TO BE FRANK

The latest version of Mary Shelley’s 19^th century novel Frankenstein has finally been brought to the screen by Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro Gomez. I picked the adverb with an abundance of forethought. Director Gomez has said that he has waited almost all of his life to bring this story to the cinema and, there is little question, he should be the perfect guy to do so.

Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Hellboy, and Pinocchio were worthy precursors to the gothic film which viewers… as well as del Toro himself… might well suspect would spring from the mind’s eye of this gifted picture maker.

Was it worth the wait? Frankly, the answer is no. The first half is a bore and so much so that the second half… which is much better… cannot fully compensate for what went before.

What went wrong? Hard to know. Have we seen the filmization of this story too many times? Could be. In fairness, it is not as easy a thing to pull off as one might expect. Horror movie buffs are rebuffed by the empathic character that is the monster. The result…?... It just isn’t… nor has it ever been… a true horror story.

Man’s inhumanity to man? But is the thing… the “monster”... technically human? And just maybe none of this esoterica matters anyway. No matter how massive the sets, how glorious and mysterious the cinematography or the underscore of music, maybe… we… the picture-going audience… have stayed too long at the fair.

Mary Shelley’s story has stood the test of time, is one of the great yarns of semi-modern literature, but (frankly) we have been there and done that… and what’s more, Director Yorgos Lanthimos pretty much put a nail in this coffin with his award winning 2023 motion picture, Poor Things starring Emma Stone as “the creature.” It just may be impossible… to top Yorgos’ send-up of the genre.

That said, not all have gotten the message. Still to come is The Bride, directed by Maggie Gylllenhaal, based on the filmic concept, The Bride of Frankenstein.

Recently… and need I add not seen by me?…. Lisa Frankenstein, where a teenage girl flips the genre by creating a “mate” and then there is The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster.

About these, “… frankly, I don’t give a damn” is a suitable cinematic closer.

Besides the history of cinema, history itself has been of some more than casual interest for me even before taking it as my major as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California. Death by Lightning, a four-hour miniseries on Netflix, the story of the brief term in office of President James A. Garfield and his assassin Charles J. Guiteau, is well worth your attention.

I knew little about either of these true to life-characters, other than my parents having met at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles and my more than superficial interest in the Stephen Sondheim musical, Assassins, which … among others… featured “Charlie” Guiteau.

Death by Lightning, see it. It is an informative and satisfying four hours.

I turned on Mindhunter, vintage 2017-2019, because of actress Anna Torv, the Australian beauty who J.J. Abrams first brought to my attention in his fabulous ABC series, Fringe. That was a long time ago, but Ms. Torv is still a fine actress … that is when you finally, get to see her. Listed as one of the three leads, Ms. Torv barely makes an appearance until late in the series. The two male leads, Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany are fine but neither has the kind of star power it takes to navigate a series to anything resembling success.

I have yet to return to the Netflix series but I might. Ms. Torv’s role could get larger, the show might get a bit better, but time has sorta run out; Netflix canceled the psychological crime drama after two seasons (a total of 19 episodes).

Finally… I took a look at the latest (or, indicated in its title, last?) Mission Impossible-The Final Reckoning.  The movie runs for 169 minutes and for something like 130 of those not only was the mission impossible, but it was also not even understandable.

Somehow, in the waning moments of the movie, the whole thing came together.  I congratulated myself on making sense of much of the thing, despite feeling that before that moment of illumination, most of the film was being made up as it went along.

I am old enough to have watched Tom Cruise grow up on the screen. What a fantastic career. Is he finally getting a bit long in the tooth for the kind of derring-do required in this sort of motion picture?  I dunno. The whole thing is so unbelievable, so contrived, so convenient to whatever the screenwriter can imagine… why not have a 63-year-old do whatever the role requires? After all, they do warn you at the very outset… it’s…

IMPOSSIBLE.

