Beachside Breakfast

Everyone has their favorite little deli or diner in New York. The place where they stop in for breakfast every morning on their way to work. Me, I am retired so I eat at home. Here in Puerto Vallarta, though, I have my favorite beach side breakfast place just a short stroll down the beach from where I stay.

Langostino's





Nothing fancy about this place, but decent food at more than decent prices. I had their special, eggs scrambled with chorizo, refried beans, and a tortilla folded over melted cheese and a basket of toast for 50 pesos, or a bit under four dollars. I forgot to check to see if the coffee was included. The coffee was very good too. Coffee in Puerto Vallarta has really improved over the years. I didn't take pictures of the food, or many pictures at all. Too early in the morning to be thinking clearly. I will be back here again, many times in fact, so will try to do a better job next time.

Just A Funky Kind Of Place


The service here is very friendly, although typically slow. I have to get out of my New York rush, rush, rush frame of mind. That usually only takes a few days or a few tequilas, whichever comes first. Just have to remember I really don't have anyplace to go and I am sitting in a lovely beach side restaurant.

Oh, and if you would like, you can have your breakfast right on the beach. The Mysterious Chinese Woman isn't really a sun person and preferred the cooler inside area.

Breakfast On The Beach


Langostino's is open all day and is a nice place for dinner as well. Low-key and inexpensive with decent, if not overly fancy, food. Some nights they also have live music. I highly recommend this place and am always happy to see it is still around. One is always concerned that someone will decide to turn this into another La Palapa or Daiquiri Dick's. Not that there is anything wrong with those places, not at all. In fact will probably visit them both. I usually do. But I like to have alternatives. I think this place might be too small to ever be big.

After breakfast we walked down the malecon and we spotted a new statue.

Hmm, Now What Does This Represent?


It is a male washing clothes on a rock. I know this because there is a bar of soap. Otherwise he could be making dough or something. He is unusually dressed and has a long ponytail. I said it must be a tribute to early Chinese settlers who opened laundries n Puerto Vallarta. The Mysterious Chinese Woman vehemently disagreed. If anyone has more information about this statue I certainly would appreciate hearing from you.

As we approached the old Light House we noticed a huge deconstruction/construction project that was taking up about half a block.

Soon To Be Something


As is typical, we played the "What used to be there?" game. Of course neither of us could remember. I will have to do further research on this.

We then headed back to Rizo's, the old supermarket. We took the route past the flea market so I could take the swinging bridges over the river.

The Traditional First Crossing


I spent about half an hour in the supermarket and was getting ready to leave when the Mysterious Chinese Woman said she was just getting started. We bumped into a couple of friends from where we stay so I suggested she share a cab with them to take here groceries back and ran off. Needless to say I got a severe scolding when she finally returned.

I made it up to her, though, by taking her to a lovely birthday dinner at La Lorraine and will post about that next. I took pictures of the food.

Puerto Vallarta and El Dorado

Long day yesterday. Up at 3:30 A.M. to finish packing. It didn't take me too long though and we were ready in plenty of time for our 6:30 A.M. pickup to take us to the Newark Airport. I don't know if the Continental International Teminal is indicative of the whole airport, but it was a loud, confusing mess. We got into what looked to be the check-in line because, contrary to Continental's website, there are no self-service kiosks. Then someone hollers that if you are going to Puerto Vallarta you should be in a different line. So we get into that line. Then, after standing in that line for awhile, we are told it was only for those on the 8:30 A.M. flight to Puerto Vallarta, not the 10:00 A.M. flight that we were on. Luckily we were jumped to the front of the line we were originally in.

But then we were told that if we are on the 10:00 A.M. flight we should stand against the wall. They then proceeded to check in people who were on an earlier flight to Peru or somewhere. Finally they opened up two check-in counters for our flight. It was kind of pointless to get to the airport early, because they seem to give priority to checking in people with earlier flights than yours. And these aren't flights that are leaving in the next few minutes or anything.

Oh well, live and learn.

After a five and a half hour flight we did land in sunny Mexico. Ironically, the airport in Puerto Vallarta is a model of efficiency compared to New York and Newark airports (with the exception of the Jet Blue terminal at JFK). The airport is new, your bags are ready for you by the time you go through immigration, which is a breeze, and unless you push the button and get the red light you just walk through customs.

