Marshall Michigan: Olde Tyme Funne

We undertook a short trip to Michigan recently.  With my craft beer supply on empty, it was time to stock up on Michigan beer.  Canadians are allowed to bring back 48 bottles of beer after a 48 hour stay, and I did!  Of course that wasn't the only reason we went on the trip.  I also had to return the empties!!

We left early Sunday morning, enjoying the extra hour of sleep from the autumn time change back to Standard Time.  We crossed at the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel and headed for the Detroit Institute of Arts.  While certainly one of the finest museums in the world, it's been awhile since there has been an exhibit to tempt us to visit.  This time there were three:  the annual Offrenda invitational, which this year included 18 entries; an exhibit based around the Detroit Monet painting; and an exhibit based on Frederic Church's archaeological paintings of the Middle East. 

The Offrendas (Day of the Dead tributes) were hit and miss, but several were very good.  The Monet exhibit was quite different, focusing on the painter's garden in Giverny, a suburb of Paris.  The Detroit painting (see below) is one of my favourite Monet paintings.  I am not a big fan of his, but when he gets things right, the results can be outstanding.  The entire exhibit is small, perhaps a dozen paintings, but there are also good displays about paint and brushes from that time, and how things were changing, especially in the types of coloured paints available to artists.  It all leads up to a climactic display of the Detroit picture (below), shown without frame, but unfortunately in a glass box.  Very poor idea.  No other paintings are so displayed, only this one, and it cheapens the end result.

 The splendid painting of Monet's garden by the artist, in the DIA's collection.

This superb portrait of Monet by Renoir is also in the exhibit.

However, it was the Church painting exhibit that really got us excited.  This is a much larger exhibit, and contains several masterpieces by the American artist.  Detroit has two of his finest landscape paintings, and this exhibit was based around his "Syria by the Sea."  Church's large scale paintings are nearly infinite in their detail, and his use of colour and composition is unparallelled in scope and beauty.  Having known the Detroit painting for many years, it was wonderful to see it in context with other works from the period.  Sometimes Church painted things exactly as they were; other times he would take the ruins and transplant them to a new locale.  He was not an archaeologist, but an artist, after all.  It is a wonderful exhibit, and will travel elsewhere after showing in Detroit until January.

The finest painting in the exhibit was this gigantic one of the Parthenon, from the Metropolitan Museum in NYC.  It had its own guard.  What a thrill to stand in front of this masterpiece!!

Another very large masterpiece, this one of Jerusalem, was loaned by the Kansas City Nelson/Atkins Museum of Art.  It also had its own guard.

Detroit's wall-sized "Syria by the Sea." 

 A fine example of Church's placing of ruins in a different setting.

 From the artist's expedition to Petra.

Afterwards, we went to nearby Seva Restaurant for lunch.  It is shocking how few vegetarian and vegan restaurants the city of Detroit has (only 3 at this writing--the suburbs have several more).  Seva is in Midtown (and in Ann Arbor), and has very good food.  Sundays they serve brunch all afternoon, so we brunched.  Afterwards it was time to head west.  It was a Sunday, so traffic would be lighter than a truck-heavy weekday.  However, it was pouring rain, and there was thunder and lightning, and visibility on the freeway was hampered.  We still made pretty good time.  We were first heading for Chelsea, a small town that we have blasted through on our Amtrak journeys to Chicago.  The train does not stop, but there is an historic station and an appealing downtown.  So we stopped in for coffee on our way to Marshall.  We liked the town so much that we hope to return over the Christmas break.  In addition to gift shops, there is also an historic court house, and a wine bar, and a brewery.

 Zou Zou's Cafe, downtown Chelsea, MI.

 Downtown Chelsea is home to Jiffy Muffin mixes!  These are found in every grocery store in the country.

There used to be a stove company here.  The clock tower was built as a water storage facility to aid in fighting fires back in the day.

The beautiful Chelsea clock tower will soon be home

to a craft brewery.  Guess who will be visiting??

 The historic Chelsea depot, which sees passenger trains whizz past six times each day.

