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I went out to see a beautiful large glass art exhibit at the MN Landscape Arboretum. I went in the early part of the morning when it was quiet and deserted. It was a really nice way to start the day.
Fall is coming and the Arboretum is probably a great place to go experience it. Minnesota is never more beautiful than when the leaves change.
I recently visited Austin, Texas. It's a very vegan friendly town. The first night there I had dinner at a place called New India. It's a little place with great food. My favorite was the 5 Star Thali Platter that had a bowl of every vegan thing to sample on it. I eat a lot of Indian food and I was pleasantly surprised to find things on the platter I had never had before. Fragrant and unusual. Sprouted lentils, yellow dahl-all quite delicious. I am learning to really love sprouted bits of legumes. The staff was friendly and the menu was clearly labeled vegan. It sits amidst all the many food trucks in the Austin City Proper. Austin is a pretty cool town. I'll write more about it soon. Those of you in the Midwest will know what I mean when I say it's similar to Madison, Wisconsin.
A visit to Minnehaha Falls, a favorite place.
OK-the title is silly but it occurred to me that I do not like the phrase Throwback Thursday. But I do like the idea of sharing past experiences. San Diego Comic Con is happening this weekend and I am not at it. I have never been in attendance despite the fact that I have been a geek for quite some time now. It did get me thinking on some of my favorite Geeky Experiences and I was reminded of how much fun I had at the EMP Museum in Seattle some years ago. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside but WOW it's a cool place(though at the time was notably lacking in Firefly pieces). I also ate tons of great vegan food such as at Cyber Dogs. Seattle is quite beautiful and I was there in December. It was funny how many of the residents were complaining about the 50 degree weather and back in Minnesota it was below freezing most days. It was a nice break for me to say the least. Also happy making=the amazing number of used bookstores.
I mean seriously, the museum was filled with stuff from Bladerunner. It was awesome.
Last month's trip to Pittsburgh took me to the Carnegie Museum of Art. It's not a large place but it is a lovely place. I found several new pieces to add to my favorites list.
As with most places I've been, the hardest meal of the day to find vegan was breakfast. Often when traveling we'll just go to a grocery store and get breakfast things since this is made easier by the prevalence of kitchens in hotels and through airbnb. But there's usually one or two places that offer an option or two. In Pittsburgh, the one place we found was Square Cafe. They had one vegan breakfast that you could customize a bit. The food was good and the place was really busy. Obviously a locals place. One big downfall was the price. Two meals and just water was $35. That's pretty spendy.
They had a vegan scramble with asparagus. You could also get it in a chorizo version.
I haven't done this in a few weeks. I've been working on editing my book and that is taking up a lot of time. I am trying to get back to working on blogging. I am still not where I want to be with it. Be that as it may I can still post pictures and give you links to cool places. Or in this case a yummy place in an antiques/vintage cave. Now, the pictures are dark as can be and I was going to edit them and lighten them up but I decided not to do that so you can really get an idea what it is like to eat at The Zenith. It is a very unique dining experience. When we went we decided it would be similar to eating in a room at The House on the Rock. If you live in the Midwest you know exactly what I mean. If you do not live in the Midwest you'll have to click on the link and have a look. Though you cannot describe this place, you have to visit it. The Zenith is very much the same. It's sort of hard to describe. It is located off one of the more busy, entertainment oriented streets in Pittsburgh. But if you blink you'll miss it. It's in a very unassuming, dark brownstone building with only a small sign. However, once you open the door, you'll be quite stunned.
Before you get to the cafe you pass through a very large room that is filled top to bottom and I do mean top to bottom, with vintage and antique items. All set up in vignettes and displays. All of it is for sale too. Someone obviously puts a lot of time into this shop.
You can wander through before you head to the back of the room which then becomes a cafe. It is incredibly homey. Each table is set with old glassware and linens (all matching sets!).
