Exploring Colleges: Dickinson College

June 10, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / Leave a comment

For an intimate college visit, go to Dickinson College. We visited the 120-acre campus on a rainy day in April and were pleasantly surprised at this small private liberal arts college located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The information session was small (about 30 people) yet the visitors were from all over the U.S. As we waited in the lobby for the tour to begin, current undergrads struck up conversations with us and other visitors. They answered questions and told us about their experience on campus, before we ventured outside.

Chartered in 1783, Dickinson College is the 16^th oldest college in the U.S., and with its limestone buildings and slate roofs, it looks it. The school has three LEED-gold-certified buildings, too, and touts its sustainability efforts.

Of the 2,400 undergraduate students who attend Dickinson, only 7 percent of its students are international. But, according to the college’s fact sheet, 48 countries are represented by its student body. Dickinson offers 42 majors of study, including its most popular majors: international business and management, political science, economics, psychology, biology, international studies, English, history, sociology, neuroscience, and Spanish.

Whatever you major in, you won’t get lost at Dickinson where the largest class is first year biology with a whopping 35 students in attendance, and the average class size is 17.

If you go, be sure to ask for a complimentary pass to the dining commons where you can observe the students and the climate at Dickinson College first hand.

Trip taken April 2013.

Twist – Where Everything Tastes Good

June 5, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / Leave a comment

There aren’t many restaurants where everything is gluten free … and everything tastes good.

Twist Bakery & Café in Millis, Mass., does not advertise its gluten-free qualities, but word of mouth has spread the good news. Not only can those on a gluten-free diet choose their food without thinking too much about it, they can bring their friends, too. All food is gluten free and peanut free and most items are soy free, dairy free, and nut free as well.

On a recent visit for lunch, the gluten-free and non gluten-free diners in our group were excited to choose from the extensive menu.

Hot Reuben sandwiches, turkey melts, and tuna salad on rolls, quiche, pizza, cupcakes, lemon bars. Everything we tasted was good. Nothing tasted “gluten free.”

If we could change one thing, it would be their location. While Millis is only 25 minutes from Needham and 45 minutes from Boston, it’s an hour’s drive for us. If only they were closer, we’d be there almost every day.

Trip taken November 2012.

Riding Bikes Among the Cherry Blossoms

May 21, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / 2 Comments

How do you avoid DC’s traffic and tired feet at the same time? Consider taking advantage of DC’s Capital Bikeshare program and let your legs do the work.

Intent on visiting Washington on the day of the Cherry Blossom Festival, a day known for its crowds as well as its beautiful flowers, we took the advice of our hosts. We parked our car in Springfield, Virginia, and joined hordes of other tourists in line to buy the fare.

After a few minutes surveying the situation, we switched to the shorter line of ticket buyers and purchased a SmarTrip card ($10) for each of us, knowing with its discounted fares, it would pay for itself over the three days we would be in town (as well as more than pay for itself in the reduced stress and aggravation of waiting in long lines!).

Six stops away, we got off the Metro at Pentagon City and began looking for our next mode of transportation. We found a row of bicycles on Hayes Street, entered our credit card information on the machine and paid our $7 daily membership fee, pulled out three bikes, and hopped on.

For the next couple of hours we rode our bikes around the Pentagon, along the Potomoc River and through Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Park, over the Arlington Memorial Bridge, past the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and along the Tidal Basin where cherry blossoms and onlookers provided many obstacles along the way.

If you choose to try the Capital Bikeshare program, be forewarned the cost to ride the bikes increases exponentially with the time you choose to use it. It’s much more cost effective (and very doable), to ride a bike from one station to another where you can borrow a new bike. Each 30 minutes on a new bike is free. After 30 minutes on the same bike, an additional hour will only cost you $6, but renting the bike for 3 hours will cost you $30.

With stations all over the DC area, you can use the free app to find a location and determine the availability of bikes.

Trip taken April 2013.

Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday

May 6, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / Leave a comment

Have you ever observed Buddha’s birthday? Buddha’s birthday is celebrated on different days by different schools of Buddhism, and on Sunday, April 28, his birthday was celebrated at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center near San Francisco.

After driving past Green Gulch for years, on my way to the beach or to a trailhead, I finally stopped. We drove down the narrow dirt road edged by towering redwood trees, parked in the designated visitor lot, and walked toward the center.

