West Point Market and the Killer Brownie

Bill received a book for Christmas entitled 500 Things To Eat Before It's Too Late by Jane and Michael Stern. We have been reading about unique restaurants and unforgettable food found throughout the United States. We are on a bit of a mission to try as many as we can. Some, by chance, we have already partaken of but others call our name! Last weekend the Killer Brownie from West Point Market in Akron, Ohio called our name!

Since Anna's gymnastic meet was near Akron we decided to stay in the area and locate the market. I was a little apprehensive about how much I was going to enjoy it. After all, we do have the legendary Jungle Jim's Market nearby and since I go there about once a week I was worried that there would be no thrill to this store. Other than the hopes of retrieving a "killer brownie" of course!! Boy, was I wrong. This store was unique and gourmet and fun!! Their food displays were cute and inviting and delicious! Cheese! Who could resist with Wallace and Gromit telling us to help ourselves!!

The store tastefully mixed areas of food with areas for kitchenware and seasonal displays. Above is Anna looking at Easter decorations and a how to book on making fancy colored eggs. I could have spent hours looking over the kitchenware!!
West Point Market also has a website www.westpointmarket.com. So if you are not in the Akron area any time soon you can still order that "killer brownie" and have it delivered right to your door. It would definitely be worth it. The caramel oozing out of the chocolate was awesome!! We also recommend the double fudge brownie and the cheesecake brownie. Next trip, I try the Blarney Stones (bourbon balls)!!

Washington, D.C. in 8 hours!!

Since we were only visiting Bethany for a day and a half, we knew we would only have about 8 hours to visit the sights in D.C. So, you ask, how do you see all of D.C. in 8 hours. Well, you don't, so we planned accordingly. We wanted to visit the memorials at night so we went to those from 7-10p.m. on Wed. night. Glad we did! The memorials at night were stunning. Below the WW II memorial with the Washington monument behind. Anna's favorite was the Lincoln Memorial.

I think the most intriguing memorial for me was the one for the Korean War. You just get a very eerie feeling while standing and observing. We visited others, too, but these will be the pictures that I share.

On Thursday morning we rode the metro again ( love the metro) into D.C. with the plan of doing as many of the national museums as we could. Before we left home I had visited the Smithsonian website and downloaded a copy of the treasure hunt for the movie, Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian. With this we were able to get a glimpse of three museums within our time frame. We saw many exhibits including Oscar the Grouch, Amelia Earhart's plane , Able the space monkey, General Custer's buckskin jacket, Easter Island Head, Giant Squid and T Rex. Below, a picture of Pharaoh Kahmunrah's pile of treasure found at the Smithsonian.

A wonderful trip for us, even though it was very quick. We are hoping Bethany gets sent back to the area for a longer commitment. We are now pros at riding the metro and look forward to seeing everything in D.C. in the future.

Visiting Our Bethany! Silver Spring, Maryland

Bethany's ROTC adventures took her to the far west (Ft. Lewis, Washington) and the far east (Washington, D.C.) this summer. Since we didn't get to talk to her for three whole weeks while she was at Ft. Lewis, you all know that I HAD to go and visit her while she was working at Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. Soooo, I managed to pack up Sir Bill and Bethy's lil sis and we made a whirlwind 2 day trip to the east!! (Mamas should not have to go three whole weeks without even a tiny phone call from their offspring!!).
The army put Bethany up at a very nice hotel in Silver Springs, Maryland. Once we arrived Beth grabbed Sir Bill to go and workout at the fitness club (fanatics) and Anna and I swam in the lovely pool. After a good workout - we were off to eat at the Lebanese Taverna. Bethany is all about trying different ethnic food. Below she and Bill dive in to the appetizer. Our meals were awesome and we each got to taste a variety. Anna was a bit unsure about what was on her plate. She was a trooper and said that her sandwich was the best.

Ah, but look. Joy comes to Anna's heart when we walk out of the restaurant and spot this.
This lovely sign with even more loveliness inside the shop. Cupcakes. Awesome Cupcakes. Made with awesome real butter. The icing on top was so incredible it made me cry! My favorite - chocolate cupcake with vanilla/strawberry icing! They even gave military discounts!! Cake Love, please open up shop in Ohio!! It should probably be northern Ohio so I am not too tempted. But still, please.

Look at Anna below. She is acting as if "real butter" doesn't matter to her. But it does. And it matters even more to her father!!

Silver Springs was a great area. Very crowded but easy to get around by foot. We also visited another restaurant - which by the way - needs to move to Ohio, too. Eggspectations. Wonderful.

The rest of our trip was spent riding the metro and touring D.C. Another post to come.........

Day Trip - Dayton, Ohio - Riverscape

Our final destination was to Riverscape part of Dayton's metro park system. Riverscape is right along the river and is home to this spray fountain!
Anna enjoyed herself and lucky us - she had the fountain to herself!! I imagine during the early afternoon hours this place is packed. It has a wonderful view of the river and the landscaping is awesome!!

Out on the river are a number of water jets that send shooting water across the river. The central geyser sends water shooting about 200' in the air! Very impressive and fun to watch. Paddle boats and bikes are available for rent here. They also offer laser light shows at various time throughout the warmer months. Also, the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball team plays very close to this park!! So, I know we'll be heading back up in the future!

