Musings
Best Of The Road - Part Two
I’m back to finish the other blog post that I started a few months ago. When last I wrote about our summer vacation my family was deep in the landscape of the rural midwest. We pick up the narrative as we meandered our way from Galena, IL to Mineral Point, WI.
We arrived in Mineral Point and I thought, huh, this looks like it could be a cool town but it’s not exactly a thriving town. Mineral Point is tiny. We arrived mid-week to learn that most things in Mineral Point are only open on the weekends. The place is strange. They have many things that a town this size shouldn’t have i.e. a huge public swimming pool, an opera house, a train museum, a really old house museum, a school for arts and crafts, and a living history museum.
We settled into our home for the next few days and decided it was a pretty good place to rest one’s head. Maple Wood Lodge isn’t the fanciest of accommodations, but it was lovely in it’s own quiet way. It’s set a few miles outside of town on a 20 acre parcel. The yard is large and well-equipped for family fun with a fire pit, volley ball net, hammock and teether ball. From the yard you can start out on a few different hikes that let you explore the property. The hikes are short enough that even small kids can hike the distance, but long enough that you feel like you’re sort of on a hike. I think we would claim Maple Wood Lodge as our favorite place that we stayed during the trip.
The highlight of Mineral Point for Mazie was definitely Pendarvis, the living history museum. I’m not sure what happened, but something about Pendarvis clicked with her and she couldn’t stop talking about the place for the next few weeks. Even today if you mention the name, she will start off anew on the wonders of Pendarvis.
Pendarvis consists of several very old stone houses constructed in the early and mid 1800’s. The historical society runs costumed, guided tours through the houses that tell about the various families that lived there and what life was like for them. It’s worth a stop if you are in the area.
We had a hard time finding much else to do in Mineral Point as most of the town is closed during the week. I think Mineral Point is a cool, little spot, but if we ever returned, I would go on the weekend.
After a few nights in Mineral Point we loaded up our awesome mini-van and hit the road for Cedarburg, WI. Cedarburg is located just a bit outside of Milwaukee. It feels old and preserved, but in a touristy way. It’s similar to Stillwater, MN, but bigger.
Our accommodations in Cedarburg were strange, but interesting. We stayed at a farmstead that used to be in the country, but is now smack dab in the middle of suburbia. The farmstead consists of the owner’s house, the old barn which the owners use for antique storage and two small cottages that are rented to people like us. The good news about the cottages is that they could be really, super cool and extraordinary. The bad news about the cottages is that they aren’t; in fact they are a little creepy. We wouldn’t ever stay there again, but it was certainly more interesting than hanging our hats at the local Days Inn.
We had a nice time in Cedarburg. We visited a covered bridge that seemed too simple to be entertaining, but ended up providing at least an hour of enjoyment. We walked the Main Street and shopped the many stores. We sat down at Tomaso’s, a weird pizza place with great pizza (sauce on top) and superb cheese bread. We dined at a restaurant with mediocre food and a fabulous outdoor patio that took all disappointment out of the meal because of the view. We watched a dumb movie in our creepy cottage. Jamie and Mazie made art at a local studio while Tyler napped. It was a simple and sweet way to end our road trip. I would return to Cedarburg again, especially with older kids. I think the area has plenty to offer a family for a long weekend.
Next year there will be no road trip through the rural midwest. I’ve promised Jamie and I’m going to keep my promise!
A Couple Of Old Friends
Meet Four Seasons Mall…
It’s a traditional 80’s style strip mall. As a kid/teen, it was the closest “mall” to our house and somewhere my family spent a decent amount of time. There was a grocery store, liquor store, dance studio, Synders, pizza place and countless other small businesses. Today all that’s left is the pizza place and a Kaplan Professional School. The talk is that the place will soon be torn down and a Walmart will go up. I’m guessing that a Walmart will draw more cars to the parking lot than a pizza place and a Kaplan.