After walking through a gauntlet of timeshare people offering you "free" cab rides you go to the actual cab station, tell them where you are going, pay the person, someone helps you with your bags and gets you your cab. No muss, no fuss.

We checked into our place and it was like being home again. I got my internet hooked up in short order, met friends from years past, and settled right in.

Traditionally the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I go to El Dorado for dinner our first night in Puerto Vallarta, and this was no exception. Right after sunset drinks by our pool (the sunset now largely obscured by an ugly expansion to the once cute pirate ship restaurant, but more on that later) we headed out.

Ah, Settling In At Last


Although it is warm here, 83 and sunny when we arrived, it is still winter so it gets dark early. Sunset is around 7:00 P.M. so it was dark by the time we got to El Dorado. It made the live music, contemporary songs like Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" sung with a latin styling, appropriate.

Soothing Dinner Music


They have a nice bar here, but it was empty.

Nice Bar, But A Lonely Bar


I understand tourism is down by about 20% from last year. Where there were usually three rows of tables out on the beach in front of the restaurant there was only one row last night. And it was Saturday night.

Everyone Gets A Front Row Table


We opted to sit inside though, but even we got a front row table. Not much of a dinner crowd inside, although the outdoor tables were all filled up.

We got started with the complimentary tortilla chips and a very good, and quite hot, salsa dip plus a tasty bean dip.

A Piquant Starter Kit


The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered the whole red snapper. If they have them, and they generally do, you know they will be fresh. They only serve them if they are, literally, caught that day.

Crispy Whole Red Snapper


It was, as always, delicious. Grilled and succulent. When it was over only the gruesome remains.

The Remnants


I opted for the Kahlua Shrimp, nice big shrimp wrapped in bacon and stuffed with a bit of cheese. This is served with rice and mixed vegetables and was very good indeed.

My Kahlua Shrimp


A great way to start what is always a great time in Puerto Vallarta. The exchange rate is very favorable this year, a bit over 13 pesos to the dollar now. The meal with two frozen margaritas for me and one for the Mysterious Chinese woman came to 550 pesos including my usual generous tip. That is bit less than $43. Given the live music, great food, excellent and friendly service, and beachfront dining, how can you beat it. And this is one of the more expensive places that we go to while we are down here.

After we got home we were treated to our own little fireworks display that we could see from our window. This was a pretty big one too, not like the small one they shoot off from the pirate ship every night. I am not sure what the occasion was, but it was a nice welcome to Puerto Vallarta treat.

Our Own Personal Fireworks Display


Today will be a busy day. We need to haul everything out of storage and set up our place for our eight week stay. Then we need to hit the supermarket and load up on provisions. We did manage to get a few staples yesterday, beer, rum, gin, tequila, tonic, coffee, milk, and honey (I like the honey in my morning coffee). I kind of like to go to the supermarkets here. It is always a challenge to find stuff. The local one is the most fun and that is where we will go. Right behind it is the swinging bridge that takes you to the island in the middle of the river. There is another swinging bridge on the other side of the island that then takes you to the north side of town. There are other bridges, but these are the most fun. For me, at least. The Mysterious Chinese Woman has a somewhat different view.

Until I post again, adios (see, my Spanish is improving).

Mealtime At Char No. 4

It took us awhile, but we did finally manage to get a cozy booth in a back corner.

Our Cozy Booth


Jim doesn't like to share the spotlight with the Mysterious Chinese Woman so I promised him his own head shot.

Post Office Wall Worthy


Actually, when I was a kid I tried to see if I could get some of those posters they used to put up in the Post Office. I thought they would be kind of cool to hang up in my bedroom. The post office didn't seem inclined to give any out though. Ah, but I digress.

They don't have an overly large menu here, but they do have some pretty neat stuff on it. We started out with an order of appetizers each.

A guy at the bar who recognized me from my blog and who I chatted with for a bit recommended the House Smoked Thick Cut Bacon with black-eyed peas, so that was kind of a no-brainer.