This was a great one day vacation!! Three different places all in one day! We came home tired but enjoyed every single minute of our time in Dayton!

Day Trip - Dayton, Ohio - Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

After an enjoyable morning at Cox Arboretum we had planned to visit the metro park Riverscape. It was still cloudy and chilly (not enjoyable weather for running through water fountains!!). So, we decided to find this museum in Dayton that many other homeschoolers have told me about. Boonshoft Museum of Discovery is another Dayton gem!! I am very sad that we had not taken advantage of it when my kids were younger. Many great things are found inside including a reduced fee admission price if you belong to the Cincinnati Zoo! Yahoo!!

There is so much to do here that I couldn't explain it all. Anna spent a good half an hour at the color wall. This screen was amazing. Since I am not techno savvy the best I can tell you is that Anna's movements were recorded and then changed into various color combinations and placed on the big screen!! She had the whole room to herself and used the opportunity to do many gymnastics skills and watch them back on the color wall. Below is a press handstand and above is a press handstand (in red) split into four with added color!! Let me tell you the price of admission was worth the fun we had at the color screen! It took back handsprings and front walkovers to a whole new level!!!

Boonshoft works hard at making learning fun. Below, Bill is explaining some sort of water pressure thingy. Bill is good at explaining stuff!! He reads all of the printed materials at all of the museums so he is up to snuff on much more than I am!!

They also have a wildlife of Ohio exhibit which was quite informative. Zoo Keepers come out a various times during the day to offer animal shows. The otters are too cute to miss!!
After Boonshoft the weather turned hot and sunny and even though it was getting close to rush hour we decided to take Anna downtown to the river! Next post, Riverscape.

Day Trip - Dayton, Ohio - Part One- Cox Arboretum

A few weeks ago we took a little road trip up to Dayton, Ohio. There is so much to do in Dayton but on this particular day we decided to concentrate on Cox Arboretum and Riverscape. Unfortunately, the day started out a bit cloudy and chilly; but, fortunately, we were able to change our plans a little and include one more indoor stop - The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery! I'll concentrate on the Cox Arboretum for this post. Wow, what a beautiful place!! About 3 - 4 miles of walking trails intermixed between amazing landscaping. Beautiful flowers, mature trees and little ponds were around every corner. Above, Bill and Anna are chasing each other through a shrubbery maze. The edible garden area is a must see. Both older and younger members of any family would enjoy a picnic here.

Cox Arboretum also is the home of a small butterfly house. We spent a good 20 - 25 minutes inside finding many caterpillars, butterflies and moths. Volunteers were available to answer our questions.

I believe the house is open during the summer months and closes right after Labor Day. Anna enjoyed her time here. I think she would say that her most favorite thing was the border collie, Zip, who guards the ponds and keeps the geese away!! Very enjoyable trip!!

Next stop, Boonshoft!!

Road Trip to Oxford:Part 3 - Bagels!

So this will be the last post regarding our Oxford trip and this might be the most enlightening post yet. If you get a chance to visit Miami University or even if you think you'll never visit there, ever, you have to get yourself to the Bagel and Deli Shop sometime during your life here on earth!! The Bagel Shop (as I lovingly refer to it) is located uptown and serves the most awesome, mouth watering bagel sandwiches in the world!! Well, at least in my world.
Now I am sure that many of you are skeptical thinking that you have had good toasted bagel sandwiches at other establishments. But these are not toasted, my friend. They are steamed and believe me after eating one of these beautiful steamed creations you will be thinking about them for the rest of your life. The Bagel Shop has an enormous menu of sandwich concoctions. I seem to always order my own combination - onion bagel with turkey, swiss cheese, banana peppers, onions, tomatoes, and honey mustard! Makes my mouth water! Also, the Miami Bagel - blueberry bagel with cream cheese and cinnamon sugar- is one that everyone needs to try. Because it is a Miami tradition.

Since there is not much seating at the Bagel Shop you probably will want to get your bagels to go. My suggestion is to take them to the little park in the square. Enjoy them. Then let the kiddos burn off some calories while running through the fountains.

Virginia Beach

A big plus in our gymnastic travels is making mini vacations out of the trips. Our most recent meet was in Virginia Beach. Normally, we would not vacation in Virginia Beach in February. My kind of beach weather is 85 degrees and sunny. Wind chill of 20 degrees, to me, does not make a beach trip enjoyable. However, we knew this would be the scenario this trip, so we found other nautical enjoyment in the area. The Virginia Beach Aquarium.

Even though this aquarium was tinier than we expected we did manage to have a great time. I think I need to realize that not all aquariums can measure up to "the ultimate Shedd Aquarium in Chicago".

The best, by far, at this little place was the stingray petting pool. These little guys would come up to the edge of the tank like little puppies!! Anna was thrilled!! I think she would have brought one home if allowed!!

This aquarium was undergoing some remodeling but we were able to see some other neat exhibits. The otters and baby seahorses were favorites of ours.

We ended the visit with taking in the 3D movie "Under the Sea". Freaky at times but overall an amazing video!! I admit I did have to take my glasses off when the shark came at my head!!!