 

Barney Rosenzweig

STAR BRIGHT

I took a brief leave of absence from my beautiful Island in South Florida to attend a 100th birthday party hosted by my long-time, very good pal, Joe Fuery, for his wife… Academy Award winning actress and director, Lee Grant.

I have known Joey and Lee since my early days in the Malibu(“movie”) Colony back in the late 1960s; we have been fast friends ever since.

Understand… Lee may be 100 but you would never guess it. She was on her feet throughout the entire party, greeting her guests (of which there were close to one for every one of her years), smiling, animated and enjoying the accolades and the company. There must be something to those weekly Yoga classes she continues to enthusiastically attend.

I want to honor Lee as some of her semi-contemporary fellow celebs who were in attendance did …. such as Michael Douglas, Blythe Danner, Joy Behar, Tony Shalhoub, Marlo Thomas, Sharon Gless, Forbes 50 over 50 recipient Dawn Lafreeda, Dinah Manoff, Ron Rifkin, and Brenda Vacarro to name those I know.

Not exactly the Taylor Swift crowd, but it was an extremely warm and loving one. Personally, I am looking forward to the 101st in 2026 but while waiting, I took in a few shows on Broadway.

Anyone who saw Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway as part of the original cast of Wicked would know that before them on that stage was an authentic Broadway star. A less successful Broadway revival of On the 20th Century would confirm Chenoweth’s stardom, in the unlikely event there were any doubters out there in the audience.

Ms. Chenoweth is now back on Broadway in the title role of The Queen of Versailles. She is taking no prisoners. It does notmatter, until you think on it later… like, maybe the next day… that the musical play itself is not worthy of her. What could be? The star simply sweeps you away in number after number with her voice, her comedic turns, and her own physicality. She can do it all and she does.

I saw the show in previews and will hold… sort of… to my policy of not reviewing shows that have yet to have their official premiere. 

By the time this review is read by you, opening night of The Queen of Versailles may well be part of Broadway history… and I suspect it will be that part of the historical record indicating an early closing… a show somehow misguided, unworthy of the effort it took for a lot of talented people to bring it all together.

Not because The Queen of Versailles is lame… it is not. But because it simply is a bad idea for a musical. An opera, maybe. But that is a vastly different genre with a lot of different requirements. This tale of American greed, excessive opulence,and Trumpian-like poor taste, is not… in my view… something American audiences want to see… either on the stage or in the mirror. 

And, yes, if the title sounds familiar, it is based on the documentary of the same name. It is a true story and I am sorry to say, all too much like the America in which we now live. You may stream this documentary on Amazon Prime, Roku, and other such venues.

Maybe Happy Ending is something else again. It is everything The Queen of Versailles is not. Very human (despite the lead characters being robots), very loving, very tasteful, and extremely hopeful. A real feel-good evening in the theatre which, for assorted reasons, I put off seeing for far too long. You might remember, or know, that Maybe Happy Ending won sixTonys earlier this year, including Best Musical. It was one of the few Broadway hits that I ignored at the time, so this was catch up and I am so grateful that I did just that. 

It is a wonderful concept, beautifully realized in the writing, and perfectly directed. There are moments where I was one of many in the Belasco Theatre audience where gasping was the only response imaginable. Not at the acting of the two perfectly charming leads… but at the way the thing on stage at that moment was written by Will Aronson and Hue Park and brought to life by director Michael Arden and musical supervisor Deborah Abramson. 

Do you like irony? Mr. Arden also directed The Queen of Versailles. Well, both explore the human condition and my “issue” with his latest choice is just that… his choice. Mr. Arden, again, did a very fine job… and Ms. Chenoweth might be happy to testify to that very fact. I just think it is not the kind of show that enough folks will pay Broadway prices to see. A note about that piece of box-office speculation: I take no pleasure in attempting to predict what people will or will not pay for as it has been demonstrably proven… more than once… that this is not one of the things I do best.

