Photo Friday Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Located in Richmond, Va. the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a bastion of tranquility in the midst of a very busy city. Here are some of the lovely views we enjoyed. 

The Conservatory

Orchid

Orchid

Fall Festival at Mount Vernon

Saturday, October 25th we attended the Fall Festival at the home of our first president, George Washington. In addition to all the usual things you can do there on any given day, there were special events that appealed to families and children. Not to say that you needed to have children to enjoy this day, there were plenty of couples and seniors who were having a good time. 

The "General" was walking around and also talking to anyone who cared to listen. We sat on bales of hay and listen for about a half hour under a tent and it was fascinating.

There was a straw bale maze for the kids as well as storytelling. We stopped to roast apples and dip them in honey, it is quite delicious if I have to say so myself. 

The events that have to do with the Fall Festival are mostly held at the Pioneer Farm. You can watch a demonstration of 18th-century dancing and try it out yourself. Making a corn husk doll was very popular with both children and adults. 

If you wanted to take a sightseeing cruise on the Potomac, it was half price and I though a very great bargain for $5. We spent about 5 hours At Mount Vernon and certainly could have spent a lot more. I highly recommend this event to anyone who wants to learn more about Colonial times and our first president.

Photo Friday Farmers Market Davenport, Iowa

Last summer as part of our trip to the Quad Cities, we visited the Farmers market. Don't you just love a farmers market? The fresh fruits and vegetables, the local honey, food vendors and lets not forget the cupcakes.

For wine lovers, the local vineyards were in attendance and for me, the strawberry rhubarb jam was a big draw.

Tomatoes of all colors

I of course bought some local honey as did  this gentleman

Yummy cupcakes

Beautiful fresh eggplant

I bought some rhubarb jam.

Plenty of plants were also for sale.

Anyone hungry?

Need to change direction

For the next few weeks I need to forget about doing the trip to the Midwest since I am in the midst of a laptop malfunction and my photos are located on my other laptop. Not to worry, they are backed up but I really don't want to download them all onto my older computer which has its own issues, which is why it not my current computer. 

I am going to regroup and I will be back to share more adventures once I figure out exactly what I am going to do. Stick around, I have lots of adventures to share and I may just do a live blog as I travel through Virginia.

I just thought I would throw in a photo. This is the church tower of the parish church in West Walton, Norfolk. My ancestors the Ollards lived in the parish and I was here to check up on them. That is our little rental car parked in front of the tower. You may have noticed the tower is not attached to the church, I like that.

A Photo Tour of Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich.

Greenfield Village is located in Dearborn, Mich. and was created by Henry Ford to be a classroom. We should be very grateful to him for all the amazing pieces of history that he preserved. 

Getting ready for our Model T ride

Windmill from Cape Cod

#greenfieldvillage

Thomas Edison's Lab

Wright Brothers Bike Shop

Cottage from England

You will absolutely love your visit to Greenfield Village and ask yourself what took you so long. 

What exactly is a Media Showcase

The reason that we went to Rockford, Ill. in the first place was so that I could attend the "Media Showcase". This was a chance for the city of Rockford , Ill. to present itself to a variety of travel writers and they did a very good job of that. It is also speed-dating for travel writers and CVBs (convention and visitor centers) from around the country to meet and arrange visits. You get 15 minutes together to exchange information. It is all very hectic and fun. 

This was Tuesday, the speed-dating begins on Wednesday morning. This first afternoon we had the option to take a fam tour (familiarization) and that is what Al and I did. My tour was included because I am a writer, Al's I paid for as part of a fee that included a bunch of things. 

We hopped on a bus and were taken to Midway Village Museum. The wonderful thing about any press trips like this is that we get special treatment and get taken on guided to tours etc. I plan to do a separate entry about Midway Village Museum so I won't get into it now but it is a fascinating place with a very nice museum and the historic house. 

After we toured the village we were taken shopping and I absolutely loved this store, it has everything you could possibly want except Al said, fishing equipment but I found it the perfect place to start my Christmas shopping. 

We ended up back at the hotel with time to rest for a few minutes and change for supper. We ate at a catered venue down along the river and honestly were treated like royalty. Being a travel writer is a tough life!!

Illinois: Arriving in Rockford

We drove from South Bend, Ind. to Rockford. I trusted our GPS. One of these days I am going to go back to the old way of doing things, using a map because the GPS decided we would enjoy basically driving through downtown Chicago. Yes,  that was a lot of fun.

#chicagoskyline

Add to that the problem with construction on the road and by the time we arrived we were just a little frazzled. 

I also had not considered the fact that we had changed time zones and we arrived very early for check-in. We were lucky that the Courtyard had rooms already cleaned and the woman at the desk upgraded us so we had a lovely courtyard room where we could easily walk to the hot tub for a relaxing soak.

We went out for an early dinner. One of my online friends from Helium, Christine Zibas lives in Rockford and she suggested we go to Garretts for dinner. We actually got there about 4 p.m. for early dinner. We started with an app of chips and salsa which was very good. I had a salad with chicken and roasted peaches and Al had a burger with homemade potato chips. We were very pleased with all the food we got there. 

She also suggested the Egg Harbor Cafe for breakfast the next morning and again the food was excellent. 

We moved across the street to what would be our hotel for the next few days, the Hilton Garden Inn. 
The adventure begins.

Ohio: A stop in Maumee

Maumee Ohio is just beyond Toledo. It is where we spent our second night on the road to Rockford, Ill. which was a Saturday. I chose it for the ease of getting to a church since it can be one of the hard things to do when traveling. This location had two Catholic Churches within a very close drive. We chose St Joseph Catholic Church because the time of the Mass worked better. 

After Mass, we went to the Maumee Antique Mall which was also close to our hotel. It was huge and stayed open until 8 p.m. on Saturdays. In August, the days are long and we didn't have to worry about getting back before dark. And yes, I did buy a few things, all very well priced. 

We stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott. It had a very nice location, next door to an Outback Steakhouse, within walking distance to Buffalo Wild Wings and a couple blocks from  Cracker Barrel so even though breakfast isn't included, you have options. Gas stations nearby as well to fill up before heading back to the Ohio Turnpike. 

I liked this stop very well. I am sure if I looked around I would have found a small interesting museum and the Toledo Art Museum is not a long drive. We enjoyed the pool and spa at our hotel, a great way to relax.

Indiana: South Bend a Photo Tour

The South Bend Art Museum

 South Bend was the first major city that we stayed in on our way to Rockford, Ill. Father Joe suggested a visit to the art museum, however, I didn't realize he meant the one on the campus of Notre Dame. So I visited the local art museum first. It doesn't have much in International art but it is a great place to see some more local artists.

We are now on the campus of Notre Dame. Knute Rockne statue near the stadium.

Al at the Studebaker Museum

The Center for History

The James Oliver Room at the Oliver Inn

The Oliver Inn in South Bend

Tippecanoe Place Mansion and Restaurant

Caprese salad at Tippecanoe Place Restaurant

We only had one night in South Bend and it definitely deserves much more than that. Hopefully, we will get to return.