Midwest Guest

Ohio's Mohican State Park Lodge

We love destinations that offer a mix of outdoor activities, history and, of course, creature comforts, and I'd say our recent visit to Ohio's Mohican State Park Lodge fit that description pretty perfectly.

The lodge and state park, tucked in Ashland County, in the north eastern quadrant of the state near towns like Loudonville and Mansfield, is in a river valley area offering plenty of farmland and forest in the way of scenery.

Surrounded by 6,000 acres of Mohican State Park, state forest land and Pleasant Hill Lake, visiting the lodge gives visitors the serene feeling of being far from the crowds and noise of the city and plenty of on-site amenities and nearby places to enjoy nature and outdoor activities.

Built in 1974, details like rough-hewn timbers and fieldstone walls give the lodge its rustic feel while large windows throughout the building in its spacious rooms and common areas give visitors a glimpse of the lodge's beautiful grounds before they head back outdoors to check out year-round on-site and in-the-park activities like swimming in the outdoor pool, hiking, biking, horseback riding, snowmobile riding, tennis, canoeing, kayaking, shuffle boards, basketball courts or simply relaxing on the large patio overlooking the lake.

Lodge staffers light a pit fire on the patio during summer evenings, and visitors can enjoy s'mores, which seems to be one of the hallmark activities at the Ohio State Park Lodges (I had some when I visited the state's Maumee Bay State Lodge a few years ago!).

Other lodge amenities include an indoor pool, guest laundry facilities, a gift shop, game room and fitness center.

We visited with a group of online journalists and their families. The children in our group ranged from kindergarten age through mid-teens, and it was nice to see the lodge set up some special programs that included a pool party and a visit from the park naturalist that proved interesting to the both the kids and the adults in our party.

The Lodge also emphasizes their commitment to the facility's accessibility, and I spotted a few images on its Web site of visitors in wheelchairs enjoying the patio and traversing the hiking trails around the grounds.

We decided to check out the geocaching scene at Mohican as a way to explore the area upon our arrival at the lodge and to log another find for ourselves after a long lay-off from the sport.  

I picked up a printed list of over a dozen geocaches in the Mohican State Forest area from the main desk in the lobby. The list proved to be helpful as we weren't always getting a sufficient signal away from the lodge (which had a good, strong WiFi signal) to log into the listings with our cell phones in the field.

We did log a nice micro cache find, so we knew we hadn't lost our treasure hunting skills!

The lodge has 96 recently renovated rooms with private balconies or patios overlooking the pool or a wooded view of the grounds.

Pet owners who want to bring their dog or cat with them to the lodge will find a limited number of pet-friendly rooms. Service animals, of course, are welcome per ADA regulations.

I've attended writing conferences at Ohio's Maumee Bay and Punderson State Park Lodges in the past, so I checked out a bit of Mohican's 5,000 square feet of meeting space. Mohican, like Ohio's other state lodges has a number of meeting rooms and more small and private areas or hallways suitable for small break-out sessions or after-session conversations.

I liked Mohican's main lobby, with its over-stuffed comfy leather chairs and a showcase of nature specimens common to the area.

We also enjoyed several meals in Bromfield's Dining Room at the lodge.

The restaurant, named for Pulitzer-prize winning author and naturalist Louis Bromfield who lived at nearby Malabar Farm, has a menu that reflects the author's world travels and stresses the use of local ingredients.

I'm not a big pork eater, but I found the description of Lombardy Gnocchi tempting and had the dish, which featured local Italian pork sausage, Genoa salami, gnocchi, creamy wild mushroom sauce and topped with cheese accompanied by a cup of cauliflower bisque.

And, of course the good folks at Mohican had Yuengling beer on draft on the menu!

Bring an especially hearty appetite to the restaurant at breakfast, where the servings are massive and enough that several of the kids in our party shared breakfasts between themselves. I ordered the Apple Cranberry Oatmeal with a side order of fruit one morning, thinking it might be a little smaller than choices like Tim's Appleseed Breakfast that included three eggs, two pancakes, hash browns and baked apples, but we both ended up with meals that provided more than enough food and fuel to last through an entire day of activity and exploration.

