Tom and I boarded our ship, Nieuw Statendam, on Sunday. After all the preparation, the planning, the paying off of the trip, we were super excited that the day had finally arrived. Our four month adventure to Europe begins! Everything went very smoothly on Sunday. Holland America makes the boarding process a breeze. Although our …
Biscayne National Park in Florida
To fill out our week of visiting National Park sites, Tom and I stopped at Biscayne National Park just south of Miami. Biscayne National Park is 95% water, which means that the number of things you can do without a boat are limited. Biscayne National Park preserves Biscayne Bay and its offshore barrier reefs. The shore of …
Everglades National Park in Florida
Tom and I made a quick trip to Everglades National Park in Florida in between Big Cypress and Biscayne. We had been to Everglades several times and weren’t really interested in seeing it again. But, in our previous visits, I had neglected to get a stamp. So we took advantage of our proximity for me …
Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida
The day after visiting De Soto National Memorial, Tom and I visited Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress is administered by the National Park Service, so I needed the stamp. In addition, Tom and I had never been there, despite previously visiting Everglades National Park. Big Cypress National Preserve is a diverse landscape of cypress …
De Soto National Memorial in Florida
Tom and I are one week into our big trip now and our first major stop was De Soto National Memorial in Florida. The first two days were long days spent driving south on I-75, but the third day we got to do some fun stuff. De Soto National Memorial is a small National Historic …
Preparing for a Long Trip
Tom and I are now away on our long trip. I write the blog a week ahead of when I publish it, so we are in Florida, only a couple of days away from getting on the ship. We used the month of March to get ready, so I thought I would let you know …
Pancake House Family Diner
We recently enjoyed brunch at The Pancake House Family Diner on Polaris Parkway in Lewis Center. John and Jackie had treated us to a showing of Ghostbusters Frozen Empire (3 out of 5 stars) so we treated them to brunch after the movie. We picked The Pancake House because we didn’t want a big meal …
Quarry Trails Metro Park
A couple of weeks ago we had some warm weather and Tom and I took advantage of it by walking around Quarry Trails Metro Park. With a metro park just across the street, it always seems silly to drive to another park just to walk. But we were in Grandview Heights to listen to the …
Rust Belt Fibershed
I recently attended at talk by the organizer of the Rust Belt Fibershed, sponsored by the Central Ohio Weaving and Fiberarts Guild. I joined the Guild in 2022 and manage to get to one or two meetings a year, usually when they have speakers I want to hear. Living sustainably is important to me, although …
Mimi’s Café at Polaris, Delaware, Ohio
On Sunday, Tom and I met John and Jackie at Mimi’s Café at Polaris. I picked Mimi’s Café because I had never been there and because it has an all-day brunch menu. It also looks cool from the outside. Mimi’s Café is a chain that started in 1978. It was bought by Bob Evans in …