Umm, Bacon, Bacon, Bacon


It was everything bacon should be. Wonderful smoked flavor with a hint of sweetness. This is what you really want when you order two eggs and a side of bacon at your local diner.

We also had a chopped corned lamb, of all things. Never seen this before, but it was really good. I guess I am thinking breakfast because this would make a wonderful hash. Or just serve it the way it is with a couple of poached eggs on top.

Just Need The Eggs


Our last appetizer was Smoked & Fried Pork Nuggets with Char No. 4 Hot Sauce. Again, quite excellent. I don't know if they bottle and sell their hot sauce, but if they don't they should think about it. It was really very good.

Pork Nuggets And A Dipping Sauce


And on to the entrees. Maybe this is why I keep thinking about breakfast. The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered the Shrimp and Grits. When I lived in Louisville I used to have grits for breakfast almost every morning. I really like them but am too lazy to make them for myself. And up north you usually just get the instant grits, not the same thing at all. These were the real deal though.

Shrimp And Grits


Nice big shrimp in there too.

Jim opted for the Smoked Honey Glazed Half Chicken with braised mustard. Not sure exactly what braised mustard is, but there was mustard, and the chicken was every bit as good as the ones I smoke myself. I might even say better, but you would have to torture me to get me to say that.

My Eyes Glazed Over, Honey, Looking At This Chicken


I, of course, am a sucker for hanger steak, so there was no way that I could pass up on Grilled Hanger Steak with crispy garlic potatoes and homemade BBQ sauce. Knowing that hanger steak is, by its nature, a bit of a tough cut, and having made the mistake of ordering it too rare in the past, I opted for medium. It came out perfect.

A Perfect Hanger, Plane And Simple


The potatoes dipped into the BBQ sauce were great as well. Not a one was left.

Well, after all that we had to go for dessert. They only had two on the menu so we didn't have to think too much.

Chocolate Cheesecake


This was served with blackberries and creme fraiche and was another great chocolate dessert derivative of the all pervasive warm chocolate brownie.

I was thinking pecan pie, but had to settle for for their Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream topped with bourbon.

Suitable For Children


I love butter pecan ice cream and this was one of the best I have ever had. Better even than Hagan Daz, and that is saying something. Of course the next time I buy Hagan Daz I will be sure to pour some bourbon over it. Hey, it worked for Travis Bickle and his breakfast cereal.

This is another place that I will be visiting again, and if you are in the neighborhood you should drop by as well.

A CHARming Place

I have been reading about this new whiskey bar that opened in my neighborhood and have been meaning to try it for awhile. When I went to Chance for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner I walked right by it, so now I knew exactly where it was. My brother-in-law Jim, he isn't too mysterious, is going to be looking in on our place while we are in Mexico. I figured I would treat him to a night out for his trouble and used this as an excuse to head to Char No. 4 on Smith Street.

Char gets its name from how the oak barrels that are used to make bourbon are treated. All bourbon is made in new oak barrels that have heat applied to the inside until it is charred. It is this charring that imparts the flavor and color to the whiskey. Moonshine, which isn't aged, is clear in color. Oh yes, you can get a shot of moonshine here if you want, along with a shot of about three hundred other whiskeys as well.

Whiskeys And Whiskys On The Wall




You can have everything from a $3 shot of Ancient Age to a $100 shot of Maker' Mark Black Wax for the Japanese Market. Actually, they even had a couple of whiskeys for $1 and $2 a shot, so this really wouldn't be a bad place to got to if you just wanted a couple beers with whiskey chasers. Not much of a beer selection, but they have one of my favorites, Brooklyn Pilsner, so I would be just fine.

Heh, No Thanks


One of the waiters confided to me that the Black Wax was exactly the same as the regular Maker's Mark, that they don't really make more then one kind of bourbon. Not sure if that is true or not, but I wasn't going to pay to do a taste test.

The bottle next to the Black Wax was personally signed by Maker's Mark head distiller. I don't think you could get a shot of that.

I started out with the Wild Turkey American Honey, and this proved to be a mistake.

Well Honey, Not Tonight


I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. This tasted more like Jerimiah Weed. Kind of a thick, sweet cordial, but with a kick. It wasn't too bad after I threw a bunch of ice cubes in the glass. Not an auspicious start though. Jim was smarter, ordering Four Roses Small Batch, something he was familiar with.