After Chelsea, it was on to Jackson.  Home to infamous Jackson Prison, the downtown boasts some cool old skyscrapers, and a very good craft beer pub.  Amtrak does stop in Jackson and I see the pub from the train window every time we travel this way.  Finally I got to visit!

Grand River Brewery, Jackson, MI.  It is also a distillery and a wine bar.

I tried Ryes N' Shine coffee Rye IPA, Pumpkin Grind Porter, Black Penny Porter,

and Temptation Cinnamon Ginger Cider.  All were very good!  I got a tee-shirt!

 Rear of County Building, downtown Jackson, MI.

 It was dark when we arrived in Marshall, which is about halfway across the southern part of Michigan.  We checked in to our historic hotel (more in a moment), then headed out for dinner.  We walked to Schuler's, a very old coaching inn restaurant and pub.  We sat in the pub where I drank a pint of New Holland's Dragon Milk Imperial Stout, dark and delicious, finishing up with a very good veggie burger, my first of three for the trip.  Deb had a salad.  This is one of the better pubs I have been to, nice and dark and atmospheric, and their commitment to craft ale taps makes me like them even more.  It was a short walk back to our hotel, where we snuggled in for the night.  I was in the process of having a major sinus meltdown.  I was swallowing meds as fast as I could, and sneezing about 85 times per hour.  Deb applied some hot compresses to my nose and eyes back in our room (we actually had a suite of two rooms), and things eventually simmered down.

Next morning, afternoon, and evening was our Marshall adventure.  Original plans had called for a side trip to Kalamazoo, but we decided to stay local all day.  Marshall is an historic home and building paradise, and though we have seen much of it on previous visits, it was fun to see some of it again.  This town has more historic signs and buildings then I have ever seen in a small town.  We shopped downtown all morning, had lunch at The Stagecoach (veggie burger and some Detroit craft porter from Atwater Brewery), rested for awhile back at the Inn, then headed out for coffee.

Stagecoach Inn, where we had lunch.  Internet photo. 

http://www.battlecreekvisitors.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Stagecoach_Featured-823x420.jpg

Dark Horse Brewery is one of the best, and they have recently added a roastery, cafe, and bakery to their beer empire.  This makes Marshall nearly perfect (sadly, the train does not stop here).  We enjoyed pour overs, then headed out onto their river trail system for a long (and cold) autumn walk.  Yesterday had been mild with storms, but today was clear and cold.  After our walk, we headed to the Dark Horse pub for beverages (Deb had some delicious ice water; I sampled 5 ales).  We shared a hummus and veggie platter, then later ordered a pizza (no cheese).  The pub is a great one in which to sit around and do pub things, such as talk and drink beer.  I succeeded at both!  Upon leaving we stopped in at the bakery again for some cookies and coffee beans, as well as a few packs of beer.

View from our hotel room towards downtown Marshall, just beyond the fountain and traffic circle.  They were beginning to set up Christmas decorations this morning.

Our historic inn, Marshall, MI.  We had three windows--two can be seen above the sign.

Now the back entrance to the National House Inn.  Our third window is upstairs, but hidden behind the tree on the right.  This place is really really cool!  Staying here is an expensive treat, but rates moderate on Sundays and Mondays.  We stayed two nights.  You can walk anywhere in town from here.  We stayed here with a group of teacher friends when I retired back in 2010.

Downtown Marshall is home to the American Museum of Magic.  It was closed today, but we have visited on a previous visit, and loved it!

It was Deb's turn to get excited, as we visited a new coffee roaster and cafe in Marshall.

 Cute barrel seats at Dark Horse Commons Cafe and Bakery (with brewery and pub next door).

 Images from our autumn river walk in Marshall, MI.

 Images from our autumn river walk in Marshall, MI.

 Images from our autumn river walk in Marshall, MI.

Deb on the boardwalk.

Images from our autumn river walk in Marshall, MI.

 Dark Horse empire in Marshall, MI includes a brewery, tap room with restaurant, coffee roaster, and cafe/bakery.

They got a lot of our money on Monday.

 Inside the cozy Dark Horse Pub, Marshall, MI.  I am sampling their 

Scotty Karate, Plead the 5th, Scary Jesus, Toonilla, and 20th Anniversary Ale. 