The server we had was very friendly. The food was quite good. It's definitely a comfort food place. Everything on the menu is vegan with the exception that you can have cheese on a few things if you'd like. We had a late lunch and then went shopping and came back for the vegan chocolate mint cake. My tortilla stuffed with curried potatoes and peas was super tasty. It came with ruffled potato chips. I can't even remember the last time I had those before this visit! We also shared stuffed peppers and the Greek appetizer plate that included lemony, dill tofu. Pittsburgh turned out to be a very vegan friendly town and I was so pleased. Most of the people I know have never been there or only drive through but I am telling everyone to make a point to at least stop for a view, cocktail and a dinner. You'll be glad you did.
This last photo is of the bathroom. I could've taken a dozen pictures of it. But you know, how many bathroom pictures do you need? I just love all the South Pacific decor with the beautiful women and nature scenes. Sometimes I wonder if somewhere in Asia there is an American themed bathroom. Maybe all red, white and blue with eagles?
Blue is the theme of my life these days. More on that soon....
I suppose it comes with the love of jewelry and making things to be terribly fond of geology. Nestled in between the main buildings of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Art sits the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems. It is a place filled with natural wonders created by nothing other than nature and her whims. I spent a good long time in here as most people just breezed through on their way to the main museums. I do not understand how one can ignore such beauty. Especially imagining it to be placed in something to wear about your head and neck. :o)
During my recent trip to Pittsburgh I visited the hauntingly beautiful Allegheny Cemetery. I really enjoy walking through cemeteries for the simple fact that they are so quiet. You often will see animals and birds nestled among the departed. I stop and read headstones and wonder what people were like, leaving stones and flowers. Maybe someone will remember me someday.
There are 124,000 people buried in this lovely place including Union Soliders, Lillian Russell and aboltionists. People important to the lives of many of us today.
I'm a big believer that no matter where you visit you can find amazing things to do. Pittsburgh is no exception to this rule. I enjoyed my trip there a great deal and I will post more about it soon.
I'm feeling the mood to share flowers and more flowers not food. So I am going to load this page up today with pictures from my visit to the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. I was there two weeks ago and wow, wow, wow what a great place! Pittsburgh it's self was just a great town and there's a lot of really beautiful places to visit. I can't say enough good things about my trip there. But let's start with many flowers.
I came across these photos from about 5 years ago or so from a day that I went to the Stone Arch Bridge Festival and then started to explore the area. You can climb down to the banks for the Mississippi River and see some of the mill ruins. Mostly I was wishing for green trees and sunshine as it as very gloomy here. Not what you really want for May Day. But we hold out hope.
I was very pelased to go to another state that I had never been to before: Pennsylvania -for most of last week. A dear friend of mine was getting married and having a new city to explore as well is good for happy making. The weather was both sunny and nice and gloomy and rainy. On one particular gloomy day, we set off to find a particular pizza place that came with high recommendations for vegan pizza. This is very exciting to me. I love pizza. Minneapolis is filled with fabulous vegan pizza. I haven't had a ton of luck finding it other places. Well, the Spak Brothers has great pizza and many other vegan foods on their menu. Including vegan cheese fries(YUM). They are located in the city of Pittsburgh where I spent most of my time. They carry locally made soda, have an Avengers pinball machine and lots of cute boys working there. You can't lose.
A snapshot of the city from Mount Washington.
I thought the pizza box was so cute. It got rained on a bit. We sat in our rental car and ate while it rained. It was nice. We were in between adventures having spent the day at a museum and then we went off to a brewery in a church.
Vegan cheese fries could help all vegan girls in great ways.
You can spend so many hours wishing you were somewhere else. Adventure seems miles away and imagination awash in beige walls. Windows filled with daydream clouds drift in and out of the crystal blue sky leading the way to a magic filled world. If only you knew the right path to take or could find the right key or mystical vase to open the portals. The giants sleep and wait for your arrival and the Queen of the Fairies beckons you to her.....
