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.

Cleveland weekend - October 2011

Summer seems to be coming to a fast and early end as September sped away. Most of us are trying to keep up momentum with putting as much into these beautiful days we have left, especially as it’s beginning to get dark so much earlier.

Last Saturday was no exception. Although it started out rainy and chilly, my friends, Nancy and Cathy and I, headed up to Cleveland for a visit to University Heights.

This area contains some of the best things that Cleveland has to offer – The Cleveland Art Museum, The Cleveland Botanical Gardens, Case Western Reserve campus, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Severance Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra), MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), some wonderful restaurants, plus it sits close to Little Italy and all of its eclectic galleries and restaurants.

ONE OF THE BEST LUNCHES EVER!

We began our day with lunch at L’Albatros on Bellfower. Nancy had been here before and it was on her recommendation that we stopped for lunch. L’Albatros is a small space, as so many in this area are, and simple in décor. Visual stimulation is low but the food more than makes up for it with their well prepared French country fare.

We had mimosas to start our lunch and followed up with my croque monsieur with pommes frits. Nancy had the Cassoulet with braised white beans, lamb, duck confit and sausages. Cathy settled on the Roasted Cod served with garlic spatzle and sauerkraut. Nancy and Cathy both agreed these were some of the best meals they’d had in a long time. Cathy’s had to be good - we started eating and I’d taken maybe five bites of my sandwich and when I glanced back her direction, her plate was clean. And not just clean, she was busy using the bread at the table to wipe it completely naked! I’m not even sure the plate needed washing when we finally left. Which was too sad for her, Nancy and I both had restes de repas to take home for later. YUM!

NOW FOR A LITTLE CULTURE
Once lunch was over, we ambled back to Wade Oval and tried to get into the Natural History Museum. We were turned away at the parking lot because the museum was closed for a private party. This actually was really annoying since this museum was our target all along for the afternoon. I’d checked their website the day prior for hours and location – it would have been nice to have been warned the place would be closed.

Fortunately, we had options! A quick trip back around the oval took us over to the Art Museum where we spent a leisurely hour or so browsing the exhibits. It’s funny how different people like different things at a place like this. While I’m more intrigued by the paintings (my favorites are the Impressionists), Cathy preferred the other objects – vases, jewelry, etc, and Nancy liked a bit of both.

The Art Museum is undergoing a huge expansion project and some of the exhibits are quite a distance apart. We also got lost a few times. Still, this is a fascinating place and well worth visiting.  Especially since the cost of admittance is FREE!

AND A LITTLE ITALIAN FLARE!
After our cultural afternoon, we drove over to Little Italy for a bit of respite. The area was preparing for their quarterly Art Walk so all the galleries and shops were open with wine and some sort of nice food to munch upon. I have two favorite places in Little Italy – one is La Belle Vita which is a store carrying a veritable feast for the senses - bright colors of scarves, pottery and glassware – soothing aromas of fragrant soaps and perfumes – the tinkle of chimes and happy music in the background – the touch of fuzzy hats and cool silverwork. I really love shops like this one. The owner is friendly and chatty and offered us wine and appetizers as we meandered through the displays.

My other favorite place here is the pastry shop Presti’s on Mayfield Road. Presti’s has been a staple in the neighborhood since 1943 and the current pastry chef is the 4th generation of the Presti family to run the business. From traditional Italian breads, pastries and cakes, they’ve now expanded the menu to include a full line of fresh deli salads, pizza, Stromboli. Sitting in the café is to watch a slice of life in Little Italy. People of all ages sit and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with a pastry or lunch or dinner or just sit and chat like we were doing after a long afternoon.

WINE AND FRIENDS – PIZZA AND WINE – SOME OF LIFE’S BEST PAIRINGS

For the evening, we headed east to Cedar Green Wines where we were meeting up with our good friends Bev, Lynn and Grant for their 2nd Annual Gourmet Pizza Night. Bev had attended this event last year and recommended it for a fun night out.

The wine shop owner partnered with the chef from the neighboring Zeppe’s Pizza to bring us 4 wines and 4 gourmet pizzas. The wine began flowing by 8pm followed closely by fresh hot pizza and a new pairing arrived at our seats about every half hour. The wines were so-so but the pizzas were wonderful. My favorites were the Yukon Gold potato and the butternut squash. I’ll be trying to recreate all four at home but these two will be first on the list!

