Category Archives: Free Fun Things To Do

Beach Walk

Perfect day.

Around the Internets

First, proof that I did actually 1) bike to and from Logan Square in a skirt and heels and 2) lie down on the sidewalk to take a photo of the Logan Theatre marquee:

And second, some random places where my Flickr photos have turned up lately:

America’s Best Doughnuts
Cancer Virus in Nearly Everyone’s Mouth, USC Says
Laptop seizures at customs cause thorny legal dispute
The Lessons of Puttanesca
Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan’s Western Lower Peninsula
New FDA Inspections To Stop Outbreaks Before They Start
Taking the trash out of landfills – Iowa City businessmen expand green market
Thanksgiving: Psychology, Gratitude and Funky Music
“What, Not How”: The Case of Specifications of the New York Bagel
Wind Turbines Scare Off Md. County

Good ol’ CC BY-NC-ND.

Marche du Nain Rouge

At breakfast on my last weekend in A2, Olivia mentioned that she’d heard about some sort of festival? parade? taking place in Detroit on Sunday – maybe something about a dwarf exorcism? Of course I had to look it up once I got to work: “Detroit dwarf exorcism”.

So the story goes, Detroit has been haunted by a red dwarf – the Nain Rouge – since it was settled in the 1700s. The appearance of the Nain presages disaster, and so for the last 300 years, the people of Detroit have gathered together to cast out the demon.

And so on a perfect Sunday in March, we found ourselves a part of a rolling party - a costumed parade through the streets of Detroit. There were horse head masks and hula-hooping luchadores. There were tremendous drag queens and children in Radio Flyer wagons. There was a bejeweled marching band. We started in the heart of the Cass Corridor, and spiraled outward, ending at the Masonic Temple, the largest in the world, where there was music and break dancing and adequate beer. A perfect way to say goodbye to Detroit.

Day 6: A Trip to the Zoo

I grew up an hour from Madison, and have many fond memories of Saturday daytrips there with my family. We’d go to a children’s play at the Civic Center and get lunch at Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry. We’d pick up wee cinnamon rolls at Ovens of Brittany or bagels from Bagels Forever. We’d have lunch at Ella’s Deli and go to the zoo.

Let me tell you: it’s really hard to conceive of paying for a zoo after living in close proximity to the National Zoo in DC and after growing up an hour away from a perfectly lovely – if small – zoo in Madison. I went there with my friends after prom instead of going to Great America like the rest of our class. Shane and I went there together in the first few months we were dating. It’s a special place for me.

You know what’s even better than going to the zoo? Going to the zoo with a very excited toddler, especially one who happens to be quite cute and also related to you. Jenn and Bill met us at the zoo between thunderstorms – our timing was impeccable! – and we had a great time catching up and watching Max point and squeal.

Uncle Shane didn’t want to be upstaged when silly photos were involved.

Cheer up, Uncle Shane!

A great morning, followed by a great lunch at Chautara and a totally indulgent, absolutely diet-busting trip to Campus Candy, where you can get delicious frozen yogurt topped with ANYTHING IN THE STORE. Kids in the candy store indeed.

Day 5: One More Hike

I have an unparalleled passion for walking, as you may recall. Shane’s passion for walking ranks somewhere between his feelings for running and Hello Kitty: tolerable mostly because he loves me. You’d think that by now, Shane would’ve learned that we have different opinions on what construes a reasonable walking distance. I have – more than once – accidentally taken family and friends on several mile walks when they were expecting a stroll around the neighborhood.

As a result of this, I try to be very clear about the actual distance we are going to be traveling. Five blocks to a restaurant. A mile and a half to the coffeeshop. A parking spot literally around the corner. Or, in the case, of this morning’s hike, about five miles.

We’d had breakfast and a morning campfire. We’d packed up our campsite. We had nothing between us and Madison except hours and hours of beautiful daylight. Why not go for a long hike?

Oh yeah, the hills. Or rather: the East Bluffs. Lots of uphill climbing. Lots of sweating and also rock formations that looked like an elephant’s butt.

