The Field of Dreams Movie Site is tucked away in Dyersville, Iowa, about a 40 minute drive east of Dubuque. After years of talking about it, the hubby and I recently planned a trip to this field as the centerpiece of a long weekend in the Buckeye State. You can read my full recap of the experience here, but a picture is worth 1000 words.
The photo to the bottom left shows how the field looked the whole time we were there – just enough people to allow for a sense of atmosphere, but not enough to make the place feel crowded. Everyone was “playing nice” and sharing the field well during our visit. Guests can walk right up to, but not into or completely around, the house and other outbuildings featured in the movie.
There are no organized tours, movies, or other traditional tourist offerings at the Movie Site. We simply played catch in the outfield, popped in and out of the corn, and then sat on one of two tiny sets of bleachers and watched some future major leaguers in action.
The only organized facility on site is the itty bitty gift shop, which sells a wide variety of Field of Dreams merchandise as well as the movie itself. I look like a fool in a baseball cap, but couldn’t resist buying a magnet and water bottle under the guise of “supporting the field.” Prices were pretty reasonable although you can find the Field of Dreams DVD much cheaper on Amazon.
Overall, this site was a truly refreshing experience, exactly as advertised, and well worth the trip. The Field of Dreams Movie Site is open seasonally, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Admission is gloriously FREE, as is parking. You can check out the official website here.
Celebrating its 140th(!) birthday, Graeter’s is well-known Ohio/Kentucky ice cream chain with locations in most major cities in these states. You can also order the stuff online and have it shipped to you with a freezer pack, presumably for an exorbitant fee.
I got in on the Graeter’s phenomenon for the first time on a very, very hot May day. After bypassing a crowded branch of this franchise at King’s Island, we were thrilled to encounter this much cooler, calmer, emptier location in nearby Mason, Ohio.
We quickly learned that “chips” are the big thing here, with the Graeter’s flavor roster including Black Raspberry Chip, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Coconut Almond Chip. After much hemming and hawing over flavors such as I ended up ordering the Double Chocolate Chip (chocolate ice cream with extra large dark chocolate chips) and the hubby Cookie Dough (vanilla ice cream, cookie dough, and dark chocolate chips). We each selected a waffle cone because we thought it would hold more ice cream than the standard cake or sugar version.
It was fortunate that the building was heavily air-conditioned, because we learned quickly that Graeter’s ice cream is much softer than many hard-packed varieties. In other words, we had trouble keeping up with our cones! Other than this, we had no complaints with this exceptionally rich and creamy ice cream. The chocolate was truly chocolately, and the “chips” were more like giant “chunks” of fudge. After enjoying my giant cone, I can see how Ohio natives would become addictive to Graeter’s. Delicious!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love international food markets? Well, if I have been remiss, let me tell you that I love them a whole lot! Jungle Jim’s, however, stands ahead of the crowd and is truly a destination in and of itself. In addition to having yummy goodies from all over the world, they also have a wine shop, bakery, and reasonably priced selection of standard groceries. Plus, the place is huge! We typically spend 2-3 hours browsing each time we’re in the area and inevitably end up toting a cooler full of stuff home.
In addition to food and drink, there are also plenty of crazy displays throughout the store. Above you can see the talking corn and butter, the “world famous” port-a-potty restrooms, and the creepy swinging soup can that calls out to everyone who comes down his aisle. Guests can also see Elvis in the candy department and Robin Hood’s gang in the English food section. Kids will love this stuff and I find the zaniness enhances my adult shopping experience as well.
A few other store highlights: cheese, sausages, and a giant wall o’ hot sauces! I love that the cheeses are divided by country of origin, as it makes planning a themed meal much easier.
You can see part of our haul here. We ended up with 1) Dirty Blonde Ale, 2) Bellinis in a bottle, 3) Pirate’s Booty (aged white cheddar), 4) pretzel bread, 5) store-made mozzarella cheese, 6) Walker’s Homebake English shortbread, 7) Jungle Jim’s brand cheese curds, Snapea Crisps, 9) giant marshmallows, 10) crespone salami (2), 11) pomegranate Jelly Belly jelly beans, 11) OMG! fruit snacks, 12) unsalted cashews, 13) fresh-churned butter with sea salt, 14) Lotte’s Japanese koala snacks, 15) key lime and peanut butter cheesecake from the bakery 16) pretzel breadsticks, and a few more things I can’t recall.
