerk of long standing, says,

“In the morning, we play Petula Clark on Pandora throughout our public areas. Afternoon is Debbie Harry. Evening music here at The Hollander is Jack Johnson. Do you like his music?”

I SMILE

Tags cigar, Florida, hollander, porch, st pete, st. pete beach, st. petersburg, tap room, Tom Lane

The Streets of Old Havana

Post author By Tom
Post date January 28, 2019
No Comments on The Streets of Old Havana

Two Options

Walking the streets: two-hours, 3-miles, or
Driving the Streets; in a shiny pre-1960 vintage American car?

Both!

Why the streets of Havana appeal to me

Havana’s well-manicured public parks, line the streets. History is on display along Caribbean waterfronts. Spanish architecture dominates Havana, Cuba’s capital is not another “Caribbean town.” Cuban music jumps out every block along the route.

Where Down the Block do we Start?

First let’s walk.

Head north from the ferry terminal 200 meters. Pause on the harbor side of the walk at the base of O’Reilly Street, where it joins Ave Del Puerto Desamparados. Walk away from the port, towards the city to Plaza de Armas. Cross O’Reilly street into the grounds of Castillo de la Real Furza.

Exit the Castillo grounds on the harbor side. The Malecon walkway follows Havana’s channel. Continue along the waterfront channel leading into/out of the port of Havana. At the sea entrance to Havana’s channel, a lighthouse guards the east side of the entrance.

Shake your head, NO. Wave off the drivers of the 1905 vintage cars as they patrol the boulevard, calling, “Tour of Havana?” Driving the streets comes later.

Across Ave. Del Puerto Desamparados, on the city-side, is Park Luz Caballero, .35 miles. Next on Park Cespedes, .5 miles. Ahead lies San Salvador Castle Point, you’ve walked .9 of a mile.

Approaching San Salvador, vintage car riders will be crossing the Entrance Channel via an underground tunnel. On the NE side of the channel two forts and a lighthouse guard the port of Havana.

Reaching San Salvador Castle Point on foot, turn hard left. Paseo Marti is a marble pedestrian urban park that leads to Park Central, 1.6 miles, and the magnificent Capitolio, 1.8 miles. Along the Paseo de Marti; the Royal Prison, Cuba’s Revolution Museum, Museum of Art.

Past Parque Central (heading south), continue to Partagas’ (cigar) factory/retail shop, just behind (west of) the Capitolio on Industria Street (Calle Industria), 2.0 miles. Partagas retail sells all the major cigar brands produced in Cuba. Cigar Price is regulated in Cuba. There is no advantage is seeking out a discount cigar vendor – they offer knock-off cigar brands.

Walk back to Parque Central (2.2. miles), grab a bench seat in the shade on this fabulous plaza. Analyze your options; walk, ride. Confused? Take a break, enter the Hotel Parque Central. Ride the elevator to floor 8, the pool deck (no food service) for the view. Slake your thirst by repairing to Hotel Parque Central’s lobby bar.

Outside Parque Central, a row of vintage cars stand ready to serve. Continue walking, or ride – still not certain?

Head into the lobby of neighboring Gran Hotel Manzano Kempinski. Kempinski’s restaurant/bar on floor 6 overlooks all of Havana – while offering great nibbling/drinking options. Settle in. Food is pricy, drinks are not, $4 for Cuban beer. Kempinski’s 6th floor with its 270-degree view, is not Communist Old Havana, but you can see it from here. Like everywhere in Havana, the 6^th floor bar is cigar friendly.

Why you might not leave

My bartender Omar, from behind his altar on Kempinski’s 6th level bar, said, “This might be the best location for an after-dark beverage and cigar in all of Cuba.” It was 7:30 pm, I was back; smoking a Montecristo #2, sipping a Bucanegra beer.

Omar was insightful.

Lesser Known Facts

Havana Club Rum is sold in the USA by Bacardi. In the rest of the world (Cuba), Havana Club is sold by Pernod and the Cuban government in a 50-50 venture. Bacardi’s recipe differs from Pernod’s.

***The legal fight for rights to Havana Club brand continue***

A Ron Collins (rum) cocktail may be a throw-back to your ancestors 1950’s parties, but it is still mixed and served in Havana.

Partagas’ cigar shop, two blocks from Parque Centrale offers all makes of Cuban cigars; Montecristo, Cohiba, Romeo & Julietta.