I figured that for my next one I would just get a straight Kentucky bourbon, and what could be better than a shot of...

Pure Kentucky


This was more like it, kind of harsh, but in a good way, and flavorful as all get out. Had it with a splash and a single ice cube. Kind of like the British do. Well, the Brits I know seem to just like one ice cube in almost anything they drink. I always suspected that refrigeration costs a lot in Britain.

Jim did want to try moonshine so we ordered a double to split. It was authentic tasting, I will say that. I had my fill of moonshine when I was in the Army and stationed in Fort Gordon, Georgia. And when I say I had my fill, believe me, it wasn't a whole lot. Four or five of us with a quart jar of the stuff that we bought for about two bucks, if I recall correctly. Well, at least I can still see.

If you have never tried it before you really should though. It has a taste that will stay with you, sometimes for days.

My last whisky of the day was a 16 year old Laguvulin, my favorite single malt scotch. Generally I am not a big fan of single malt scotches, preferring a blend such as Dewars or Pinch. But I make an exception for Laguvulin. A big heavy scotch with a really smokey taste to it.

We planned on eating here but it was quite crowded when we arrived at about 9:00 P.M., so we were content to do much of our drinking at the bar, once we managed to get seats. There is a ledge on the wall opposite the bar with stools and they were pretty much full too. Basically it was three deep at the bar. And it is a pretty narrow place too, reminiscent of some of the dive bars on the west side of Manhattan. Or at least the ones that used to be there. Not that this place is a dive though, far from it.

Eventually we got seated though and had a delightful meal. They have a state-of-the-art smoker in the basement and that influences the flavor of a lot of their food. No ribs though.

I will post about the meal tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Braeburn But No Heartburn

Yesterday's post pretty much raved about the bar, the bartender, and the margaritas that I had here. Well, today will be more of the same, I am afraid, but focusing on the food. Can you tell, I liked the place.

It is always a bit confusing to walk around the West Village, so finding Braeburn can be a somewhat of a challenge. But well worth it. You can find it on the corner of Perry Street and Greenwich Street. It is about two blocks from the Hudson River and about four blocks from 7th Avenue. Just get in the vicinity and then start asking people for directions. At least that is what I did.

After drinking my margarita at the bar and ordering another I joined the Mysterious Chinese Woman and the Mysterious Sister-In-Law at our table.

So Happy To See Me


They have a decidedly French influenced menu. The chef, Brian Bistrong, started out by working in the orchards on a turkey farm near Princeton, New Jersey. I only mention this because maybe it explains why he named the restaurant after an apple. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has an impressive resume. That doesn't always mean you get good food, but in this case it did.

We were served delicious rolls to start us off and then I ordered Corned Beef of Short Rib for an appetizer. They, or it, was served with celery root, grain mustard, cornichons and rye croutons. It pretty much tasted like excellent corned beef that you might get from Katz Deli. Very tasty. They had a lot of other tasty looking appetizers and next time I am going to go for the Quail “Sausage” with spaetzle and a sauerkraut purée.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman decided to have the Duck Breast with Brussels sprouts, wheat berries and roasted squash sauce.

Delicious Duck Breast


I was only allowed a little bite of the duck, but it was tender, juicy, and simply fantastic. A dish I am sure she might have again if we come back and, if she doesn't, one I might order.

The Mysterious Sister-In-Law opted for the Loin of Lamb in a chick pea stew with merguez sausage and preserved lemon. Merguez sausage originated in Algeria and Tunisia and is popular in France as well as in Morroco, Israel, Belgium, The Netherlands and, soon, here in the good old United States. It is made with lamb or beef (lamb, in this case, I believe) and flavored with a wide range of spices such as sumac, paprika, chili paste, and who knows what else.

Loin Of Lamb


Their special of the day was Duck Leg Confit with white beans, apple smoked bacon and escarole. I am a big fan of casoulet, and that is made with duck confit. In fact, when I make it I only use the duck legs, so how could I pass on this.