Most of these items are old favorites, but we did try a couple of new things. If you haven’t had crespone salami, you must. It’s available online at Zingerman’s if you don’t live near Jungle Jim’s. The Walker’s Homebake shortbread truly is worth the premium – it melts in my mouth! Also, those who loved Koala Yummies as a kid in the early nineties should note that these treats are exactly the same, right down to the shape of the container. Things we wouldn’t buy again? Just the fruit snacks and the key lime cheesecake, which had a rather gelatinous texture. Overall, we were very happy with our haul and are still enjoying the fruits of our shopping!
Those who wish to plan a trip to Jingle Jim’s may want to try to hit one of the store’s special events. If so, head on over to the website’s Event Center for upcoming tastings and parties.
We’ve encountered several different branches of Aladdin’s Eatery during the course of our travels but never stopped into this mainly-Midwestern chain of Lebanese restaurants. Our hotel in West Chester, Ohio was just a stone’s throw away from a franchise so we decided to meet up with some family for some hummus, baklava, and a few other favorites.
Atmosphere was more corporate and sterile than expected. Basically, this is a Lebanese Panera. It does offer table service, and we had no complaints whatsoever about the level of service we received from the young man who waited on us.
I always end up unable to pick a single appetizer when it comes to Middle Eastern cuisine. In this case, the dilemma was solved by a sampler platter with hummus, tabouli, baba, falaffel, and dawali. I was relieved it didn’t contain kibbie (a mass of beef and cracked wheat) which is not a favorite of mine. This platter rang in at around $10.00.
To be honest, most items on this platter were just okay. The hummus was bland and, in my book, not even up to par with the Sabra hummus we get at the grocery store in terms of flavor or texture. The tabouli had too much lemon which left it sour. We did give high marks to the warm falaffel, which were generously portioned and delicious with the creamy tahini yogurt sauce. Everything on the platter did get eaten by our group of five, along with two baskets of pita bread.
For entrees, patrons can choose among a mind-boggling array of options ranging from basic sandwich-type items to huge meaty platters. Prices range from $6.00 to $18.00 or so. My stomach was a bit stressed from running so I ended up ordering only a rolled pita, specifically the Aladdin’s Kabob with grilled beef tenderloin, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions (above left). Three others in our group ordered rolled pitas as well. Unfortunately, these turned out to be a huge disappointment. These came wrapped in foil and were rather chintzy in terms of both stuffing and presentation. My beef was very overcooked and the veggies were undercooked. It was also supposed to come with tahini dressing but I never ran into any. For $7.00+, one can get a better lunch at Subway or a much better lunch at a locally owned Lebanese restaurant.
My mother and law ordered more boldly and ended up with the Mediterranean Beef Kafta plate with beef, rice, and salad, which was priced closer to $15.00. As you can see, she at least received a much more attractive plate than us! She said she enjoyed her meal, but I felt this platter, too, was overpriced given the casual setting of this restaurant.
After a mediocre meal, I had a bit of an attitude going into dessert, but my mood was quickly and dramatically rectified after tasting Aladdin’s four fabulous varieties of baklava: bird’s nest, lady fingers, burma or traditional diamond. We ordered two of each and shared, but I swear I ate 50% of the plate by myself! The general consensus ranked the traditional baklava first, the lady fingers second, and the bird’s nest third, as the burma was a bit heavy on the pistachios.
Still, a great dessert does not a successful lunch make. Despite the shared appetizer and dessert platters, our meal for five was close to $100.00. I’m glad we tried this place to satiate our curiosity, but Middle Eastern food doesn’t work well in a soulless chain restaurant setting. If not for the baklava, I would have absolutely no reason to ever return to Aladdin’s.
We were particularly excited about this May 22, 2010 event because of promotional materials indicating the race would take place in and around King’s Island in Mason, Ohio. As it turns out, the race was about 3/4 in the King’s Island parking lot and 1/4 in the park, but when it comes down to it I guess it’s all running, right?
We arrived at around 7:45 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. start time. I appreciated that check-in was advertised as being from 7:00-8:15 a.m.. I feel like too often race sponsors insist that everyone arrive waaaay early but then end up checking folks in until race time anyway. Upon checking in, we immediately received our free cotton T-shirts, which were pretty standard, and our one-day King’s Island admissions, which were an awful nice premium for a race with a $30 entry fee.
One thing that wasn’t so great is that there wasn’t a spot for a warm-up job other than the traffic-filled parking lot. If we did this one in the future I’d try to get physically ready to and then leave for the race at the last minute.
