The Smoking Cat seems to have popped up all over Toledo this year. It’s certainly one of my favorite pieces of street art. Have you seen the Smoking Cat?

My favorite weekend of the year is The Old West End Festival weekend! And to kick it off, our neighborhood hosts the King Wamba Parade. The best way to describe the parade is “eclectic!” I absolutely loved this old car.

For every antique beauty there were equally amazing art cars. I love the tiki wonder pictured above–a creation by OWE resident, Melanie Harris.

Parade watchers were serenaded by The Toledo Glassmen…

… and entertained by the dancing girls (and guys) of JJ Express!

This year’s King Wamba is Michael Szuberla of Toledo Grows and Queen Sancha is Rachel Richardson, activist extraordinaire.

I was most pleased by the visiting Detroit Party Marching Band.

And a party they were!

Great parade, great food, fun parties, golf carts!, and an all around great weekend. I will post video from the entire weekend shortly.

Here we go! 2011 Art Walks in Downtown Toledo… an ongoing Summer event I highly recommend. Every Third Thursday during May through September (May 19, June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15) from 6-9 pm.

Visit www.acgt.org often for updated event details. Maps available at the info stations, at all venues during the event, and at www.acgt.org.

Venues include: 20 North Gallery, Bozarts, Collingwood Arts Center, Downtown Latte, Gallerie 333 at TSA, Jack Wilson Gallery, Madhouse, The Offices of Paul Sullivan, Secor Studios, Shared Lives Studios, Space 237, Studio M Printmakers, Sur Saint Clair Gallery, Swank Gifts, Toledo City Paper Offices, Truth Art Gallery, Zyndorf Glass & Arts, Glass City Cafe… and many more!

Park your car, walk or bike, and enjoy.

A couple lazy Sundays ago D. and I were in Perrysburg with time to kill, so we went looking for Fort Meigs. It had been decades since D.’s last visit as a child but we found the 1812 battlefield easily. Apparently it’s free to stroll the fort during the wintertime–the blockhouses are closed, however.

There was a very nice, 100 ft. tall obelisk built in the great year of 1908. We saw several people sledding down the river-side of the fort–regardless of the “no sledding” signs posted about the visitors/gift shop building. Inside the gift shop I picked up a soft-cover book of old Toledo Blade covers. So… I suggest a visit to one of the area’s oldest destinations, on a moderately cool winter day… and maybe bring a sled?

Fort Meigs | 29100 West River Road, Perrysburg | (419) 874-4121

This is a guest post from our neighbors, T. & A., who also enjoy Toledo. Sorry for the delay in getting this up!

Goaded on by the uncommonly warm weather and a Columbus Day off, we headed up to Michigan in search of pick-your-own apples at Spicer Orchards. We managed to just miss the time frame for PYO apples, but what we found was arguably better: free tastings of Spicer wine, a delicious panini, and pick-your-own fall raspberries.

Before heading out to the berry patch, we sampled some of the wines at Spicer Carriage House Cellars. Served by a knowledgeable hostess, Kristina Marks, we tried some zingy fruit wines like Cranberry &Red Currant and a Cabernet Franc that was surprisingly bold and dry. Of the whites, we liked the Pinot Grigio and the Traminette, which is similar to a Gewurtztraminer. We had to talk ourselves out of leaving with a case. Nice job, Michigan grapes!

While in the winery, we split a savory-sweet panini, which was filled with gooey white cheddar, tart green apples from the orchard and sautéed onions.

Fortified by many little “tastes” of wine and glasses of house-made hard cider, we tottered out to the berry patch.

The bounty:

Spicer Orchard | 10411 Clyde Rd Fenton, MI 48430 | 810-632-7682