For those of you who may not know, confit is a method of cooking where the meat is cooked immersed either in its own fat or in lard. It is then stored in the fat or lard and can be kept for quite awhile this way. It was used as a method of preserving meat back in the day.

Duck Leg Confit


Again, this was simply scrumptious. Deliciously crispy skin and the duck was perfectly tender. The beans and bacon were delicious as well.

After finishing up our meals we decided to share a couple of desserts. The Mysterious Sister-In-Law is a bit of a chocoholic so for her it was a no-brainer, Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with poached seckle pears and vanilla ice cream with a side of strawberries.

Chocolate Bread Pudding


This tasted like the warm chocolate brownies that you often find, and I have never had a bad one. This was no exception.

But my dessert was magnificent. I am a big fan of Key Lime Pie and I have to say this is the best one I have ever had, by a wide margin.

Key Lime Pie


This was served with a cream cheese sorbet, but what really set it apart was the top of the pie which was caramelized and reminiscent of a creme broulee. The combination of the sweet crunch topping and the tart key lime filling was perfect. I would come back again just for this. Maybe accompany it with their cheese platter and a glass of port and just skip the appetizers and entrees altogether. We will have to wait and see, but I can assure you that I will be back here again.

Blind Tigers And Apples

Well, you know what they say, even a blind tiger can find an apple once in awhile. Or something like that. I never get those things right. But anyway, last night was very serendipitous, even by my standards.

A Mysterious Chinese Sister-In-Law, the one who often travels with the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me and whose house I often visit for family get-togethers, invited the Mysterious Chinese Woman and me to have dinner with her at a restaurant she somehow discovered. She hadn't been there before so I an not sure how she found out about it. I will have to ask her.

The restaurant, Braeburn, is in the West Village, one of my favorite neighborhoods to wander around in and home to many a fine bar. I got there a bit early and decided to pop into one of my favorite bars, Blind Tiger.



I have posted about this place before and if you are ever in the neighborhood be sure to stop in. A really great neighborhood bar with a large selection of beers. It is on the corner of Bleeker and Jones. Jones is just one block long though, so just walk along Bleeker until you find it. It is a nice walk and a lot of interesting bars and restaurants along the way.

I had a Gordon IPA that was very good. It was very hoppy but had enough malt so that it wasn't overpoweringly bitter. They also had a Green Flash IPA on draft and I suggested that they combine the two to make a Flash Gordon. This drew a blank stare from the bartender who had never heard of Flash Gordon, but I got a laugh from the guys sitting next to me.

Bar Man And Gordon


After finishing up my brew the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed to Braeburn on Perry Street.

Braeburn


Braeburn is a type of apple and the restaurant takes its name from them. Apples are also featured in their decor. Well, at least there are a couple of baskets of apples up front. The Mysterious Sister-In-Law wasn't there yet so I moseyed over to the bar. What immediately hit me was the smell of fresh limes being squeezed. This is always a good sign so I asked the bartender, Tracy, what she made with fresh fruit. She said her margaritas were good so I said "Show me." And show me she did. She whipped up one of the best margaritas I have ever had.

Tracy Whipping One Up


Bar Man About To Drink One Down


Well Bar Man likes nothing better than chatting about drinks with a bartender who really knows how to make them. And here is where the serendipity comes into play. It turns out that Tracy is not just an excellent bartender and very knowledgeable about drinks, she is also the co-author of two drinking related books. One is "The Perfect Manhattan," a novel about the bar scene in, well, Manhattan.

The other book is "Cocktail Therapy" and has a number of cocktail recipes, each designed to address a specific crisis you may have experienced. A fight with your mother, try a Mother's Little Helper, two ounces of dark rum, three ounces of apple cider, a pinch of cloves. Throw the ingredients into a mug and pop it into the microwave to heat it up.

Tracy works at Braeburn on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I hope she is still there when I get back from Mexico. I will be sure to pop in again and, hopefully, have a chance to chat. I got there just when the place opened so I only had her to myself for about 15 minutes before it got busy.

Tracy has a website but when I went to visit it I got a warning about it being an attack site so I passed. Hopefully someone just corrupted her site and she will fix the problem. If that happens I will share the address with you.