As I alluded to above, very little of this race actually took place “in” King’s Island. While this was somewhat disappointing, actually, the portions in the parking lot actually turned out to be better than those in the park, because there were waaaay too many little loops and turn-arounds to take us around the various attractions. There was also one segment that required us to cross paths with (and dodge) early arrival patrons waiting to purchase tickets. Apparently some folks even got stopped by a train! I know King’s Island has quite a few long, straight portions, like on either side of the entry plaza fountain, but for some reason we didn’t go through those parts of the park.
Despite the crazy twists and turns, I cut about a minute off of my PR and finished under 29:00. I am unclear on how timing was done, because the 1 mile split time we were given was lower than our watch showed, as was the time on the clock at the finish line. Our “official” time, however, was a good 15 seconds higher than any of these. In any event, I’m still not even close to “fast” by any stretch of the imagination, but it is nice to see some tangible improvement over these few months without even specifically training for speed.
After the race there was a fairly standard assortment of bagels, bananas, and water. There were also games for the kids (see, bean bag toss, to the right) with candy and stuffed animal prizes. They let us play towards the end but we didn’t win so much as a Tootsie Roll. It’s a good thing there was something for folks to do, because quite frankly it took a very long time for the award ceremony to start.
I thought it was nice that the Peanuts characters were on hand during most of this event for photos, hugs, dancing, and post-race high fives. We saw Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, and Snoopy.
Overall, this race was totally worthwhile for us because we had been really wanting to check out King’s Island anyway. Plus, A Kid Again seems like a nice organization, with its focus on providing fun experiences for kids with life threatening illnesses. As races go, however, I think many serious runners would be a bit annoyed with this 5K’s oddly configured and poorly marked course. Hopefully some of the kinks will get worked out soon, as this 5K has the potential to be a really nice event.
Looking for something fun and FREE to do in Chicago? Rain or shine, the Garfield Park Conservatory east of downtown is a great pick. We popped into this indoor garden on a rainy March morning and immediately felt happier, thanks to being surrounded by flowers.
The Garfield Park Conservatory is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Wednesday, when it remains open until 8:00 p.m. Parking at the conservatory is no problem, with plenty of street-side spots available. Upon our arrival at around 10:00 a.m. we saw quite a few large busses, so I was a bit worried about crowds. Fortunately, these groups seemed to be on site for special events and we rarely saw them during our tour.
This facility is rather sprawling, with one room leading willy-nilly into the next. Visitors must choose between 1) touring each room in its entirety before backtracking to move onto the next; and 2) heading down the left (or right) side of each room until reaching the end of the road and heading back down the opposite side. We picked the latter method of touring but in retrospect I think the former would probably have been easier.
When we visited the conservatory, the Spring Flower Show was in bloom, making for a nice contrast to the dreary day. This space smelled fabulous and had plenty of benches from which to sit and contemplate the foliage. The floral displays themselves were not as elaborate as those in the show garden of Milwaukee’s Mitchell Park Domes, about an hour north, but the overall effect was still quite pleasant. This show ended in mid-May, but you can see the Summer Tropical Flower Show beginning May 29, 2010.
We also spent some time in the desert garden, which was chock-full of cacti large and small. That cactus to the far left apparently lives for 100 years, then shoots up a single blossom, then dies. Way to go out in a blaze of glory, I suppose!
There are also several “green” rooms at the Garfield Park Conservatory. The Moss Room, to the left, was my favorite. It was wet, humid, and tranquil, with moss clinging to virtually every available service. The Koi Pond pictured at center was also awesome because it had tons of fish and a Dale Chihuly sculpture! Finally, the Palm House at the right was pretty standard, but of course every greenhouse has to have some tropical plants and flowers.
The Garfield Park Conservatory’s outdoor gardens weren’t really up and running when we visited. We’d definitely consider returning to see these and to attend one of the facility’s many events, which include everything from an evening Walking Club to a gardening class for kids. This conservatory is truly a hidden gem and I love it that it doesn’t cost a penny to enjoy.
I’m not sure how I’ve missed out on the Patachou phenomenon until now. Captioned as “A Student Union for Adults,” this Indianapolis-based mini chain features seven different dining locations, each with a slightly different focus. We headed to the Pennsylvania Street location to check out some fancy French and American brunch offerings.