Today with much trepidation and much excitement, I headed to that pizza place to enjoy a little “pizza party”. Marcello’s offers up excellent cheese bread and pretty tasty pizza. It was a favorite from my teen years and it’s still a favorite today, sorta like cheese.
I ate cheese to my heart’s content and it was delightful, delectable, delicious, dazzling and deliriously good. I was nervous going in that I would be like an alcoholic, once returned to my vice, helpless in its grasp. So far though, I feel good about it. I think my cheese and grease monkey has been satiated and should stay quiet for awhile and I’ve had no adverse stomach reactions. After being away from cheese for 34 days, the thing I noticed most about it other than it’s deliciousness was it’s saltiness. It’s some salty stuff. Nothing like a little distance to make one appreciate cheese with all of its beauty and its one fault.
Join me in a little 80’s nostalgia by looking at a few pictures of Marcello’s.
There it is, number 26, Marcello’s Pizza & Pasta.
Check out that 80’s decor. Hasn’t changed, not one little bit since the first time I was there over 25 years ago. If that’s not staying power, I don’t know what is.
It’s hard to find chandeliers like that now-a-days and the faux ivy painting all over the walls is to die for. This place is a classic. The booths are original to the joint as well. Nothing in the whole space has been updated since the place opened.
The piece de resistance, Marcello’s garlic cheese bread. It’s always perfectly cooked, perfectly cheesed and perfectly buttered. Unlike ever other place where you get cheese bread and they use some pre-made garlic butter stuff that all tastes the same, here the butter is real and so is the garlic. It’s a hand-made concoction that is nothing short of perfect. Yum!
Day 26 of Vegfest
The month is close to over and with that the vegan challenge. I’m still having a great time experimenting with vegan cuisine, but I’m a little glad that the month is drawing to a close. Cheese and I have a date and we’ve missed each other a lot and can’t wait to hang out. Hopefully my gut will agree. I’m planning a little pizza party for sometime next week.
All of that said, I do plan to keep up with the vegan thing for the most part. I think it’s good for me and for the planet and for all my animal friends. I like the way I eat better when I eat this way. I like how I feel on my insides better when I eat this way; I experience far less food guilt. Food guilt is something that I’m normally steeped in. I can’t say that it’s all gone, food guilt and I are almost as good of friends as cheese and I, but the food guilt is much dissipated. I think no matter how I eat, I will always feel like I’m not doing a good enough job.
On the poundage front, I’ve now lost 7 pounds. The weight loss is so easy and natural and that feels good. I think in time, maybe lots of time, I will return to a weight that I am comfortable with and feel good about. I feel relaxed and very low-key about my weight. I think it’s because I realize that eating this way it’s hard to gain weight and much easier to lose weight and so if I just sit back and hang out, my weight will take care of itself.
I have noticed a general slacking with other things that I do in my life that I feel are important and have a positive impact. I’ve been a reusable bag fiend for several years and I’ve accepted several plastic and paper bags during this month because I haven’t had enough bags with me. In the past I would shove the extras in the shopping cart, then the car, then bring a bag out to the car when I got home to put the extras in. I’ve found myself throwing small pieces of paper away instead of walking to the kitchen and recycling them, and feeling less guilt about plastic containers that contain pre-made vegan goodies than I would had they been regular baked goods. It’s as if I can only be so “good” and the vegan thing requires more of my “goodness” than my other way of eating.
I’ve been meaning to post lots of other vegan stuff this month, but it’s been a really busy month and I haven’t devoted as much time to writing as I would have liked. I guess all of those other posts will just have to wait for next month. See you after Halloween!
The Kate Club
Mazie has joined her first social club. It’s called “The Kate Club” and it’s quite exclusive. You must be a girl, garner an invitation, and you must be willing to “eat” a leaf before you join and every day after that. The club members call it “eating a leaf” but really all you do is put it in your mouth, chew it up, and spit it out. The club meets during recess and focuses on chasing boys and doing what Kate says. The club is named after Kate since she started it and so it only makes sense that she would instruct other members about what they should be doing while the club is in session.