After my delicious margarita I joined my companions for what turned out to be a most excellent meal. I shall post about that tomorrow though, but trust me, it was great.

Taking A Chance

Last night was Chinese New Year's Eve, the Year of the Ox is about to begin.



The Mysterious Chinese Woman was actually born in the Year of the Ox (no fair trying to guess her age) so it was kind of obligatory to go out for a Chinese or, at least, an Asian dinner. There is a restaurant not too far from me, Chance, that I have passed by a few times and it looked pretty nice. I figured that would be a nice enough place to go. You can find it on the corner of Butler and Smith, seven blocks south of Atlantic Avenue.

Chance


I had actually been in here back in January of 2005 when I was doing my thousand bar march and it was number 94. Here are my impressions, such as they were, from then:

94) Chance

This was an interesting place, an Chinese fusion restaurant with a nice bar in front. It had nice red lights over the bar and a wall of bubbling water behind it. The bartender was a blond guy with dreadlocks, but very friendly and quite competent. He made something called a Purple Haze for a customer and, because he had a bit left over, gave me at taste. Kind of like grape cool-aid and vodka but it was actually made with sake and Chambord raspberry liquer.

I ordered a glass of Shiraz and got a small bowl of wasabi peas and a small piece of chicken. It was happy hour here too and this time, because the wine was good, I did accept the second glass.

Well, it wasn't happy hour this time around, and we sat at a table and behaved like big people. I did start out with a hot sake, though.

Hot Sake On A Chilly Night


While we were waiting for our order we got a little appetizer. Just a couple of bites, and I forgot what it was. Tasty though.

Tasty, Whatever It Was


We started out with a couple of appetizers, both of which were quite good.

Cucumber Special


This was crabmeat, shrimp and avocado wrapped in cucumber and flavored with a sweet vinegar sauce. You will also note a breaded oyster at the top of the plate. That was from the other appetizer.

Pan-Fried Oysters


These were served with jalapenos and asian spices and were quite delicious. I would certainly have them again, although they do have a large selection of interesting appetizers. I think I will try the pan-seared scallops with snow peas and mixed mushrooms.

For our main dish we both opted for noodles. The Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for the Chance rice noodles.

MYC and Chance Rice Noodles


Chance Rice Noodles Without MYC


These were quite tasty, and quite spicy. Wok fried rice noodles with chicken and shrimp in a curry sauce. They say a mild curry sauce, but it has a bit of a bite to it. Nothing too overpowering though. And the noodles were very good.

I opted for the crispy pan-fried noodles with beef.

Noodles And Beef


This was also very good. It has very crispy noodles with beef and vegetables in a black pepper sauce. When the dish was first put in front of me I thought the noodles had been overly crisped, but they soaked up the sauce really well and became pleasantly flavored and soft.

The servings were very generous and I had the combined leftovers for breakfast this morning.

The place wasn't too crowded, but people kept drifting in and out so it looked like they were doing a fairly decent business on a cold Sunday evening. A few people also popped in to pick up take-out.

They also have a couple of prixe fixe dinners, one for $18 and another for $28, the Royal Fixe. Lots of good stuff on the menu so I will certainly get back there one day. It was reasonble too. The tab, including tip, was $60 for the two of us and close to $20 of that was for the two hot sakes that I had. The service was very good as well. Not overly fast, but not slow either, and the people were very nice.

And The Downside Is...?

One of the local free newspapers, BKLYNHEIGHTS Courier, had an article on binge drinking. Seems our little neighborhood has a high incidence of it, with 20% of the adults living here admitting to engaging in this behavior. The average for all of Brooklyn is only 12%.

Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks on one occasion. Kind of like your average night out at the pub, if you ask me.

The article warned that "There could be serious consequences for people who consume several alcoholic drinks in one night." And what "serious consequence" did they specifically hone in on?

"Binge drinkers are three times more likely than non-drinkers to report having multiple sex partners."

Well gee, I guess that is going to make a lot of people, particularly all of the college and law-school students around here, think twice before dumping down another beer.