There are no beaches for swimming in Old Havana.

Local Recommendation

You’re winding down on two hours embedded at the Gran Hotel Manana Kempinski 6^th floor.

How to return to our Start Point walking the streets of Havana?

Slow, slightly downhill, one step at a time. Leaving the Hotel Kempinski, head east towards the port on Obispo Street.

Skip Bar Floridita, a reputed favorite stop for Ernest Hemingway. Floridita is packed with tourists. The visiting interlopers slurp green, county-fair style, snow-cones the bar staff foists as daiquiris. Fifty-plus icy, little green melters are lined atop Floridita’s bar in communist mock-tribute to America’s capitalistic production line efficiencies.

Worthwhile pauses while walking down Obispos street:

Restaurant Europa, Obispo Street, Cuban jazz pulls you to their gate.

La Ruinas del Parque, the music plays all afternoon.

Restaurante 5 Sentidos, San Juan de Dios 67, a Cuban paladar. Found on the corner of Habana and Compostela, two block detour, north, halfway down Obispo. Sample the octopus appetizer.

Hotel Ambos Mundos; the caged elevator serving the lobby, delivers you to Ambos Mundos’ rooftop deck.

Something for Nothing

My ranking

1. The parks of Havana, well-manicured.

1. The façade of Havana’s federal building; The CAPITOLIO. Perhaps the Caribbean’s most magnificent building.

1. Parque Centrale, this plaza features a statue of Jose Marti. Marti, organized and unified Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain. The Marti name is a synonym for liberty throughout Latin America.

What about a Vintage Car Tour?

Jubal drove, I rode shotgun. Inside Jubal’s fluorescent pink convertible, it was 1955. Outside it was 9:30 am on a January, Monday morning in Old Havana. The bench seats of Jubal’s Chevrolet Bel Air were covered with sturdy clear plastic, providing a wax-paper slide from steering column to passenger door as Jubal turned a corner.

I avoid bumping the manual gear shift jutting from the right-hand side of the steering column. Jubal executes a classic 1950 style gear-shift from Reverse, through First, Second and Third;

Depress clutch, pull shift toward driver, yank down, lock, release clutch. Accelerate, clutch-in, lift shift, push forward, up and lock into 2^nd gear. 3^rdgear is a straight down-slam, clutch out. Who could forget learning to drive a stick shift?

Jubal drove his 55’ Chevy convertible north along Avenue del Porto, leading seaward from Old Havana’s commercial harbor.

Jubal spoke little English, I speak no Spanish. We were talking cars and politics.

“Original engine,” Jubal shouted in English.

“Incredible,” I replied in Italian, confusing Jubal and myself.

Jubal wore a white, Boston Blacky style, hat. Both of our heads from eyebrows up were above the blow line pushing over the wind shield.

Jubal turned left, heading down, into the Tunnel del la Habana, crossing the Canal de Entrada. Exiting on the east side of the port of Habana. The slight centrifugal pull of the Chevy Bel Air’s left turn, slid me against the interior passenger door.

NO DOOR HANDLE! Perfect, Jubal’s 55’ classic was tricked out for Friday night, Drive-In Movie, dating; no seat belts, lazy-Susan bench seats, no interior escape handle on the passenger side door.

“Where you wan go?” Jubal asked.

“Anywhere,” I said to keep communication simple. It was 80 degrees, no clouds. Havana streets ran thick with vintage Americana transportation. Somewhere Cuban Bucanegra beer stood chilling. So long as our 1955 Chevy Bel Air convertible didn’t lift off the ground and fly towards Florida seeking vehicular asylum, I was smiling and waving.

Jubal honked at the Havana residence of Che Guevara. He pulled his ride to a stop at a nearby park.

Jubal pointed, “Missile monument.” In the poster, Fidel pointed back.

“Fidel say you coming to take our missiles, prepare for fight,” Jubal said.

I nod, remembering 1963.

Jubal said, “Biggest news in Cuba summer 1963. Same in US?”

“No,” I said, “2^nd biggest. Ed Sullivan announced the Beatles would be on his Sunday night TV show.”

Jubal looked sad, “Castro ban Beatle music here in Cuba, he say capitalist trick.”

Beatles music banned in Cuba? Seemed to me John Lennon and his Beatles were a bit commie at times?

We drove west along the Malecon towards Vedado. Havana when constructed, was a European city. The skeleton of the Spanish opulence can be traced, a black and white outline of a once-grand city. Havana is not a Caribbean city.

