Friday night, J. hosted a group of friends in her office’s suite at the new arena. This was more than my first time seeing the Walleye play–it was my first hockey game ever.

There were people dressed like furries, posing for photos.

And a fight… someone should break it up!

Snacks were yum, and the Lucas Co. Arena is very nice.

D. and R. had their minds set on walleye sandwiches. Supposedly, the condiment bar is epic. That’s a lot of mayo!

And at the end of the night, Toledo Walleye won the game! Great job!

…but stop all the fighting.

Toledo Walleye | at the Lucas Co. Arena | Downtown Toledo!

I’m really not a comedy fan. But it’s good to push yourself to do things you wouldn’t normally once in a while. Right?

Friday night, our friends M. and K. invited us out to see M.’s cousin do stand up. Jon Ueberroth is originally from the East Side so his routine was very Toledo-centric. Several funny cheap shots were tossed towards the East Side, of course.

More friends joined us, like R. and M. — who happened to have gone to high school with one of the opening comics, Andy Peters. Andy was very amusing, especially when the question had arisen of whether there was a Potbelly sandwich shop in Toledo.

There there were plenty of laughs, cheap drinks, and outside the outbursts of what we called “the stoned table” it was a pretty great time.

Connxtions Comedy Club | 5319 Heatherdowns Blvd. | (419) 867-9041?

We visited the Toledo Zoo a couple weeks ago. My favorite animal is the polar bear…

He played with a large plastic trash bin for a while.

And there was much more to see. The colubus monkeys (above) were very Alexander McQueen.

This fish was acting curious.

I made some new friends and it was all around an enjoyable afternoon. We plan on going back soon for The Lights Before Christmas, which runs through December 31st.

First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys—mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!

–William Makepeace Thackeray

The Toledo Zoo | 2700 Broadway Street | (419) 385-4040

I dragged D. out to the mall parking lot for some haunted house fun last weekend. It was scary enough to make me scream but not scary enough that I wasn’t also laughing through all four (4) of the tents. A little pricey at $20 per adult, but there are more options in the area (see below). Hope your weekend is frightful!

Terror Town — Lucas Co. Fairgrounds

Hells Gate Haunt — Alexis Road

Chainsaw Creek — Franklin Park Mall (parking lot)

We spent quite a bit of this weekend on the water, thanks to our gracious hosts J. and A.

J. invited us out to enjoy Friday’s sunset as a double date with her beau A.

Enjoy the sunset is exactly what we did.

After dinner and some hijinks we slipped along back home.

We regained our land legs and went back out on Sunday, closing the weekend.

After learning of my “future” home plans, J. navigated us straight to The Toledo Lighthouse. We circled it a few times before moving on…

…moving on to West Sister Island. The word is this island’s for sale? Another rumor is Jimmy Hoffa’s corpse rests there? According to Wikipedia, it’s mostly bird droppings and poison ivy.

Good enough to anchor for lunch and some brief swimming!

D. beat me at backgammon. I’m convinced cheating occurred but sadly cannot prove it.

We later ended up at The Docks, where we bumped into and joined our friends S. and E. for dinner. More Toledo serendipity!

Dinner at Tango’s was great as was our final leg home. Toledo is beautiful at sunset. Our soundtrack for the weekend was the Talking Heads.

Toledo Habor Lighthouse | West Sister Island | Tango’s at The Docks (turn your computer speakers off)

Sunday afternoon was much like today: dreary, damp and cold. But inside the Buckminster Fuller dome at The 577 Foundation it was warm, colorful and full of life.

We had signed up for a gardening class–which was very well attended. The woman leading the class mentioned an increased demand for vegetable gardening classes due to the economy. It was a helpful session with many of our questions answered, including answers to questions I wouldn’t have conceived on my own. We are hoping to improve upon our gardening efforts of last year.

After the class we wandered about the grounds a little. Oh, how I wish the Old West End Historic Board would allow us to build a dome like this in our yard. It was a welcome respite from the cold, wet weather.

577 Foundation | 577 East Front St. in Perrysburg | (419) 874-4174

The Rosary Cathedral was on the Tours de Noel OWE home tour this year. It was beautiful, moving and I’m surprised at myself for not visiting earlier. We arrived in time to catch the beginnings of their Advent Lessons & Carols Service.

Rosary Cathedral | 2535 Collingwood Blvd. | Old West End

Visit our local animatronic utopia and cacotopia combined.

It’s all sorts of epic. Including wonderful antique diatribes.

And injection molded toy machines. Wow. Kids love it.

Children’s Wonderland | Lucas Co. Rec Center in Maumee | Runs through New Year’s Eve.

Built in 1880 and lovingly restored in the 1970’s, The Kerr House is where I spent the last weekend before the Election for a little R&R. Every detail in this Victorian mansion is perfect for the period, from the antique furnishings and decorations to the wallpapers and lighting. Breakfast was served in bed to start off a day of massages, sauna and yoga with Laurie.

My room was beautiful — like I was living inside a jewelry box. It was the perfect setting to read The Devil in the White City, a superb drama happening during the Chicago Worlds Fair and factually based.

The Kerr House | 17777 Beaver Street | Grand Rapids, OH | (419) 832-1733

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