Happy Birthday Mrs. Jack...and Libby MacVeigh!

There are a number of things I miss about Boston. Aside from close friends, I miss the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The museum is a real Boston gem and is sometimes overshadowed by the neighboring Museum of Fine Arts and others.

During my last year in Boston, I was an information desk volunteer at the Gardner. I worked at the museum several times a month, helping visitors acclimate to the museum. My favorite part was interacting with them in the galleries because the questions almost always had to do with the history of the museum…which is what makes this institution so remarkable.

In a nutshell, the museum was founded in 1903 by a prominent Bostonian named Isabella Stewart Gardner. The picture to the left is a well-known portrait, painted by Anders Zorn and rests in the museum. She built a Venetian Palace in the Fenway area of Boston to house her vast collection of art. Upon her death in 1924, “Fenway Court” became the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Mrs. Jack, as she was known, stipulated that nothing could change in the museum. As such, the art in the galleries is placed in the same exact manner that she intended. Any violation of this agreement and the contents of the museum would be sold at auction with the proceeds going to Harvard University. Talk about a tough cookie.

Today is Mrs. Jack’s birthday – she would be 170 years young! It’s easy to remember as the museum’s courtyard always features hanging nasturtiums (her favorite flower) in April. I wish I could be there to pay homage to this remarkable woman but also to wander through the galleries and view one of Rembrandt’s self portraits, Titian’s famous Europa, and John Singer Sargent’s El Jaleo.

If you appreciate history and a good mystery, you may want to educate yourself about the famous “Gardner Heist” that took place 20 years ago. Thirteen works were stolen in the middle of the night, including several Rembrandts and a Vermeer, and have yet to be recovered. An excellent book was published last year called The Gardner Heist, written by a longtime investigator of the crime. Even if you aren’t an art aficionado, you will enjoy this book but will be dismayed that such priceless works are still missing. To learn more about Mrs. Jack herself, check out the aptly named Mrs. Jack, a wonderful biography on an amazing woman. To those who are in Boston, or are planning a visit, I wholeheartedly recommend a visit.

This all reminds me that I need to pay another visit to the Taft Museum here in Cincinnati. Like the Gardner, the Taft is a collection housed in a private residence and its existence is owed to former citizens who believed in the sharing of art and history with the public.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Jack. Thank you for leaving such a wonderful legacy.

Off to the races

This post is dedicated to the "Keeneland 5"


Saturday marked my third visit to Keeneland, a Thoroughbred racetrack located outside of Lexington, Kentucky. My past two visits were in October, so it was nice to be out there on a beautiful spring day.

Oh boy, is this place heaven or what! While the drive down from Cincinnati on I-75 leaves something to be desired (at least immediately outside of the city), the area around Lexington is wonderful...green hills, blue skies, and horses. Seeing as we sat in traffic for a good hour outside of the gates, I got the chance to really admire all of those things. And to watch planes departing and arriving at Lexington Blue Grass Airport. The wait was worth it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm not well-versed in horse racing...at all. I attempted to read some of the literature that they make available at the track to see if I could understand anything about racing and betting, but to no avail. So while I didn't make any bets (I know, I know), I did get to enjoy the sun, lots of Miller Lite, and delicious Kentucky Burgoo.

I marvel at what a big deal Keeneland is to Cincinnati residents. The Kentucky Derby is obviously big as well, and since Louisville is less than 2 hours away, that race is easy enough to get to. Speaking of which, New Englanders take note - do not try to pronounce Louisville phonetically. Instead, try saying "Looavuhl". Most towns in Massachusetts have crazy pronunciations (Ayer, Worcester, Billerica...to name a few), so we have absolutely no right to pass judgment!

While at Keeneland, we ran into several fellow Cincinnatians, proving that it can be quite the social event. Another interesting observation is the demographic. In the clubhouse area, you had men in suits and bow ties, coupled with ladies in dresses and hats. On the general admission side, you had the same...as well as a substantial amount of denim and miniskirts. Keeneland also has a great gift shop, and with the Derby in a few short weeks, there was a Christine A. Moore trunk show with hats galore. I tried on a big red hat, similar to the one below, but figured the price tag of over $500 was a bit out of my range. However, the hats are beautiful, and if I ever do go to Churchill Downs, I would consider purchasing one...at a lower price point.




So while I didn't walk away with some winnings or a big, fluffy hat, I can easily say that it was a fun way to spend a Saturday. Obviously, the company was infinitely more enjoyable:)

Next horse extravaganza: Foxfield 2010 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Giddyup!

Welcome to Tornado Season

Over the past week, I’ve scratched my head about what to write on Northeast Meets Midwest. Blogging is harder than I thought!

Today, at approximately 12:00 pm, I found my new post. Or rather, I HEARD my new post. At noon, the monthly tornado siren blared through the streets of my neighborhood, Mt. Lookout. These drills are deployed the first Wednesday of every month, and if you are curious to hear one, check out this site. Since I work from my home office, I have heard these alarms before, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I actually knew what they were. In previous months, I immediately looked out the window to see if a fire truck or ambulance was blazing up Delta Avenue. The emergency vehicle never appeared, so I continued with my day. Turns out I should pay attention.

To a native New Englander, tornadoes were almost a fictional type of occurrence with my only exposure to them being from movies like Twister and The Wizard of Oz. In fact, I had to Google tornado to determine the spelling of the plural form - was it TORNADOS or TORNADOES. It appears to be the latter. Instead of funnel clouds, we get hurricanes or nor’easters. In the Midwest, tornadoes do happen, and I’ve noticed that local news stations will often mention that “tornado warnings are in effect for the tri-state area”. Toto, we’re definitely not in New England anymore.

To find out the likelihood of a tornado visiting my neck of the woods, I did some research into the history of Cincinnati tornadoes. Apparently the area was hit by two devastating storms in 1974 and 1999. If we keep with that 25-year gap, we're up for a big one in 2024. Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about meteorology and tornado systems (obviously) so don't take my word for it.

While on the subject of weather, I saw that this weekend's forecast is promising. This bodes well for my tentative trip to Keeneland on Saturday aka horse racing heaven in Lexington, Kentucky. Like tornadoes, horse racing is a new thing for me, even though it certainly exists on the East Coast. Anyone heard of the Preakness or Saratoga Springs? I'm sure to have some good commentary and pictures after this weekend and hopefully a fatter wallet.