Local regulars can get their own mug, which hangs on walls or ceiling when

not in use. 

I had to work Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm (I teach music lessons).  We checked out Tuesday morning, reluctantly passed by Ann Arbor, and headed for Dearborn's fantastic Merchant's Fine Wines (also with liquor and tons of craft beer) for my 48 bottles of craft beer, then to our mailbox, and on home.  It was a really fun trip!  No more overnight adventures planned until at least March Break.  See you all then!

Mapman Mike  

Columbus, Ohio: Origins Game Fair, 2017

We are no strangers to Columbus, though we haven't visited in a number of years.  Columbus is a medium-sized Mid-Western city, situated along the banks of the Olentangy River.  With about 2 million people in the metro area, it is less than half the size of Detroit.  There is still too much traffic.  We were first attracted to this area many years ago as we explored Native Indian Mounds in the vicinity.  On our last visit Deb was a race-walker in the city's marathon.  This year, not one but two of her short films were official selections at the Origins Film Festival, held every June in Columbus.  This part of the festival has been up and running for only three years.  The gaming part has been around much longer.

 A nice PR shot of downtown, borrowed from the internet.

 The focus of the trade show part of the Fair is on new games, ones just about to be released.  There were hundreds of new games to try out and to purchase.

 The Doctor Who game we wanted was sold out by Saturday afternoon.  We'll try to order

it on-line.

 Regional, National, and World Tournaments were another major focus of the Fair.

 There was a lot of serious gaming going on.

 Saturday was the busiest day of the Game Fair.  It was also the day of the Columbus Pride Parade!  It was pretty crazy downtown, and burning hot and very humid.

 Table top gaming sets and parts were also on sale.

Cthulhu Wars, coming soon!

Drinks from the brew pub across the street!

 Kelly is a producer and actress, and a co-coordinator of the film festival part of the Fair.

 Film festival table at the fair.

\

Deb met someone made of barrels.

Deb wears her Supercar tee-shirt, Gumby 

pin, Origins pin, and other assorted bling.

     I got to try seven new games.  I really liked one called Deadline, a Noirish game based on movies from the 1940s.  Not sure why I didn't buy it, but I will, soon.  The Fair ran out of two games we wanted to buy, a Dr. Who card game featuring the first 4 classic Doctors and their companions, and another one called Wordsy.  We will try to acquire all three very soon, as well as an add-on to one of our favourite games, Tokaido Road.

     The film festival was loads of fun.  We saw a feature film, and two sets of short films.  Deb's two films were in the Fantasy section.  We also watched a set of films related to gaming.  Great stuff!  Here is a complete list of what was screened over the 3 days, in alphabetical order.  We saw Akemi and Taru (for kids only), Basic Adventuring 101 (pretty funny and quite good!), Heaven Kid (Gack!!), Horrors (very fun and very good), I Put My Low Stat (okay, but too long), Inhumanwich (a terrific feature spoofing 1950s monster/sf movies--it won best picture overall and audience favourite), Kansay's Glorious Death (at 37 seconds, the shortest of the festival--very stylish), Mr. Denton (a real creepy and extremely stylish and well done horror short from Spain), The Adventures of Sir Fireheart (a comedy costumer, quite engaging to watch), The Rangers: Durstan Chronicles (a much-too serious LOR type episode), Voyage of the Golden Hinder (part 2 of Deb's epic Yorick series), The Sucker (from France, about poker player crooks--quite a few flies in the ointment here, but it was stylish), Tilting at Skyscrapers (a very funny short about a man escaping from his gaming cave for a few hours), and Ye Most Excellent Adventures... (Deb's first Yorick film).

     Best fantasy short went to The Old-Men, which we did not see.  Best SF short went to Penguins in Space, which we did not see.  Next year, if any of Deb's films are accepted again, we will return but go earlier for an extra day.  This way we will have enough time to take in most of the films and the gaming floor.

