It rained on and off most of the day, but a couple of raincoats and a dash of determination remedied that. We got breakfast (or nachos for me) at the Dorr Street Cafe, then scored a great parking spot for the festival. I recognized many of the artists and crafts-folk from last year. In fact, we ended up leaving with a bench and basket from the same gentleman who sold us a table the year before.

Look at that crazy monkey atop the camel, atop the chaise. Whaaaat!

Toledo Botanical Garden | 5403 Elmer Dr. | (419) 936-2986

We had such a great time at Harissa that we had to go back. This time we brought our good friends, M. & K. Harissa has moved from the dim first floor up to the second (inside the Oliver House), so the room was much brighter. Again, the food was incredible.

Dinner was followed by wine on the porch and and an odd 80’s party. I’ll end this post with: get a friend with a red convertible Cadillac. Today.

Did you know you can get pitchers of margaritas at Manhattan’s? Neither did I!

Manhattan’s | 1516 Adams St. | (419) 243-6675

This is our first year attempting to grow our own veggies. I was super inspired by M. down the street who thoughtfully brought us an eggplant last year from her garden. I think she’s got the best garden in the whole Old West End. We are starting out small. Above, middle, is our very first tomato of the 2 plants we have. It’s so tiny and cute.

We are also growing bell peppers, cucumbers (which seem to want a lot more room than we initially suspected), and herbs — including 2 nice basil plants. So far we’ve only been able to use the herbs… everything else is still growing but I’m thinking positively.

Pretty soon — I’m thinking a matter of days — the cherry tree will be ready for “harvest”. I can’t take credit for it though… came with the house! Have a great cherry pie recipe? Let me know.

M. & K. asked us out for sushi last night… which worked out well because I had been craving sushi for the past week. Sori Sushi, it was. As we walked in we were greeted by a cheery sign stating “Beer and Sake 1/2-off Wednesdays”. Nice.

That fried mess on the bottom right is vegetable tempura, which is always yummy. Our server was Sori, the restaurant’s co-owner and namesake. It’s her wonderful mixed media art that adorns the walls and menu designs. She has a super cute personality so stop in — the food is always excellent and the prices are even better, and remember Wednesdays for the drink special.

Sori Sushi | 5236 Monroe St | (419) 720-7674

One more post for the day because I cannot, in good conscience, disregard our brunch at Michael’s. We stopped in on the way to the Farmer’s Market yesterday for a western omelet (D.’s choice) and a tuna melt for myself. Anyone want my french fries?

As always, everything was great. When we lived downtown, Michael’s was a staple providing random breakfasts, lunches (when we weren’t at Grumpy’s), and the occasional nightcap. It had been much too long since our last visit.

One of my favorite Toledo moments was a breakfast at Michael’s with our out-of-town friends who had come for our wedding reception (pic above). The smiles on our faces as we laughed through mild to heavy (depending on the person) hangovers will never fade in my memory.

Michael’s Bar and Grill | 901 Monroe Street | Corner of Monroe & Michigan

We rode our bikes downtown again Saturday to pick up some food from the Farmer’s Market. Check out the amazing purple asparagus as part of the booty (top left).

That asparagus, likely picked that morning, ended up on a skewer with other veggies marinated in Garlic Expressions — you know… that amazing locally-produced salad dressing that you can pick up just about anywhere in Toledo?

Everything tasted great, including the slices of pumpernickle I toasted up last minute. We picked that up at the market, too, from Country Grains Bread Co. (based in Sylvania).

Toledo’s Farmer’s Market | 237 S. Erie Street | Downtown

Friday afternoon I happened upon news that the Paddle Boats on the Maumee were scheduled to start that day. I briskly walked ran into D.’s office and asked/pleaded/begged that we go. It didn’t take much because he was just as excited as I, so we biked down to International Park just in time to see Robert Russ, the paddle boat king, setting things up.

The paddling was a bit of a workout (needed) but so much fun. I let D. steer but played my fair share of “backseat” driver. We must go back with more people soon and have a paddleboat race. I was happy my cute moccasins didn’t get wet.

Afterward we talked a bit with Robert who mentioned he had come back to Toledo from California to visit his ill father and ended up stayin — very cool. I think there are plenty of people in town who could use some paddle boat time… and I hope he does well.

Dinner at The Docks was a great end to the night. Cheers!

Think Young Paddle Boats | International Park on the East side of the Maumee

We were googling for a close-by sushi place for lunch and found this great blog post on Glass City Gourmet about a Korean joint in Toledo. Who knew? So we settled on sandwiches for lunch and made plans to have dinner at Korea Na.

The following is a guest post written by D.

“Even though I ordered the #10 Doen Jang Jige (bean paste casserole), I was served the very tasty #12 Soon Tofu Jige (tofu, mushrooms and a couple of white muscles in a spicy broth). You had the #14 Na Myum which was a giant bowl of ramen, scrambled eggs and vegetables in hot broth. We shared a #17 Good Mandu (fried dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms, zucchii and bean sprouts with a spicy dipping sauce).

Our two entrees also came with an assortment of small dishes to share. There were 7 little dishes in all, and included: an apple and grape mayonaise salad, kim chee, some sort of mushroomy dried/cured tofu, pickled greens similar to seaweed, spicy marinated cucumbers, chilled pickled shredded radish and a creamy cold potato-like salad.