The full line up was:

Provolone-parmigiano reggiano pizza topped with a baby arugula salad and a meyer lemon vinagerette paired with a Bianco Campania Triade

Ohio Yukon gold-white truffle oil-fontina pizza paired with Palma Nero Grillo

Pistachio-arugula pesto with grilled chicken and asiago cheese pizza paired with a Mandra Nero-d'Avola

Ohio butternut squash-applewood smoked bacon-extra sharp New York State cheddar pizza paired with Vitiano. 

Thanks Bev for the suggestion of the evening, I had a great time!

Playing hookey on a Monday

So, it is called playing hooky if your boss tells you to go away for a couple of hours? On what could only be described as the perfect fall day, I was given liberty to go to a luncheon for my boss’ YPO group up in Chagrin Falls. All the President’s assistants were there (or a smattering of us anyhow) and we were treated to a great meal at Gamekeeper’s Taverne and a chat on fall fashions given by the owner of one of the little boutique shops on the main drag in town.

Opened in 1976, Gamekeeper’s Taverne is located in a historic landmark building in the heart of Chagrin Falls. Guests are welcomed by rich wood paneled dining rooms and large stone fireplaces in a classic tavern setting. During the warm months guests can dine outdoors under the sun, moon and stars on an award winning courtyard. Sharing the building is the Inn of Chagrin Falls, a delightful 15 room country inn. Today our lunch was served in one of their private dining rooms. The food was good and our service was excellent.

The bar was quaint and looked like it might hold 25 or 30 thin people on a busy night. As with most buildings dating from the late 1800’s the rooms are small but the quaint factor easily overcomes any feelings of being cramped.

After lunch, I took an hour to wander around the town of Chagrin Falls again. Last I was there was for the art show back in June and today I had the chance to wander into a couple of different shops. One new shop, only open now for four months, is Caravan Splendors.

You’re welcomed by the camel at the door and an eclectic mixture of items inside. Jonathan, the owner, is friendly and was happy to show me around the shop.

He was most proud of their new waterfall display hidden around back made by a company out of Philadelphia, but there were plenty of things to see ranging from table settings to handbags to rugs.

To give another thanks to the women that spoke at our luncheon, I stopped into their shop called "Find Me".  They had some beautiful items and one of a kind pieces that were either a bit out of my price range or a lot under my size.  Although I enjoyed hearing her talk about upcoming fall trends it's clear that people who run these little boutique shops do not aim for normal sized women to be shopping there.  Lots of size 4's and a lot of mediums, but no larges to be found.  After a while of wandering with me she just gave up and I ended up walking out.   Out of the gals in the room at the lunch, maybe 5 or 6 could have found something to fit them but those were the young 'uns that obviously couldn't afford the pricing.   Too bad really.

Just down the street was Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. We’d stopped in here last trip and was dazzled by the ice cream display and flavor variations. We’re not blessed with a Jeni’s shop in the Akron area, but they’re all over the Columbus area. If you happen across one of these, please make sure you stop in. The service is very friendly and the flavor combinations are artistic. The ice cream is also available in fine restaurants and stores throughout the country, and via mail order.

Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, was the featured speaker at Our Lady of the Elms Author! Author! series on Wednesday.   Bauer is author of the newly released Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. She and her husband, Charly Bauer, founded Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in 2002.

Today I was captured by the Sweet Corn and Raspberry ice cream. Fresh corn from a farm in Chillicothe is husked by hand in the kitchen at Jeni’s, scraped off the cob and then pureed to create the sweet cream for the ice cream. Although my palate didn't really pick out the flavor of fresh corn, it was a delicious and refreshing ice cream and not overly sweet.

Chagrin Falls is a definite must for day trips if you're looking for quaint.  Put aside some time to wander along the river parks and into the shops lining the main street.  Make sure you go hungry and stop for a meal and then some dessert after.  Bring some money for the shops, you're bound to find something you'll want to take home - I know I did!

Cuyahoga Falls Riverfront and My Weekly Martini

This weekend felt an awful lot like autumn around here. Cooler temperatures and rainy days put an emphasis on the fact that summer is winding down. While it’s definitely still mid-August, the cool front that interrupted our summer heat wave was very much appreciated.

And for a change there was nothing on my calendar for the weekend at all. Nadda, zippo, nuttin’. Saturday was good weather for mowing the postage stamp-sized yard around my house and finishing up some paperwork chores that have been accumulating for a few months. By Sunday however I was pinging around the house with a small case of cabin fever. So I picked up my camera and headed out for a short walkabout.



