Manitoga is the home and woodland garden of Russell Wright (1904-1976), who in the mid 20th century was one of America’s most prominent product designers. He is best known for his colorful American Modern dinnerware, which manufactured between 1939 and 1959, is still America’s most widely sold ceramic dinnerware.
The pitchers also make great vases.
In 1942, Wright and his wife Mary (1905-1952) bought an abandoned quarry and logging site. Over the next 34 years they transformed it, building a modern home on the edge of the quarry and redirecting a stream, so that it filled the quarry making a beautiful water hole for swimming. It reminded us of Frank Lloyd Wright’s (no relation) masterpiece, Fallingwater, with its Japanese and organic influences, and the way it sat in perfect harmony within the surrounding trees and water. Here are some photos.
The Storm King Art Center is a 500 acre outdoor museum in New York’s Hudson Valley. It is reminiscent of Gibbs Farm in New Zealand with its massive sculptures dotted within beautiful countryside. In fact, we noticed a number of works by the same sculptors that we saw at Gibbs Farm, including works by Maya Lin and Andy Goldsworthy. Here are some of the sculptures we saw along the way.
Mahatma (Mark di Suvero) 1978-79The Arch (Alexander Calder) 1975E=MC2 (Mark di Suvero) 1996-97Endless Column (Tal Streeter) 1968Three Legged Buddha (Zhang Yuan) 2007Us bald guys gotta stick togetherSuspended (Menashe Kadishman) 1977Suspended (Menashe Kadishman) 1977LinienLand (Alicja Kwade) 2018Storm King Wavefield (Maya Lin) 2007-08Storm King Wavefield (Maya Lin) 2007-08Adonai (Alexander Liberman) 1970-71Adonai (Alexander Liberman) 1970-71Spheres (Grace Knowlton) 1973-75Lookout (Martin Puryear) 2023Lookout (Martin Puryear) 2023Storm King Wall (Andy Goldsworthy) 1997-98Storm King Wall (Andy Goldsworthy) 1997-98City on the High Mountain (Louise Nevelson) 1983Frog Legs (Mark di Suvero) 2002
There is an interesting story about the following sculpture, Adam, by Alexander Liberman. It started out life in Washington DC where it was located outside the Corcoran Gallery. The Corcoran is located near the White House and at some stage the sculpture caught the interest of then President Richard Nixon. In fact, he was so outraged by the sculpture that he demanded it be relocated to the less visible nearby Haynes Point. It stayed there safely away from Nixon’s disapproving eyes until being relocated to Storm King a few years later.
Adam (Alexander Liberman) 1970
And finally, one of the sculptures, actually raced in the America’s Cup. Following plans by American pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein, students from the Rhode Island School of Design painted the boat, Young America, which went on to race in the 1995 America’s Cup. As a boat, it looked better than it sailed, and was swept by New Zealand’s Black Magic in five races, who took the Cup away from the United States for only the second time in 144 years. After retiring from competition, it was donated to Storm King.
Our good friends, Dale and Joe, invited us to stay with them for a few days in Connecticut. They live in the quaint seaside hamlet of Stony Creek. It would have been easy to waste the days away sitting in the beautiful home that Joe designed and looking out over the marsh to the old barn across the way.
But they had other plans for us and soon we were off to the nearby Berkshires, a range of hills in northwestern Connecticut and western Massachusetts (which by the way may be the two most difficult states to spell of the fifty that make up the United States). Our destination was Great Barrington, which reminded us somewhat of the small mountain towns we have visited in Colorado. It was a spectacular day and the leaves were turning, so it could not have been more stunning.
Joe and DaleGreat Barrington
Just outside Great Barrington is The Guthrie Center. Situated in an old church, the Center was founded in 1991 by Arlo Guthrie to honor his parents, Woody and Marjorie. It contains a room of family memorabilia, a kitchen to provide free community meals, and a performing space.
The Center
Woody Guthrie is one of America’s greatest folk singers and was a major influence on more recent musicians such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He was also a prominent socialist and anti-fascist, famously playing with a sticker on his guitar that stated “This machine kills fascists”.
Although he is most famous for his songs, he also wrote a couple of great memoirs and semi-biographical novels. Most well known is Bound for Glory, written in 1943 and recounting his early life. One of Mal’s all-time favorite books is Seeds of Man: An Experience Lived and Dreamed which is based on a trip that Woody made as a teenager through Texas in 1931.
In true Guthrie fashion there were some friendly old timers hanging out and jamming on their guitars.
One of Mal’s favorite childhood memories is listening to his older sister’s Arlo Guthrie album, Alice’s Restaurant. It is funny talking blues record which tells how Arlo is arrested for dumping rubbish illegally which ultimately endangers his suitability for the military draft during the Vietnam War. The restaurant, located in the nearby town of Stockbridge, is no longer owned by Alice, although she is still alive (Coincidentally, Joe’s sister-in-law also once owned the restaurant, after Alice sold it). Although the church that contains the Center was later bought by Arlo, at one stage Alice owned it and lived there with her husband Ray and various bohemian friends.