Check back here in coming weeks for more stories about our Mohican-area adventures.

Meanwhile, you can connect with Mohican State Park Lodge on the Web site, Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks to Xanterra Parks and Resorts and Mohican State Park Lodge, which provided lodging, meals and on-site activities 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 2015 All rights reserved

Where We Live: Concert of Colors 2015 preview

Regular readers of Midwest Guest know that Detroit's annual Concert of Colors, a multi-day festival of expressing unity and diversity through an eclectic bill of world music and some of the Detroit area's finest new and vintage music is one of our favorite events of the summer.

Poster graphic courtesy of the Concert of Colors

This year, the festival's 23rd annual outing promises to be every bit as entertaining and inspiring as ever, judging from the schedule of events and impressive variety of music on tap for festival goers.

Enjoy a few favorite images that Tim and I made during previous Concert of Colors years, while I give you a quick taste of this year's Concert of Colors schedule.

2011 photo by Tim

The festival's celebration starts with a "Tune Up" concert on Saturday, July 4 at Detroit's New Center Park hosted by DJ Ismael from Public Radio's WDET This Island Earth Show.

Groove to the Latin funk of Spam Allstars during the 9 p.m. concert as an appetizer for the rest of the festival, which happens the next weekend.

Wednesday, July 8 brings an opportunity to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Arab American National Museum, attend an interactive Forum on Community, Culture and Race and enjoy a community-style Iftar dinner modeled after traditional Ramadan observances of breaking fast together at the museum in Dearborn. The program starts at 7 p.m., RSVP required.

Thursday, July 9 brings another opportunity to celebrate an anniversary as the festival heads to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History to help celebrate its golden anniversary with a program of hip hop and more hosted by Mike Ellison and a cast of talented friends in the museum's main theater at 8 p.m. And don't miss a menu of multicultural-multigenerational poetry readings in the museum's multi-media room starting at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, July 10 the Concert of Colors festival heads to the Detroit Institute of Arts, which also celebrates, you guessed it, an anniversary this year! The DIA celebrates its 130th anniversary and the varied bill of fare at the festival this evening includes the pop/jazz of Leftover Cuties, a multi-media presentation as a tribute to the art of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to close out the DIA's blockbuster exhibit dedicated to those two artists and a showing of the film, Jauja, starring Viggo Mortensen (in Danish with English subtitles). Programs start at 4 p.m.

2011 photo by Dominique

The Concert of Colors kicks into high gear with its penultimate day, moving to Max M. Fisher Music Center (home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) on Saturday, July 11.

The action starts at 1 p.m. with crafts, children's activities, food trucks and unique vendors on hand as music lovers can check out some great music across the venue's three stages.

2009 photo by Tim

Enjoy the Ukrainian music of DahkaBrakha, followed by Moroccan music from sintir (a three-stringed lute) master Hassan Hakmoun and King Sunny Ade's Nigerian juju music on the Main Stage.

The Diversity Stage, fronted by a dance floor, hosts acts that include techno from DJ Alsultany and the Celtic Rock of the Corktown Popes (we loved seeing this act at a previous Concert of Colors).

The Wolverine Outdoor Stage hosts a really eclectic bill that includes funk, Puerto Rican folk, acoustic blues, R&B/jazz and more.

Sunday, July 12 marks the return of what is always our favorite part of the festival: The Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue, a collection of performances from Detroit artists. This year, the Revue honors the legendary radio disc jockey, The Electrifying Mojo, whose radio shows during the late 1970s and early 1980s brought listeners a stew of tasty musical treats that brought together funk, rock and electronic music in a way that greatly influenced the development of the techno music that gained fame in Detroit.

2011 photo by Dominique

The Revue starts at 8 p.m. on the Main Stage. Other Main Stage acts this night include Plena Libre with a bill of Puerto Rican Plena and Bomba music and Bossa Nova music from Vinicius Cantuaria.

