Midwest Guest

Toledo Harbor lighthouse tour

Several years ago, I wrote about my frustrations with getting a decent photo of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse that sits five miles out into Lake Erie from the northern Ohio shoreline.

I satisfied myself then with taking photos of the light's original Fresnel lens, which was, and still is, on display in the lobby of Ohio's Maumee Bay State Park Resort.

At the time I wrote my original article about this lighthouse, it was only two years after the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society gained the deed to the vintage 1904 Romanesque-style light station, and the group was in the beginning stages of an ambitious plan to restore and reopen the Toledo Harbor Light to the public.

The Society began offering periodic boat tours out to the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse in summer of 2011, and I finally had the chance to cruise on out to take pictures of the light earlier this summer.

Today I'm sharing a few of the photos I took that day that I haven't posted with previous articles.

You can see more of the photos I took of the lighthouse this summer and read my story about the tour and the light station's ongoing restoration at the Ohio Tourism Division's Discovering Ohio blog.

Check out my original story about the lighthouse's history and some of the earliest stages of the Society's restoration work at Toledo Harbor.

Both of these stories mention the lighthouse's "ghost", which seems like a timely tale with Halloween nearly here.

The Toledo Harbor Lighthouse was not the first lighthouse in the immediate area. Check back here later this week for a story about the lighthouse replaced by the Toledo Harbor light, the now-defunct and decaying Turtle Island Lighthouse.

Want to learn more about the state's lighthouses and their history? Check out Ohio Lighthouses by Wil O'Connell and Pat O'Connell.

Thanks to Xanterra Parks and Resorts and Maumee Bay State Park Lodge, which provided lodging, meals and the lighthouse tour for my review, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinion about my stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

The Kottage on the Korner in Suttons Bay, Michigan

We've visited the Traverse City area in northern Michigan many times over the years, staying in cottages, at large resorts and at little local motels.

This time, we opted to try one of our favorite styles of stays by booking nearly a week at a cute little bed-and-breakfast inn called the Korner Kottage in downtown Suttons Bay, which is a quick 20-minute ride north of Traverse City.

The 1920s Craftsman-style house sits, most appropriately, on a corner. It fronts M-22, one of my all-time favorite scenic drives, just outside of the wonderfully walkable downtown of the Village of Suttons Bay and a short block walk down to a nice municipal beach and marina along Lake Michigan.

We'd driven through Suttons Bay many times and spotted the house on the corner, but meeting innkeeper Linda Munro on Facebook and Twitter was part of the reason we ultimately booked our stay here last month.

The Korner Kottage is a romantic retreat for couples, which seems appropriate given the home's history started with the story of enduring love between an early 1900s lumberman and his sweetheart.

Martin Severson owned a sawmill and forested property in the area. He fell in love with Olise Olson and, in 1921, he began building a home in anticipation of the couple's future life together.

Olson accepted her beau's proposal in 1922, but there was a problem.

Her parents did not approve of the match.

But true love endures.

Time passed. The young couple became 40-year-olds. Olson's parents passed away, and the couple finally felt free to marry and live in the house that Severson built in Suttons Bay.

The house became the Korner Kottage B&B in 1980.

We stayed in the Paris room, a beautiful second-floor room overlooking the village and decorated with Parisian art and souvenirs that made you feel as if you were at an inn in the City of Lights itself.

Innkeepers Linda and Jim foster the feeling of romance and pamper their guests with amenities like 700-thread-count sheets, cozy bathrobes, lemon chocolate chip cookies in the afternoon and a full breakfast each morning.

We loved Jim's breakfasts, which stressed the use of locally grown and produced ingredients. One day, we had peach jam made by a local woman with locally baked bread. Other days we had breakfast entrees like stuffed French toast, an egg strata featuring local veggies and, always, fresh fruit and Linda's house-made Korner Kottage Krunch granola.

I also appreciated more practical amenities like free and easily accessible WiFi and a small fridge tucked into our closet that meant I could keep a ready supply of the ice tea on hand.

