The West Side Market

We all went down to the West Side Market today, where we met Mike and Darlene and Jan. The Market is a Cleveland landmark, a bustling emporium filled with cheeses and bakery items and meats and prepared food and a large open air produce section with rows on rows of glistening fruits and vegetables.

The experience is enough to overwhelm the senses! We went across the street to Penzey's Spices, where a vast array of every kind of seasoning was laid out. One interesting feature is that each spice display includes a small open container so you can smell and even taste the wares.

Afterward we went to lunch nearby. We had hoped to eat at the Flying Fig, but it is closed on Mondays, so we ended up at the Boaz Cafe instead, where we had truly delicious Mediterranean meals. Then we walked to Mitchell's Ice Cream Ohio City Kitchen & Shop, where we enjoyed more deliciousness. We also had a chance to walk to the "kitchen" area, where the ice cream is indeed being hand made in small batches by very cheerful, friendly employees. This was quite a contrast with our tours of the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Brenham, TX, and the Ben and Jerry's Factory in Burlington, VT. Both of those are large scale, factory operations. Both offer great ice cream, but Mitchell's was something special.

Next we drove to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where we planned to see the Planetarium show, Dark Universe, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Unfortunately when we arrived, we discovered that the only show today was sold out (note to self: buy tickets in advance next time!). Mike and Darlene and Jan went on back to Peggy's house, and the rest of us headed back to Kathy's, with a stop on the way to see a bit of Cleveland revitalized: Playhouse Square.

Playhouse Square--note the huge chandelier hanging over the square. Kathy says it's really something to see lit up at night.

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Todd and Stephanie's Annual Cookout and Fireworks!

Chris and Anara are staying at Kathy's house. We came in from our campground, and Terri came from her hotel. We started the day with a lovely brunch, featuring quiche and delicious homemade coffee cake and melon.

Later in the day we all went to Elyria to Stephanie and Todd's house for the great annual cookout and fireworks. Jeff was there too, along with Todd's parents and several friends.

We got a tour of the house, including Aria's new custom designed loft bed. It features a cat shelf over the bed. Aria's ambition is to grow up to be a crazy cat lady, but right now all her cats are of the stuffed variety.

Todd and Stephanie have an amazing back yard: it just keeps going back, so plenty of room for kids to play and folks to visit. Later the fireworks were set off in the far rear area.

Todd was in charge of the fire, where he grilled an assortment of good food.

Of course everyone brought dishes to share. There was plenty of deliciousness to go around and some good beer and other drinks. A great time was had by all. Special kudos to the macaroni and cheese created by one of the friends. I think I had thirds!

Have I mentioned that Aria calls Ken "that boy who likes to play with his phone"?

Some sparklers and flash bangs appeared early on, but the main event was an awesome fireworks display held after dark. When we left, Todd and Stephanie and Warren were still going strong setting off more displays.

Scout was wrapped up in a comforter in the bathtub, since loud noises are not her thing. It was a bit disconcerting to hear panting and see eyes looking out from the tub when using the facilities! Read more!

Arrivals

Terri drove in from Falls Church today, and Chris and Anara flew in from Portland. We all gathered at Kathy's house for dinner. We were delighted that everyone made the trip safely, despite some delays.

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More Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Adventures

We started our ride today at the Boston Store Visitor Center, which is the northern point we reached on our last ride. We had hoped to bike north and take the Scenic Railroad back south, but it only had two trips today, so we were too late for that.  We biked to Lock 39 at the northern end of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and returned for a round trip of about 22 miles.

We learned a lot about life on the canal. One interesting exhibit discussed the lives of children who lived and worked on the boats. One game they played was "Clear the Decks"--the designated player tried to knock as many kids off the boat as possible!

At the end of the ride we stopped at the Trail Mix shop across from the Boston Store Visitor Center. The big attraction was that they advertised Mitchell's Ice Cream, which they sold in cups from a freezer case. We both had double chocolate chunk--yummy! Read more!

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

We went for a bike ride today along part of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. We parked at Botzum trailhead just north of Akron and rode north.

Most of the trail is crushed limestone, similar to the Katy Trail.

We stopped along the way to view the historical markers.

We rode under two freeways, I-80 and I-277. Even though the roadway is high overhead, the roar of traffic drowns out the peaceful sounds of birds and occasional frogs we enjoyed on the more remote parts of the trail.

We stopped at Boston Store Visitor Center, where we learned about the construction of canal boats.

After a picnic lunch, we headed back to our starting point. Any day except Monday we could have planned to bike further north and take the scenic railroad back to our trailhead. The train does not run on Mondays, but we might get a chance later in the week to explore more of the trail and ride the train. Read more!