The Diversity Stage hosts a bill that includes Playdate, an imaginative kids' music program with Paula Messner and Maggie McCabe, and Latin Fusion from LaChiva Gantriva, which started as several Columbian students paying percussion instruments together before picking up more musician friends to create a unique Afrobeat, rock, funk, rap and jazz influenced sound.

Sunday's program on the Wolverine Outdoor Stage includes blues, folk, R&B, jazz and pop performances.

Sunday's schedule, like Saturday's, begins at 1 p.m.

2009 photo by Tim

Check out the Concert of Colors Web site for more details about the Concert of Colors schedule and artists.

The Concert of Colors is about music, but at its heart, it is a celebration of the diversity of cultures and people of southeast Michigan.

Best of all, this great multi-day festival of performance and celebration is absolutely FREE!

Text © Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Photos © Dominique King and Tim Marks 2015 All rights reserved

Visiting the Citizens Motorcar Company, America's Packard Museum, in Dayton, Ohio

I remember reluctantly selling the first car I ever owned, and every once in a while, I still fantasize about somehow finding that car and purchasing it again.

But one Dayton man made his father's similar fantasy about a favorite Packard automobile he formerly owned in the 1930s come true!

Bob Signom Sr. owned a 1928 Packard Six Cylinder Convertible Coupe. He loved that car, and he was heartbroken when he had to sell it with the onset of the Depression during the 1930s.

His son, Bob Jr., knew of his father's love for that car when he spotted an ad in the New York Times offering a 1928 Packard Six Convertible Coupe for sale.

The car amazingly appeared to be the exact same vehicle that his father had to surrender more than a half-century earlier!

Bob Jr. bought the car, and it became the start of a collection of elegant Packards, unusual military vehicles and all sorts of original Packard parts, equipment and other memorabilia related to the Packard company and its history now displayed at America's Packard Museum in downtown Dayton at the corner of Ludlow and Franklin Streets.

Signom kept his collection in several Dayton warehouses over the years until he acquired the museum's current home in 1992, a former Packard dealership called the Citizens Motorcar Company housed in an early Art Deco-style building designed by the great Detroit-based industrial architect Albert Kahn.   

The Citizens Motorcar Company sold Packards in Dayton beginning in 1908, moving to the then-new Kahn building in 1917.

A young Ohio engineer named James Ward Packard founded the car company with his brother William in 1899. The duo from Warren, Ohio envisioned their automobiles as prestige vehicles and priced them accordingly.

Packard styling was generally conservative, but the brand gained a lot of cachet from customized cars created by a number of designers using Packard chassis.

Heads of state, moguls and celebrities often gravitated to the luxurious cars that sold for $2,500-plus as a time when Henry Ford was finding his success offering cars costing as little as $450 to working class customers.

Packard merged briefly with Studebaker during the 1950s in an effort to keep both companies going, but Packard soon split from Studebaker and disappeared from the automotive scene by the end of the decade.

The dealership building lay vacant for many decades until Signom acquired it.

The 20-foot-tall neon and porcelain "Packard" blade sign that hung on a front corner of the building's exterior until the early 1940s was in the building's basement, so Signom re-installed it back to its original position. He also restored the interior to closely resemble its original appearance and configuration with a car showroom and a service department with working hydraulic lifts behind the showroom area.

The museum has more than 50 Packards dating from the very early 1900s through the 1950s, as well as the military vehicles, engines and experimental aircraft that kept Packard going through the World War II era.

There are many beautifully restored cars here, but there are also cars here with original paint and unrestored finishes, with many of them in working condition (we visited the museum as workers prepped the venue for a charity event saw them get behind the wheel of several cars and start them right up in order to move them around).

The building has a large collection of period office furniture, equipment and Packard advertising material, making it feel like you've entered a circa 1920s dealership to kick a few tires.

Ohio's Montgomery County Historical Society recognized the museum with an award for restoration of a commercial building in 1993.

In 1998, Car Collector Magazine named the museum as one of the Top Ten automotive-related museums in the U.S.