Then there is the revival of CHESS at New York’s Imperial Theatre. It is also in the final stages of previews, but I will go so far as to say I found it loud and long. Too loud by a lot, and way too long. And, yes, you former teenagers who are still young enough to remember such things… this is the Tim Rice rock musical with a new book and new music… I think… but can’t really testify to that in that there is absolutely nothing in those nearly three hours that one can hum. 

The good news? Aaron Tveit is one of the trio of leads. The Tony Award Winner for Best Actor in a Musical (Moulin Rouge!) first came to my attention via the unique limited TV series, Brain Dead… created by the same folks who brought us the terrific, The Good Wife and The Good Fight. If you like political satire, Brain Dead just might be for you… sadly it is pre-Trump but even back in the day there was plenty to make fun of in our nation’s capital. You can find the limited series on Apple TV.

Fans of the TV series, Glee, might well enjoy the female lead, Lea Michele’s turn in the “musical” (quotation marks are intentional). I liked her as Fanny Brice in the recent revival of Funny Girl, but not enough to put her in the same league with her predecessor in that role or with Kristin Chenoweth in anything.

A wrap up by way of the movies. Relay is a tight, little movie you can see in the theatre or on Apple TV or Amazon Prime. I will say no more except to counsel that you not read any reviews before you see it so as to avoid “spoilers.” Let the film surprise you.

F1:The Movie: is about Formula One racing. Something I knew nothing about before seeing this film and pretty much sums up my knowledge of this kind of activity even after spending over two and a half hours watching the thing. The surprise is that this really isn’t as bad as it may sound. Brad Pitt stars in the movie and he is an authentic/likeable movie star. Sometimes that is enough. This is one of those times.

Superman is a bloated, stupid waste of time that can be seen… if you are into self-flagellation… on HBO Max or maybe at a theatre near you. One nice note in the Superman flick is Rachel Brosnahan who plays Lois Lane. She is kinda marvelous and the movie’s only bright spot. You should remember her in the title role of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

As was once said by movie icon, Porky Pig… in any number of films better than this latest rendition of Superman…

“That’s all Folks!”

 

Barney Rosenzweig

FOLLOW-UP

In my previous “Notes,” I fear I gave short shrift to a very special series as well as some extremely talented folks. Let meattempt to fix that by reiterating that the Netflix series, The Diplomat, is more than worth your time… it is all but essential viewing. It is smart, timely, dramatic, suspenseful and there is an art to this fictional drama that makes its truths close to today’s realities.

In writing about The Diplomat on Netflix let me also make clear that I am not espousing any virtues … or anything else… to the series with the same name on Amazon Prime. I have not seen it and so have no comment.

The series I do go on about… what? For the third time? Is the one starring Keri Russel and Rufus Sewell while being written and produced by Debora Cahn.

The two leads should be more than familiar to television audiences… especially Ms. Russel who came to the forefront with the series The Americans that lasted several seasons. Midway through the series, West Wing alumni Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford are added to the ensemble. Both are also well known to all who pay attention to this medium. 

What should be noted is the pedigree of the writer/producer of The Diplomat, Ms. Debora Cahn. Some of her credits includeThe West Wing, Homeland and Fosse/Verdon. Need I say more? I was in show business for almost the entire last half of the 20thcentury and would gladly commit a serious crime… as in whom do I have to kill?... in exchange for having those shows on my resume.

Cahn’s ability to represent male/female relationships with incredible verisimilitude, especially true in The Diplomat, as well as Homeland and Fosse/Verdon, is something worthy of study by any would-be writer.

There are a total of 22 episodes of The Diplomat… season three consists of but 8 of those. You should really start from the beginning with season one as the story line is continuous through all three seasons. 

(A brief digression of self-interest: in fairness to my comparatively meager career… while Ms. Cahn luxuriates in six to eight episodes over three seasons… we made 26 episodes per season of Daniel Boone and at least 22 episodes a year on Cagney & Lacey with more than sixteen per season on both The Trials of Rosie O’Neill and Christy. I just needed to say that. Thanks for the indulgence.)