Although we missed the formal ceremony and pageant, we were in time for some birthday cake and were able to check out the organic plant sale. Green Gulch produce and its bread are sold at the farm and at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmers’ Market from May through August.

One of the San Francisco Zen Center’s three locations, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is a Buddhist practice center in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition. According to its website, “Our effort at Green Gulch is to awaken in ourselves and the many people who come here the bodhisattva spirit, the spirit of kindness and realistic helpfulness. This is how we offer our understanding of Buddha’s Way.”

Green Gulch Farm is located on Shoreline Highway about half a mile from the Pelican Inn and Muir Beach. Check out their website for accommodations and for upcoming lectures and programs open to the public.

Wildflowers on the Dias Ridge Trail

May 2, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / 1 Comment

Looking for a gentle hike with spectacular views and a rewarding destination? The Dias Ridge Trail in Mount Tamalpais State Park, a few miles north of San Francisco, meanders just 3 miles from Panoramic Highway down to the Pelican Inn and Muir Beach.

As I hiked the trail last weekend, I discovered a few of the 20,000 or more coastal and grassland plants transplanted by volunteers before the trail opened in 2010.

Yellow and orange California poppies, pink wild geraniums, purple lupine, white iris, red Indian paintbrush, and even white wild strawberry blossoms brightened the trail.

I made way for the mountain bikers, runners, and faster hikers and dodged the abundant poison oak growing thickly among its look alike, the blackberry plant.

I stepped carefully to avoid a black beetle and watched him scurry across the dirt trail.

I listened to the sounds of rattlesnake grass when shaken by the wind and discovered that the blooming cow parsnip really does smell like warm corn tortillas.

After stunning sights of the Pacific Ocean and the ridge of Mount Tam on this warm April day, we stopped for lunch (fish and chips and a ploughman’s lunch) at the Pelican Inn.

Return to your car for a 6-mile (and more rigorous) round trip hike or send someone back up the trail to get the car, as we did. Muir Beach is only a short hike from the Pelican Inn.

If you go, follow Shoreline Highway from the Mill Valley/Stinson Beach exit off Highway 101. Turn right onto Panoramic Highway and park in one of the dirt pullouts just ahead. Follow the trailhead signs to reach Dias Ridge Trail.

Trip taken April 2013

Finding Gluten-Free at Farmers’ Markets

April 29, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / Leave a comment

On a recent trip to Marin, I found several gluten-free products available for sample and purchase at the Marin Civic Center Farmers’ Market.

Besides fresh strawberries, peaches, and other fruits and vegetables, my gluten-free daughter and I tasted gluten-free granola, gluten-free scones, and gluten-free cupcakes.

We found gluten-free veggie burgers, kettle corn, and gluten-free tamales.

Next time you’re in San Francisco or Marin, consider going to a farmers’ market for lunch. You’re bound to find something that’s not only gluten free but yummy and locally made as well.

Trip taken August 2012.

Visiting Farmers’ Markets in California

April 25, 2013April 25, 2013 / Tara Taft / Leave a comment

Although a few Farmers’ Markets are now appearing in New England over the winter, from November until March, we wait for things to grow. But in California, where an abundance of food grows all year long, the farmers’ markets never end.

If you’re lucky enough to live in or visit San Francisco or Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, you have your choice of farmers’ markets every day except Mondays. For a complete schedule, click here.

On Tuesdays, you can find fresh veggies in Novato, Tam Valley, San Francisco Ferry Plaza and San Francisco Marina; on Wednesdays, in Corte Madera and Fairfax; on Thursdays, at the San Rafael Marin Civic Center, San Francisco Ferry Plaza, in Downtown San Rafael, and in Downtown Ross; on Fridays, in Mill Valley.

During the weekend, you’ll find Farmers’ Markets in Larkspur Landing, Marinwood, Point Reyes, San Francisco Ferry Plaza on Saturday and on Sunday, in Sausalito, San Rafael Marin Civic Center, San Francisco Fort Mason.

I often visit the Farmers Market in San Rafael. I love to see the booths overflowing in color and texture, the flowers, the vegetables, the fruit.