Front Street way back when!
photo is copyright Barry W. Scholles



ON THE BOARDWALK

A popular summer destination is the Riverfront in Cuyahoga Falls. On Friday and Saturday evenings all summer long there are concerts, cruise ins, and more than a few festivals that bring hundreds of people to the plaza.

If you grew up in the Falls in the 1960's (as I did) you will recall this area being a work-in-progress during the 1970’s. Front Street still had automobile traffic, Kippy’s was a popular diner on the south end of the street and the only place for people to congregate was one and a half miles west at the State Road shopping center.

View of the Cuyahoga River from
the Boardwalk

When Front Street was closed off and they began building the pedestrian mall there were great hopes for a revitalization of the area. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s turned out exactly as planned, but the riverfront itself is really very nice.

What I learned on Sunday is that while this place can be hopping on a festival weekend, it’s very calm and quiet on a normal Sunday afternoon.

Between rain showers I took a very leisurely stroll along the upper and lower river front boardwalks. On the upper street level you’re behind the shops and condos that line the pedestrian mall. Among the trash receptacles and power boxes are a few pretty flower gardens and well tended back entrances. I also noticed a new Firehouse Grill on the south end of the plaza advertising their $1 burgers. At the north end was the new Samira's Restaurant. Both places are now on my list of places to visit.

The lower boardwalk was quiet with only a few folks tending fishing poles and me walking the river. The falls itself was rushing and the river was high. Even though we were only feet from rushing traffic along route 8, it was a serene setting. This isn’t a walk if you’re looking for exercise, but if you’re just looking for a quiet place to hang out for a while, this might be the spot. I also imagine the kids hang out here at night so if you really want quiet, try a Sunday afternoon like I did.

ACCIDENTAL MARTINI
It was such a nice quiet afternoon wandering around that I looked forward to a nice lazy night when I finally walked into the house for the evening. I was a bit hungry so headed to the fridge to scout it out. I found the remains of my blackberries from the CSA and decided to prep them for a shortcake. That meant heading to the liquor cabinet to find something to macerate the berries in because, of course, just plain water wasn’t good enough for these gigantic beautiful berries.

The ingredients for a cool martini

My booze cabinet is really full of some interesting stuff. It may rival some small bars I’ve been to in the varieties of liquor found there. I shop at the liquor store the way friends of mine shop for shoes, sometimes more for the looks of the bottle than the comfort found within.  But that's fine.  I like to experiment and try new things.  Mixing up a cocktail is a little like making dinner, a bit of creativity can go a long way to finding a new great experience.

I hauled out a bottle of cherry liqueur that I purchased a while back for……who knows what. While contemplating the effect of cherry liqueur on those blackberries, I spied the Godiva liqueur witting on the next shelf and my mind immediately snapped to chocolate covered cherries.

Chocolate covered cherries are a weakness of mine. They’re super sweet, super gooey and really very good. In fact, they are so sweet that my teeth hurt just thinking about them. The chocolate is mediocre at best, the filling is probably straight refined sugar and those cherries taste more like candy than a real cherry. But I don’t care. I love them anyway. I don’t buy them often because I can go through a box of these in a few short days. Sad, ain’t it?

So why it hasn’t occurred to me to make a chocolate covered cherry martini in the past is a very good question, especially since I had the foresight at some point to purchase cherry liqueur. I remedied that situation immediately.  A splash of cherry liqueur on the berries to keep them happy for another night and I reached for the cocktail shaker and some ice.  A few minutes later I was sprawled in my chair with a martini in one hand and the TV remote in the other.  Perfect Sunday night.

My Version of a Chocolate Covered Cherry - Martini Style
1 shot Cherry Liqueur
1 shot Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
1 1/2 shots vanilla vodka
maraschino cherry for garnish

Put ingredients in a small shaker, add 3 cracked ice cubes, shake for a full minute.  Strain into a chilled glass, add the cherry and enjoy. 

Pittsburgh Weekend

My good friends Lynn and Grant have just returned from their summer vacation in South Carolina.  They shared a couple of photos they took and also included some of a great weekend trip we took together to Pittsburgh in early June. 

I never got around to blogging about the Pittsburgh trip because, frankly, it was so terrific I didn't quite know where to start.  Pittsburgh is as close as Columbus and yet, for some reason, I just don't think of going very often.  Nancy theorises that there is something about crossing a state line that makes the trip seem 'so far'.  She may have something there. 