Natural Beauty

We biked over to Lexington today. Along the way Ken spotted this Great Blue Heron fishing in the Clear Fork. Success! It caught a fish, and we got to watch it shaking its head around coaxing the meal down its throat.

We also spotted a couple of woodchucks scurrying into the woods, but they didn't pose for a photo! We did see another unusual sight--this one not exactly a natural beauty. As we approached a spot of dayglo orange ahead on the path, we realized that it was a man doing pushups crosswise on the path. He stood up when we got near, and we stopped to chat with him. He said that he runs the trail and does 500 pushups as part of his run. That boggles the mind. He is 44 and was hospitalized with pneumonia in January. He decided to work on getting healthier, and he went from 260 lbs. to 210 lbs. I guess running and pushups are good for your health!

After the bike ride we decided to visit the Wade Botanical Gardens. We went there in 2015 on our last trip to this area. The gardens are a part of the Wade & Gatton Nurseries, and they are a real labor of love--love for daylillies and hostas, that is. The owners have developed many varieties of hostas themselves. The gardens include over 2,300 varieties of Hostas and over 1,500 varieties of Daylilies along with other perennials, conifers, shade and ornamental trees, etc.

Here's an excerpt from the Ohio Magazine May 2012 issue (http://tinyurl.com/ybgwe9dw)

At Wade & Gatton, hostas rule. Van and Shirley Wade grow 2,500 varieties at their 84-year-old nursery, and busloads of hosta fans from around the world travel to what they call “hosta heaven.” They’re drawn to the Wades’ amazing collection of these easy-to-grow, shade-loving perennials known for their beautiful foliage in varying sizes, shapes and colors. You’ll find mini hostas with quarter-sized blue leaves, larger ones with ruffled chartreuse leaves and even giant varieties with 6-foot spans and bold variegated leaves. In fact, Van has introduced 100 hosta hybrids, including “Van Wade,” “Van Wade Blue” and 80 others.
Begin your tour outside the Wades’ 1880s Victorian home, then wander through the hillside and woodland gardens filled with this diverse species. Grab a clipboard and take notes of your favorites, then visit the hoop houses to purchase ones to take home. With so many options, it’s best to make selections as you go or you’ll lose track of where you’ve spotted something. Look for hosta “Liberty” — the 2012 Hosta of the Year. Besides hostas, you’ll find 1,500 varieties of daylilies along with other perennials, conifers and trees. Before you go, make sure you have a chance to meet Van to shake his hand or pose for a picture. (He’s known to include a free hosta with new visitors’ purchases.)
“They’re the friendship plant,” he says about hostas, which are easy to divide and share. “And there’s nothing more fun than giving somebody one unexpectedly with hopes they’ll reciprocate one day.”  

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20th Anniversary Ride

Today is our 20th anniversary. We used to celebrate by going back to the rose garden in Pasadena where we were married to share some champagne and wedding cake, which the bakery that made our original cake provided in a much smaller version for anniversaries.

We are nowhere near Pasadena, and we don't have any champagne, so to celebrate today we took a nice long bike ride on a lovely day for biking.

We rode to Bellville and to Lexington again, and then we continued on to the end of the trail in Mansfield at North Lake Park.

The Clear Fork River in Bellville

Lexington offers water for all--even the animals...

Mansfield students showing off their artistic abilities

Art beats out graffiti--at least here

In Mansfield we took surface streets to the Athens Greek Restaurant, where we enjoyed some interesting unfamiliar flavors. Everything was yummy, especially the baklava diamond for dessert!

At North Lake Park, the waterfowl seem to thrive.

Back at Bellville we stopped at the Dairy Belle for hot fudge sundaes.

Our total round trip was about 37 miles, very close to the length of the August ride on the Katy Trail. We are pleased to report that our legs held out fine (although we do have some saddle soreness....).

Along the way we saw lots of flowers and trees and several chipmunks dashing across the path. One nearly met an untimely end under my bike tire, but I braked and missed it by inches. Birds sang to us from all sides. We saw lots of robins and a couple of cardinals. Ken saw what was probably a woodchuck scurrying across the path. Yesterday we saw some deer.

Today was a wonderful day! Read more!

More Trail--on to Lexington

We were a bit more ambitious today. We rode to Lexington, for a round trip of about 21 miles.

Impressive farmhouse and barn

Another view of the Bellville bridge over Ohio 13

Bellville Railroad Depot

Bike Fix-It station at Bellville

Under a canopy of leaves

Lunch stop at the Lexington rest station Read more!