8-17-10

WELCOME BACK

CHILLIN' OUT MAXIN' RELAXIN' ALL COOL

VICTORIA POOL

We're in Saratoga Springs, home of the Saratoga Racetrack. Saratoga is famous for having natural hot springs and it was built up over a hundred years ago as a great vacationing spot. Unlike many other depressed towns in upstate New York, there are still things to do here; several small towns in upstate New York used to be mining villages or manufacturing towns, but once businesses left, they offered little in the way of jobs and tourist activities. Saratoga, however, still runs horse races for six weeks each summer, bringing in countless visitors, and with two colleges nearby, there are plenty of younger people to balance out the visiting elder crowds that attend the races. It's a cute town with lots of stores, restaurants, bars, and hotels, all displaying architectural attributes of another day.

Aunt Allison and Uncle Alan were in town visiting, and took a day trip to Fort Ticonderoga, presumably to check out where pencils are made. With a dark day at the racetrack, Jimmy had the day off, and with Nancy also in town, we all got to hang out and take it easy. The four of us spent the day at the Victoria Pool in the nearby national park. It was a beautiful day to sit pool side and we enjoyed the relaxation. By the afternoon, the crowds poured in and the splashing and screeching kids took over. The sound of "MARCO/POLO" brought us back.

A stop at the local farm stand was in order to pick up some ingredients for dinner. Tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, peppers, corn, and peaches were what we came up with. Utilizing these ingredients, we made a nice salad and a penne dish with sauteed veggies in a wine/onion/garlic sauce. The corn on the cob was so sweet and succulent that putting butter or salt on it would be a sin. Anyone can be a five star chef if they have access to fresh summer vegetables.

8-16-10

THE KEYSTONE STATES WELCOMES US

RECYCLED FLOWER GARDEN

SUNFLOWER

DIRECTIONAL FLOWER

WHICH WAY?

Driving all the way to Saratoga Springs from Cincinnati was far too big an undertaking after a late wedding night. Instead, we broke the trip up with a stop in Meadville, PA, an hour and a half north of Pittsburgh. Jen's cousin Sylvia and her husband Bruce live there and they graciously opened their home to us for the evening. They took us out to dinner upon our arrival, fed us until we felt we might burst, and helped us drink three bottles of wine over the course of this evening. At dinner, we were tempted to order the lone bottle of local wine, but we realized two things: 1) we were in Pennsylvania...is good wine really coming from here? 2) sparkling rose sounded more like a drink for a sweet sixteen party than what would pair nicely with our Italian fare. The bottle we settled on, a Sangiovese/Chianti blend was quite tasty. Back at their house after dinner, we had a Merlot which was eh and a Pinot Noir that was pretty good.

Before leaving in the morning, we worked in the Dratler organic garden for roughly eleven minutes. Sylvia is growing basil, mint, peppers, tomatoes, and chives alongside the house. Her basil and mint looked like they were in need of pruning so we helped out by harvesting a ziplock bag full of each. It smelled amazing. Farming in the suburbs: amazing? No, but it's better than nothing!

8-15-10

BUCKEYE STATE

CHURCH OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU HUSBAND AND WIFE

VACATIONING PATTAPS WITH MIKE AND EMILY

STEVE AND COURTNEY AND US

A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN OUR FARMING CLOTHES

JEN, ALYSSA, JEN, EMILY

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

THE HANDSOME GROOM

Us vacationing Pattaps stopped in Cincinnati for the wedding of Alyssa and Mark Collins on our way back east. We will be farming again in less than one week, and this two week wwoofing hiatus has been simultaneously enjoyable yet somehow too relaxing and too expensive. All our learning has been put on hold, and we're missing out on the most wonderful time of year to be on a farm: summer.

But we are making the best of our time off and it was a treat to see some familiar faces after 7 months of mostly "the meet and greet." The wedding weekend kicked off Thursday night with a festive dinner thrown by the parent's of the bride at their home just outside of the city. Friday, while all the girls all went to the salon for manicures and pedicures, Aaron walked miles and miles around the city, strolled through Washington Park and Eden Park, walked into the court house, and checked out a library exhibit on wild herbs and their medicinal uses. At night, we went to Myra's Dionysus for dinner. We ordered an appetizer sampler featuring humus, beets & tzatziki, and spanikopita accompanied with hot whole wheat pita bread. Next we shared a rainbow salad composed of romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, mandarin oranges, raisins, olives, sunflower seeds, served with a raspberry dressing on the side. For our entree, we enjoyed baked tofu served over sesame noodles with plenty of fresh, perfectly cooked al dente vegetables in a sweet yet spicy sauce. Dessert was a banana chocolate cake with a peanut butter icing. The meal was outstanding, the service top notch, and the decor intimate; this was one of our favorite restaurants during this sojourn.