Pittsburgh is a city of tangled, constantly-under-construction roads, but if you feel you can get lost a bit and not be too upset about it, it also holds many wonderful places to discover.  By far my favorite part of Pittsburg is The Strip.  The Strip District is a one-half square mile area northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. It is a narrow strip of land in a flood plain confined by natural boundaries: the Allegheny River to the north and the extension of Grant's Hill to the south. The Strip District's east and west boundaries are 11th and 33rd streets; the produce district runs from 16th to 22nd streets.  Running all along Smallman and Penn Avenue there are dozens of shops, restaurants and quirky little dives.  Since my visit a few years ago, they've opened a new Public Market which is a smaller (but still growing) version of Cleveland's West Side Market.

I'd booked rooms for us at the new-ish Hampton Inn on Smallman Street that sits directly across from the John Heinz History Center and is well situated between The Strip and the downtown Cultural District - both within easy walking distance.

Feel free to browse my photo album of Pittsburgh here.

Nancy and I arrived into town ahead of Grant and Lynn so we ventured out on a rainy Friday evening to find a place for dinner.  We stumbled over a local Pittsburgh icon - Permanti Brothers which is well known for their huge sandwiches piled with cole slaw and french fries.  We shared a sandwich and some cheesy fries and while I can see where really hungry guys and kids might like the novelty of all that stuff in between two slices of bread, it was lost on me.  I didn't find it that tasty, but we didn't leave hungry.

After a dash back to the hotel in the rain, our fellow traveller arrived and we decided to venture back out for a couple of drinks.  The front desk clerk recommended Crystal's up on Penn Avenue, only two blocks away, so we stopped in for a few nightcaps.  Crystal's is just a neighborhood dive bar and the barkeep was friendly.  Since we were the only four people in the bar when we arrived at 10pm we had a chance to chat a bit and look around at the family photos on the walls.  By 11pm, the place was crowded with local restaurant and hotel staff just getting off work shifts. 

This part of Pittsburgh is littered with bars, so take your pick when visiting the city.  Crystal's was nice simply because it was not fancy and made no bones about just being a nice bar.  If you want fancy - walk a bit further into the Cultural District, there are lots of nice places there for a drink or two.

A FULL DAY ON SATURDAY

An early start found us on foot heading along Smallman Avenue.  If you get down here on a weekend morning, make sure you carry something to bring home some produce or foodstuff from the Public Market.  Literally we found things from Soup to Nuts - prepared foods, clothing, crafts, handmade pastas and even a booth with Kent purveyor Lucky Penny Creamery.

I hung out at the booth with all the beautiful pastries and my big mistake was not having anything to carry any around with.  Note to self - bring a shopping bag next time.  Nancy bought a beautiful bottle of Lime Olive Oil and although I saw plenty of things I liked, I walked out empty handed.

We wandered the shops along Smallman and then made our way up to Penn Avenue.  In and out of shops we checked out fabrics, books, candy stores, trinkets and food galore.  Lynn and Grant liked the book shops and the Mexican market.  Nancy got lost in the fabric shops and I liked the Chocolate store and the Italian market where you can buy olive oil in whatever containers you bring in. 

At lunchtime we settled on the balcony overlooking the crowds at Roland's Seafood Grill where we dined on pizza from their wood fired oven and local beer.  This was a great vantage point to watch the people and the traffic along Penn Avenue.  The pizza was good, the beer was good and the weather was perfect for al fresco dining. 

After lunch we walked back to the hotel and hopped in the car to go out to the Phipps Conservatory.  We got lost (of course), but the drive into the city was worth the trip. 

The Phipps

I've become a big fan of these over sized greenhouses spotted around the country.  The Franklin Conservatory in Columbus is one of my favorite places and The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory located on Detroit’s Belle Isle are two that I've visited recently. I have an ex-boyfriend to thank for turning me on to these places. Years ago we went to Columbus to see the Chihuli exhibit at the Franklin and I was completely captivated by the plants and flowers under the big domes. The boyfriend – long gone - the Conservatories, always in my heart.

I took a ton of photos at The Phipps, feel free to browse my album here.