I always love B&Bs that have a house dog. One of my few regrets is that we didn't see much of the inn's Nestle Quik, a sweet and well-behaved dog, during our stay.

You can enjoy the Korner Kottage a home base and great place to relax after exploring the wineries, hiking trails, lakes, lighthouses and the northwestern Michigan foodie scene. Relax in your room, read in the parlor or sit a spell on the enclosed front porch to enjoy a glimpse of village life.

Be sure to check out the art at the Korner Kottage. We particularly enjoyed the quirky sheet-metal figures depicting various musicians by artist Alec Greaves scattered around the house and garden.

I've got to admit that the proofreader in me isn't wild about the Korner Kottage moniker, although I've occasionally threatened to dub the corner where I live as "King's Korner", but name aside, it's a great bed-and-breakfast with a personable style that stays away from being overly frilly as some period-style inns.

We stayed at the Korner Kottage during the week at the end of September, which I think may be one of the best times of the year to enjoy the place as a quiet retreat or spur-of-the-moment destination. The area is very popular during the summer, so you'll need to plan and reserve well in advance if you want to enjoy stay there during the hustle and bustle of the high tourist season.

If you want to take a little piece of the Korner Kottage experience home, you can always purchase some of Linda's granola at the B&B, in selected retail outlets around town, or via the Korner Kottage Web site. The rolled-oat, almond, pecan, pistachio, sunflower seed, flax seed, hemp seed, raisin, dried cherry and maple syrup mix is among the best granolas we've ever tasted, and it was nice to take this sweet reminder of our stay home with us.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Suttons Bay on Dwellable

Northern Michigan culinary adventure (Part 2)

There is good reason that I don't remember there being much of a foodie scene in Traverse City years ago as many of the city's restaurants, like the trio on the list below, opened up with in the past half-dozen years.

Here's our latest batch of Traverse City foodie finds:

• The Soul Hole-This place, billed as home to "eclectic Southern cuisine" was a must-do on my list. After all, I grew up with a lot of Southern family favorites, and any place that offers shrimp and grits is a must for me!

  
  
  

  It also turned out to be a favorite of Tim's sister and brother-in-law who live in the area, so we met them there for dinner.

  Tucked along a street in Traverse City's Old Town section, the Soul Hole is a small hole-in-the-wall with great comfort food, huge portions and reasonable prices.

  My shrimp and grits were a tasty Creole-style dish, and Tim's oyster po'boy sandwich was actually huge enough to share (ordering a half sandwich might be a good idea, especially if you want to try an appetizer or soup-we'd been warned the portions were large, so we skipped the soup or apps this time out).

  I admit I vacillated between ordering the macaroni and cheese entree, which Tim's brother-in-law vouched for, and the shrimp and grits, which is something I can't get at many restaurants in the Detroit area. In the end, it was grits for me!

  We had no problem getting a table for four on a weeknight in late September, but I'm guessing once this place gets a liquor license, that will change. Meanwhile, you can enjoy your meal with Southern-style lemonade, sweet tea or coffee from Traverse City's Higher Grounds coffeehouse.

  Great for meeting friends for Southern-style comfort food with a twist.

• Red Ginger-I heard raves about this Asian-fusion place from many people, and it certainly lived up to its reputation for imaginative cuisine and beautiful food.

  
  
  

  Red Ginger sits on East Front Street in Traverse City, right by the State Theater that is home to director Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. That means it is popular and crowded almost any time you chose to go there, although we managed to snag a seat on a weeknight in late September.

  We opted for a tuna tempura sushi appetizer, which was the special that evening. Even though I'm not as big of a fan of very rare or raw tuna as Tim, we both enjoyed this fresh and crispy tempura roll to start off our meal.

  Dinner entrees included the Vietnamese Shaking Beef that featured melt-in-your mouth tenderloin (Tim's choice) and a Japanese Mushroom "Ramen" featuring prawns and a diver scallop with several different types of mushrooms and wheat noodles (my choice).

  Red Ginger also has a wine list with a nice selection of northern Michigan wines, along with beer, Saki and a full bar.