Saturday was the big wedding day. After bumming around at The Ohio Book Store and looking at their extensive collection of used, old books in the afternoon, we put on our dancing shoes and got read for the party. The lovely wedding ceremony was held at an echoey church a few blocks from the hotel. With Alyssa and Mark officially Mr. and Mrs. Collins, we rode a shuttle bus down the street to the reception, at the Bell Event Centre. Unlike other weddings we've attended, dancing and eating were not intertwined, but rather, all the eating and lengthy toasts were during the first half of the party, and all the dancing exclusively in the second half. By 9pm, we were starting to wonder if we were ever going to get on that dance floor, but by 10 we were out there twisting the night away and Aaron stepping accidentally on people's toes. The wedding was fabulous, and instead of turning back to pumpkins at midnight, we returned to the hotel and partied until after 3am.

8-12-10 **VIDEO INCLUDED**

YELLOWSTONE GEYSER


Here is a video from footage we shot a while back...enjoy!

8-11-10

COME ON, FEEL THE ILLINOISE!

CROSSING THE CROSSROADS OF AMERICA

We drove to Indianapolis today, passing through Illinois again, which took longer than we'd hoped. The construction traffic we sat in, paired with losing an hour as we returned to Eastern Standard Time pushed back our arrival time. We met Jen's freshman year college roommate, Courtney and went out for dinner and drinks. Upon returning back to Courtney's, where we'll stay the night, we watched Hoosiers. We thought it only appropriate.

8-10-10

BEACON ON A HILL

JUDICIAL BRANCH

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

LADY LIBERTY

EXACT LIBERTY BELL REPLICA (MINUS CRACK)


WISCONSIN STATE CAPITAL BUILDING

Emily and Mike were gracious hosts and fantastic tour guides. We walked around State street and bought ice cream cones from a local ice cream parlor that sources all its cream from Wisconsin. It was some of the best ice cream we've ever had.

Craving more dairy treats, we tasted cheeses at Fromagination, a gourmet cheese shop that can put Murray's in its place. The shop featured cheeses from all over the world, but we only sampled cheeses in the Wisconsin case. We tried Hook's Blue, a truffle infused sheep's milk cheese, a 12 year aged cheddar, and the local featured creamery's creation, Pleasant Ridge. The small nibbles left us wanting more, so we ordered fried cheese curds and a cheese platter at a local bar, which featured 50+ Wisconsin beers on tap. We thought it only right to pair local dairy with local brews. Traditional fried cheese, namely fried mozzarella sticks, compares to the fried cheese curds we sampled in the same way a crack in the sidewalk compares to The Grand Canyon. There's just no going back now.

With our fill of dairy, we toured the state capital building to fill up on trivia. Historically, it is Madison's 3rd capital building. The first, erected in 1838 proved too small, the second, burnt down in 1904, and the current, was completed in 1917 for $7.25 million. A 14 year renovation was completed in 2002, costing $158.8 million. The building, from the ground to the top of the statue on the dome, is 284.4 feet high. This total height is surprisingly 16 feet and 2 inches taller than the nation's capital building. Our self guided tour was pleasant, and the roof top observation deck was even equipped with solar panels: tradition meets progress.

8-8-10

THE BADGER STATE WELCOMES US

EMILY & MIKE KAYAKING

KAYAKING ON LAKE WINGRA

LAZING ON A SUNNY AFTERNOON

Leaving Chicago early allowed us to get to Madison by noon. We drove through terrible thunderstorms but found sunshine at our destination. Emily and Mike live in Wisconsin's capital city. We're excited to spend a few days checking this Midwestern scene out.

Today we went out to brunch at Sardine next to Lake Monona. Madison is famous for being surrounded by two large lakes, Monona and Mendota (where Otis Redding's fatal plane crashed), and we took advantage of the nice weather by visiting one of the nearby, lesser known lakes, Wingra. Due to high winds, row boats and canoes rentals weren't an option. Instead, we chartered two kayaks and took a scenic tour around the lake, rowing through lilies and getting a good workout simultaneously. Our stay here over the next few days is mostly vacationing and we'll enjoy spending time with friends we haven't seen in a while; but we'll be on the lookout for happenings in Madison's local food movement and sample several Wisconsin cheeses...it is America's dairyland after all.