I like to sample the local food I know I can’t get at home, like Donna’s Tamales, locally grown dates, and pumpkin bolani from East and West Gourmet Afghan Food.

I like to watch the people and feel the positive energy. It’s been several months. I’m overdue for a trip.

Where Were You on April 15th?

April 22, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / 2 Comments

Where were you on Patriot’s Day? The day of the Boston Marathon, the day of the bombings?

After checking into a hotel in Baltimore, I waited for the elevator, glancing up at the big screen TV hung on the wall. I don’t remember the exact words – just Boston Marathon and explosions, those words enough to grab my attention, to shock and to scare me.

Far from Boston, we ventured out for dinner. The Inner Harbor of Baltimore was eerie, the mood tense and ominous as more and more police appeared, on bike, in boat, in cars, in helicopters.

Back home, only 30 miles west of Boston, my daughter texted me to assure me she was safe. Back in our hotel room, we watched the news.

I know people who were on bikes at the Prudential Center, just a block away. I know of people who were delayed as they ran the course, realizing that the delay prevented them from crossing the finish line at 2:50 p.m. I’ve heard stories of people in my town and in neighboring towns who were dining nearby, volunteering in the medical tents; people who walked into one of the explosions.

We awoke Friday morning at home to the news and Boston’s shut down, spending the day glued to the TV, relieved when Suspect No. 2 was cornered and later apprehended.

An American flag undulated on the back of a pickup truck in front of us as my daughter and I drove into Boston on Saturday. A man walked down Newbury Street with another flag draped around his shoulders. The streets were full of red, white, and blue: families wore Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox shirts, people wore college sweatshirts –from Boston University and Boston College.

Barriers prevented us from walking down the cross streets of Exeter and Dartmouth towards Boylston Street where police and FBI gathered evidence.

In front of the Nike store, we joined others writing and drawing sentiments with chalk on the sidewalk.

We saw flowers and stuffed animals and therapy dogs at the eastern end of the Boylston Street makeshift memorial.

We read signs in front of cafes and stores offering free coffee and discounts to responders. We spoke to a man who lost his daughter on 9/11.

On Sunday, I ordered Boston Strong t-shirts for each member of our family. I’ve watched videos and read articles of people across the country and around the world routing for Boston, singing “Sweet Caroline,” and raising money for The One Fund Boston.

I was in Baltimore when Boston was bombed. Where were you?

Trip taken April 2013.

Picking Strawberries in August

April 16, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / 2 Comments

Green containers in hand, we probed carefully, searching for the reddest, the ripest and juiciest strawberries. In spite of the many berries which stained our lips and our tongues, it wasn’t long before the buckets were over flowing and it was time to pay.

We were at Swanton Berry Farmstand, an organic growing and union working farm located on Highway 1 near Pescadero, California.

Inside the farm store, we weighed our berries, calculated our cost, and paid on the honor system before sampling the many jams (blackberry, strawberry, loganberry, etc.) and purchasing berry truffles, a pie, and even berry lemonade.

We ate our own lunch on picnic tables inside the store, perused the many old photos and articles on farming and union labor decorating the walls, and played a few of the old wooden games (you know the one with the small silver ball and the maze and all the holes?).

In August we picked strawberries, but if you come another time of year, you can pick ollalaberries (June), blackberries (July), and kiwis (December).

Trip taken August 2012.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

April 11, 2013February 13, 2014 / Tara Taft / 3 Comments

My love of color is evidenced by the colors of the home in which I live. My house is red, my car is green, my bedroom is lilac, my bath is aqua.

As I travel, my eye is drawn to color. I found red in a hibiscus in Central Park, in the comb of a rooster in South Africa, in the shirt of a man on the 4th of July in Boston, in the strawberries and radishes at a farmers’ market in California. I found orange in the flames of a campfire in New England, in the wings of a butterfly on Cape Cod, in a tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, in a handpainted sign on the Brooklyn Bridge.

I found yellow in a meadow in the Sierras, on a New York taxi cab, in a candle in Frankfurt, and in bubbling macaroni and cheese. I found green in the leaves and on the wings of a bird, and on a girl’s sunglasses on the beach.

I found purple in the lilacs in front of Louisa May Alcott’s house and inside a hot air balloon. I found blue in the skies everywhere I went.