We were concerned about parking in this area as well as having a long wait at about 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. In the end, we lucked out on both fronts, and only had a few minutes delay before being seated. The space at Cafe Patachou is pretty sterile and almost warehouse-like, as I suppose befits a “student union.” The tasty and healthy food offerings, however, make the experience worth the trip.
Each of my dining companions ordered a three-egg omelet with some combination of “stuff” inside. Options include cheddar, bacon, salsa, tomatoes, herbes de provence, cream cheese, feta, avocado, etc. One thing I did find a little chintzy was that every filling after the first costs $1.60 extra, while most brunch joints throw in two or three. The final verdict? These $10.00+ omelets were good but, in the words of my husband, “a little too healthy-tasting.”
In contrast, the sourdough toast served with the eggs was a unanimous hit, as such toast tends to be. Something actually worth paying extra for is the “all berries” fruit cup filled with fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and the like. Delicious, and nice to have an option besides bland melon and overpowering pineapple.
After much debating, I passed up the croissant french toast in favor of a “loaded bagel” with herbed cream cheese, arugula, red onions, cucumbers, and very fresh tomatoes. Patachou really got this one right. The bagel was huge and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. The veggies blended awesomely with the soft cheese. Plus, I felt virtuous with every bite because I basically had a salad for breakfast.
At about $45 before tip for three people without mimosas, Petit chou is too expensive to be a daily breakfast stop, but is perfect for a leisurely, indulgent weekend brunch with friends and family. Next time, though, I’m going to have to get some of that french toast!
You can see all of Patachou’s locations here.
Running from May 1-8, 2010, the Tulip Time Festival is a major event for western Michigan. After spending some time there last weekend, I can personally attest that this festival draws quite a crowd from all over the country and internationally. This festival remains in full swing throughout the rest of this week and weekend, so this report and photos will help you know what you expect if you go.
First, no weekend in Holland is complete without Dutch food, and there are many different places to get it this week. We were starving post-race so we just stopped at Dutch Village near our hotel. We were able to eat without paying admission to the main park, but I did note that the grounds looked great, having clearly been recently spruced up for this event. You can check out my full report on Dutch Village here.
The hubby and I each opted for a combo that included Erwtensoep (split pea soup with ham), Worstebroodjes (pork sausage in pastry) and Dutch apple pie, all of which was very tasty. I also had a side dish of hot potato salad which I did not care for thanks to its sour dressing.
I believe what we ate was sort of the festival’s signature menu, as an identical platter was advertised as being available at several other locations. There is also a special outdoor cafe set up at the delicious Alpenrose restaurant downtown and an all-you-can-eat Dutch Buffet at the Queen’s Inn.
After lunch, we headed out to Windmill Island Gardens, advertised as having a historic working windmill, museum, educational presentations, and extensive tulip gardens. Admission was $7.50 per person. The park was very busy when we visited around noon, and folks were still pouring into the parking lot when we left. Do this one early if you want to enjoy the gardens peacefully!
To be honest, the facilities at Windmill Island are not much to write home about. The educational presentations are not “movies” per say, but “multi-color slide presentations.” The one we saw reminded me of a 5th grade social studies filmstrip and literally had us nodding off. The historic shops are less interesting than those at Dutch Village, and the miniature Dutch village (left) is interesting but difficult to really view because of the glare on the glass. I definitely do not think this park would be worth the $7.50 admission when tulips are not in bloom.
As for the tulips themselves, they were nice and well-maintained but I think a little past their peak. The Tulip Time organizers obviously can’t help this, and I attribute it to unseasonably warm weather this past April. We did enjoy watching little kids wandering through the massive tulip field and posing for pictures among the various clumps of flowers.
After spending an hour or so at Windmill Island, we headed to downtown to enjoy other aspects of the festival. I was surprised to find that things were rather decentralized, with clumps of vendors and activities scattered here and there. We also had a lot of trouble finding parking but finally ended up in a $5.00 garage. I think some signage could help with this issue.
Once parked, we headed to check out the Kinderplaatz portion of the festival, an area geared toward families. Admission is free for adults and the whole thing is rather surreal as this space includes not one but dozens of “bounce house” type facilities with huge clumps of kids waiting their turn to bounce at each. As childless adults, we were not so interested in bouncing but we did watch dance performances by a group of children from some dance academy or other.