Pittsburgh skyline at dusk

SATURDAY NIGHT ON THE HILL

After our afternoon wandering the garden rooms at the Phipps, we had reservations for dinner at The Shilo Grill over on Mt. Washington.  Although the website implies that there is a view of Pittsburgh from this dining room, it did not.  However, the food was really good and we were within walking distance of the overlooks and the Inclines. 
 
After dinner, we left the car in their parking lot and walked to the overlook to watch the sunset over Pittsburgh.  This spot overlooks the rivers and the ballpark which was lit up for the Pirates game that night.  We decided to take a trip on the Incline and as we stepped in, fireworks lit up the sky from the baseball game, it was very beautiful and I wish I had the expertise to have gotten photos of that.

WAY BACK SUNDAY

Photo from the Warhol website

Sunday morning we took a trip back downtown to visit the Warhol Museum.  My friends at work who visit Pittsburgh had recommended us stopping here and although I'm happy we did, it really wasn't my cuppa tea.  The others in my group liked the exhibits so maybe I just wasn't in the mood for modern art that day. 

The Warhol is a 6 story block building filled with art of all mediums.  In addition to the thousands of paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, sculptures, films, and videos in the permanent collection, the Warhol Museum houses Andy Warhol’s archives. By exhibiting this archival material with Warhol’s artwork, the Museum provides a unique museum experience.

BRUNCH AT CHURCH
After our trip through the art world, we set out for home by way of The Church Brew Works.  I'd heard about this place from my co-workers who have been here and I'm really glad we made the trek for brunch. 

On June 1, 1902 the cornerstone of St. John the Baptist Church on Liberty Avenue was laid. The church saw its congregation through fires, floods, world wars and the eventual deterioration of the great Iron City. By August 1993, the church was put under an act of suppression by the Bishop of Pittsburgh and its doors were closed.

Almost three years to the day, The Church Brew Works reopened the doors of St. John the Baptist for business in August 1996.

Attention to detail and the reuse of existing fixtures create a spectacular atmosphere. Original pews were hand cut from 24' length and hand finished to the present 54" lengths. These "mini pews" were intentionally designed to be longer than the tables to facilitate ease of entry. The bar has been built from the oak planks salvaged from the shortening of the pews.

The reddish orange hue of the flooring comes from the original Douglas Fir floors. These floors were uncovered and meticulously restored after lying dormant under plywood for 50 years. The original eight lanterns in the center bay were removed, repainted gold and reinstalled after complete refurbishment. The lanterns now illuminate the detailing of the ceiling.

The former confessional in the dining room was removed to provide a necessary link to the kitchen. The bricks salvaged from the removal of the confessional have been reused for the pillars on the outdoor sign, the facade on the outdoor ramp and the facade of the new kitchen link. The other confessional remains intact behind the bar and houses "The Church Brew Works" merchandise counter. Attention to detail and the integrative reuse of existing fixtures all help to enhance the brewpub experience. By far, the most interesting element is the position of the brew house on the altar. Because the altar was built as a centerpiece of the church, the steel and copper tanks gleaming with the celestial blue stained glass windows behind is nothing less than captivating.

I wanted to try their new beer - it was described as being "wine-like" but they had it stuck in the tank because their bottles hadn't arrived yet.  I suppose this means I'll have to come back again when it's available.

Medina - Akron - June 2011

Last Thursday evening was Ladies Night on the Square in Medina and Nancy invited me to drive over with her to take in the sights and have a little late dinner.  Medina truly is a charming small town with lovely shops lining the square and people wandering in and out.  The square was crammed full of things for kids to do - ring tossing, coloring contests, and other games. 

Most of the shops and restaurants lining the square were open for business and were enticing guests in their doors by serving up little munchies and wine for the adults.  We often ponder over how these little places manage to stay afloat in today's harsh economic climate. Many shops sell cutsie little decorative items that are very adorable to look at in shops, but seldom practical or appropriate for our homes.  There are times when I consider setting up little displays similar to the shops, but then I stop and think - hey, someone has to clean all that stuff - and the idea pops right smack out of my head. 

We strolled through the Potomac Bead Shop where beads hung in rainbows of colors on walls of two floors where ladies were busy working projects for Ladies Night.  We also stopped in the Medina Gem Company where they had some of the most stunning jewelry on display I've seeen in a while.  Nancy and I were both attracted to a glorious necklace that priced out at a little over $2,300.  I was embarassed to ask if they would sell me earring backs (14K gold of course), but the proprietor was most accomodating and happily sold me four clasps.  She was as nice to me as if I had purchased the $2300 necklace - what a lovely woman. 

