Yspilanti, MI May 2022

I’ve been taking a look at some vacation photos from May and we found such great neighborhoods to explore and fun things to do, I keep wanting to share. While many of my friends go on vacations to the beach to veg out, these driving tours make me happy and relaxed, plus I get to see so many places I've never been. It's not Paris or Hong Kong, but I enjoy these just as much.

With some down time after seeing all our planned stops in Ann Arbor, we had a late afternoon and evening free and decided to take a drive to see Ypsilanti. My travel companion had been there many years ago visiting her sister who lived and taught in the area but I had never been.

We pulled into town and made our way to the Depot Town area as this is where we thought it might be more familiar to my companion. And it was! Our first stop was at the local Food Co-op where we grabbed a drink and chatted with the staff about what we should see while in town. It was recommended that we visit the main street of Depot Town and take a stroll around as it happened to be some sort of art walk night and many of the local shops were open late.

It made me wonder about the town history, so I asked the google to please expound. “In 1838 the railroad from

Detroit reached Ypsilanti. The first wood frame depot was built in 1838, and a large brick masonry station was constructed two decades later. Adjacent to the depot, a small commercial district arose east of the river known (then and now) as Depot Town. Most of the structures still standing in Depot Town today were built within three decades during the late 19th century. Over the years, Ypsilanti grew and flourished. The early development of the community was influenced and enhanced by the presence of the river and its abundant water power. The river industries of the mid to late 19th century yielded over the years to manufacturing, and the mills gave way to the auto related commerce that would become a major economic force in the community.” When we parked behind the old depot, we found a few little plaques describing the area and its place in local history. The description of the "Ypsilanti Underwear Unionsuit" was particularly charming. They claim Queen Victoria even wore it!

Our next stop was a small art gallery that had a large number of glass items. The Depot Glass Gallery (appropriately named) displays a range of art pieces including wall art, stained glass, sculptural pieces, and clothing, but their passion lies in functional glass. So, I was that many years old when I learned the meaning of "functional glass". Whew boy! It was both beautiful and astounding with some pieces going for 10's of thousands of dollars. Talk about an education. The gallery owner was so sweet to explain these pieces to us old ladies and I bet she had a great time chuckling about us when we left. Seriously though, this was truly amazing artwork, no matter its main function. If you're in town and feel like indulging your, um, hobby, visit The Depot an tell them the old biddies sent you.
https://www.thedepotglassgallery.com/

We figured that the gallery owner should have a pretty good idea of where we might grab an early dinner and she suggested MAIZ Mexican Cantina for some Tex-Mex. Since it was Cinqo de Mayo plus 1 day, we took her advice and walked over. The cantina advertises local ingredients with everything made fresh daily. Being a Friday, the place was pretty busy and we waited for a while for a table. The excellent Margaritas made waiting for our food an easy task. The colorful chips and bright, fresh salsa didn't hurt either. We had our choices of three types of tacos on one platter plus the obligatory rice or beans. I also ordered a premium side of Street Corn that didn't disappoint.

After dinner we stopped in a couple of other shops to browse but it had begun to rain a light drizzle and it was chilly so we headed on to the warmth of the car for a drive through the adjacent neighborhood.

This turned out to be another one of the many cutie-pie neighborhoods we found in Michigan. It was another very old section where the Victorian style homes were being renovated with much love. We spent a couple of hours going up one street and down the next pointing out the beautiful homes. This one in particular wowed us and it turns out it's actually been turned into apartments. Somehow I could picture Mary Richards living on the top floor of this place with Rhoda and Phyllis as her neighbors.

Find more information on travel in Michigan at Pure Michigan

To view the rest of our photos from Ypsilanti visit this link. 

Midland MI May 2022

We visited Midland Michigan while on vacation in May 2022 with three things on our schedule. 1) see The Tridge, 2) have BBQ for lunch and then 3) wander over to the Dow Gardens. From our first turn into town I was charmed.