  Great place for a date night, and it also seemed popular for meeting with business colleagues.

• House of Doggs-I first heard of House of Doggs when Matt Forster did a guest post for me last year, and I finally got to stop in and have a dog there during our last T.C. visit.

  
  
  

  Half of the fun at House of Doggs is making your choice at the counter from the wall-mounted menu of dogs that includes the Grand Funk (great name for a Flint-style Coney!), a James Brown dog dressed with crushed potato chips and the Walking Taco dog (my choice that included chili, cheese, onions and sour cream topped with crushed Frito chips).

  
  
  

  The other half of the fun is checking out rock-and-blues-infused decor which features lots of great photos and vintage album covers posted along the walls of the long, narrow dining area.

  Great for a quick lunch or dinner.

Check out Part 1 of this series for more northern Michigan foodie finds!

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: Urban garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan

So, I was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for ArtPrize, the city's grand annual art festival and competition, and this is one of the things that caught my eye while I was wandering downtown to check out some of the ArtPrize entries.

I spotted these beautiful plants several places around downtown Grand Rapids, including the garden along the sidewalk in front of a restaurant named Leo's where I spotted these beauties.

Thanks to Tim's niece Emily, who helped me identify these plants as ornamental kale on Facebook. And, yes, it's edible!

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Northern Michigan culinary adventure (Part 1)

I don't remember there being much of a foodie scene when we started going to northwestern Michigan many years ago, but now the area is a regular culinary mecca among dedicated foodies in Michigan and beyond.

This summer, we stayed in Sutton's Bay, which gave us easier access to some of the Traverse City-area restaurants that have been filling my foodie bucket list these days.

Here is a quick report on our newest foodie finds:

• Martha's Leelanau Table-We stayed at the Korner Kottage B&B just down the street and came here on the advice of the B&B owners.

  We stopped by Martha's in the morning to make a dinner reservation, because we knew the place was small and there would be live acoustic duo playing that evening.

  
  
  

  Martha's is in a renovated house on M-22, the main road through Sutton's Bay, and was just a short walk from our B&B. The homelike neighborhood setting made it seem much like dropping into a friend's house for an elegant dinner party.

  Martha Ryan, the restaurant's owner and chef, was an institutional cook for area schools for many years before pursuing the dream of opening her own restaurant in 2008.

  The dinner menu sticks to classic dishes like herb roast pork tenderloin, a Lake and Steak entree with beef tenderloin and whitefish, and the baked scallops I ordered.

  Dinners are in the $18 to $29 range, but you can score a real deal by arriving early for a Prix Fixe meal that includes soup or salad, entree and a dessert for $17.

  The breakfast and lunch menus certainly would have tempted us as well if we weren't already enjoying a full breakfast at our B&B!

  We liked Martha's emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients, enjoying a pumpkin soup du jour with our dinner.

  Martha's has a nice outdoor patio, although it was unfortunately too cold to dine outside when we were there.

  Best for a quiet and romantic dinner or meeting with friends.

• Pearl's New Orleans Kitchen-Pearl's is a cute little place just off of the main drag through Elk Rapids, Michigan (about 20 miles northeast of Traverse City).

  
  
  

  I've wanted to try Pearl's Cajun/Creole menu for a long time, so we decided to kick off our trip with a stop at Pearl's for Sunday brunch on our way to check in to our B&B.

  We started off with a basket stuffed with fresh breads and a fried green tomato appetizer, doused in my case with one of the hot sauces recommended by our personable and knowledgeable server.

  Our server also gave us a couple of tips about dining and inexpensive happy hour prices in nearby Traverse City, where the same folks who own Pearl's have a Latin American-style restaurant called the Red Mesa Grill. Pearl's has a happy hour from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. every day, and with a lot of apps priced at $2.99 then, it seems like it would be a great time to sample a number of Pearl's specialties like fried green tomatoes, crawfish cakes and oysters.

  We both opted for the Crawfish Benedict as our brunch entree, which we both felt was one of the best Eggs Benedict-style dishes we'd ever had, along with a side of cheese grits and, for me, a mimosa.