I’m loving this club. I’m thinking about starting my own Tammy club where each day we drink a mommy beer and chase men…and of course, do what I say.
It's All Vegan In Here
Welcome to day five of my and Jamie’s vegan challenge! So far, so good.
I’ve known a lot of vegans and vegetarians over the years and for a long time I’ve had some moral qualms about my eating meat, but never once until just a few weeks ago had I considered giving up all animal products for any length of time. Everything that I love in food life has something to do with an animal product. After reading Eating Animals (an amazing book) about a month ago, the idea to at least give an animal free diet a try was born.
I have no expectations for this challenge other than wanting to complete it. I am curious to see if I lose weight, if I feel “better” either psychologically or physically, if I discover anything new about myself, and what I think and feel like after the month is up. So far the process has been much more transformative than I would have imagined. It seems stepping outside of myself food-wise is uncharted territory and it’s sort of re-framing some part of how I see the world…like maybe food isn’t everything or food can be something, but it doesn’t have to be everything. I’m having trouble articulating the idea and it might be old news to the rest of you, but it’s new news to me and I’m interested to see if the idea develops and resonates into the future.
So far there have been no earth-shatteringly great meals and a lot of trying to figure out what to eat, but I haven’t felt deprived and I haven’t found myself craving anything. As of now, it seems possible to eat this way long-term, but it’s only day 5. I’m enjoying the challenge more and having fewer issues than I thought, but I’m aware that these feelings may change at anytime and tomorrow a chips-n-cheese or cheeseburger dragon might erupt from my being. But for now, all is well on the vegan front.
Best Of The Road - Part 1
On our recent family vacation, we did the most American of things…We hit the road for a week-long road trip. Because of my general fear of flying, this is something my family is very accustomed to doing. For us, it’s not some novel concept of returning to the family vacations of my and Jamie’s youth, it’s just the way we roll (I think I just did a pun; how cool is that? I don’t pun often).
This year we took a slightly different take on the all-American road trip: We traveled the road less taken. I mean that quite literally as most of our route directed us onto small, never heard nor seen before roads. Roads that make you wonder why they exist, as they don’t lead anywhere except to some other nowhere.
It was not grand nor exceptional, but it was peaceful and refreshing. We began our journey at The Natural Gait, just outside of nowhere, somewhere in the middle of Iowa. I don’t remember the name of the town we weren’t in and it’s not really important. No one should go to The Natural Gait, unless maybe they have horses and want to vacation with them. And then, it’s just a maybe. We hung out with some good friends from Iowa City and that made The Natural Gait a much better place to be. Enough said.
From there our mini-van took us to Dubuque, Iowa. Dubuque is not a hot-bed of tourism and I don’t remember how I decided we just had to visit, but visit we did. There are a few cool things in Dubuque, so if you ever find yourself there, hit these places up…
The National Mississippi River Museum - It was a pleasant surprise. The section on steamboats was the unexpected highlight of the visit. We spend a couple of hours, but if we had been without children, we could have easily spent a couple more.
Fenelon Place Elevator (it’s a funicular) - This thing was a trip (Are you noticing this; another pun!). A small, old, rickety car takes you straight up a very steep hill on a small, old, rickety track. Jamie and I both felt elated to avoid death or serious injury while riding. The kids thought it was a blast. The history behind the Elevator was interesting to learn as well.
The Hotel Julien - This is the type of hotel that I am always happy to find. A lovingly restored downtown hotel with all the modern amenities including a pool, spa and lots of character from the past. The rooms were clean, spacious and attractively decorated. We had breakfast at the restaurant two mornings and were impressed with our food. The hotel also had a separate bar that was handsome in decor and hopping with people and good times, but we didn’t have a chance to check it out.