In 2004, the Society of Automotive Historians gave the museum the James Bradley Award for its efforts to preserve motor vehicle resource materials, one of only six museums in the United States to receive this recognition.

The museum rents space for events, accommodating parities as large as a sit-down meal for 200, a 250-person cocktail party or a party for up to 300 people if you include a pavilion and courtyard added to the building in 1936.

The museum opens from noon until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It is open year round, closing only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year Day.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $4 for students, although the docent let us in for half price the day that we visited because of the charity event set up). 

It's worth noting that there is also a National Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio, which is a few hours away from the Packard Museum in Dayton and reportedly organized in a more conventional manner with formal exhibits. Sounds like another place to add to our Midwest Bucket List!

Want to learn more about the Packard Motor Car Company? Check out The Packard Motor Car Company by Evan P. Ide, " target="_blank">"Ask the Man Who Owns One": An Illustrated History of Packard Advertising by Arthur W. Einstein or Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company by Beverly Kimes.

Check out Visiting Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana for more about the Packard-Studebaker merger or Visiting Detroit's William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse on Belle Isle to learn about another unique structure designed by architect Albert Kahn.

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Back in the Saddle: Returning Rider Training

By Tim Marks

It was very early on a chilly Sunday morning in April as I rode west on metro Detroit's Seven Mile Road in the dark.

Why in the world would I be out on such a day and at such an hour?

I was on my way to the (MSF)  Basic Rider: Returning Rider Course at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan.

Back in the fall, when I bought my bike, a fellow bike rider and neighbor recommended that I take the Basic Rider Course (BRC) offered by the State of Michigan. I had no reason requiring me to take the course since I kept my cycle endorsement up to date on my driver's license for many years. However, my experience during my first 200 miles of riding convinced me I ought to take her advice.

 

Class textbooks

 

I discovered that Michigan offers a returning rider (BRCRR) version of the basic course. The BRCRR is a one-day version of the three-day BRC. The focus of the BRCRR is for those with experience riding who want to improve their skills and/or qualify for their license endorsement. I already had the endorsement but improving my skill would make me feel more comfortable and safe on my bike. I logged onto the Schoolcraft College web site and signed up for the class.

The BRCRR requires students to supply their own bikes, while the BRC supplies the bikes for the class. The cost for the class is a bargain at $25.

 

 

I arrived at the college around 7:30 a.m. for the 8:00 a.m. class. In the classroom, I found about 20 anxious students. It was a diverse group with women and men of all ages. There was even a police officer there to train on his departmental BMW!

The bikes ranged from sport bikes to Harleys, included a scooter and, of course, my beloved Suzuki "Thumper".

The planned curriculum began with morning of class work followed by an afternoon of riding exercises, but because of the threat of rain, we only spent an hour or so in the classroom before we moved outside. We returned to the classroom after the road skills test to finish the classwork and take the written test.

The course began with a basic road exercise used to determine if you had the skills to remain in the Returning Rider class. The exercise included starting, shifting, stopping and executing a simple slalom to demonstrate each rider's skill level. The BRCRR assumes an ability to ride your motorcycle while the BRC starts from the more basic premise that you can ride a bicycle.

The riding exercises included slow speed maneuvering like a tight figure eight and U-turns. We practiced hard braking as you might have to do in an emergency. We became adept at tight turns, curves, evasion techniques, lane changes, and other needed motorcyclist skills.

After about five hours of riding, we took the dreaded skills test. There was no need to fear however, as our instructors did a brilliant job of helping us develop the needed skills.

We returned to the classroom to finish up the course work. The written test was considerably easier than the skills test. After the test, we finished up some paperwork and we each received our certificate.

Passing the BRCRR or the BRC allows a waiver of the state endorsement skills test in most states and, for those of us already endorsed, it often qualifies riders for an insurance discount.

The course left me with better bike skills and made me much more confident while riding.