Since dinner was the main objective of the evening, we asked for recommendations from shop keepers and were directed a little bit out of town to Thyme the Restaurant, located just beyond the main square on North Court Street.  This isn't really walkable from the square, but it's well worth the drive north to find this little gem. 

The 65-seat spot features what Chef John Kolar calls “contemporary cuisine with worldly influences”.  We didn't have difficulty in deciding to choose a table on the charming front patio but we did have some problems in choosing our dinner.  The menu is full of wonderful items such as Pan Roasted Thyme Chicken, Lobster Newburgh Fettuccini and Chipotle Cream Steamed Mussels.  We were both intrigued by the Grilled Chicken Mac 'n Cheese (although neither of us ended up ordering it).  I settled on the Warm Asparagus salad and a small Italian pizza - both delicious paired up with the Malbac wine I ordered.  I'm not sure what Nancy ordered but it must have been good because when I stole a glance at her plate it was completely clean. 
 
Although it had threatened rain all evening, we'd spent the entire time walking the square under sunny skies.  It only begin raining during our dinner and we moved to a table away from the edge of the patio, but it really was a lovely setting and a terrific meal.  A perfect summer evening. 

DUCKY DAY
Saturday morning was Canal Day at the Cascade Locks Park, "Akron's Urban Park".  Set over at the new Schumacher Cascade Mills site, which is located on North Street across from the Mustill Store, there were a few dozen craft vendors set up and several tents with things for the kids to do.  Today was the Park's annual springtime fund raiser and their 4th Duck Derby. 

CLPA has a unique partnership with Metro Parks, Serving Summit County and the City of Akron allowing them to promote the historical value of the park while also encouraging residents of Summit County and beyond to get out and about and enjoy nature. Their stated mission is to preserve, protect and promote Cascade Locks Park along locks 10-16 of the Ohio & Erie Canal.

I've been volunteering for these annual events for many years, as early as the second picnic back in 2002.  They've morphed a bit from ice cream socials to barbecues, and now into Duck races in the canal.  This little park association is truly a grass roots organization and the people are like a family.  I've enjoyed being a peripheral part of them for so long and look forward to staying involved for many years to come.

CHICAGO!
Saturday night I went to Chicago!  No,  not the town, the stage play.  Saturday was the first of our ladies summer season at Porthouse Theater and the show was Chicago!  We had a lovely evening for our regular picnic and performance.  This year there are 11 in our group (we seem to add one or two each summer).  We all brought along some food to share and some wine.  We have tables reserved in the pavilion (in case of rain) and we set up in there. 
 
This week we had shrimp, meatball sandwiches, sushi, waldorf salad, ginger cookies, rice krispie treats, melon in proscuitto, pasta salad, little meatballs, orange fluffy salad and 4 or 5 bottles of wine.  Yee goodness, we ate well!  Conversation flowed nicely as did the wine - and I'm not intimating one had anything to do with the other. 
 
What I like about this group is our diversity.  Although we're all about the same age (40's - 60's), we come from many backgrounds and everyone has something to contribute to the conversations. 
 

This is our 5th summer at Porthouse enjoying picnics prior to the show and this seems to have caught on to many others in the audience.  The first couple of years we did not reserve spaces and yet had no difficulties finding tables on the grounds.  Each summer there seems to be more and more tables set up, each with a brightly colored umbrella for their patrons to use.  This summer there is even a new pavilion for additional seating - and they're all filled! 
 
I think this is a fantastic way to stretch a simple theater experience into a full evening of enjoyment.  That being said, our next performance in July will find us over at Sarah's Vineyard prior to the show.  As much fun as it is to prepare our own picnic, it's just as much fun to let someone else do the pampering! 
 
This week the show was phenomanal!  Directed by Terri Kent with choreography by Mary Ann Black, the production was lively and well done in the space allowed.  The music was wonderful under the direction of Jonathan Swoboda.  There is a terrific full review by blogger and local critic Roy Berko here.  My personal opinion is that Dylan Ratell who played Mary Sunshine stole each scene he was in - yes, WOW!  Also, although I thought Ms. Black's portrayal of Roxie was spot on, she felt miscast in the part that seemed to require a younger actor. 
 
I'm looking forward to our next performance which will be The Sunshine Boys.  Anyone out there who hasn't had a Porthouse experience yet needs to get out and get there!