L. May Eatery - Our meal here was the best we had during the trip. Outstanding food was in short supply during our trip, but this place was pretty darn good. It’s a small, upscale restaurant with a charming atmosphere that focuses on the local, sustainable food movement, and both Jamie and I eat that kind of thing up (Is it another pun? I’m flabbergasted.). They didn’t have a kid’s menu, but they were accommodating and welcoming to our little crazies. Jamie’s meal of lobster lasagna was particularly good and we all, kids included, had a charming time.
From Dubuque we hit the road and drove a short distance (about 19 miles, hardly a drive to us city folk) to Galena, IL. I’d never heard of the place until I was looking for accommodations in Dubuque, but it’s a touristy little spot. The town has a quaint, expansive downtown that most women would love to spend a day or two perusing. It screams, “Come, shop, dine!” Turns out I am like most women in this regard and could see spending a weekend enjoying the historic blocks of downtown Galena. The area also had things more manly to attend to, but in our short stay we did not participate in any such offerings. We walked the downtown, had a sub par lunch, and jumped back into the mini-van to head to our next destination.
This is turning into a much longer post than I’d intended. Hopefully, I haven’t bored the ten of you to death. I think I’ll break here and pick up with the rest of the trip in another post. Till next time…
I'm Going Vegan
Don’t get too excited everyone. It’s not happening right this minute and it’s not happening forever, but I’ve decided to try a 30 vegan challenge. Eating vegan seems hard to me on many levels, but I love a good challenge, so why not?
It’s the next step in my trying to eat better for myself, the planet, and the animals raised for food. I’ve decided to take the month of October and give it a try. There are no summer BBQs to worry about, no State Fair, Thanksgiving or Christmas. It seems like a good time to dive in and see what the water is like.
I plan to blog about the experience during October and include recipes that have worked for me and the family. Jamie’s decided to jump on the vegan bandwagon with me so that I won’t be lonely. Even if you have no interest in eating vegan long-term, why not give it a try for a month? Join Jamie and I on the vegan bandwagon! Doing things together usually makes them more fun…
I’m using the remaining two weeks of September to gather recipes and psych myself up. If you have any good vegan recipes, please pass them on. I know I’m going to need all the help I can get!
Larger Than The Hollywood Sign
Okay, they aren’t really larger than the Hollywood Sign, but if Tyler stood on Mazie’s shoulders, they would be taller than me.
Anyway, watch out Hollywood. I’ve got future stars on my hands. Mazie’s gunning for Carrol Burnett’s role in Annie and Tyler is looking to replace David Letterman in a few years. Check out Mr. Emcee and the next Ms. Hannigan and get ready to talk about how you knew them way back when…
Tyler As Emcee from Tammy Thingelstad on Vimeo.
Mazie singing Miss Hannigan Song from Tammy Thingelstad on Vimeo.
Cool Guy Alert
Last Friday Mazie had a random act of kindness performed for her. We were at the Uptown Art Fair and had stopped into a tent to look at some cool rocket paintings that we were all digging. We started chatting with the artist and before you know it he asked Mazie to pick out a small giclee painting from the wall to take home as a gift. He could tell she was an artist by the way she looked at his work and as one artist to another he thought she could use a little artistic inspiration.
Needless to say she spent the rest of the day beaming and looked into her bag several times to check on her work of art.
Thanks again Mr. William CJ; you really made Mazie’s day. I hope you had a great Uptown Art Fair showing and I think a rocket painting may be in our future! :)
Cake Store Is Open
We have a Cake Store in our house. I know, how lucky could I be. And the best part is, so far all of the cakes are free. I was told that The Cake Store proprietor was previously rich and didn’t give any money away and that’s why she likes to give away her cakes. Plus, she still makes money now, so it all works out.
I also made my very first pie, fresh Colorado peach pie. It wasn’t a disaster, so I’m counting it a success. Colorado peaches are delicious and it’s finally peach season, so I felt the need to celebrate.
A Cake Store and Pie; we are one lucky household.