Then a tough descent down the Potholes trail:

We emerged on the south side of the lake with only, you know, half a lake left to circumnavigate. We had already agreed not to take on West Bluffs, but we still had the south side boardwalk and Tumbled Rocks ahead of us. I’m pretty sure that Shane was ruing the day he agreed to go on vacation with me. I didn’t point out that our distance was less than half of the distance I’ve ran in two races this year. That would NOT have been helpful. I did, however, encourage him to carry on with the possibility of ice cream, beer, and fried green beans when we returned to the north shore.

This is the face of a man who has earned his lunch. Thanks for the good times, Devil’s Lake. We can’t wait to come back.

Total moving time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

Total elapsed time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Average moving pace: 22:23 minutes per mile

Elevation gain: 612 feet

Elevation loss: 613 feet

Maximum elevation: 1,468 feet

Minimum elevation: 957 feet

Day 4: A Long Hike to the Top

Balanced Rock — A difficult, steep, climbing trail with stone steps on the south face of the East Bluff. Spectacular views of Devil’s Lake with the Balanced Rock formation off to the south of the trail. We met a couple from Illinois who were hiking without their five children. I marveled at how fit the mom was after all those kids. When we said we were librarians, they asked us about our favorite books. (.3 mile, approximate hiking time 1 hour)

East Bluff – A medium effort trail that is asphalt with stone steps as it winds back and forth between the edge of the bluff and the adjacent woods. We walked the portion between Devil’s Doorway and CCC, enjoying the hell out of the flat and also our snack bars.

Devil’s Doorway — This is an easy, level asphalt trail along the edge of the top of the East Bluff to views of Devil’s Lake with drop-offs along the way. There is a notable side trail with stone steps to the Devil’s Doorway rock formation. We talked to three people from my hometown, one of which was having difficulty with the descent due to spatial perception issues from previous brain surgery. They watched and cheered while Shane squeezed through the rock into the doorway itself. (.5 mile, approximate hiking time .25 hour)

CCC – A difficult, steep, climbing trail with stone steps on the south face of the East Bluff with many scenic views. We walked through a narrow passage between two large smooth walls of stone, as did an Asian family whose small son was wearing a Michigan hat. (.6 mile, approximate hiking time 1 hour)

Grottos — A wide, easy going, compacted travel path along the base of the south end of the East Bluff connecting Balanced Rock Trail, Potholes Trail, and the CCC Trails. (.7 mile, approximate hiking time 1.25 hours). We walked the portion between CCC and the south shore, holding hands and eager for ice cream.

Total moving time: 53 minutes

Total elapsed time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Average moving pace: 25:51 minutes per mile

Elevation gain: 522 feet

Elevation loss: 507 feet

Maximum elevation: 1,473 feet

Minimum elevation: 965 feet

All trail descriptions from DevilsLakeWisconsin.com. Our data was carefully tracked by my Garmin Forerunner – thanks again, Shane!

1009 Grand Rapids

We missed out on ArtPrize last year – a big city-wide art competition in Grand Rapids – and I was pretty sure that we’d miss it again this year, what with Shane’s trip to Vienna and mine to Atlanta and the exhaustion between trips and being sick. After last night, though, we really needed to do something to make us feel more positive about the state of things – so we hopped in the car and headed out to Grand Rapids for the day.

The day got off to a bad start, though, when I popped a big ol’ filling out of one of my front teeth while getting out what I thought was a bit of crusty bread. No, it was a filling pebble, leaving a tooth hole that didn’t hurt, but that did mean my eating options were somewhat limited. Undeterred by this traumatic incident, we made our first stop Founders Brewery, where despite lousy service and the tooth hole, we enjoyed a couple of sandwiches and beers.

We set off in search of art, and while we found a lot of “art” along the way, we also found a number of pieces that we really liked. They seemed to fall into three categories:

Horses made of unusual materials
Fantastic creatures
Installations that involved both static and dynamic elements connected by string

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many people were spending perhaps the last perfect weekend of the fall on art, rather than on cider mills or raking the leaves. We didn’t end up seeing as much as I think we would’ve liked, in part because we wandered a bit far afield in search of a couple of cute shops I’d spotted online. I’m glad we did, too, because otherwise we wouldn’t have stumbled upon Rowster New American Coffee.