Photo courtesy of Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson's Office

For more information about motorcycle safety courses in your state contact your Secretary of State or DMV office. Here in Michigan we are fortunate to have motorcycle enthusiast Ruth Johnson as Secretary of State who is dedicated to motorcycle safety.

Be safe out there!

© Tim Marks 2015 All rights reserved

Merry-Go-Round Museum celebrates silver anniversary this year in Sandusky, Ohio

The Merry-Go-Round Museum in Sandusky, Ohio celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary in July by celebrating the rich history of carousels dating from their beginning as training devices for knights perfecting their jousting techniques with moving targets during medieval times.

The merry-go-round became a fast-paced and romantic ride for carnival goers by the dawn of the Victorian era at the end of the 1800s before becoming a favorite children's ride with the arrival of the twentieth century.

The United States once had 6,000 wooden merry-go-rounds, but today the museum's classic carousel is one of less than 200 such rides still in operation in this country.

The idea for museum came after 1988 when US Postal Service issued four stamps celebrating the art of carving carousel animals.

The block of stamps included images of a carved deer created by Gustav Dentzel in 1895 and an armored horse created by carousel animal carver Daniel Muller in 1925, which graced the Kiddieland carousel at Ohio's Cedar Point.

Cedar Point held a first day of issue ceremony at the amusement park's campus in Sandusky, Ohio.

Sandusky citizens later borrowed the city's then-vacant vintage Post Office building to stage a display of the Muller horse, the Dentzel deer and a few other figures.

Organizers of the display expected a draw a few hundred visitors. Surprisingly, more than 2,000 visitors from around the country showed up to view the show.

The successful showing spurred the establishment of a non-profit corporation that purchased the old post office building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and established the Merry-Go-Round Museum.

The Museum officially opened on July 14, 1990.

The Museum still retains traces of its former identity as a Post Office, and many visitors, employees and paranormal investigators report seeing and hearing evidence of ghostly entities that hang around the museum, attracted by a connection with one of the carved carousel animals or, in at least one case, because they formerly worked at the building when it was a Post Office.

The museum purchased the framework of a 1939 Herschell Carousel on which to showcase some of the carved animals in its collection in 1991.

The carousel frame from the Allen Herschell company arrived without the original animals. Museum staff and volunteers cleaned, refurbished and repainted the scenery panels and rebuilt the platform before placing a menagerie of carved carousel animals from the museum's collection and loans from private owners atop the platform to create a unique merry-go-round as the museum's centerpiece.

You can also see a display of vintage Dentzel carving tools at the museum, and there are often master carvers on hand in the workshop on the ground floor to display and explain carving art and techniques.

Museum workshop artisans use historically accurate techniques to create new carousel animals or to help restore them with proceeds earned from such work used to reinvest in the museum and its collection.

Each year, carvers create a new carousel horse as an auction prize with the proceeds from the auction also going to support the museum. You can check out the progress of the 2015 raffle horse created by master carver Kate Adam at the museum's Web site.

Some of the museum's carousel animals became part of the annual holiday display at the White House in Washington, D.C. in December of 2014, where an estimated 65,000 visitors viewed them before the carved animals returned home to Sandusky.

Summer hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon until 5 p.m. Sunday beginning on Memorial Day and running through Labor Day. Check the Web site for information about the museum's operating hours during the rest of the year.

You can also connect with the museum on Facebook.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $4 for children 4-14 and free for children under age 4.

For me, the highlight of my visit to the museum was a ride aboard the carousel, included as part of the museum admission cost.

Want to see more Midwest merry-go-rounds?  Check out Ohio's Carrousel Park  in Mansfield (yes, that's the correct spelling in this case) and a Photo Friday feature about the Carrousel Park in Ohio, or Big -kid fun on the carousel at Grand Rapids Public Museum and a Photo Friday feature  about that western Michigan carousel.

Learn more about the art of carousel animal carving by checking out Flying Horses: The Golden Age of American Carousel Art, 1870-1930 by Peter J. Malia or Carousel Animal Carving: Patterns and Techniques by Bud Ellis, Rhonda Hoeckley and Bonnie Greenwood.

