pictures taken at the  handsome elevated restaurant in the lobby of union station in washington d.c. once, in the 1980s i was having a drink with a friend, mark steitz, who had been director of opposition research at the democratic national committee. he bumped into a woman he knew and they both looked delighted.  it was dee dee myers, president clinton's press secretary.  mark's, a pretty well connected guy, who was even friendly with pamela harriman!

other pics at the soho grand, the woolworth building and tiny's in tribecca.  photography is verboten in the woolworth but luckily i started taking pictures before i found out.  i had a french 75 in the bar at the soho grand monday night (note- unless you specify they make it with cognac here, not gin.) the atmosphere was very polite and no one was playing with their devices or taking any pictures so i felt inhibited to photograph, but i did take one in the elevator

hotels, bloody marys and french 75s.

the cool lobby at the ace- simultaneously grand and cozy.  the unusual house recipe bloody mary includes carrot juice- one of the odder ones i've had, but tasty. good french 75 too.

sunday evening i stopped in at the bowery hotel.  things were quiet so they seated me in the lobby, usually reserved for hotel guests, and they gave me a sunday times from the desk!

last week i was invited to an event at the venerable parker house hotel in boston.  unfortunately i couldn't make it. it was a brunch my friend john zindar, an international business consultant, orchestrated for a trade delegation from latvia, including the prime minister!  apparently i would also have been welcomed at an evening reception for them- i like stuff like that, oh well...

i did once spend a week at the parker house. more about that here.

and pictures of a stay at the bowery hotel here.

beautiful home. cambridge massachusetts. deb colburn.

photos taken spur of the moment with available light in the home of designer deb colburn, cambridge massachusetts. i'm exploiting my friendship with her to make my blog seem cool! it's no exaggeration to describe her as an influential arbiter of taste, and here one can see why.  and this wonderful home is actually an airbnb!

deb's retail store: nomad

deb's world travel cultural tours: art and soul tours