Who would’ve thought that we would’ve found a coffee operation to rival those we visited in San Francisco – in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of Grand Rapids! But there we were, and there were the gorgeous lever espresso machines, and there were the really perfect espressos in front of us. Rowster has only been open about two months, but the state of the shop – clean, simple, efficient – and the quality of the product have us sold completely. We had an espresso and a cappuccino – and several cups of sparkling water – while talking to the barista/owner (?), who then made macchiatos for us so that we could try a new espresso blend. When he had extra coffee left from a cup of pour-over, he offered that to us as well. $6 for three great drinks and a fair amount of coffee nerdery each equals a really nice way to pass an afternoon.

By this point in the day, though, we were both getting really tired and I wasn’t feeling so great, so after a bit more meandering, we headed back in the direction of the car. The last stop for the day was dinner at Restaurant Bloom – we were a little too hungry to just hit the road, realizing that it would only result in a stop for fast food. Bloom is the sort of place where you find yourself really struggling with the menu – not because there’s nothing you want to eat but because you want to eat absolutely everything. We split an order of fingerling “fries” – half of which will be tomorrow’s breakfast – and had a fancy sandwich each. My croque madame was impossibly rich, and I almost immediately regretted eating the whole thing. I’d love to go back for a meal at Bloom when a huge city-wide event is NOT taking place, as I expect the service would be a whole lot better.

All told, though – a nice day out of town, nice to see a smallish city investing in the arts, and a nice range of eats to share with my sweetheart.

0829 Family-Style

I am so very disappointed that my photos from tonight’s dinner didn’t turn out. Janet, among others, has been on me for months to improve my use of our DSLR, and tonight’s photos illustrate her point – I have a great deal to learn and, perhaps more importantly, remember.

Since I have no usable photos, I’ll have to ask you to close your eyes and imagine the scene. Nine friends around a mid-century teak table with not one but two leaves added. Serving dishes crowding every inch of the table not covered in mismatched linens, silverware, dinner plates, or half-empty Tom Collinses. A pizza-like flatbread with slow roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, green onion, and shaved Parmiagiano-Reggiano. A second flatbread with sauteed leeks, gorgonzola, and more shaved Parmiagiano. Two grain salads: quinoa with green beans, and wheat berries with corn and green onion in a delicate dressing. Pesto potato salad with green beans and toasted pine nuts. Potato-quinoa croquettes with romesco dipping sauce. A frittata with a bunch of veg. Eggplant caviar with toasted pita (and secret roasted tomatoes added for extra oomph).

Chairs pushed back from the table. Bottles of Sah’tea and Shane’s stout passed around for sampling. Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and a discussion of Mad Men. Speculation about whether the inhalation of quick-setting concrete might result in sore lungs. Stories about stuffed animals and grade school lunches. A lot of laughter, and perhaps an Elton John song.

Let’s do this again, and soon.

0430 First Cookout of the Season

Cat on a leash, originally uploaded by sukisuki.

Over the winter, we bought a grill off a guy on Craigslist – Shane really needed was the propane tank, but for $25, we got a nice gas grill with all the rocks and racks, plus the nearly full tank that alone would’ve cost nearly $25. I mention this because it was unexpectedly gorgeous today, and at the last minute, we invited a couple of friends over to grill out and break in the firepit (which didn’t end up happening).

While Shane and Aaron wrestled the grill into shape, Suz let Basil drag her around on his leash (hence the photo courtesy of Suz). The little dude LOVES being outside, so this was pretty much the best thing ever for him. He ate grass, rolled around in the dust, and generally claimed the yard as his own. Too bad he isn’t better behaved on said leash or we’d let him out more often.

This being the first cookout of the year, it’s fair to say that our technique needs a bit of work. It took two dudes with at least five combined college degrees to light the grill, and once lit, parts of our pork chops were a little overcooked, while parts of the veggie dogs were cool when served. I put water on to boil for asparagus, then went outside and got distracted – the asparagus ended up a little overcooked as well, but I did my best to disguise it with a vinaigrette. Everything was great – but not the pinnacle of grilling cuisine – pretty much what you’d expect at the beginning of the season.

As if the spring evening couldn’t get more picturesquely Midwestern, after dinner we walked to Dairy Queen in the gathering dark and ate our cones on sidewalk benches. A totally happy evening if I do say so myself.