Open Gardens At-Hand

New England is in bloom! 2012 is possibly one of the earliest Springs on record, with the traditional  bloom periods of different trees, shrubs, and bulbs collapsed on one another.  Take advantage of the season’s splendor through the Open Gardens program of Garden Conservancy.  The 2012 weekend self-guided tour days begin in Mid May. 

Each year about 100 of New England’s very best private gardens are opened by their owners, designers and caretakers at their peak.  Conveniently, Garden Conservancy coordinates a few (typically 3-7) gardens in a area for a day of visual, and olfactory bliss.  Bring your camera, your questions and your ability to appreciate and acknowledge.

Any number of these treasures and hidden-gems are the efforts of several decades and at nearly unimaginable costs.  

The open gardens schedule is here.  Cost is approximately $5 per garden in cash, or buy a full-day ticket for a discount.  If you have never done an Open Days day trip, do so this season.  No matter how high your expectations, are they will be exceeded.

All photos by At-Hand Guides at New England Open Days Gardens

Reliable Travel Ratings At-Hand?

The “in-thing” for travel ratings over the past few years has been “crowd sourcing.” The spin on “crowd sourcing” is that it was not subject to “biased reviews” of self-serving editors and writers who got payoffs for better-than-deserved ratings. The other spins have been – trust no-one who claims to be a professional or expert (if you are under 30), and finally, in the world of venture-funded, quick-exit web and app businesses, “crowd sourcing” was way-cheaper.

It has turned out that the “anonymous crowd” has been “scamming” and “playing” the likes of YELP and TripAdvisor for some time to the detriment of users and travelers. You didn’t have to be a rocket-scientist to see this “finding” officially coming. Check the list of “top attractions” for any city or area you are familiar with in TripAdvisor, read through the comments in a YELP restaurant you are familiar with. The content is not pretty. And the evidence would seem that corporate profits are being put way ahead of policing and moderating “crowd sourced” content.

Source: TNooz - Top Crowd-Source Raters Get Rated

This “problem” has finally become so pervasive it has spawned at “rating service” for the travel “rating services” reports TNooz, the leading travel industry technology web site. The reported site is called KwikChek.  The UK-based site is seemingly coy about officially putting the current ratings on their web site (though tNooz states some of them).  Here is the KwikChek blog posting of their star rating criteria. Here is a KwikChek story on one problem neighbor TripAdvisor is having.

At-Hand Guides are created with the user / traveler first in mind. All descriptions are hand-crafted by our team. No destination or service pays anything to be in At-Hand Guides (or in this blog).  We consider that when we apply a “star rating” we have brought our full history and experience to the decision.  It is but one element of our strategy for “supriseless experiences.”

Have you explored TripAdvisor?  Yelp? UrbanSpoon? Google’s? travel destination ratings and user comments?  What do you think?  Are they still useful?  Is there a solution? Leave a comment (Will be policed and moderated!).

Food (Trucks) At-Hand

This Spring Boston has increased the number and locations authorized for a growing fleet of food trucks.  Food obsessed, greater San Francisco is years ahead in this trend.  Along Mission Street office workers have a lunch choice of nearly a dozen brightly colored vehicles with a wide variety of fare.

San Franciscans queue up to convey of Food Trucks off Mission Street

At night, organizers like Off The Grid, have established regular weekly Food Truck Fairs at key locations around San Francisco.

Thursday night Off The Grid sets up a neighborhood family feast and party at the end of Haight Street in Golden Gate Park.  Off the Grid supplies signage, chairs, and a band.

Food and Music for a Thursday Night in Golden Gate Park

Everybody comes.

Night Out, And Better Than McDonalds

A half block away America offers both a long standing McDonalds and a newly opened Whole Foods Market.  The latter perhaps a signal that the old Haight-Ashbury is on a gentrification track.  But perhaps not, for across from the WFM many of San Francisco’s homeless still maintain their decades old encampment.

See the full set of the Upper Haight Off The Grid photos on Flickr.

(PS – At-Hand Guides usually leaves food destinations and reviews in the very competent hands of others.  But here and there “destination-dining” opportunities compels us to “bend-the-rule”))

Smart Phones Becoming At-Hand Travel Support

Another primary research study finds travelers depending on their iPhones and Androids for on-the-road support.  Not surprising.  You have it with you.  Your apps provide location-based information.  Your “data-plan” covers web access to airline and hotel web sites.  Check out what others are doing at this April 20th 2012 TNooz article.

Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum – Again At-Hand

Boston’s Isabella Gardner Museum  has a new face on, with the museum’s recent reopening after the addition of a new ultra-modern building designed by Renzo Piano.  The new spaces serve to enhance the Gardner experience while preserving the trust’s mandate that the arrangement of the art must never change.

Thus the new building is a supplement, explainer, and facilitiator of all things “Gardner.”  Better music performance space with the Catherwood Hall.  Learning facilities for young wannabe artists and real studios for its resident art scholars.  A special exhibition gallery. A large greenhouse acting as nursery and staging area for the atrium gardens. Offices for the Gardner staff.  The “G café” that is open at all times. Finally there is the Living Room where you can be pre-oriented before touring the galleries or post-oriented if you have questions or your head is spinning following a gallery tour.

Gardner Atrium In Full Spring Bloom

In the museum itself, the tapestry room in newly restored.  The atrium gardens are resplendent in bloom.  Otherwise it is mostly the Gardner you know and love.

The empty frames from the world’s biggest art theft remain as reminders of the 1990 art heist in the Dutch Room.  Therefore, in every gallery expect to be watched, told not be so close, to not touch anything and to keep your cell phones on silent-mode, un-answered and in your pocket.

Unlike ICA and the nearby MFA, the Gardner has not morphed or transformed from the uptight Boston of the early 20^th Century.  No touch, no photos at Gardner.

Victoria Morton’s quad of squares in the Special Exhibition Gallery are a vibrant, colorful contrast to the Gardner art collection itself, and wonderfully and selectively reflect the natural sunny light from the wall of windows that illuminate the gallery.

A Portion of Victoria Morton's Special Exhibition

The museum’s pre-opening publicity seem to have indicated that its first special exhibition from the Gardner collection will be a showing of its immense Anders Zorn etching collection.  No date has been announced and the stunning collection of the very talented Zorn remains on the multiple “doors” of the second floor Short Gallery, many too far out of visual reach to be appreciated, and most hidden behind multiple door layers that have most visitors be totally unaware of the treasure.

In the museum, head directly to the second floor Short Gallery, discover the doors and explore your own Zorn show immediately At-Hand.

(Check out the full photo set on Flickr.)

Lasell College’s Wederman Gallery Brings Hanoi Art At-Hand

David Thomas’s Indochina Arts Partnership (IAP) and Lasell College are providing a rare glimpse into a portion of Hanoi’s vibrant art world through April 15, 2012.

Wederman Gallery Visitors Discuss Print

Particularly strong is the ceramic plate and bell panel by Le Quoc Viet.  The plates depict a compelling look at current Vietnamese vices.  The ringing sounds of the bells are a distinct contrast to the powerful political messages.

Le Quoc Viet Ceramic Panel

The second floor exhibits a dozen lithographs that are available for purchase.  Supplementing the prints and lithographs are a series of stunning cloth tubes covered with ancient Vietnamese writing.  IAP is offering a limited number for sale to benefit its programs. 

Wederman is another At-Hand hidden gem.  Check it out soon.  IAP exhibit is open 1-4PM.

David Thomas, IAP Founder

Street Curves At-Hand – Lombard Street vs. Cascadilla Park Road

Having experienced both, we vote for Ithaca, NY’s Cascadilla Park Road as the definitely better winding street. Here is the satellite view of Cascadlilla From Google:

Ithaca's Cadcadilla Park Road

Let us count the ways – much better thrill factor. Cascadilla is two way traffic and you are also likely to meet pedestrians hiking to or from Cornell. Cascadilla is much better visually – you wind 270 degrees around houses, potentially coming within inches around the impossible corners. And if you are driving up Cascadilla (our recommended direction) you can sneak nano-glances into the Cascadilla Gorge and its stream bed bottom a hundred feet below while trying teasing your vehicle to stay on the pavement. Finally Cascadilla is longer and rises far more than Lombard.

Lombard Street - Nice Flowers! Source: SanFranciscoForYou.com

Assuming you are still allowed the next time you are in Upstate NY, driving up Casadilla Park is one of the the “Top 100″ things to do in the Finger Lakes Region.  Help generate the buzz East tops West – again!