  Our brunch was so plentiful that we didn't have room for dessert, or even for dinner later that evening!

  
  
  

  Pearl's looks like it would be a lot of fun for dinner with a group of friends, or during special events like Mardi Gras or on nights when they have live entertainment.

Check back next week for a few more of our foodie finds in Traverse City.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Peterson Park is local gem near Northport, Michigan

Northwestern Michigan is famous for its beautiful sandy Lake Michigan beaches, but we recently discovered a more unique Lake Michigan beach on the Leelanau Peninsula tucked off of the road leading out to the remote tip of the peninsula and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

The rocky stretch of beach at Peterson Park isn't well known among tourists, or even that easy to find, but we checked it out after getting a tip about it from Tim's sister who lives in the Traverse City area.

Rugged rocky beaches are common in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with sandy beaches being very rare there, which is exactly the opposite in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Peterson Beach is a stretch of rocky beach in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula that reportedly is a great place to hunt Petoskey stones. The Petoskey stone is Michigan's "State Stone", although it is a fossilized coral, rather than a stone.

The township park itself looks pretty unassuming when you first drive into it and see a picnic area, playground and small a platform overlooking Lake Michigan.

Linger a while to take in the bluff-top view 400 feet above the lake, then venture down the 114 stair steps to the shore to a rock hunter's paradise and quiet stretch of beach bereft of crowds of sunbathers or beach volleyball players.

We found a couple of nice stones to bring back with us, although we didn't spot any Petoskey stones the day we went to Peterson Park. We did see a couple of other rock hunters poised in the familiar head-down crouch searching for stones, though.

And I, of course, took the opportunity to shuck my shoes and wade a bit in the late-September sun.

Peterson Park is about 25 miles north of Traverse City on the west side of the Leelanau Peninsula. Take M-22 (one of my favorite scenic drives) out of Traverse City to Northport, then take 201 north from Northport and turn west at the Peterson Park street sign.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Discovering Ashtabula County's covered bridges at Discovering Ohio

I've written a lot of stories here at Midwest Guest about the 18 covered bridges in Ohio's Ashtabula County, but this month, I share a short list of some of my favorite wooden spans in Ashtabula County with readers at Discovering Ohio.

Check out my latest story, Celebrating the covered bridges of Ashtabula County, at the Ohio Tourism Division's Discovering Ohio blog.

I'll also publish the second issue of my Midwest Guest email newsletter this week, which includes a quick update of ongoing improvements at the Museum of Postal History in Delphos, Ohio. Don't miss it...sign up now!

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: ArtPrize 2012

ArtPrize, the grand public art festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan always offers a lot of great photo opportunities.

Today, I'm sharing a few images from our time at ArtPrize last weekend.

It always amazes me to see how many artists use materials in unusual ways to create beautiful, interesting or provocative pieces of art.

There is usually at least one piece each year made out of scrap or recycled metal. This year, artist Paul Cassidy created the 1,400-pound fish, "Scappie Dick", out of things like old computer cabinets, a gas station awning and large fan units.

Margery Amdur created "Amass" from a mass of foam rubber cosmetic sponges that filled much of one gallery wall and spilled onto the floor.

Fraser Smith's "The Lake" looked like a fabric quilt at first glance, but Smith intricately carved it from a block of basswood. Viewers could touch a smaller carving included with Smith's display to see how he created the larger piece from wood.

Competition can be especially fierce among artists for space in the larger exhibition and showcase venues, but some of the more interesting and intimate pieces are in some of the smaller, neighborhood spaces like West Coast Coffee. The coffeehouse was a perfect spot to relax a while with an ice tea and leisurely check out the three-dozen ArtPrize entries displayed there.

Some of the ArtPrize pieces are big "serious" works of art, but I often like pieces that are a little more quirky or light-hearted like artist Jim Dolan's "Albert Einstein Between Theorems". This was one of the first pieces we saw as be began touring some of the venues right in downtown Grand Rapids. Dolan's welded-steel piece, powder-coated in gold, depicted Einstein in moment of relaxation and joy, tossing a plastic flying disc. It may sound a bit strange as a concept, but it really did seem to work in respectfully showing the revered scientist in a real human moment.