The little Christmas house and the odd county building on the main street of town were surprises. I didn't find a reason behind the architecturally interesting courthouse at the time, so I headed to Google for some further enlightenment. Turns out it's technically a three-story Tudor Revival style courthouse. Mr. Dow (whom we'll hear more about in a bit) pledged money for it's construction in 1924 (when the world still made interesting buildings) and hired architect Bloodgood Tuttle of Cleveland and Detroit to design the building, and mural artist Paul Honore of Detroit to create interior artwork. Those of us from the Cleveland area would no doubt recognize the Tuttle name as a prolific architect in our area, specifically many homes in Shaker Heights. Now I wish we had taken time to actually visit inside the building to see the murals and the interiors. This would be reason #1 to return to Midland another time.

After some research, we found out the little holiday themed house next door to the courthouse is actually a Santa School! Not many Santa's were hanging around in May, in fact I didn't see a single one!

But apparently Santa hopefuls descend upon Midland by the hundreds each October. The Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School has been training Santa's since 1937. The mission statement of the school says it all: "To uphold the traditions and preserve the history of Santa Claus while providing students with the necessary resources to improve and further define their individual presentations of Santa and Mrs. Claus, allowing them to enter the hearts and spread the Christmas spirit to everyone they meet." The founder Mr. Howard said it plainly and accurately when he stated "He errs who thinks Santa enters through the chimney. Santa enters through the heart." Isn't that awesome!

After a quick stroll around the Christmas house, we walked over to The Tridge, the formal name of a three legged wooden footbridge spanning the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa Rivers in Chippewassee Park. The Tridge opened in 1981. It consists of one 31-foot (9.4 m) tall central pillar supporting three spokes. Each spoke is 180 feet long by 8 feet wide. The parks along the rivers were very lovely. You can bring a lunch and have a picnic in any of the little parks, or sit on one of the little benches at the intersection of the legs and enjoy the views from there. The Tridge also marks the starting point of the Pere Marquette Rail Trail, a Michigan Rails to Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame trail. Although being mainly a footbridge, bicycles, skateboards, and in-line skates are also allowed on the bridge. If you're curious about how and why it was built, check out this website: https://cityofmidlandmi.gov/1672/The-Tridge

Before we rolled into town for lunch, I had already scoped out a BBQ spot that I'd hoped would be good and it didn't disappoint. We bellied up to a table at Molasses Smokehouse and Bar. We shared a full portion of tri tip, rice and creamed corn. There was plenty for the two of us for lunch. The beef was tender and we had our choice of sauces. The rice was seasoned and paired well with the beef. I have to admit the corn was, for me, the most memorable part of this meal. We used to eat creamed corn when I was a child and I hadn't had it in ages. Theirs was prepared with real butter and some of their spice rub. This was delicious and I'm reminded to do this at home next time I BBQ.

After lunch we took a quick walk around the little downtown. Not much was open except the Aviator Cookie Company and we did not hesitate to pick up a box of cookies to munch on for the remainder of our day. I was curious as to the reason for the name and the actual airplane wing that acted as the counter, but the owners weren't there for a discussion. So I checked out their website and discovered the owner was an airline pilot for a major U.S. Airline who had been grounded for 9 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He and his kids decided to change up their lifestyle and nurture his love of baking. Hence the bakery. Good choice, the cookies were terrific.

If you're wondering what's up in Midland, the answer is Dow Chemical. The Dow name is prevalent in this little town of 20,000 residents. Dow, a Fortune 55 company, was founded in Midland in 1897 and continues to operate its global headquarters in the community. With its recent spin-off into three separate companies, Midland now hosts sites for DuPont and Corteva Agriscience as well. Our purpose in Midland was to visit

Dow Gardens and it wasn’t disappointing. The Gardens are a 110-acre display of annuals and perennials punctuated by distinctive bridges, towering pines, and delightful water features and is home to Michigan's longest canopy walk. We were a bit early for most of the flowers to be in bloom but the grounds themselves were lovely. I'd suggest a visit during the summer months for the full effect and I imagine it's stunning in the fall once the leaves begin to turn.

