As always, Chuck and I seek unusual excitements around the Great Lakes. With USA Today‘s article about the nation’s top ten New Year’s Drops, we found “The Pierogi Drop” in Whiting, Indiana, just south of Chicago. These Polish potato dumplings are most often boiled then fried. Join us for our […]
Travel & Culture
48 posts
Did you know that there are fourteen uniquely formed sculptures tucked along the bank of Iron Lake behind the St. Joseph Shrine? These remarkable, wet-cement styled pieces represent the story of Jesus carrying his own cross to his own crucifixion. How did this installation come to be? Who had built […]
Who can claim to be the inventor of the Coney Dog? Well, this controversy centers around Michigan: Jackson and Detroit. This quarrel follows Macedonian immigrants who had passed through Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. Join Chuck and I as we taste our way to the truth about who brought […]
Do you love to be immersed in culture? The Polish Art Center surrounds visitors with Polish music and customs! Located in the “pinky peninsula” of lower Michigan, The Polish Art Center, opened in 2016. This store has appeared in my Facebook feed for sometime and I’ve always paused for a […]
Tulip Time! I had received a text from my husband, Chuck, “4:15 Dinner at Boatwerks?” Boatwerks is a restaurant in Holland, Michigan. He had been volunteering on the 1810 replica ship, Friends Good Will, in Holland for Tulip Time. “YES!” I replied. The Michigan Maritime Museum had sailed their wooden […]
Ivo and Rita have created a cultural workshop hotel called Casa Mediterranea on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Since we’d met Ivo three years ago this couple has not only transformed a bed and breakfast, but in addition they have created a family! Come with us as we traveled back […]
Tucked behind a stone wall in the village of Gergei, Sardinia, a Mediterranean island, rests the tranquil Mario Cesare cottage. We had stayed here three years ago and were awestruck by the owner, Giulia. (pronounced Julia) She’d worked hard to acquire and restore Mario Cesar’s home into a Bed and […]
“Out of many, One People” is the Jamaican motto. My husband, Chuck, and I traveled to Jamaica for our friend’s wedding. While the all inclusive resort was lovely, we wanted to meet locals and see a real Jamaican neighborhood. This 146 mile long island is home to 3 million people. […]
While in Jamaica my husband, Chuck, and I searched for excursions that would be unlike anything we’d ever find in Michigan. Taking a bamboo raft along a rainforest river sounded enchantingly magical. Join us as we meet Messan, our guide, and slide through the turquoise water surrounded by lush greenery […]
What? There are still speakeasies in Chicago? Come along with Chuck and I as we find The Drifter, a secret bar located behind a shelf in the basement of The Green Door Tavern. The Drifter had materialized one hundred years ago, sometime around 1920. The records are sketchy on the […]