10th Adventure – #30 Visit a garden/arboretum we have never been to

I felt like Snow White this morning. The birds were chirping, the sun gently woke me up, and the sky was blue. Some brave flowers were already poking their heads out. The temperature was a balmy 40 degrees. I felt like singing. I could feel Spring creeping around the corner.  As much as I love the snow and Winter, I am really excited for Spring.

We headed out to Newark to pick up Aunt M. Then headed for Dawes Arboretum. Their calendar advertised a Homemade Goods Fair and Maple Syrup Madness. We walked through the Homemade Goods Fair first. The Fair hosted a lot of local artisans. My favorite booth was St Louisville Glass. Wow, beautiful pieces. The Visitors Center also has a Discovery Center. A spotted turtle and a fox snake call the Discovery Center home. There was also a bird watching garden, where two very fat squirrels were chasing the chipmunks around.

 

When I think of Maple Syrup, I think of Vermont. Come to find out (Thank you Ohio Maple Producers Association!), Ohio is one of 12 states that produces Maple Syrup. Ohio ranks either 4th or 5th in terms of amount of production. We walked down the Maple Syrup Path to the Log Cabin. Along the path we learned about different aspects of producing the amber goodness.

They also displayed a lot of maple syrup making artifacts. It was really cool to see.

Before I get all sappy (hee hee, get it??), we finally made it down to the log cabin where they were rendering the maple sap to make the syrup. There was a docent there explaining what they were doing. It was fascinating to see the operation. We learned that it takes between 40-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. We also learned that when they tap the tree that it spigot makes a hole in the tree. The tree will grow around the hole, but the next year they have to tap the tree in a different spot. We also got to sample the syrup. It was heavenly. I wish I had some pancakes.

After taking the trail back to the parking lot, we drove around the grounds. It is so beautiful. There were little clues that Spring will be here soon, even though there were some patches of left over snow. We will need to go back when it is warmer and when everything is blooming. Such a fun day!!

 

9th Adventure – #21 Go on an adventure with my nieces and nephew

February is a huge month in our family for birthdays! We travelled to the Fort this weekend to Celebrate with my mom, aka Mimi as her grandchildren call her; my niece, big C; and my other Aunt M.

During the winter months the state of Indiana goes crazy for basketball. My niece, J, and my nephew, A, each had a basketball game Saturday Morning. Their church has an Upwards Basketball program and we went to watch.  It was a lot of fun to watch them play! A’s game was first. He wore lucky number 11. He scored two points! He also hates his picture taken, so I took this time to get as many shots as I could. His team was the Hoosiers. They played the Buckeyes. It hurt my heart to root against the Buckeyes, but it was for the greater good. 😉

J’s game was next. She also wore lucky number 11.  She also wore pink pants, so that made it really easy to keep track of her on the court. Her team was Mercury. Each game has three 5 minute periods, half time, then three more 5 minute periods. All the kids get to play, so that is really cool. They all have colored tags on their shoulders to tell them who they guard on defense. J is a bit of a ham as you can see below. Her facial expressions as she was guarding her opponent was so hilarious.

Between the games we hung out and had hot chocolate. I love hanging with my family. My sister, K, has the best kiddos. Mimi was in her element with Big C and Little C.

After the games we headed back to K’s house and had lunch. Mother Nature surprised us with a 60 degree day and the kids got to play outside.  Then we headed to my parent’s house for a big birthday party! K and the kiddos took the sidewalk chalk and decorated the driveway with birthday wishes for Mimi. Grampa B. (aka the Coach) came out and tossed the football around with us. K and I needed a refresher on how to throw the football. A said “Someone needs to show mom how to throw the ball.” We had a good laugh about that, as she was not doing a bad job before the Coach came out.

Little C asked if we wanted to go look for bears with her, so we headed “down the hill” to the creek. Sadly to report, the only critters we saw were squirrels.

Then we showed the birthday girl our chalk art. Little C grabbed Mimi’s walker and ran around with it. The best line was “Outta my way, I am an old lady.” I don’t think I have laughed so hard in such a long time!

 

All in all we had a great day with the birthday girls!

8th Adventure – #29 Photograph a Garden in Columbus

It was a long week. I caught the bug that was going around the office and felt like death warmed over, or one of those monkeys from Pandemic that spreads germs. Today, I finally felt human again. The cabin fever had set in, I needed to get out. The high today was only going to be like 15, so doing something outside was out of the question. It is also Valentine’s weekend. What is indoors and has flowers? If you guessed the Franklin Park Conservatory, you would be correct. Along with my Valentines, my Aunt M and my Hubby, we headed off. We visited some of Columbus’ treasures along the way.