Be prepared to walk, the grounds are expansive but there are plenty of walkways and little bridges plus a separate area for kids. You'll find a small pond with a sculpture and benches to sit and take in the view. And then there is the canopy walk. There are rope bridges to test your foot dexterity, some little alcoves for the kids to peek out from, and a glass floored platform to test your sensibility for heights. Overall a fun time and terrific views. Once back on solid ground, we got lost once or twice so be sure to carry a map of the grounds with you for reference. Also be aware restrooms are only located in a couple of buildings that may be a mile apart. There is an interactive GIS map available for you to discover information on the various plants so this is a very educational experience, ask about it at the entrance.

We spent about 3 hours here. If you have young children they will want to play in the children's garden so allow time for that as well. You can even take a picnic onto the grounds, just not indoors.

There are two homes adjacent to the Gardens. The Herbert and Grace Dow family home, The Pines, is nearby and open for tours on certain days. In addition there is the stunning Alden B. Dow home that you can see from the Gardens. Alden was a son of Herbert and Grace and studied architecture. He was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and you can see that in the building that he designed and built as his home and studio. The studio is also open for tours on certain days.

Plan your visit to the estate and gardens by visiting their web home at https://dowgardens.org/ and Home & Studio Midland Michigan - Alden B. Dow (abdow.org)

Kingwood Center Gardens Mansfield October 2022

October 2022 provided many glorious days for a drive along the backroads of Ohio. Today my goal was arrive in Mansfield by late afternoon to visit the Kingwood Center Gardens and their Great Pumpkin Glow. When weather is cooperative and time is not in short supply, I love to ignore the interstates and traverse my way via the state and county roads that crisscross the countryside. Rural America is at her finest here and although the growing season was over, plenty of farmers were out preparing their fields for the long winter to come. Yes I got lost once or twice but mostly because I was singing along to my iPod (yes, the Old Biddy is very old school) a bit louder than the GPS lady was speaking when she warned me of upcoming changes in our trajectory.  

Traveling down roads mostly used for farmers, today there were plenty. Big tractor harvesters moving from field to field lumbering across huge fields of spent corn stalks and other crops awaiting tilling under for the winter. At one point a tractor was kicking up such dust across the road that I closed my windows and squinted my eyes to plunge through the brown storm purely upon sure supposition that the road was still on the other side. It felt as though I could travel miles without seeing another car or a house. For these types of "off the beaten path" excursions, I rely heavily on GPS to get me back on track and I find it works really well but sometimes a little late in tracking me so that I will occasionally miss a turn or two after having already passed up the intersection. 

I changed my route a time or two along the way on this trip because although I’d left a bit earlier than anticipated, I spent a little more time at a craft show I happened upon at Norwayne High School in Creston where I happily wandered for an hour and spent a few dollars while stretching my legs. I wanted to leave enough time to make a stop at Grandpa’s Cheese barn in Ashland before they closed for the day (a lesson learned a few weeks ago coming up from a late evening return from Columbus). They close at 5pm most days, 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so plan accordingly.

Then, still learning I would be arriving about an hour earlier than my 4:30 tickets I made a small side trip to see the Richland County Carousel. I’m in love with this little bit of carousel history and stop by every time I’m near Mansfield. Today the pavilion was filled with families enjoying the great fall weather and kids riding the carousel, some in costume enjoying the Halloween festivities. 

As usual I am taken with the architecture of the town and wish to have an extra hour or two just wander and take photos. Today I ended up spending too much time watching the kids enjoy the carousel. So on to my destination.

Mansfield is mostly known for being home to the Mansfield Reformatory also known as The Ohio State Reformatory. There you can stroll the halls and visit the cells of some of history's toughest criminals and tour the intact set of The Shawshank Redemption. I highly recommend visiting this location, it's very educational and thought provoking. But if garden strolling is more to your liking, make your way over to Kingwood Center Gardens. Kingwood Center opened as a public garden in October 1953. Through the years, Kingwood Center Gardens has grown significantly and has become increasingly renowned for horticultural excellence, historical significance, and community engagement. With the addition of the Garden Gateway visitor center and expanded garden features in 2020, Kingwood renewed its commitment to provide transformative guest experiences within its exquisite garden estate.