Onward: I have started to watch The Empress, also on Netflix. It is a very lush production based on the life of Elisabeth of Austria and worth your time despite the mediocre dubbing job by a typically ordinary group of English-speaking actors who do this sort of thing on the cheap. 

Why the refusal to present these dramas in their original language coupled with subtitles I do not understand. Babylon Berlin was ruined for me when, after season one, the powers that be decided America had to have an English speaking version and eliminated the voices of the very good German actors in favor of the all but amateur group of American players who do this sort of work.

I have written before how the dubbing of voices in Europe is an art form, cultivated and developed for decades by the French, Italian and Germans. Some of the better paid thespians in those countries do this kind of work and their voices are associated with the American actors they voice on foreign screens. Not so here in the US. It is only recently … and mostly because of Netflix and other such distributors of foreign made films that have become so popular… that a marketplace has developed. The art form lags behind. I have written about this before… ‘nuff said.

Regardless of the dubbing, I think you might enjoy The Empress. I have seen only a few episodes… episode number one being (by far) the weakest. Stick with this show. I will and I am finding it worth my attention. It is an interesting time with what was a once powerful royal family of the Austrian Empire led by Emperor Franz Joseph the First. For the musical folk out there: Franz Liszt and Johann Strauss are nicely represented as well.

The Empress is a not often told story of a fascinating time and an interesting couple… not Debora Cahn interesting…. but still worth spending a bit of time in their royal presence.

 

Barney Rosenzweig

The King and I

 

The King and I

The Diplomat is back. Season three has been released by Netflix and I feel confident in once again recommending this outstanding on-going drama…one of the best I have seen in a long while.

The political intrigue and duplicity that is so much a part of this show comes to us in the middle of a real-life shutdown of the US government, armed troops in the streets of American cities, the prosecution of perceived enemies of the state, and the destruction of the White House at the whim of a single individual who says he is not a King, but… I dunno, what would he do so different if he were… demand reimbursement in the hundreds of millions for legal action taken against him when he was a civilian, take in even more … maybe billions worth of gifts creating a situation where an apology is due President Warren Harding and Edward L. Doheny for making such a fuss about the Teapot Dome scandal, issue pardons to the guilty in exchange for their fealty? Oops. Trump has done all that. And more.

Wondering why I have not seen more of what else is on television and the streaming channels? There is, of course… in my particular case… the depressive aspects of being a USC football fan, but as I mature, that malaise rarely goes beyond a weekend. There, too, is the inordinate amount of time to get my office back in working order from the water damage that occurred during my recent trek to the Berkshires, but… in reality… the fact is that it is simply very hard to break away from the news of the day for any work of fiction.

Gilmore Girls supplied an easy, relaxing escape from all that is currently going on, but I have now seen all 153 episodes (HULU and Netflix) and though I continually and wholeheartedly recommend this outstanding series to you all… I have been there and done that.

Difficult though it can be, let me strongly urge a lesson in citizenship, if not important television. Watch the news. Ideally a bit of Fox, a bit of MSNBC and maybe something in between like network news coverage… any network. Try to keep informed. Write a congressman, try to communicate your views to those in power, to your friends, your neighbors. These are interesting, if not spectacular, times. I know it can be exhausting, but someday, someone is going to ask you… as they do my generation… where were you when Joseph McCarthy demagogically commanded the attention of a nation? What did you think when President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy were all assassinated within a few years of each other? What was your reaction to Watergate?

It is our generation’s version of “What did you do in the war, Daddy?”

Think about that. Think about what you might say to your grandchildren, who by then may no longer live in a democracy, when they come to you with such a question.

What did you do? What have you done?