Check out yesterday's post for a recap of our experience checking out the art and attending the big award announcement program at this year's ArtPrize.

Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

ArtPrize 2012 recap

Who knew what would happen four years ago when visionaries in Grand Rapids, Michigan launched ArtPrize, an annual two-week art festival, party and conversation starter?

Organizers envisioned ArtPrize as a catalyst for connecting artists with this western Michigan community by encouraging engagement and conversation between the public and an eclectic range of artists presenting their work and visions in public venues spread throughout the city.

After attending three of the four annual ArtPrize festivals, I'd say that the organizers more than achieved their original goals as the city seems continually abuzz about the event and always eagerly anticipating the next one.

This year, we managed to slip into town for a last-minute trip just as ArtPrize reached a crescendo in anticipation of the awarding of more than $500,000 in prize money to this year's participating artists.

We managed to preview the short list of finalists and cast our vote for a piece by artist Richard Morse called Stick-to-it-ive-ness: Unwavering pertinacity; perseverance. While I wasn't wild about the rather twee name of the work, I liked this multi-figure work of horses created from tree branches placed in the Grand River near the city's Blue Bridge.

I particularly like pieces that take advantage of Grand Rapids' landscape and local landmarks, making the piece harmonize with the surroundings and making it feel like truly part of the city itself. That tipped the scale in favor of this piece in my mind when voting, plus I liked the artist's message of teamwork to overcome challenges and his use of fallen branches in the work (giving the old wood new life as it were).

In the end, my choice came in fourth with voters, who gave the big $200,000 prize to Adonna Khare's Elephants, an intricate, fantastical and massive triptych rendered in carbon pencil on paper.

This year, we'd planned to go back to our hotel room to watch the award announcement program on local television, but we ended up with a surprise treat instead...thanks to my little Instagramming habit.

Our trip was truly a last-minute jaunt, so we hadn't let anyone we knew in Grand Rapids know we were going to be in town.

One of our friends discovered we were in Grand Rapids when she spotted a couple of my Instagrams taken around town posted to Facebook. It turned out that she worked for a company involved with providing the WiFi system for ArtPrize, and that she had a couple of extra tickets for the awards announcement program and celebration! (Thanks, Tracy!)

So we found ourselves at the old Grand Rapids Press building's newly spiffed-up former loading dock with thousands of other ArtPrize fans as the festival's founder Rick DeVos took the stage and told us more than 47,000 people cast more than 400,000 votes during the two weeks of the 2012 ArtPrize.

The opinion of the public and of the professional critics don't always coincide noted DeVos, but he said that the tension and conversation generated by those differences were ultimately good for the art world and enriched the ArtPrize experience for everyone.

DeVos also talked about how generating ideas, both good and suspect, as key to generating discussion and a real search for solutions to our challenges as a society...and how ArtPrize has succeeded beautifully as an idea and solutions generator.

Members of the Grand Rapids Ballet performed snippets of a larger work as they delivered each award envelope to the award presenters.

I found the video clips of the expert panel of judges for the juried awards especially interesting. Each judge presented the short list of nominee in categories that included awards for a Juried Grand Prize, 2D, 3D, Time & Performance, Urban Space and Venue. The judges then announced their top selection, explaining their reasoning for selecting that particular piece of work or space.

The entire taping went off like clockwork, even coming to an end with a few minutes to spare, which left plenty of time to enjoy the lightshow and electronic music as we exited with the crowd and wondered how next year's ArtPrize experience will top our experience at ArtPrize 2012.

One of the last pieces we viewed at ArtPrize this year was artist Robin Protz' "Dragon", a suspended structure created with 40,000 golden buttons. I'd heard that this art work was amazing, and it was a pretty cool installation that seemed to breathe and sway with every little breeze. The dragon earned a place in this year's Top 25 as voted by the public, but unfortunately for Protz, ArtPrize officials had to disqualify the piece when it became apparent that Protz completed it more than the three years ago as allowed by ArtPrize rules.