The Gardens were prepared for a crowd and had shuttle busses running to the nearby high school parking lot, which is where I parked. A quick ride later and I was among lots of families with costumed children in tow flowing through the gate to the gardens. First up was the Rose Garden which is situated just inside the main gate and highlights pest and disease resistant varieties complimented by woody shrubs, perennials, and annuals. At this time of year, not many roses were in bloom but one of the resident peacocks was in the garden strutting around looking for a handout.

Although there were a lot of people in attendance there were plenty of quiet areas of the grounds to sit on a bench and watch the kids enjoy themselves. At one point I was standing just outside of the formal garden path and a hawk flew in front of me to land in the shrubbery and leaves. I stood quietly for a few moments and it flew back out nearly bowling me over in it's haste. It was pretty awesome.

If you want to see all my photos from this trip, click here. 

As evening dusk rolled in I made my way to the Garden Gateway visitors center to stroll through the Garden Café and the Gift Shop. If you're hungry during your visit this is the place to come for a bite to eat. As today was a special event a food truck was set up to help feed the crowds. This is also where you will enter the Gardens on a normal visit since it's just off the parking lot and main entrance.

Make time during your visit to see the Courtyard Complex. The greenhouse and a group of buildings surrounding the brick courtyard were originally built as the service area for the Kingwood Estate. After opening to the public, they were adapted to host Kingwood Center Gardens public activities. Today, with many recent improvements, the buildings are known as the Display Greenhouse, Carriage House, and Roost Hall. They all share the bricked and shaded courtyard, a favorite venue for indoor/outdoor events. Today the courtyard was filled with kids getting their faces painted, bobbing for apples and in general enjoying the Halloween weekend. The greenhouse was decked out with carved pumpkins and colored lighting and some pretty amusing pumpkin creatures. 

Before leaving I always stop by the Duck Pond and feed the birds and fish. Generally this is also the optimum place to encounter the resident peacock and peahens where they have been known to squat on top of cars in the nearby parking lot where guests have to bribe them down so they can leave. 

Find out more about Kingwood Center Gardens by visiting: https://kingwoodcenter.org/ 

Franklin Park Conservatory Columbus October 2022

One of my very favorite destinations is the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, OH. Here you’ll find beautiful indoor and outdoor gardens, a quaint gift shop and an art gallery. While a visit here on any day is a treat, I wait for their special exhibits to make the drive from Akron (which takes about 2 hours). 

This time a friend and I went to see the annual Pumpkins Aglow which draws families from all around to stroll throughout the conservatory and grounds viewing all things Halloween-themed. October weather can be tricky (get it...TRICKY?) but we managed to find a warm-ish Saturday and although it rained a bit, it was easy to wander the inside exhibits while the rain passed by. 

The grounds crew does a remarkable job with lighting displays for both Halloween and the Christmas season, it's well worth making the trip for both. In addition, housed in a covered outdoor pavilion in the North Courtyard, the Hot Shop features daily glassblowing demonstrations by local, professional gaffers. The gaffers will walk guests through every step of the glassblowing process as they gather molten glass and transform it into a finished piece of artwork. During the Pumpkins Aglow exhibit, they had a class in session outside so we got to watch as students learned to blow glass hot from the oven. Classes are open to the public (although not free) and it's tempted me on more than one occasion to sign up, I may yet do so.

One of the highlights of any visit to The Franklin is The Chihuly Collection which is on permanent display and included in the cost of admission. As the largest private Chihuly collection in a botanical garden the glass art accents the stunning scenes of the interior spaces of the Conservatory. I love taking friends here for the first time and pointing out the scenes set up in nearly every room and those set up as outdoor displays.  I've admired Chihuly's work since the early 1990's and have been lucky enough to have visited his school in Seattle. The colors and shapes of his art are simply astounding. 