 

Barney Rosenzweig

 

FAMILY TEXT

These notes of mine have more than one outlet… and, on at least one there are “requests” from a publisher not to write anything political. I have tried to be okay with that, which is harder than it may sound to some of you.

I am a political animal. I would point to any of my television series to solidify that argument. I occasionally revisit The Trials of Rosie O’Neill on Amazon Prime and despite the more than thirty years that have passed since I produced that CBS series, I continue to take some pride in just how current the discourse in that show is on matters political.

My recently completed memoir, to be released next year by McFarland publishers, has more than a chapter dealing with the politics I introduced to viewers in the American South through the Daniel Boone television series on NBC. It should go without saying that Cagney & Lacey, my series on CBS, still ranks right up there as strong politically on any number of subjects… especially those dealing with women in the workplace.

I am older now, albeit not much wiser. I just don’t want any trouble, so when a friendly publisher asks that I refrain from writing about a certain subject, I do my best to be a good guy and comply.

I am guessing that now that our President has become the leading candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize that restriction just might have eased a bit… but I have no desire to climb on that band wagon either, even though I acknowledge the accomplishment and pray that it all goes well and lasts a long, long time.

No, it is not peace in the Middle East that brings me to my word processor. It is the text message I got late last night from my grandson. Alex Rosenzweig is one of (if not) the leading undergraduate poets at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. He is also an intern at a publishing house in NYC and he texted:

“An author whose book came from the publishing house where I currently intern just had to flee the country. He wrote a bookabout Antifa and teaches at Rutgers University. Apparently, the Turning Point USA chapter at the school doesn’t like his work and the conservative backlash to his presence on campus recently became too overwhelming. Some people at Melville House (the publisher) have received death threats or calls for resignation. I’m all good for now but wanted to update you all. Very scary times for the humanities but I am happy to work for a house that considers itself an activist press in these weird, weird times. Sending love from NY and go Dodgers.

My grandson then continued the text with a link to a Washington post, Oct. 8 article.

My granddaughter, the offspring of another of my daughters,answered with a thank you for sharing and then I wrote “please continue to inform us of the goings on… stay brave and strong and, as always, be smart.” 

Alex’s mother wrote “scary times. Your generation is gonna have a lot of work… thx God you’re all smart and awake to it.”

Another granddaughter chimed in, “thank you for sharing. Miss you very much. Proud of your brain always.”

My wife added, “Be safe, my sweetheart.” And my eldest child added, “Wow, it’s one thing to be living in interesting times, but we are in just plain ol’ bizzarro times: Thank you for sharing this, Alex. Hang in there and continue the good work.”

As a dad and granddad, I got some pleasure out of the way my family all came together over this piece of news from our youngest member and, of course, I was also pleased to note the addendum coming from Alex:

“And with all the press coverage has also come an influx of support for Melville House and the author himself. So, with all the bad there is also good.”

Amen to that.

Postscript to all of you out there. As stated, I am an old guy who isn’t at all happy with our current administration no matter what Mr. Trump does or does not pull off in the Middle East. I confess to being just even handed enough (but no more than that) to wish our President well in that regard. As for all the other stuff on his and his cabinet’s 2025 agenda, I continue to be a non-believer and very disappointed that my traditional outlet, the Democratic Party, is currently in the hands of too many weak-kneed consultants whose specialty is that they write great concession speeches.

This all began with a text about a book making some reference,or references, to something called Antifa… right? I know little to nothing about this…. “organization” (?) but do have one question: isn’t Antifa simply short for anti-fascist? 

And who, may I ask, is not that?

 

Barney Rosenzweig

THE LONG WAIT

The trip to the Berkshires and back softened the blow of my having come to the end of revisiting Gilmore Girls (Netflix and Hulu). Seven seasons…153 hour-long episodes… of the best kind of network television, and now having returned from my travels, finding myself wishing for more. These folks…Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino… really know how to create and maintain a show. (Note: present tense is deliberate, since the creators went on to make Bunheads, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the current Etoile.)