     Best game by far that I tried out is called Deadline.  Sadly the game does not play as well with only 2 players, and it takes 2-4 hours to play, despite what it says on the box.  Still, we might get this one soon, when it reaches retailers.  Also, Wordsy looks pretty good, and is okay for two players, or even one, which is great.  We will also get an expansion for Tokaido, and a Dr. Who card game.  By Saturday afternoon, many publishers had run out of games to sell, so next year we will buy by Friday at the latest.  There were also a large number of costume wearers!

     We also visited some very good eating establishments.  Portia's is a vegan restaurant.  We ate there Friday night, and recommend it.  Portions are small, however, especially the desserts.  Saturday we had lunch across the street from the convention center, where the Fair was held, at Barley's Brew Pub.  Food here is very solid, and their pale ale was among the best I've ever had.  They also had on a special menu for the gaming crowds, and a special drink menu (see above).  Saturday night we ate at Loving Hut.  It was a bit of a drive from downtown, but it was certainly worth it.  We have visited their restaurants in Brighton, England, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, IN.  All are high quality and good value.  On our way home Sunday we stopped in Toledo at Green Leaf Cafe, a relatively new veg/vegan restaurant featuring comfort soul food.  This was a bit out of our way, but again worth the drive.  Great food, wonderful people,though the atmosphere is less than stimulating.

     We are definitely interested in returning next year!  Hopefully Deb's film(s) will once again be accepted. 
Mapman Mike 

Chicago Loop: A Short Visit

Over the years Deb and I have visited Chicago perhaps a dozen times, including four recent stopovers on our way from Detroit to the far west on the Amtrak train Southwest Chief.  Details of those brief visits can be found on my Travels West blog (link on my homepage).

We once again traveled via Amtrak, on the Wolverine.  We left Detroit (Dearborn Station) on time, arriving Monday March 13th at 4 pm, ten minutes late.  We'd booked the trip amidst the mildest February on record for our area, hoping we would have good weather in mid-March.  The weather was horrible.  In fact, during our full day in Chicago (Tuesday), the weather was cold and snowing, possibly the worst weather day of 2017 so far.  

We had planned for just such an emergency, though our hotel bar and restaurant threw our plans askew.  We stayed at the comfortable Club Quarters Chicago Loop Hotel.  It is on Adams St., about ten minutes walk from Union Station (walk east, toward the Lake and the Art Institute).  The Elephant And Castle Pub that used to be here was a place in which I was hoping to spend two quiet afternoons, sipping craft beer, enjoying nibbles, and watching busy Chicago pass by.  Alas, upon arrival the restaurant was closed, gutted, and undergoing renovations.  That left me with no decent craft beer pub close by.

However, we still had a number of cafes and a vegan restaurant right at hand.  We checked in, rested, then headed out to my 2nd choice pub, a bit of a hike from the hotel.

Chicago is the largest city in the Midwest, by far.  It's 9.7 million people vastly outnumber Detroit's 5.7 million (that includes Windsor and Essex Co., Canada).  And where Detroit has some of the world's finest skyscrapers and older buildings, Chicago has ten times the amount.  Same with newer buildings.  I'm not even certain that NYC has more high rise buildings than Chicago!  The Loop is the central downtown business area, home of banks, etc.  The transit system's elevated trains all make a loop through the area, and thus the name.  Luckily our hotel was far enough away from these noisy trains.  The elevated tracks block out the sky for several of the main streets downtown.  There is also a rickety old subway, which we did not use on this trip.

I had never been in Chicago during a snowstorm.  Suddenly signs appeared on every sidewalk:  "Danger--Falling Ice."  Yup.  Huge piles of snow and ice would suddenly come crashing down to the street and sidewalk.  Nice.  Many of the larger buildings can be used as an alternative to walking outside on the sidewalk, as they have vestibules and hallways that cover entire blocks.  I'm certain that more than a few wise commuters know exactly how to minimize their time outdoors on cold, windy, snowy days, and still travel quickly through the Loop.

 The canyons of Chicago are extensive and deep.  In the background is Willis Tower, formally Sears Tower, still one of the tallest buildings in the world.  It is 1450' high, and has 108 stories.  It costs $23 to get up there!  We gave it a miss, having done it several years ago.  The Art Institute charges $25.  We gave that a miss, too (been there, done that).  Cultural Chicago attractions are out of reach for most budget minded families.