But, wonderful as all of that is, the reason for the visit was the Halloween decorations. From the Scott's Miracle-Gro Foundation Children's Garden area to the Grand Mallway, displays were set up to thrill and entertain all ages. They had a holographic skeleton dance space for the little ones, a huge pumpkin house decked out in seasonal splendor, a pumpkin stack set up for terrific photo ops and after dark, many vignettes set up all over the grounds lit up in brilliant colors. Even the Paul Busse Garden Railway (a small scale train tracks and villages) was set up for the Halloween season with miniature pumpkins and haunted houses set up along the tracks. 

One of the most striking sights of any evening visit is found out on the mallway and is a large scale sculpture that reflects lighting and then in turn is back dropped by the illumination of the Glass Pavilion itself. The John F. Wolfe Palm House is the oldest portion of Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Built in 1895 this grand Victorian-style glass greenhouse takes on a majestic aura when  decorated by internationally renowned light artist James Turrell’s architectural light installation. This permanent installation of approximately 7,000 small, computer-controlled LED light sources, most of which are obscured from direct view inside, performs each evening beginning at dusk. Stunning is the word that best describes this display. 

Visit my Google Album for more photos of this trip. 

Toledo Day Trip August 2022

Bus trips. Some people hate them, some people love them. I've been on quite a few and my preference is to keep the length of these trips to less than a week. Single day trips are really terrific especially if you don't feel like making the drive from here to there with no stops along the route. However, in my mind these do not replace the standard day trips I love where I tend to wander off the beaten path while making my way to a destination of choice for the day. Or, if it's someplace I feel uncomfortable driving around in like a larger metropolitan area (although there aren't really too many of those within driving distance of my home).

So it was that I found myself on a day trip via bus to Toledo this lovely August day. A couple of friends, a fun destination and copious strangers out for a good time made for a fun trip. This time we were on a privately chartered bus filled with ORMACO members. This group doesn't do a ton of these types of trips and I wish they would, we really had a great time. 

The bus ride was just over 2 hours each way. Once we arrived in Toledo, we stopped at the Maumee Bay Brewing Company for lunch.   Established in 1995, the Maumee Bay Brewing Co. is Toledo’s original craft brewery and can be found within the Oliver House, a former 19th-century hotel.  Maumee Bay Brewing is now a great pub and event center. 

Between the bar and the event section is a quirky little courtyard where we stumbled upon live entertainment by the name of Andrew Ellis. Mr. Ellis caught my ear with his gravelly baritone and one man band style of folk and blues. One drawback to traveling with the bus is that we are destined to eat with the crowd we came with. If we had been on our own, my choice would have been to settle in the courtyard to enjoy lunch and the live entertainment, but this is one great reason to plan another trip to Toledo and just one "to do" for the list of reasons to return.

After lunch we headed directly to the Toledo Museum of Art where we spent a leisurely 3 hours wandering the various galleries, a visit to the Glass Pavilion across the street, plus a stroll around the grounds where there are sculptures scattered about. The TMA describes it best from their website: Over nearly a century, the Toledo Museum of Art campus has grown from a single building to an architecturally significant campus that is a highlight of the city. With six buildings on nearly 40 acres, our campus offers Neoclassical, Art Deco, and contemporary architecture, as well as green space and a sculpture garden, all surrounded by the celebrated Victorian homes of Toledo’s Old West End neighborhood. Next door to the main building is The Center for the Visual Arts (CVA) which was designed in 1992 by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank O. Gehry. There wasn't time today to visit but next time this is a must see. 

Also off limits for the day due to a private event, as part of the Museum’s 1933 expansion, architect Edward B. Green designed the Peristyle Theater. A classical concert hall whose name means “an area surrounded by columns,” the Peristyle’s most distinguishing architectural feature is a curving row of 28 Ionic columns, which surround the main seating area, arranged in tiers reminiscent of theaters of ancient Greece. Inspired by a Greek agora, the two-story Peristyle lobby is animated by a painted Greek frieze. Everyone says this is a striking theater, sadly we weren't able to judge for ourselves today.