Tags cigars, cuba, cuban jazz, daquiri, old havana, plaza vieja, rum, Tom Lane, vintage cars

Havana Plaza Vieja

Havana, Cuba – Plaza Vieja

Post author By Tom
Post date January 26, 2019
No Comments on Havana, Cuba – Plaza Vieja

– Quote from Owner

“Start at Plaza Vieja,” Carlos, my AirBnB host, said. It was already 3 pm, I had just flown to Havana and was checking into my AirBnB room. I had not even sipped my 3^rd beer of the day yet.

“Plaza Vieja is our Old Square, there are several bars,” Carlos advised.

“Gracias Carlos, I’m out of here.”

Carlos called as the apartment door shut behind me, “Do you need anything else?”

Why this place appeals to me

Cigars, music, rum, vintage cars.

Cuban jazz was on my Havana to-do list. Turning on San Ignacio street, guitars, drums and maracas lured me towards Plaza Vieja. Music played everywhere

Slow-stepping the uneven cobblestone street fronting the bar Papa Ernesto, a Cuban gentleman with a Cuban-style hat sat with a friend. The Cuban tipped his rum and coke towards me. He pointed at the COHIBA cigar extending from my shirt pocket.

Carlos, my host, told me his previous guest at my AirBnB left behind an entire box of Cohiba cigars. Help yourself, Carlos said to me. Carlos’ previous guest left behind a $750 box of Cohiba cigars in an AirBnB room that rented for $55/night? Fuzzy math; these forgotten COHIBA’s required certification of authenticity.

“You like cigars?” the Cuban man asked me. He waved his rum drink again.

I handed my gift Cohiba to the drinking man wearing his Cuban hat, “I like real real Cohiba cigars.”

“I sell cigars,” the Cuban man said, accepting my Cohiba. He inspected the label, “Your cigar is garbage, no good.”

Plaza Vieja, in the heart of Old Havana. Once upon a time home base for Havana’s wealthiest citizens. From their balconies Cuban aristocracy looked down on Plaza Vieja executions, cheered fiestas in Havana’s Old Square.

By 5 pm the corner of Plaza Vieja was alive, Café La Vitrola was serving tapas and Cuban jazz to patrons and gawkers. I paid $2.50 at the Vitrola bar for my Heineken and wandered out the door into Plaza Vieja, gawking.

Plaza Vieja, La Vitrola, Saturday 5 pm

Turning slowly, I absorbed Plaza Vieja. Cafe El Escorial, legendary coffee bar, offering history with croissants every morning on corner #2. Café Bohemia; just beer, rum drinks – corner #3. Restaurant Santo Angel, quiet at 5 pm, corner #4.

A much-pondered sculpture centerpieces Plaza Vieja. A Cuban rooster (COCK) of colossal dimensions, atop of which, a bald and naked lady (SENORITA) straddles, holding a gigantic fork (FORK). Plaza Vieja hums, begging me to return after dark.

As dusk approaches I walk north on San Ignacio street.

How Far Down the Block?

Why you might be nearby?

Along my route I turn west, up Obispo street, stopping outside Restaurante Europa, 5 blocks from Plaza Vieja. Cuban jazz oozes from within Europa. Me and other street gawkers are in Cuban Jazz Heaven. Surveying the crowd, I conclude Havana has no restrictions on where one can carry a drink.

Obispo street, 4 pm, Restaurante Europa

Step into the lobby at Hotel Ambos Mundos (4 blocks from Plaza Vieja), 153 Obispo street. Beckon the caged elevator. The elevator attendant speaks perfect English. Ask to be delivered to the rooftop terrace. Was the Ambos Mundos (translates BOTH WORLDS) really Hemingway’s hideout where he penned For Whom the Bell Tolls?

The rooftop bar of Ambos Mundos, overlooks the port of Havana. A Mojito is recommended.

Down the block, on the corner of Lamparilla and San Ignacio, the waitress at restaurant San Ignacio 214, smiles me in. “You can finish your cigar at the table senor.”

Old Havana restaurants (paladars) are often known by their street number. From inside 214 (2 blocks from Plaza Vieja), street traffic outside the open door entertains me. My smiling waitress places a cigar-style ashtray in front of me.

“Mojito,” I say. San Ignacio 214 is a Cuban paladar.