Alice with friends. She is in the middle of the photo leaning over the table. Arlo is holding the guitar.
Built between 1828 and 1850, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) extends alongside the Potomac river for about 185 miles from Georgetown in Washington DC to Cumberland, Maryland. It was built to transport coal and other goods but quickly became obsolete with the advent of railroads. It is now used by hikers and bikers. On a beautiful Autumn day we joined our friends Sarah and Carrie and Carrie’s dog Oscar for a walk from Old Angler’s Inn in Potomac to Great Falls. It is a beautiful hike and along the way we saw herons and ducks and turtles, as well as views of the river that made you think that you could easily be out west or in New England.
Sarah, Lauren and Carrie with Oscar looking on
Great Falls is a popular spot for expert kayakers like Sarah. She showed us the various falls and rapids that she and her friends run.
At the center of the next photo is the infamous Charlie’s hole. One of Sarah’s friends was dragged into it and tragically never seen again. As Sarah explained it, if a kayaker ends up going down between the two rocks at the center of the photo, they will probably never come out.
Quite often during our walks, we pass a car that we photograph and add to the blog as classic car of the day. Today’s post has nothing but classic cars, because it was the Belmont Shore car show, where the main drag that runs through the Shore is closed off and lined with a huge variety of cars and trucks. Everything from massive army vehicles to diminutive minis. And because this is Southern California, there were more than a few low-riders. Here is just a small sampling.
The aptly named Peninsula neighborhood in Long Beach, separates the ocean from Alamitos Bay. It is only a couple of hundred yards wide but stretches for over a mile. There is a boardwalk running in front of the houses that line the ocean side. Unfortunately, the nearby port makes swimming on Long Bay beach only for the foolhardy.
As we walked along we could see the usual lineup of cargo ships waiting to dock at the largest container port on America’s west coast. Along with the waiting ships, we could also see one of Long Beach’s four Astronaut Islands. This one is named Chaffee Island for the astronaut Roger Chaffee who was selected as one of the astronauts to fly on Apollo 1. Tragically, he and the two other crew members died during a pre-mission test when the command module caught fire. Although the island looks like a beautiful tropical isle lined with palm trees, it is in fact man made and the trees disguise what is in fact a rig drilling for oil from the large reservoir that lies beneath Long Beach.
There is an interesting variety of houses lining the shore ranging from this little shack.
To this large modern home right next door.
On the bay side of the peninsula, the water is swimmable and there were a number of people out enjoying the sunshine.
The houses also appeared, perhaps not surprisingly, a little less weather beaten.
Today we have not one, not two, but three classic cars. Two American
La Jolla is a seaside suburb of San Diego. We drove down the coast from Carlsbad to take a look around and meet up with friends who live down there. We started out by having lunch at a New Zealand themed restaurant called Queenstown. According to the waiter, one of the owners is married to a kiwi. It is part of a chain of restaurants in the area with New Zealand themes, with names such as Raglan and Dunedin. To be perfectly honest, Mal’s vege pie wasn’t quite up to New Zealand standard and Lauren was less than impressed with her long black (a New Zealand version of an Americano, but stronger).
After lunch we strolled down to the ocean where a lot of people were out enjoying their Sunday.
The lifeguard station
It wasn’t just people enjoying the sunshine. Pelicans lined the cliffs.
And the seals were enjoying playing in the surf. They were having a great time body surfing in on the waves and being rolled up onto the beach before swimming straight back out to catch another wave.
In a continuing theme, classic car of the day is another pickup truck.
Carlsbad is a beach town between Los Angeles and San Diego. It is named after the Bohemian town of Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary in Czechia). Coincidentally, we visited Karlovy Vary a few years back and can tell you that looks nothing like Carlsbad. Apparently, the connection is that both towns are known for the quality of their water and both were spa towns. Nowadays, Carlsbad is more well known for its Legoland amusement park. We skipped Legoland but Mal did enjoy some body surfing in the Pacific which was surprisingly warm and inviting.
One of the great things about being on the west coast and having endless sunny days, is the quality of the sunsets. We had a beautiful walk along the beach with our son, Jake, and daughter-in-law, Kylie. A perfect way to finish a perfect day.
Today, we wandered into the adjacent neighborhoods of Bluff Park and Bluff Heights. 1st Street appears to be where Long Beach’s rich built their homes, lined as it is with large and ornate homes.
Further back from the ocean in Bluff Heights, the homes are less majestic. There also a number of small apartment blocks, many of which are in deco or mid-century modern style.
The classic cars of the day are these two lowrider pickup trucks.
It is always nice to have a spare, identical (albeit somewhat smaller) house on hand in case of emergency.
We thought that this church was more colorful than usual but then realized it is now a Cambodian Buddhist Temple.
We passed this strangely geometric topiary.
And this beautiful fragrant Frangipani.
Before long we were back in Belmont Heights.
This resident sitting on her front porch freaked us out a little with her bright red hair and strange stillness.
During our walks we have passed by some beautiful old doors and gates.
Mal and Lauren 