After we had our fill of Kinderplatz, we walked back to the main drag. I had hoped to visit the intriguing Dutch Marktplaats, featuring homemade Dutch food, dancing, and items for sale. Unfortunately (and surprisingly), this much-advertised attraction wasn’t open, despite the fact that it was a Saturday. It runs from Tuesday May 4th through Saturday May 8th, so you should be able to see it if you go next weekend. We ended up going shopping a bit on Holland’s main drag. I’ve been shopping many times in Holland and I can’t leave without hitting up the awesome cooking supply stores and Kilwin’s for some chocolate candy. We did both, and about 1000 calories later were ready to head home.
Overall, we had a nice weekend. I had fun running the race and I’m glad that I saw the famous tulips in bloom for the first time. It was definitely way more crowded and expensive than when we usually visit Holland, though, and I don’t know that I necessarily need to go back again during this time of year, unless to simply run the race.
If you’re going to Tulip Time Festival this weekend, be sure to check out the online schedule of events!
We just got back from a nice weekend in Holland including the Tulip Time 8K, which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. There was also a 5K and kid’s fun run. The event had good facilities at Christ Memorial Church, including plenty of bathrooms, tons of bottled water, and standard food offerings (granola bars, bagels, etc.) pre and post-races. Despite the large number of participants, we had no problem finding a spot to stretch out either before or after the race.
We had heavy rain en route to the starting point but fortunately it stopped just in time for the race, except for a few random sprinkles throughout to keep us cool. The 8K course was pleasant, with plenty of time spent running amongst the tulip-lined streets of Holland. There weren’t many spectators because of the wet weather, but I had my iPod so I didn’t mind.
While I really enjoyed this event, I do have a couple of minor nits to pick. First, it was virtually impossible to hear any outdoor announcements. A good number of the 5K runners didn’t even know their race had started! Second, the 8K run shares the beginning of its route with the 5K runners, who are released first, and the end of its route with the kid’s run, which is released last. So, we spent the first mile and a half dodging 5K walkers and the last kilometer dodging little kids. I felt like I was in a video game!
Despite the dodging, I felt great throughout this race and finished the 8K in less than 50 minutes, which was my personal goal. Full race results are available here. This was also the longest organized race I’ve ever run. I’ll be sure to pencil in the Tulip Time run for next year and I recommend you do too!
We recently spent a fabulous fun and food-filled weekend in Indy with a close friend. Perhaps the highlight, at least as far as our bellies were concerned, was a delicious dinner at Bospherus Istanbul Cafe, a Turkish restaurant situated a few minutes outside of downtown. I’ve had a soft spot for Turkey ever since we spent two fabulous days touring Istanbul and Ephesus a number of years ago. This restaurant reminded me of one thing I really loved about that trip – the food!
The restaurant is somewhat oddly situated, in between a couple of businesses but not within easy walking distance of much. Perhaps that’s why it was largely empty when we visited on a Friday night. Too bad for the restaurant, but good for us – we got very attentive service! For some reason I don’t have any interior pictures, but the place is really cute and cozy with woven wall hangings and white tablecloths.
We ate A LOT at Bospherus. I’m talking an embarrassing amount, starting with all the appetizers you see above. After we floundered with trying to choose which ones we want, our server cleverly recommended that we order a sampler platter for two containing hummus, stuffed grape leaves, tabouli, babaganush, and eggplant salsa ($12.95) and separately, borek, which is a cheese-stuffed pastry kind of like an eggroll ($5.95).
Everything was delicious, but my personal favorite thing to do at Middle Eastern restaurants is to mix the tabouli with the hummus and slather my pita bread in the stuff. This pita bread was particularly good, and our server gladly brought us more after we plowed through the first basket.
Our party ordered three very different entrees, all of which received good reviews. I had the Chicken Mediterranean which came with tons of tomatoes and onions and had quite a kick to it. The hubby had the lamb and beef donor, which he also enjoyed. My friend had an eggplant dish, the name of which I can’t recall. I’m not much for eggplant but she loves that stuff. Most entrees cost between $10 and $15.
My only complaint is the completely unfair one that our food almost seemed too healthy for my mood at the time. I barely touched the green salad that came with mine because it seemed rather dry. Still, veggies are good for me, so I shouldn’t complain.
In any event, the healthiness ended pretty quickly after our main courses were taken away, when we were served perhaps the best baklava I’ve ever had in my life. Served hot, it was covered in what had to be home-made whipped cream that melted beautifully into the cinnamony filling. The hubby and I originally intended to share but after one bite I told him to get his own!