Airline Pricing Strategy

Of course everyone knows how crazy airline pricing is. I sometimes wonder if any two people on the same flight paid the same price. Just imagine any other business, an appliance store, for example, who followed the same model. Jeez, that refrigerator was only $350 dollars yesterday and it is $500 today. Should I buy now or wait to see if the price drops tomorrow.

I am flying to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico at the end of the month. I purchased my ticket on November 13, 2008 at which time the price was $681. On December 25, 2008 the price had dropped to $612,.53 where it stayed until January 6, 2009 when it jumped to $664.22. On January 9, 2009 it dropped to $630.64 where it stayed for one day before soaring to $809.64 where it also stayed for just one day.

On January 11, 2009 it dropped to $689.64 and stabilized for, hold your breath, three whole days before jumping to $809.64 for one day and then dropping back to $689.64 for four days.

On January 19, 2009 the prices jumped to $899.64 and stayed there for three days. On January 22, 2009 it dropped back down to &689.64 and now, today, January 23, 2009 it has fallen to $654.64.

Kind of makes your head spin, doesn't it. And the price differential would have to be at least $150.00 from what you paid for your ticket to make it worth your while to switch to a lower fare, because that is what they will charge you to do it. So, if you had paid the $899.64 for your ticket a few days ago you could pay the $150.00 to trade it in for the $654.64 ticket being sold today and save yourself over a hundred bucks.

Now, and correct me if I am wrong, wouldn't you think the airlines would want you to purchase your tickets early? They have the cash in hand and can would be better able to determine capacity requirements. But with their pricing strategy, what is the motiviation for doing so. It is like playing roulette, trying to figure out if you got the best fare or if it will drop again or if you will get screwed if you wait because it will go up.

Just another reason people love to fly.

Scratch One Off My List

Well, here is one bar I will never visit, The Pencil Factory on Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Sad, too, because this was a classic old bar before Greenpoint became gentrified. Now, and how low can you go, they actually have a happy hour for mothers.

There was an article, A Toast To Mothering, in today's New York Daily News, and if this won't put you off your beer, nothing will:

"If other patrons - mostly young men perched on bar stools - are fazed by the breastfeeding and diaper-changing, they don't let on."

Oh yeah, nothing like the smell of beer and baby-poop to make you want to linger for another cold one. I would think that changing a baby in a bar would have to violate some health code. I mean, don't they have a changing-table in the restroom for that sort of thing.

And talk about convoluted logic; one young mother actually said "Its best to breastfeed while you're drinking because it takes an hour for the alcohol to hit your bloodstream." Wow, run into the bar, order a beer, and quickly breastfeed your baby while you drink it down.

As a side-note, I thought Michelle Obama looked lovely at the swearing-in ceremony, but if that dress she wore to the inaugural balls had been yellow she would have looked like Big Bird from Sesame Street.

President Obama and President Lincoln

For some reason the media seems to like linking President Obama with President Lincoln. Why this is so, I do not know.

First of all, President Lincoln was a Republican.

Secondly, President Lincoln was the ultimate flip-flopper and a politician above all else. The great emancipator? Only when it was politically expedient. If you don't believe me, read his first inaugural address, the one they don't teach you about in school, particularly this part:

Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that —

'I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.'

Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.

Hmm, "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists." How many of you ever knew that President Lincoln ever said such a thing, and in many speeches including his first inaugural speech?

Oh, and the vaunted Emancipation Proclamation. Ahem, it only declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." In other words, it only applied to states that had seceded from the Union and expressly exempted states that were loyal to the Union and also exempted those parts of the Confederacy that had come under Northern control. And this was only in January, 1863, nearly three years after the Civil War had started. It was strictly a political move to further undermine the Confederacy.

President Lincoln was not exactly the epitome of someone with a strong moral compass, at least when it came to slavery.

So on this day when history is, indeed, being made, it might do us all well to remember history that has already been made. And not distort it because it is convenient to spin this link between President Lincoln and President Obama. In fact, those pictures and news clips that juxtapose President Obama with the statue of President Lincoln could be considered the height of irony.

Now, to give President Lincoln his due, he did push for the passage of the 13th Amendment which did, indeed, outlaw slavery in all of the United States. However, at the time of its passage, only Delaware, Missouri, and Kentucky still allowed slavery. Interestingly, these were all Union States.