I spent the past couple of days in Grand Rapids with Paul for
a hearing he was assigned by the Fed. P.D's office and (he won) don't care if I
ever go back...rainy, cold, no downtown shopping, just really yucky.
They had their 42nd annual Art Festival downtown and let me
tell you, I can't figure out how they made it past the first year. Really bad.
Performance artists on different stages which were set up on different
streets but all speakers pointing the same direction so the public in the
streets trying to find the non-performing artists (any artist, none existed,
literally) were being blasted in all directions with noise that didn't
cooperate with the other noise. I love
performing artists/musicians, but when it's all combined with others, not so
good. They really need to take some lessons
from Cincinnati or Bellevue. Kinda sad
if you know what I mean.
We went into the Grand Rapids Art Museum, it was
"okay". Not much there
either. Rather disappointing. One good exhibit of the city, past, present,
future. Photos of Detroit. Artist Andrew
Moore. Really disturbing, angering, sad, and hopeful. Really enjoyed it and it really made me
think.
So trying to find something in Grand Rapids to do, we discover
Cirque du Soliel is in town.
Quidam. We got tickets with no
problem and went last night. Really cool! So glad it was going on, ‘cause without it,
no reason to stay another night in Grand Rapids.
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| Mentone Egg Festival |
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| Mentone Egg Festival |
The drive up was really great.
Went back roads all the way and drove through Amish country. Amazing!
The drive back was great. Back
roads all the way. You find the coolest
pieces of America when you get off the interstate. We stumbled upon a little town called
Mentone, Indiana. Now they know how to
have a street festival ! Roads closed,
like Grand Rapids. I didn’t even see a
four way stop in this great little town.
Kids races, food booths set up down the street. Craft vendors. Games, music, Miss Mentone Festival! Really cool.
And you know what the name of the festival was???? The Mentone Egg Festival! Everyone having fun, enjoying each other and
the festival atmosphere. No artists,
performing or otherwise, just lots of fun and excitement. Grand Rapids could learn a thing or two from
Mentone.
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| Mentone Egg Festival |
Down the road we stumble upon Eel River Covered Bridge in
Roann. Drove across it to the cemetery. Beautiful!
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| Eel River Covered Bridge |
Down the road a bit further we see a beautiful display of
flags on a field by a school. Stopped to
take pictures because it is absolutely breathtaking. Seems like at Akron School in the middle of
Indiana they know how to honor their veterans.
Six counties in rural Indiana have lost so many young men and
women that they have taken Memorial Day to heart and have set up an amazing
display honoring their fallen. They have
listed the names of all those lost since 2001 in one section and then they have
listed all those lost in Viet Nam in another section. They have the flags of all the branches of the
service and then a flag for each of the military they have lost. Quite moving.
I love back roads. Next stop…Boston!
I'm so excited! A couple of months ago a young lady who lives in Ft. Thomas came in on First Friday and was interested in my Tile Art. I became incredibly addicted to making these tiles last fall and had so much fun. I told her I had a lot more at the house and if she wanted to come in the next day, she could have her choice. Honestly, I didn't think I would ever see her again. But sure enough, the next day she came in and picked out 7 of my tiles! Tonight, when I got home from the shop, I had received an email from her with these pictures.