Thanks to the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Visitors Bureau for sponsoring my visit to Sandusky, providing lodging, meals and admission to attractions for my review, with no further compensation. I was free to express my own opinions about the stay and experiences, and the opinions expressed here are mine.

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Photo Friday: Fresnel, camera club winner

I've long had a fascination with Great Lakes lighthouses, and I've written about them here at Midwest Guest many times over the past seven years.

I especially love the structure and reflections created by classic Fresnel lenses in many of the lighthouse towers, so it's always a treat to get an especially close-up look at one of these beauties.

I first spotted this Fresnel lens a few years ago on display in the lobby of the Maumee Bay State Park Lodge near Toledo, Ohio.

The lens comes from the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse and remains on display at Maumee Bay as the lighthouse is still the subject of an ambitious renovation and restoration project.

This image placed third in the Motor City Camera Club Digital Photo (Color General), Beginner Division for April 2015.

To learn more about the lighthouse and check out its ongoing restoration, check out my story Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Tour.

Check out the Motor City Camera Club's Web site, or connect with the Motor City Camera Club on Facebook.

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Findlay, Ohio eats

Here's a quick review of our eating experiences during our recent trip to Findlay, Ohio:

Stix

We went here at the suggestion of Danielle in Findlay's Convention and Visitors Bureau office, who told me it might appeal to more "adventurous eaters". That description, as well as the idea that it was a local business, rather than a chain restaurant, sold us on the idea of giving this Asian fusion place a try.

Stix surprised me a bit with its creative menu in a smaller downtown like Findlay, but I'm sure the fact that Findlay is a college town helps by providing a diverse population of diners hungry for the restaurant's creative cuisine.

I opted for Stix' version of bibimbap, a classic Korean dish of veggies and meat served atop rice in a hot stone bowl and topped off with a cracked egg. The contents of the bowl sizzled as I stirred them to mix in, and cook, the egg before digging in.

I had the chicken version with veggies featuring seaweed salad, fresh spinach, julienned carrots and a bit of purple cabbage, all seasoned with Asian peppers and spices.

It was my first time eating bibimbap, and certainly not the last time, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, Tim loves duck and eagerly ordered a duck dish as his entree.

We'd started off the meal with a lettuce wrap app, but instead of the iceberg lettuce and shredded chicken I usually see in this dish elsewhere, this version of the popular app had Bibb lettuce and large chunks of seasoned seafood with a few pickled onions and a dipping sauce.

All tasty and a bit out of the ordinary, but our only regret may be that we didn't leave room for a desert like the sampler of homemade ice cream I spotted on another review.

Opened in April of 2014 and owned by Renz and Lala Salanga, Stix offers a menu that blends Asian tastes like Thai, Japanese, Lao, Vietnamese, Mexican and Filipino into a creative smorgasbord of tastes for lunch and dinner.

Stix does not have a liquor license, but diners can BYOB if they wish.

Even without alcohol, the restaurant is not a fast-food affair and can be on the spendy side. Looking for a good deal here? You might want to try visiting on $2 Taco Tuesdays, when Stix offers options like chicken, tofu and pork belly tacos.

You can connect with Stix on Facebook where the restaurant lists occasional menu specials.

Logan's Irish Pub

We stopped by Logan's for lunch at the suggestion of my blogging friend Aaron.

This restaurant opened in 2009 and offers lots of traditional pub fare in a classic, dark-wood Irish pub decor.

Fortunately, we arrived hungry as the menu featured lots of hearty Irish dishes like Shepherd's Pie, corned beef and cabbage, bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) and something called Boxty Dinner (which features Irish potato pancakes).

We grabbed a seat by the window up front, where we could people-watch in the heart of downtown Findlay while we waited for our meal.

Tim opted for a fish and chips dinner, while I ordered Logan's panko crumb-topped Mac'n'cheese. Both dishes were tasty and plentiful...we certainly didn't need dinner later on in the day!