The restaurant is very unassuming and more about the food than the atmosphere. There was no music playing, and at around 7:30 the very loud bar next door could be heard through the seemingly paper-thin walls as they started what sounded like a top 40 kareoke party. Somehow that just added to the uniqueness of this new Toledo gem.

Dinner ended up being just over $20 and included our two iced teas, and a tasty orange slice for dessert.

After dinner we stopped into the Asian market next door, which featured Korean, Japanese and Chinese groceries. Its always fun to pick up some exotic pasteries to supplement our American cupboards.”

Thanks, D., for the post!

Korea Na | 536 S Reynolds Rd. | (419) 535-6666

So it rained a little on Sunday… but we still had a great time. The highlight for me would have to be The Jean Batiste Quartet doing their version of What a Wonderful World. Yeah, call me sappy.

The 2008 Art Tatum Jazz Heritage Festival

There is a great installation at the Secor Gallery right now (through July 12th). The Secor Gallery artists paired up with artists from the Detroit Industrial Projects to create several works within the vast space.

The show invokes “the connectivity between development and re-urbanism occurring in both Detroit and Toledo”… and presents work by Kevin Beasley, Elizabeth Bernblum, Jada Bowden, Robert Garcia, Doug Kampfer, Nate Masternack, Jody Russ, Salvatore Schiciano, Jeanette Strezinski, and Andrew Thompson.

The opening was Saturday night with The Drawers playing in the lobby. David Lynch’s Eraserhead was playing on a backdrop behind them, which I hadn’t seen since I was in high school.

There happened to be a Mud Hens game going on so a few of us stepped around the corner to watch the fireworks at the end of the game. The night was capped off with an after-party at Mickey Finns. It was packed with people, many I hadn’t seen in quite a while, and bands playing both inside and on the back patio.

Secor Building and Artist Studios | 425 Jefferson Ave. | (419) 450 3683

Saturday morning we rode our bikes to the Downtown Farmer’s Market at Erie Street Market. The place was hopping with a full parking lot and people all over the place buying fresh, local food. We ran into T. (who was also on his bike) which worked out great because we shared a bunch of peaches and the best tasting cherries I’ve had in a long time. Our booty included some great looking green beans, Syd & Diane’s garlic dip, and salmonella-free tomatoes.

Food from a farmer’s market just tastes better than the stuff that’s been shipped all over the joint.

Toledo’s Farmer’s Market | 237 S. Erie Street | Downtown

I hadn’t had the good fortune of eating Moroccan food before… it was deelish. The menu is prix fixe ($26/person) with your choice of appetizer, salad or soup, entree and dessert. The table is set with olives, fresh bread, and a pot of sweet mint tea. The salad was actually a trio of wonderful and distinct concoctions that I highly recommend. It was a lot of food so leftovers were brought home. Harissa’s dining room is dimly lit by candlelight — I couldn’t get a photo without using the flash (the pic above was lifted from The Oliver House website).

Harissa is open only on Friday and Saturday nights by reservation.

It’s a perfect date spot for couples whose idea of a good night does NOT include burgers at a Bennigan’s.

Harissa at The Oliver House | 27 Broadway St. | (419) 241-1253

We stayed in the OWE all weekend this year because really, there was no reason to leave. Fun, friends, and food. BBQs were everywhere, including M & K’s with full-sized sofas and a “kiddie” pool. The weather this year was a lot nicer than last with only a little bit of rain at the end of the day on Sunday… you know… just to cool things off.

I didn’t buy anything at the yard sales, but there were some pretty great antiques to see. The parade was fun too. My favorite part was the Toledo School for the Arts oversized marionettes (see pic above). I hope they make more for next year.

One last thing, golf carts are super fun.

File under flashbacks: A year ago, on May 24th, we attended the I-280 Bridge Gala/Benefit which was totally awesome. The gala was held on a riverboat that travelled up and down the Maumee, under the new bridge and featured some pretty great fireworks — video from 13ABC here.

I remember my husband talking about the bridge as it was being built and before I moved to Toledo. I thought it was kind of silly that he was so excited about a bridge, until that day.

One of the coolest moments was realizing the construction workers were still on the bridge as we floated under it. There was a lot of waving and cheering back and forth… definitely one of those once-in-a-lifetime events. I’ll never forget it. I wish everyone in Toledo was on that boat at that instant.

This weekend included a drive to Port Clinton for a visit to The African Safari Wildlife Park. It’s one of the parks you drive around, in your own car, and animals come up to your windows to say hello eat snacks (available at the gate). I had never been to one of these parks before and was surprised at how pushy the animals were. It was a lot of fun, even when an elk stuck his whole head inside our car. How much you keep your windows closed would be up to your own comfort level — I had my window all the way up when we came to the buffalo, which were HUGE.

There were all sorts of animals, including zebras, goats, elk. My favorite part was feeding carrots to a giraffe. We had the sunroof closed, thankfully, or that would have been a little awkward. Prepared to get your car messy (inside and out), but there is a strip mall before you turn into the park with a car wash.

tip: bring napkins/wet naps.

African Safari Wildlife Park | 267 S Lightner Rd, Port Clinton | (419) 732-360

I stopped by the Arts Commission building today and got a chance to view the current show at the Parkwood Gallery. I fell in love with Michael Arrigo’s work. His fantastic paintings are up along with some great sculpture by Joe Meiser.

The show is up through June 20th.

Parkwood Gallery (ACGT) | 1838 Parkwood Ave, Suite 120 | 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM | 419-254-ARTS (2787)