Looking west up Adams, from in front of our hotel.

 Calder Sculpture, Chicago, on a snowy day.

First Draft is the premiere downtown craft beer pub, just south of the loop, at 649 Clark St.  We attended for Happy Hour on Monday and Tuesday.  Appetizers are half price.  They have just over 50 taps, and over the two days I got to sample 9 of their beer offerings.  They offer paddles of four 4 oz glasses.  The beer menu is well organized, and they have a lot of good bottles, too.  Here is what I had on draft:

Ayinger Brau Weisse, Germany:  *** stars (highest rating).

Pig Minds Vanilla Bitch Slap:  **1/2 stars. 

Tripel Karmeliet, Belgium:  *** stars.

Victory Blackbeard: **1/2 stars.

Pollyanna Orenda:  ** stars.

One Trick Pony Stallion, Illinois:  **1/2 stars.

Off Color Smores:  *** stars.

Bosteels Kwak, Belgium:  **1/2 stars 

I also had a delicious 12 oz Belgian beer, which I forgot the name of.  Vegan food is limited.  I don't recommend the guacamole, as the chips are deep fried in-house and very unappetizing.  Another down side are the innumerable tvs, all tuned to sports, as if it mattered.  The pub itself is comfortable, and was never crowded on our two visits.

Deb was able to check out espresso at four different cafes:  Pete's, just above Union Station; Intelligentsia; Revival Cafe (and Bar); and Bow Truss.  Her finest experience was at Revival (above).

We made a truly great discovery inside a large building kitty-corner to our hotel.  A giant, all new food court had recently opened, consisting of about 20 independent cafes and restaurants (no chain food or coffee places here).  We ended up spending some time here, in a pleasant atmosphere (very crowded at noon hour).  Vegan food was abundant, and I enjoyed one of the best coconut curry sweet potato soups ever!!

In the same building as our hotel, but only accessible by a walk outside and around the block, was Native Foods, an all-vegan restaurant with counter service (they bring the food out to your table).  We ate here twice, usually getting too much food to eat all at once.  Sadly, our hotel room lacked a fridge and a micro.

Right beside our building on Adams St. was the historic Rookery Building, one of the world's finest and oldest skyscrapers.  We had walked right past it a number of times on previous visits.  The inside is filled with charm and detail, and there is a totally amazing Frank Lloyd Wright shop in the lobby!

 Lobby of the historic Rookery Building

  Lobby of the historic Rookery Building, opposite side to above.

There is only one used book shop downtown, but it is so poorly organized that we barely spent any time there.  Selected Works Books does have a lovely cat, though, and views out to the Lake through some very old windows.  I thank my lucky stars for John King Books in Detroit.  There is a Barnes and Noble in the Loop, but so what. 

Our train for Detroit was booked for a 6 pm departure.  However, because the weather was so miserable, the streets were filled with slush and salty puddles, and it was COLD, and the hotel pub was CLOSED, we rebooked on an earlier train, leaving Union Station at 1 pm.  With the time change and arriving one hour late into Dearborn (typical for the Wolverine Service), we were back in our vehicle (free parking in the Amtrak lot!) by 7:45 pm.  We went to the Midtown Detroit Whole Foods, where I picked up 48 beer.  We also ate dinner there and did a bit of shopping.  It was still winter, and there was snow in our driveway as we pulled in.

Although the trip was fun, and I didn't have to drive at all (!!!), and I had some great beer, it is really disappointing how expensive museums and such are in Chicago (never mind opera or symphony tickets).  I will visit anytime for the food, beer, buildings, and such, but culturally Chicago has priced itself off the Midwest map.  Detroit museums cost much less, and Cleveland Museum of Art is free!  (I consider the three major Midwest cities to be, in order of importance, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.  Other great cities include Buffalo, Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Kansas City, with lesser cities that include Ann Arbor, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Columbia, MO, and Dayton).  If including Canada, then Toronto is a must.  Upper Midwest would of course include Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Milwaukee.  We are long overdue for a revisit to Cleveland, so stay tuned.

Mapman Mike