Toledo’s image as the Glass City of the US was firmly established by the time of TMA’s founding in 1901, based on a spate of inventions across the glass industry—bottles, window glass, tableware, windshields, and construction materials. Glass industrialist Edward Drummond Libbey spearheaded the initiative to improve the education of local craftsmen and designers by assembling a model glass collection. Throughout his lifetime Libbey continued to acquire systematically formed collections of high repute from both abroad and from the U.S. Today, TMA’s American glass holdings rank among the principal collections in the field, with objects of exceptional quality and historical importance.

With the opening of the TMA Glass Pavilion in 2006, Toledo acquired a state-of-the-art facility to house, care for, study, and display its renowned glass collection.

One additional "to do" when I return to Toledo will be to browse the neighborhood where the TMA is located, the Old West End. We bribed the bus driver to take a circuitous route through the  neighborhood where we viewed some lovely old Victorian homes in varying states of disrepair and renovation. 

While this Old Biddy has a long list of "places to visit", Toledo will assuredly be on it. 

To view the rest of my photos from this trip click here.

Lizard's WHAT?

It’s been a while between postings and for that I do apologize. Life’s been pretty hectic and it doesn’t leave much time for running around on the town or writing about it when I do snag an evening out.


So I’ll be catching up with a few fun activities for you this week. To begin, during the last week of February I spent a hectic week down at my parents home closing up their house since they are now staying** with me. When I packed up a few of their belongings and them and brought them home last November, it was uncertain about whether they would be able to return to their home or not. At this point it seems unlikely that they’ll ever be on their own again and so some decisions had to be made about their home and all the things that go with it.

Suffice to say that with the help of some very kind neighbors, I spent a frazzled four days sorting through the house and clearing it out for the future. Bins full of trash, a patio full of things for yard sales, cars sold, and paperwork packed up for reviewing, took a mental toll on me that I wasn’t expecting.

However, the fun part of the trip was the drive home in Dad’s 1993 Cadillac Deville with two of the best people I know, Grant and Lynn Murphy. Grant and Lynn had been planning a trip to Florida to visit their daughter and her family and they kindly offered to drive home with me. Well, OK, I sort of begged them to help, but they were gracious enough to say yes without too much whining on my part. Bless them both!



The menu board at Lizard's Thicket in Columbia, SC

COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA

We had great weather for the trip, which we broke into two days of about 9 hours driving each. With a stop in Columbia, SC overnight, the trip was not too difficult, especially with three of us sharing the driving. We had rooms at the Hampton Inn, Columbia which were comfortable and clean. The front desk gal recommended we try having dinner across the street at the Lizard’s Thicket.

My chicken dinner with
fresh potato salad.

With a dozen or more locations in the Columbia area, we found this to be an interesting place for local southern cooking.  The menu is a laundry list of "pick 1, 2 or 3 meats" and a huge assortment of sides, including fried okra, sweet potato casserole, and mac n' cheese. 

Grant's pulled pork with Carolina BBQ

Lynne ordered the chicken and dumplings, Grant had the Carolina BBQ Pulled Pork and I ordered the fried chicken.  The food was all very good and we shared a blackberry pie for dessert.  Even the biscuits were good!  I was a little disappointed because I had really been hoping for some good BBQ on the way home, but the meal here was good enough to let that slip my mind with not much concern.

In any event, the overnight stay was fine, the remainder of the trip was uneventful and I arrived home to find everything in order. 
--------------------------------------------------------------

**Staying....
Even now, I hesitate to state that my parents are living at my house, not just "staying".  Neither of them are really aware that they are now here permanently so I don't say it out loud often at all.  The other day Dad told someone that they were visiting with me here for a while and I think if that makes him feel better that it's OK.  I know that they both have moments when they are aware that they've left a house somewhere and all of there belongings and it breaks my heart that they cannot grasp that things have now changed.   

For now, we make the most of our situation.  I'm learning patience and hopefully some tolerance for things not going the way I want them too.  If dinner is going to be mushy broccoli and a bowl of dry cocoa rice cereal, then we try to make the best of that. 

