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

Last month was the 75th anniversary of the Zeroll Ice Cream scoop — the world’s most popular scoop which happens to be in The Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection for excellence in design. And the birthplace of this artifact of industrial design happens to be smack in the middle of the Old West End!

So we celebrated with an Ice Cream Social! Free Tofts ice cream for everyone!

Zeroll ice cream scoops were also given away. One every 5 minutes!

There were old-timey cars…

and old-timey suits!

And M. brought out his fantastic rickshaw, for the delight of everyone. Thanks to Jeff Nelson, Zeroll Co., and Tofts Ice Cream for putting together such a great event!

Last week my friend S. invited me out swimming. In a quarry. On the East Coast swimming usually involves the ocean or pools, so I was excited to try something new. We drove to Centennial Quarry because it was close by.

The first thing I noticed was the smell of the water… fresh and scented like plants. The water was remarkably clear with visibility several feet down. And until I realized school was back in session, I was struck by how pleasantly empty the place was. Yet, there was something  unnerving about the stillness of the water and I kept expecting a mummified hand to grab my feet from below and pull me under. My imagination gets the best of me sometimes.

Afterwards, we met up with friends at Manhattan’s where Thursday’s happy hour boasts half price drinks and appetizers. No mummies.

Centennial Quarry | 5773 Centennial Road, Sylvania | (419) 885-7106

Manhattan’s | 1516 Adams Street, Uptown Toledo | (419) 243-6675

We planted a peach tree two years ago with little expectation that we would actually have fruit. Color me surprised at the sweet and juicy peaches we have… outside of the ones that were nibbled on by my neighbor, Mr. Squirrel. Let this post be a warning to you Mr. Squirrel! I’m watching you!

ps. I play badminton (note the net in the background). And I am a much better player than Mr. Squirrel.

The tree was purchased at a local fave, The Andersons.

The Art Walk–presented on a monthly basis by The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, local artists, galleries, and street performers–is a perfect date night, excursion for people with kids, and everyone in between. There is an incredible amount of art viewable at 20-something galleries and venues. Each stop provides nibbles of food and drink alongside work in a multitude of media. Between each stop, you’ll be delighted by street performers busking their way into your hearts.

All of this is free. So, why not?

Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Art Walk | Next Art Walk is Thursday, August 26th but they only happen once a month during the summer, so don’t miss out!

Quick note: The music on the above video is a track by Tropical Dudes. They will be playing their first ever show at the Black Swamp Festival on September 11th. Details here.

We don’t live in Sylvania and admittedly don’t visit often, except when I get my hair done at Revé (Kristen Comer is great! Also my friend Janelle Jared!), but I read about a pizza competition happening at Centennial Terrace. Lovers of pizza, D. and I fit in a visit despite our busy summer calendar.

Centennial Terrace is very clean, very subdued, and I’ve learned that there is a quarry where you can go swimming. So we’ll be back for another visit. The pizza judging was yummy! My favorite was from a parlor we hadn’t yet visited–Amies Pizza–and it was apparently so for most of the attendees as they won the coveted “Peoples Choice” award. Congrats!

Amies Pizza | 6710 W Central Ave. | (419) 842-8008

Centennial Terrace | 5773 Centennial Rd. | (419) 885-7106

Revé Salon | 5633 Main St. | (419) 885-1140

The Dragon Boat Festival was in it’s 9th year… yet this was my first attendance. The race was not only well attended by the public (as in the riverfront was PACKED) but it was also full of participants with 42 teams, and each team had 25 members. Do the math.

It was exciting to watch these boats moving swiftly over the water. The boats were lovely and you could feel the energy of of each team working hard to win. I applaud each and every “dragon boater” for the money they raised for a great cause. *High five*!

Partners in Education Dragon Boat Festival

We were on our way to The Docks for some riverfront dining when our car started making a strange sound. We pulled into the drive for the Crowne Plaza Hotel and D. rang up AAA. We were told it would be a bit of a wait, so we let the hotel valet know of our predicament, inquired about the hotel restaurant, and enjoyed our first visit to Del Sol. We found a table on the patio and ordered a few drinks… because we weren’t driving home!

The view was great considering we hadn’t eaten a nice dinner on the river facing in this direction before (opposite of The Docks). But the food was the best surprise. My pumpkin (or was it butternut squash?) ravioli with a beurre blanc and sage was wonderful and D.’s fish on latin-style spicy black beans gave him a smile. So much so that we forgot all about our car mishap. Thanks to AAA for coming to get the car and giving us the time to discover something new in Toledo. Also, thanks to Black & White cab for the prompt pick-up.

See? Even a car breakdown in Toledo can be turned into a pleasant evening!

Del Sol at The Crowne Plaza | 444 N. Summit St. | (419) 241-1411

Things are looking pretty lively. We have been eating various peppers, lettuces, and herbs. Tomatoes are looking pretty great so I’m excited about that. Grilled a couple yellow squash last week…

How is your garden doing?

Our friends S. & A. invited us to the Toledo Club’s 4th of July party on the Willis B. Boyer, which was retired in 1980 and opened as a museum in ’97.

There was food and a bar, but the most fun came from being able to tour the ship on our own. The river hosted “boatloads” of people waiting for the fireworks.

The sunset was beautiful from the prime spot we carved out for ourselves.

We were on the tippity top of the Boyer facing downtown and only meters from where the fireworks would happen. While waiting, maybe not so patiently, we took photos of the (what I am assuming were) non-legal fireworks happening within the inner-city.

And then… BOOM!

D. took video of the fireworks and then sped the 20-something minute footage up to fit into 3 minutes. It’s disorienting. But great.

Baseball. It’s the most all American of ALL American sports.

When I asked if there was to be a “half-time” and “dancing girls” I *really* should have been deported right there and then. Luckily there was a darling little girl singing (see above) and my transgression was either forgotten or dismissed as simply being in the moment. SO! MUCH! AMERICA!

YEAH!!!

Toledo Mudhens | Fifth Third Field | 406 Washington Street | (419) 725-4367