The conservatory is wonderful. I continued to be amazed with all that Columbus has to offer.  We have gone in the past for the Butterflies and Blooms, but it is too early for that. Instead, we went for the orchids. There were so many different varieties, colors, patterns, and shapes. The orchids were so beautiful! It was really hard to choose just a few to put up on the blog.

According to the Franklin Park Conservatory’s website, FPC was the second botanical gardens in the world to host a Dale Chihuly exhibit. (We went for it, and it was amazing!!) It was such a popular exhibit, that the Friends of the Conservatory were able to purchase most of the pieces from the exhibit and make the glass a permanent collection at the Conservatory. I am so glad that they did, as these are stunning pieces. The vibrant colors and shapes are so much fun to photograph.

Of course the glass and the orchids are not the only parts of the conservatory worth seeing. The Himalayan Mounitan Biome, Rainforest Biome, Desert Biome, Pacific Water Garden, and the Palm room have some remarkable plants. I could have spent a long time in the Gift Store, and spent some serious cash too! I settled instead for snapping a few shots.

By then our tummies were rumbling and we needed food stat. We headed down to the German Village and to Katzinger’s Delicatessen. As many times as we have been down to the German Village, we have never ventured in. This being an adventure, we decided to try it. OMG it was amazing. That is all I can say. Both the Hubby and my Aunt M ordered the Ruben (Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Swiss Cheese, Russian Dressing on Rye). I ordered the Gene’s Free Lunch (Corned Beef, Roast Beef, Cole Slaw, Russian Dressing, Swiss Cheese, on Pumpernickel). I was told that the Rubens are the best Rubens that the Hubby and My Aunt M ever had. I know this has to be true as they both order Rubens quite a bit. The Gene’s Free Lunch was really really good too. It melted in my mouth. The Hubby and I also ordered the Macaroni Salad. Yum!! I want to go back and try some of the traditional Jewish food next time. The Kugel, Knish, and Latkes sound so interesting. The desserts also looked really good too.

On the way home we stopped by Oakland Park Nursery, to see if they had any bulbs. We were out of luck, but it is fun to wander around and look at the plants and items for sale. We also popped by Carfagna’s Market. I love this market. They have the best meat and the best sales on meat. My shopping basket ended up with some Filet Mignon, Delmonico Steaks, Ground Chuck, and chicken. There will be some good eatin’ at my house!

All in all it was a fun day! We got out of the house, beat the cold, and had some good eats. That is what I would call a successful Adventure.

 

7th Adventure – #32 Go to a Gallery Hop

Ah, let’s go to the hop
Let’s go to the hop (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop (oh baby)
Let’s go to the hop
Come on, let’s go to the hop
Let’s go!

Every first Saturday of the month, the shops and galleries of the Short North district in Columbus stay open for the Gallery Hop. It is a really popular event and can get crowded quickly. We decided to head down early, mainly I wanted to take pictures while the sun was still up. Also, we were hoping for good parking 🙂

We wandered up and down High St. Going into stores that that caught our fancy. We also popped into a few galleries. We found some great catnip toys for the kitties at Posh Pets (more about that later). The lights at Karavan, a Turkish Import store, were amazing! I would have loved to photographed them all!

The neon lights and signs were also fun to shoot. I love the color and brightness that comes with neon.

Being Gallery Hop night, all of the restaurants that we wanted to try were packed. We decided to drive to another part of downtown for a restaurant that I have been dying to try, the Grass Skirt Tiki Bar. A little bit of Hawaiian warms to chase away the February blues. We started out with crab dip and wonton chips. They were really yummy! I had a hard time choosing between the Hawaiian Burger (Burger with Swiss, pineapple, and teriyaki aioli), Crab Cakes with red pepper slaw, and the Grass Skirt Grilled Cheese (King’s Hawaiian Bread, Spam, Swiss, and pineapple). I ended up going with the burger in the hopes it would be as amazing as the burger we had on our Hawaiian Honeymoon. While this one was good, the one in Hawaii will remain the best burger I have ever eaten. The Hubby ordered the Red Curry Rice Noodles with Chicken. He said it had good flavor and it wasn’t too spicy. This is high praise from him. Next time we go, yes we would go back, we will order one of the amazing looking drinks. There is a Pineapple and Ginger Mojito or a Blue Hawaiian with my name on it! (Maybe when it gets a bit warmer and we can sit outside)

When we got home it was time to give the kitties their present. I was holding on to the catnip toys and Simon is walking around the room sniffing trying to find the his toy. As soon as we gave it to him, he started attacking it. He was rolling around, and trying to rabbit kick it. He was so funny! Sasha, the duchess, demurely licked it. No craziness for her. Simon wore himself out playing with his new toy. If you have a cat, Simon and Sasha highly recommend Yeowww! catnip toys. We like the fact that they are handmade in the US from organic catnip.