We visited Logan's on a quiet weekday afternoon, but I got the idea that the bar could be pretty lively during weekend evenings when Logan's often hosts live entertainment or groups of footy fans wanting to watch the latest Major League Soccer games on television.

Connect with Logan's on its Web site or on Facebook.

George House Coffee and Tea

Since my buddy Aaron is the coffee king as far as I'm concerned, featuring lots of reviews of indie coffee houses at his The Adventures of elATLboy blog, he was my go-to person when seeking a suggestion for where we could find coffee and ice tea in Findlay...which is how we ended up visiting George House (twice) for our caffeine fix while visiting the town.

This local business, opened in 1993, sits on a corner just across the street from the University of Findlay campus.

George House is a quiet sanctuary for those who want to study or simply browse through the business's selection of used books up front for a treasure to buy and take home. It also looked like a popular meeting place for small study groups and friends who want to linger over their brews among the books.

The back end features the coffee operation and a small selection of gifts, coffee beans, teas and spices for purchase.

The business also stresses green options like recycling and encouraging customers to bring in their own mugs to use.

The service, like a lot of indies making up your drinks from scratch, is a bit on the slow side, but definitely friendly and helpful.

I ordered two iced unsweetened green teas during my first visit here, and when I returned the next day, the woman behind the counter remembered me, remembered what I ordered the day before and suggested that I try an unsweetened flavored green ice tea that I enjoyed.

Check out Aaron's review of George House and connect with the business on Facebook.

Be sure to also check out my Midwest Market Basket feature about Findlay's fab Dietsch Brothers house-made ice cream and fine chocolate stop!

© Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Visiting the Harley Davidson Museum in Napoleon, Ohio

By Tim Marks

We noticed a billboard for a Harley dealership as we drove through northwestern Ohio on our way to Grand Rapids, Ohio, and Dominique remembered reading something about a museum in the Harley dealership.

So, we checked it out.

The Napoleon Harley Davidson dealership is just outside of town at the US-24 exit, and the first thing you see walking into the building is the museum.

 

 

A bit of history first. The dealership started in 1962 by World War II vet Bill Soals and Bryce O’Daniels with “$500 and two basket cases of parts” according to the business' Web site.

The dealership honors Bill’s service to his country with a showcase in the museum.

Bill’s daughter Donna Jean “D.J.” and his son-in-law Marv Yagel took the dealership over after Marv’s return from military service in Viet Nam. The dealership became a labor of love for the Yagels.

Marv died in 2014 and Jim and Lynn Loomis, who by all indications take very good care of their customers, now own the dealership.

Back to the museum. Marv collected Harley memorabilia and Harley Davidson Motorcycles. The museum includes nine 1962 Harley Davidson motorcycles, four of which were lovingly restored by Marv.

 

 

The museum displays the bikes behind doors and windows that simulate garages, offices, and workshops. This great selection of 1962 bikes from the Motor Company will please any motorcycle fan regardless of what she rides.

Even better than the bikes, in my opinion is the collection of memorabilia.

The museum showcases Marv’s fabulous knife collection, most that have Harley engravings on the blades or handles. There is also a wonderful collection of Harley 50^th anniversary items that includes a ceramic flask and several beer steins.

 

 

One of the most intriguing pieces is a gas tank signed by Willie G. Davidson, Vaughn Beals and Charles Thomson, the executives responsible for the buy-back of Harley Davidson from AMF, an event cherished among Harley riders. The tank is one of only nine in existence that celebrate the buy-back.

After wandering through the museum, we entered the dealership showroom where the comparison of the current Harleys to the 1962 versions is instructive. While the new Harleys are much more modern and more high-tech, they are Harleys through and through.  You can see and feel the Harley DNA handed down from the classics to the present.

 

 

Dominique was taking some photos of a bright red Ultra Limited in the showroom when a sales agent came over and offered to push the bike out of line so she could get a better shot. If that’s the way they treat first-time visitors, imagine how well they treat regular customers!

Visiting Napoleon Harley and the museum is well worth your time.

I have to say that this Suzuki rider was impressed!