Once more in front of my home television screen I am (once again) revisiting familiar territory. The Morning Show (Apple TV) is back in its 4^th season which, so far, is almost as good as season three (a high bar and one hard to match with so much time passing between seasons). Now that Netflix has season 7 part 1 of Outlander I am back looking at that well made show, with admittedly less interest since having to wait for what seemed like years since the end of season 6. Oh…wait… it nearly was years, having completed its initial run in 2024.

Outlander is still lush, brilliantly cast, and obviously well produced but the long hiatus has taken a toll. I am not at all sure what the folks behind this kind of distribution philosophy are thinking.

I have looked again at Slow Horses… season two. Good stuff from the UK, worth your while, and something I am comfortable recommending though I am aware it will not be everyone’s cup of tea. I cannot say the same for my return to Amazon Prime and Black Snow. If I had kept proper notes, I am sure I would not have completed the first season (which I am none too sure I had).

Task is the new HBO mystery miniseries. They could have just as easily called it Chore, for that is what I felt it was to watch. Some, I am sure, will like this; “tedious” would be my one-word review. For the PBS series Unforgotten, that one word is … wait for it… forgettable.

One of the major disappointments of this group is the Australian based series, Newsreader (AMC+). Ever since Fringe, the long-ago Network series from the extremely talented J.J. Abrams, I have been a fan of actress Anna Torv. Sorry to report that even at her best she would have had trouble carrying this mediocre, ill-advised, venture. I am even sorrier to come forward with the news that in this, Ms. Torv is far… very far… from her best.

And then there is the Netflix miniseries, House of Guinness. One of the things one learns, early on, about the famous Irish dry stout made in the United Kingdom, is that it “does not travel well.” That is, you should not expect the stuff to taste as good in the US as it does in the UK.

Perhaps that is what has happened here. The show looks good, the sets are impressive, the photography first rate. The cast is respectable enough, and the dialogue occasionally pithy. That should be more than enough, but this Dublin answer to Downton Abbey does not match up very well with that series, let alone with Succession, the American 21^st century version.

Steven Knight, who wrote Peaky Blinders, was also the scribe on House of Guinness. I disagreed with several of his choices… especially the structuring of the first episode, where he blew through an entire season’s worth of valuable/potentially dramatic background exposition in minutes. Clearly his choice to make and not mine but had we been teamed together on this project there would have been some serious debating about this opening episode before anything was committed to film. And, trust me, those fights would have been trivial compared to the one we would have had about Mr. Knight’s decision on how to end the series. Not only did he fail to match Succession in the overall, but for him to think he could pull off an ending a la The Sopranos, which even the fabulous David Chase had trouble defending, elevates hubris to a whole new level.

Watch House of Guinness but get your expectation level set first. It is not at all as tasty as it might have been in Dublin.

 

Barney Rosenzweig

STEP BY STEP

 

Despite my nearly 90 years, I still look good in my navy blue Kiton suit… especially when I complement it with either a pink or pale green open necked shirt by Bugatchi. The cynic might then well add, “yeah, but who doesn’t?”

Alright, I will concede that, but still, I think I am doing okay…especially for a guy whose rolodex (remember those?) contains about 85% dead folks.

I set up this preamble for part two of my Notes regarding the automobile trek to New England and back because of an overriding (no pun intended) reality check, concluding that I am simply too old for this. One month on the road and I am exhausted.

The whole thing was an ill-thought-out mistake. I had just finished my book, along with a year that involved three separate surgeries on the same hernia with three separate surgeons. I needed a holiday. My friend Renee Taylor was previewing a new play in the Berkshires; what better way to celebrate her and to relax than a leisurely drive along the Eastern Seaboard, with spa visits at known-to-me… as well as new-to-me… resorts?

Never mind that I live on an Island paradise with a perfectly fine spa,  as well as a pristine beach, replete with a staff of long-time employees who seem to take pleasure in meeting my every desire. I would eschew all of that for the open road.

It would appear I have learned little since being born in 1937.

What about “bloom where you were planted,” the grass not always being “greener” …. “not seeing the forest for the trees” … the best things in life are not only free, but right under your nose?

The second half of the trip… southward from the Berkshires to Miami would be driven on an inland route rather than the Atlantic Coast traversed on the way north. Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the Highlands of North Carolina, simply gorgeous country.

The trip was, by most standards, wonderful … but at 29.5 days… simply too long. There was also the matter of the stairs.

The Crossroads Inn of North Carolina was an interesting stop, provided you are into quaint. Built sometime in the early 19^th century, is long hand meaning no elevator, along with stairs that no 21^st century building code would even consider, let alone permit.

Steep, like you cannot believe… and long… with no intermediate landing between floors. When those carpenters in 1820 took their hammers to wood, they were not contemplating an old guy such as myself walking to another floor. The literal bottom of the second floor intercepts the Bannister that would normally help one up and down those stairs in the first place. And “up” is by far the easier part. I opted to pass on dinner and spend the night in my upstairs digs rather than try to navigate any non-essential downward journey on that stairway.

You want to complain about government regulations? Try navigating an over two-hundred-year-old stairway built in the land of the too free. You may change your point of view about such things.

Primland… an Auberge Resort… was next and it is a beauty. A great lodge on 12,000 acres where fly fishing, golf, skeet shooting, archery, horseback riding, tennis, bird watching, great scenery along with a not-too-bad spa, are all available for guests. The last two were my destination points, but the majority of the folks in residence had a more active lifestyle in mind. That, along with classes on how to make Bourbon cocktails and sampling local Moonshine, can fill out a day nicely. And, good news, there is an elevator… unless you want to go to the observatory. Even then, the steps were designed in this century.

Have you been to Blowing Rock, North Carolina? A visit to the Westglow is well worth doing. Ms. Jennifer Hale is the Director of Hotel Operations and a lovely hostess of this historic Manor House built on 11 acres that overlook the very beautiful Grandfather Mountain. The food is top notch… the views sublime… the staircase wide and sweeping with big rails. I presume by the time it was built (1917) for the famed artist and writer Elliot Daingerfield as his summer home, some learning had been accomplished in the area of safer stairs. Either that or old Mr. Daingerfield recognized a thing or two about approaching his 60^th birthday. Whatever, the place was lovely and ultra comfortable. Maybe I should have extended that visit… you think?

Old Edwards Inn is the high point of the Highlands of North Carolina. It has been a favorite of mine for years and was to be the last of the primary destination points of the trip. The three-story brick structure that was first built in the 19^th century, improved and enlarged in the 1930s, is the centerpiece of the town and its spa is well known throughout the state. The food is good, the service first rate, the Dove Bars are free and the only problem is too many people have found out about it.

The Old Edwards Inn has become so successful over the years that management keeps buying more and more real estate and building more rooms. The latest ones are blocks away from the original building as well as from the heart of town. The new rooms are nice (some-to-most would say nicer, but not me). I like the camaraderie of the old building and I love the easy access to the free Dove Bars (oh, yeah, and the town).

The problem in the old building is, of course, those ancient stairways. Not as ancient as those constructed long before any reasonable building code was put into place but plenty steep for these old bones.

I had been through enough. After several miles of the curviest mountain road anyone is likely to encounter this side of the Amalfi Coast, I wended my way home by the Gulf route… saw a bit of Tampa and promised myself that one day soon… when/if I recover from this journey… I will revisit that part of my adopted state, along with St. Petersburg and Sarasota about which I have some curiosity.

Whenever it is that I decide to go… it will be a while from now… it will take a lot less than 29.5 days… and you can take all bets that all the hotels to which I give my business will have at least one elevator.

 

Barney Rosenzweig