A few years ago, my significant other and I went on an anniversary trip to Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth is an astonishingly beautiful place and is visited by 3 million tourists every year. It sits on the gorgeous rocky shores of Lake Superior. I fell immediately love with Duluth on my first trip there about 14 years ago and I was so very pleased to return. One of the must see things up north is the Split Rock Lighthouse. It is a historic landmark on tree laden land on which you can picnic and explore. I hope to see more of Northern Minnesota this summer. The Midwest is a wondrous land of hidden trails, greenery, animals and stories. One of the famous stories is that of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Lake Superior is blue and filled with endless beauty but it can also be very dangerous. You learn a fast respect for water living in Minnesota. You also fall madly in love with it.
As I am getting itchy for my next trip(soon!) I thought I would do a Throwback Thursday post from my visit to the Tower of London in March 2007. What a fascinating place. It was such an interesting day. Forgive the picture quality. I only had a point and shoot camera in 2007. :o)
I have posted about Mn Sea Life once before. I went on my second visit there and I decided it deserved another post because it's just so cool. I appreciate places like this because I would not get to see so many of these creatures nor learn about them and at this point in our world I wonder if these are the only places they'll get to live. They are so beautiful.
Our first winery trip of the year took place at Northern Vineyard Winery in Stillwater, MN. This one is different because you don't actually go to the winery. They have a store front on the main street of the town. It is a very cute place, the whole town that is-we tried the most wines we've ever tried in one place-11 different tastings. My favorite, Yellow Moccasin we also shared a bottle of with family while we were there. The hostess was very knowledgable and full of energy except she rushed everyone along. We ended up telling her we wanted to slow down because she was going really fast. Fine for most people but not for me. Stillwater is a wonderful little place, stop in for a glass of wine next time you are in town.
I have to admit that I really hope this is the last time I have snow pictures to post on my blog until December. But with Minnesota weather you just never know. I went snowshoeing for the first time a few days ago. Something I've been wanting to try for a while. It's quite the workout but I enjoyed it a great deal and I will be doing it again when there is more snow. Which there will be! At least it's above zero, we must appreciate these things here in the Frozen North. The MN Landscape Arboretum has both groomed trails and ungroomed trails for snowshoers. I did both. They also have trails for cross country skiers. If you need to get outdoors, this is a good place to do it. I love the Arboretum. I can't wait to go back in a couple of months when it will be filled with flowers.
A couple of things are happening in my brain right now and I suspect it's mostly because I've had a long week and a half that included a cold, a hurt neck, unusable arm, an allergic reaction and a sick kitty. I have been getting very antsy and even feeling a little frustrated. Winter is getting to that point where it feels too long instead of grand and beautiful. Although, a bit of this was alleviated yesterday as I put on my snow boots, took my stuffed up head and hiked around the snowy lake. This year is off to a mixed bag sort of start. I'm having trouble accepting this because 2013 was a pretty great year for me all and all. Now, I should not be all doom and gloom because there have already been some super fun things, like our New Year's Event, our beautiful new bedroom(though long overdue) and of course, sledding for the first time-(yes, I loved it). I'm a bit off track with my blog posts this week but I've had other things to handle. One of my big projects the last few months has been organizing my photo library. A big task to be sure. I have 40,000 photos (and that's after deleting the bad ones) in my library. But, it's fun to go through, I've had some really great times to remember.
One of the things I loved doing last year was in September I went to San Antonio, Texas to visit family. My boyfriend and I went on a day trip to Natural Bridge Caverns. It turned out to be quite amazing. Some 18 stories underground is a world that only fairy tales can describe. It was discovered just by chance as all the best things are and we took two different tours of the caves and we did not see anywhere near all of it. It's filled with crystals, rock formations, glass like water and "rooms" beyond anything you could imagine. When you see places like this you begin to understand where inspiration for Dwarves cities, white forests and fairy lands come from. My photos are dark(of course) and do this place no justice but you might catch a glimpse of the magic.
I suppose the only way to pull yourself out of the blues is to get busy making plans and doing things. Hopefully, today will be the last snowstorm of the season! Hopefully.