Be sure you check out the first in Tim's Back in the Saddle stories about being a returning motorcycle rider, Returning to Motorcycling after 40 years.

Text © Tim Marks 2015 All rights reserved

Photos © Tim Marks and Dominique King 2015 All rights reserved

Midwest travel links for May 2015

Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:

Missouri Family Vacation Ideas-Adam shows folks plenty of family-friendly ideas for kid-pleasing fun in the Show Me state, ranging from world-class museums to outdoor activities to dining ideas and more! Check it out at his Visit Flyover Country blog.

88 Counties in Ohio=88 Things to Do!-Check out this killer list of things to do in Ohio that includes one fun attraction, dining option or historical site for every one of the 88 counties in the Buckeye State. Check out the list at Mike's OHventures blog. Mike even helpfully reproduces the list arranged by region of the state.

Dining at Tony Packos in Toledo, one of 88 Things to do in Ohio

Capturing the Colorful Holland Tulips of Spring-Aaron shares a sure sign of spring in Michigan with images of the colorful tulips in Holland in the western part of the state. Check it out at the Awesome Mitten blog. Also be sure to check out Aaron's coffeehouse and travel adventures on his own The Adventures of elATLboy blog.

Magee Marsh during the "Biggest Week in American Birding" 2015-We've visited this birder's paradise on several occasions to simply take a walk or capture a few images of the wooded boardwalk trail near Lake Erie in Ohio, but we've yet to venture here during the legendary Biggest Week in early May. Deb captures the beautiful birds and the crowds that they draw to this northern Ohio spot on the TrekOhio blog.

Golden Spike Tower: Visiting the World's Largest Rail Yard-This site in North Platte, Nebraska marks the midpoint for the Union Pacific trains running from Chicago to Salt Lake City or from Denver to Omaha, but it's so much more than simply a place for rail buffs to spend hours on end watching the trains. Join Connie as she visits the site to learn about the trains and their history. She also captures a few bird's-eye-view images from atop the observation tower. Check it out at the Midwest Wanderer blog.

Positively the Jewel of Joliet-I love classic old theaters like the Embassy in Fort Wayne, Indiana and the Warner Theater in Erie, Pennsylvania that have great histories as vaudeville, movie and live performance houses, and I loved Maureen's story about the Rialto Theater in Joliet, Illinois. Built in 1925 and justly called the "Jewel of Joliet", viewing the theater's opulent interior reportedly had Liberace saying "...finally, a theater to match my wardrobe!" Seeing the Rialto is going on my Midwest bucket list! Check it out at the Positively Tuesday blog.

Ephemeral City: Marbles-Check out John's story about a memorable marble championship in Kansas City, Missouri. Imagine a city-wide marbles contest that drew a crowd into a municipal arena and featured contestants with monikers like Stinky, Knucksy and Mouse. It all happened in 1941, and you can read about it at the Paris of the Plains blog.

At Your Leisure: Summertime Cruisin'-Cruisin' is pretty big here in the Detroit area, especially during the weeks leading up to the Woodward Dream Cruise, an event billed as a one-day celebration of car culture that inevitably turns into weeks of weekend cruising along the Woodward strip. It appears like Indianapolis had a similar cruising culture complete with drive-in restaurants like The Tee Pee, which served Big Chief burgers (our version on Woodward was called the Totem Pole and served up...you guessed it...Big Chief burgers!). Check out Jeff's story on the Historic Indianapolis blog.

55 Reasons Why Locals Love Grand Rapids-Here's another handy list post, this time about Grand Rapids in western Michigan. We've done a number on the list like the visiting the Grand Rapids Public Museum and watching Whitecaps' baseball games as we visit GRap fairly regularly to visit some of Tim's family, plus we stay there for a few days each fall to take in ArtPrize. Looks like there are a few more things on the list that we need to see one of the next times we visit. Meanwhile, Check out Melody's post on the My Experience Grand Rapids blog.

Crash the River Rascal, Whitecaps' mascot

That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?

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