Old Biddy Breaks Out of Summit County!

For the first time in weeks, I escaped this Saturday to one of my favorite activities – wine tasting. Thanks to my friend Bev for getting me out of the house and to Western Reserve Wines for the nudge to visit their weekly $5 tastings.

In the past I’ve written about Western Reserve Wines up in Solon but it’s been a few months since I’ve gotten to travel up to one of their tastings. Last week they sent an email (as they always do as a temptation!) detailing the wines they would open on Saturday. This week they featured one of my favorite varietals – Malbec.

Wikipedia says “As a varietal, Malbec creates a rather inky red (or violet), intense wine, so it is also commonly used in blends, such as with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to create the red French Bordeaux claret blend. The grape is blended with Cabernet Franc and Gamay in some regions such as the Loire Valley. Other wine regions use the grape to produce Bordeaux-style blends. While acreage of Malbec is declining in France, in Argentina the grape is surging and has become a "national variety" of sort that is uniquely identified with Argentine wine. The success of Malbec in Argentina led some producers in neighboring Chile to try their hand at the varietal. Grown throughout the Central Valley, Chilean Malbec tends to be more tannic than its Argentine counterpart and is used primarily in Bordeaux-style blends.”

True to the description above, all the wines poured this week were from Argentina. Being a ‘big red wine’ fan, Malbec is a wine I turn to time and time again for my drinking pleasure. Here is a list of those bottles we sampled this week:

• 2010 La Linda Torrontes (the only white in this week’s line up)
• 2008 Antigal "Uno" Malbec
• 2008 Luigi Bosca Reserve Malbec
• 2007 Antucura Merlot/Cab/Malbec Blend
• 2010 Amancaya Grand Reserva Malbec/Cab Blend
• 2008 Vina Alicia Morena Cabernet Sauvignon

While each was drinkable, none of these triggered a purchase by Bev or myself. And funny that although I'm very partial to the Malbec, the only tru Cab on the bar got our enthusiastic thumbs up.  The Vina Alicia was by far our favorite and the Amancaya a close second.  But even with that glowing recommendation, generally we’ll wander out of the shop with at least 2-3 bottles but, sorry Kathi – not this week! We’ll definitely be back to try another group of wines soon.

TASTINGS AREN’T JUST ABOUT THE WINE YOU KNOW!
One reason we love going to wine tastings is the opportunity to meet new people. The weekly tastings at Western Reserve are attended by many of the same group week after week, and after a while you tend to strike up conversations and become friendly. (Not that after sampling four or five wines it’s difficult to strike up a conversation with just about anyone!) Of course, most of these folks are wine lovers and many of them (OK, all of them) are far more wine-sophisticated than am I. It’s fun to get their take on the wines and to find out what other events they go to around the area.

AFTER TASTING DINNER IN HUDSON

One our way home, Bev and I stopped in Hudson to check out Heinen’s market. Kathi had served up a new cheese at the wine tasting called Blue Brie. Unfortunately, Kathi got this from a distributor rather than a local retailer, so Bev and I are on the lookout to find some to take home. We thought perhaps Heinen’s would carry this since they seem to use the same distributor, but no luck for us on the cheese hunting. We’ll continue to search since this was truly a scrumptious cheese and went really well with the intense wines.

After our fruitless search, we stopped to have dinner at Old Whedon Grille on Main Street. For old Hudson charm you can’t beat spending an evening here for dinner. Small and cozy with old creaky floors and an intimate bar, this a good place to hang out with friends. Their menu is not extensive, but what they do offer, they do well. They’re known for their burgers but I haven’t had anything on the menu that disappointed.

Bev and I ordered the BBQ chicken pizza and a Kobe beef burger to share and both were really delicious. The crust on the pizza was perfectly baked and the toppings weren’t overwhelming. The Kobe beef burger was cooked to perfection and so good I had to eat all of my half, even though I was stuffed to the gills.

Thanks Bev for a fun afternoon out and about.