It still was a popular draw after its disqualification and Protz' addition of a 2000-red-bead heart in the center of the 18-foot-long golden dragon. The crowd we saw it with after the awards announcement show on late Friday evening was somber, but seemed to understand the ArtPrize ruling like the one mother I heard who sadly explained the situation to her child by saying "...it's beautiful, but she didn't follow the rules."

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved

Hollywood Casino stars in Toledo, Ohio

Stepping into the Hollywood Casino in Toledo, Ohio is a bit like stepping back into Tinsel Town's glorious Golden Age, where the images of beloved icons of the silver screen like Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable oversee an audience enjoying one of the city's newest attractions.

An Art Deco-inspired facade and interior decor evoke the glamour and excitement of a Hollywood premiere, and the premiere of the Toledo casino in May of 2012 starred beloved Toledo native and actor Jamie Farr playing emcee to an audience of 10,000 first-day casino guests.

The casino's first month was a box-office success, netting more than $20 million in profits during its debut month and pumping more than $7.5 million in tax revenues into county, city and school coffers. Those numbers don't reflect the take from non-gambling revenue like food, drink and souvenir sales, but they do give an idea of the potential impact the casino with its 1,300 employees could have on the Toledo economy.

Toledo's Hollywood Casino is part of the Penn National Gaming chain and one of four casinos planned to open in Ohio that include casinos in Cleveland (open now), Columbus (opening this week) and Cincinnati (planned February 2013 opening).

The $320 million complex sits on a 44-acre piece of property at the Maumee River and I-75, making it easily accessible from southern Michigan and points further south in Ohio.

Gamblers have access to a 125,000-square-foot gaming floor with 2,002 slot machines, 60 game tables and 20 poker tables.

I visited the casino on a Monday afternoon a few months after its opening, and although I'm admittedly not much of a gambler (beyond the occasional lottery ticket purchase), I found plenty of interesting things to check out.

I liked the fact that the casino is smoke-free. There are two covered smoking areas outdoors to accommodate those who do wish to light up.

The Hollywood Casino has four restaurants, a gift store and lounges that feature live entertainment daily.

Entertainment ranges from local and regional acoustic and small jazz acts to start off each week, with rock and country acts often featuring nationally known acts and late-night DJs taking stage towards the end of each week. Check the casino's Facebook page for its latest entertainment listings.

The gift store carries the obligatory t-shirts and other casino souvenirs, but you can also find some fun gifts like jewelry, scarves, purses and unique decor pieces--a plus if you're running late and  suddenly remember you forgot someone's birthday, need to do some holiday shopping or just want to spend a little of your winnings before you head home.

The casino's restaurants all carry names inspired by the film industry.

We popped into the casino's Final Cut, an upscale restaurant featuring steaks and seafood, along with a glamorous selection of Hollywood movie costumes on display.

Visitors can enjoy a Vegas-style repast at the Epic Buffet, with its flaming grill top and numerous glass cases of beautiful pastries and animals meticulously carved and constructed from fruit and vegetables.

The Scene, with its many televisions, is a sports bar that casino officials hope will be popular with sports fans, especially as football season heats up this fall.

The Take 2 Grill, meanwhile, is a 24-hour restaurant geared for those seeking a quick breakfast or burger.

Want to catch a quick quiet moment? Check out the small bar near the Final Cut restaurant. They offered a late-afternoon happy hour with reasonable drink prices when I visited the casino.

Need a refresher course before you tackle the tables at the casino? Check out the Toledo Hollywood Casino's Web site for some helpful tutorials about playing games like blackjack, craps, roulette and poker.

There is also a free Hollywood Casino app available for iPhone and Android users featuring information about upcoming entertainment and the ability to make a reservation at the casino's Final Cut restaurant.

Thanks to Xanterra Parks and Resorts, Maumee Bay State Park Lodge and Destination Toledo CVB, which provided lodging, meals and a tour of Toledo-area activities for my review during my most recent visit to Maumee Bay, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinions about my stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.

© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved