July Rundown: Our Favorites of The Month

(Photo Credits: uNoobia, Borealis Basecamp, LiveAnacostia and Pinterest.)

This summer is flying by fast. Memorial Day, Juneteenth and The Fourth of July came and went just like your first stimulus check. Time moves when you’re making up for all the traveling you wanted to do last year that never happened. With this first installment of The Rundown, our series of weekly posts that introduce you to all the flavors, black business, cultural stories, the trending locations in black travel and much more, we go all over the map. We get you ready for your own personal star show, head back to sun-drenched Aruba, check out Nubian Hueman and see how running with no shoes won Abebe Bikila the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But first, aren’t you hungry? Good. We are, too. Let’s go get something to eat in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok.

Street Eats: Thai Banana Pancake

There are many flavors synonymous with the food of Thailand. With its national menu defined by a mix of curries that merge spicy with sweet over noodles or jasmine rice, the list of desserts often goes unnoticed with the endless choices of seafood usually getting all the much-deserved attention. Roti Gluay to citizens and expatriates living there, Thai Banana Pancakes to visitors, is one of them. This is a perfect late-night, after-bar-hopping treat that can be found on any street corner or high-end restaurant in Bangkok. Cartstand chefs saute the generously-buttered stretched rolled dough in an oiled wok until a flaky golden brown on one side. Chopped banana and egg are whisked together and placed in the middle and disappear as it becomes enveloped in the dough. Once crisp, the square is sliced into bite-sized squares and covered with a spread of Nutella and drizzled sweet confections milk and melted chocolate. The end result is an inverted crispy slice of French Toast with banana presented like strudel. Thailand never ceases to amaze. 

Watch a professional at work.

Crazy Stays: Borealis Basecamp

Northern Lights in the sky coloring a dark Alaskan night at Borealis Basecamp. Looks crazy, right? (All photos courtesy of AirBnB.com)

The heat of summer makes us want to write a love letter to the wintry cold we suddenly miss. Temperatures inching towards triple-digits force many to the frozen food section even if nothing in the aisle when only produce and bread was on their grocery lists. Escape from the sun most craved during winter months can be too much to take. Here’s a suggested hideaway from the raising thermostat--an igloo. Yes. The frigid accommodations seen at Borealis Basecamp in Fairbanks, Alaska gives new meaning to being ‘iced-out’ in the summertime. Equipped with the amenities fit for a lodger who's looking for freezer-style relief from the heat that can melt the paint on the wall. Perfect for that romantic baecation or a solo getaway. Your best bet for an experience like this is to start booking now for an end-of-the-summer experience once the lodging season begins. Nestled up in the Alaskan chill under the celestial lights Aurora Borealis is definitely a better option than enduring the heat of late August and steam of early September.    

Hot Destination: Aruba

Just some of the the colors seen at Aruba’s celebration of Carnival. (Courtesy of IslandExperience.com)

Aruba is known for its sandy beaches that scenically extend for miles and colorful architecture that turns streets into corridors of pastels. However, muted hues of paint aren’t the only colors that have come to represent this sunny island of The Antilles in the Southern Caribbean Sea. The Afro-Aruban community is the foundation of this country’s lasting history. It was one of the reasons why we decided to feature Aruba in our piece on tropical locations for couples to plan their wintry escape in February. In recent weeks, the black travel community has turned its sights to this island destination as another untapped place to explore it all by the four-wheels of an ATV and soak up all the sunlight that greets them on Palm Beach. These are just a few of the many reasons why you need to be booking a ticket to Aruba now.

Black Business Shoutout: Nubian Hueman

With locations in Southeast Washington’s vibrant Anacostia Arts Center and in Baltimore’s trendy Mt. Vernon neighborhood, Nubian Hueman has been outfitting Chocolate City and Charm City with its culture-centric apparel and decor for the family that reflects the best of what’s often unseen in most department stores. Both locations are the thriving realities of Founder Anika Hobbs who started the idea of this niche marketplace after her thirteen handmade feather earrings attracted a large audience to her booth at Washington’s Zora Neale Hurston Festival in 2012. Nearly ten years later, Nubian Hueman has had its black-owned brand of couture and accessories for home be adorned and Feng Shu-ed by international customers in over thirty-five countries on six continents. With a nod from President Obama and acclaim from The Washington Post, NPR and Forbes Magazine, Nubian Hueman remains fresh for all seasons and is your year-round emporium for all things us.       

Inside Nubian Hueman’s Washington D.C. location in the Anacostia Arts Center. (Courtsey of NubianHueman.com)

Black Travel Fact: Bikila Runs Rome Barefoot, Wins Gold

Abebe Bikila cruising into First Place in The Long Distance Marathon at The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. (Courtesy of Sportskeeda)

With the redux of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo just around the corner, we wanted to go back to the place and time where the Ethiopian long-distance marathoner, Abebe Bikila, ran past the timeless ruins of The Roman Empire barefoot. The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome is often defined by Wilma Rudolph’s Gold Medals in Track and Field and the arrival of a young boxer from Louisville named Cassius Clay who won gold years before converting to Islam and changing his name to Muhammad Ali. Though Clay’s entrance on the global sports stage is nothing to be overlooked, the marvel of the games happened when Abebe Bikila ran the over twenty-mile course that led runners to the finish line on the Appian Way under nightfall in just over two hours where he achieved a gold medal. His choice to go barefoot happened because the new running shoes gave him blisters. At the start of the marathon, many viewed him as just another unknown in a field of modern greats laced up ready to dust the competition. This decision resulted in victory in Rome and more importantly recognition by Emperor Halie Selassie I, the ‘Living Man’ Peter Tosh referenced lyrically in ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, awarding Bikila with the Star of Ethiopia—the country’s highest honor. On the literal heels of the 1960 Summer Olympics, Bikila ran the marathon, this time with shoes and a case of appendicitis, and won the gold medal in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo--defending what he accomplished in Rome four years earlier. Sadly, the treasured marathoner passed away due to complications on October 25, 1973, from the vehicular accident that made him paraplegic years earlier. He was 41. Abebe Bikili’s indomitable legacy sparked a generation of runners from the Abyssinian Plateau is one that endures like his soles did over Italian roads and later Japanese concrete.

Hey, Family. Have a location you think we should check out? Know a black business that you want us to shine our light on or just want to keep the conversation going about what you just read? Comment below and tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you. Also, don’t forget to join our Facebook Group to keep up with Adventure in Black.

He did this barefoot. Bare. Foot.

The field couldn’t even catch up to Bikila when he ran in slow-motion when the horns came in during the letterbox sequence. Clearly in a class of his own.