Plains Art Museum

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Art Museum, Museum

We spent a couple of hours at the above captioned art museum. The museum is small but has an interesting collection. Maria and I particularly enjoyed the current exhibition on the emergence of the Lakota Nation. The Lakota are now more commonly known as Sioux. The irony here is devasting. All of the works in this exhibition are painted by members of the Sioux tribe and very beautiful. The Lakota have been one of the most victimized indian nations in America’s history. The land agreements made with the federal government were violated multiple times with the government confiscating additional large tracts of their land.

Below is a sample of some of the works we viewed. Many of the works depict specific moments in the history of the Lakota. 0024

Funky, Friendly Fargo

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Art Museum, Cities, Coffee, Museum, Shopping, Yoga

We enjoyed a relaxing stay in Fargo after leaving the deep forests of central Minnesota. An old fashioned downtown with plenty of vitality especially on “Broadway” the main street through downtown. Plenty of excellent coffee and tea to keep us fueled while poking around the shops and museums.  We were also able to align our stay with several classes at Downtown Yoga and get in some much needed studio practice.

P.S. While very tempting we successfully resisted the the urge to have our picture taken beside the infamous “woodchipper” used in the movie “Fargo”.

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Young Blood Coffee Roasters

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“HoDo”

Duluth, MN

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Biking, Coffee

Finishing our time in the Great Lakes region with a couple day stay in Duluth. Perhaps because we are easteners we never comprehended the magnitude of the maritime traditions and sheer volume of commerce that has been enabled by these massive inland seas. Below you will see photos of one of the hundreds of “Lakers” that ply the Great Lakes carrying iron ore, copper, coal and grain. Some of the Lakers are as long as 1000 feet. We also were surprised to find that there is some pretty good surfing on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

While in Duluth we enjoyed several great meals and some very scenic biking along the Lake Superior shore line. Heading west through Minnesota for some camping and hiking in the Chippewa NF and then on to North Dakota.

The “Beast” continues to garner a lot of attention everywhere we go. We have the talk track and tour down pretty well at this point.

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Duluth Aerial Bridge
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Joseph L. Block 730 foot Self Discharging Bulk Carrier entering Duluth harbor

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U.P. Michigan

by Maria+Stephen, posted in 4WD Drive, Camping, Coffee, Hiking, Museum, Scenic Drive

From Traverse City we traveled north on M31 and over the Mackinac Bridge onto the Upper Peninsula. Several coffe recommendations from Erik at Planetary Coffee paid off handsomely. Dripworks in Petoskey and Veladrome in Marquette featured below were outstanding! We also stopped in at Superior Coffee Roasters in Sault Ste. Marie while in town to watch lake freighters move through the locks.

We have been able to take full advantage of the Hiawatha NF camping along small lakes each night.

Additional highlights on the UP included visiting the Whitefish Point Light on Lake Suprior, a 4WD drive out to the beach at Vermillion Point and hiking to the falls at Tahqueamenon Falls. 

Western Michigan

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Bike Trails, Biking, Boondocking, Camping, Coffee, Hiking, Kayaking, Scenic Drive

Arriving in Traverse City marks our completion of the 117 mile long M22 which follows the Lake Michigan shoreline of the Leelanau Peninsula. The M22 is a beautiful scenic drive offering great vistas of Lake Michigan and the Grand Traverse Bay. 0014,0015 

Traverse City Coffee Scene: Higher Grounds + Planetary Coffee. We have been disappointed with a number of the coffee roasters/shops in Western Michigan. Arriving in TC has brought us a couple of notables with Higher Ground Coffee Roasters and Planetary Coffee (serves Half Wit beans). Erik Harms owner and barista (pictured below) at Planetary is a long time roaster having previously roasted at Higher Grounds and the well regarded Dogwood Coffee in Minneapolis. Erik has provided us with several recommendations for the UP which we are excited to try over the next week. 0015,0016

Biking the Leelanau Rail Trail TC-Sutton Bay-TC.  0015

Hiking the dunes at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Camping at Leelanau SP. 0014

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Kayaking on the Pere Marquette near Lake Michigan. 0013

Biking on the Pere Marquette State Trail. 0012

Pere Marquette State Trail

 

 

Detroit: Museums + Coffee Part 2 + Baseball

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Art Museum, Baseball, Coffee, Museum

We enjoyed our stay in Detroit. There is a lot to do and see in the Motor City. The local government and corporations are clearly working hard to revive the city but without a doubt the big “D” remains a gritty place with a long way to go.

Final day in Detroit; more museums + coffee; Maria and I spent the morning at the former Ford plant known as the Piquette Avenue Plant. This location was the very first plant Henry Ford operated as Ford. His previous two attempts to manufacture automobiles failed in quick succession.

Great Lake Coffee Roasting was our final coffee stop.

We are spending several days in Detroit before traveling north to the U.P. On Monday night we watched the home town Tigers make a nice comeback to defeat the White Sox 9-5. On Tuesday we ventured back into Midtown Detroit to spend the afternoon at the Detroit Institute of Art after sampling some very good coffees at New Order Coffee Roasters. The DIA has six Van Goghs of which five are currently on display as you can see below. Van Gogh produced 900 paintings so we have apx. 680 paintings remaining yet to be seen in person. The featured photo above is from a massive set of murals painted by Diego Rivera focusing on the massive industrialization manifested by the auto industry. The murals were produced after Rivera made hundreds of sketches inside one of Ford’s largest manufacturing plants.  They are considered both highly accurate in regard to the assembly line, yet they also symbolize the impact industry has on humanity and our environment.

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The Diggers by Vincent Van Gogh

Toledo Ohio: Museums + Coffee

by Maria+Stephen, posted in Art Museum, Coffee, Museum

Started the day with a coffee with Maddie & Bella Coffee Roasters followed by a visit to the National Museum of the Great Lakes and a tour of the Great Lakes freighter Col. James Schoonmaker.  This freighter was commissioned in 1911 and was the largest Great Lakes freighter at that time. The freighter worked the Great Lakes until 1980 carrying grain, coal and ore. 0006

Museums and Coffee today in Toledo. Maria and I spent a relaxing afternoon at the renowned Toledo Museum of Art. Several excellents exhibits and two paintings on display by my favorite – Vincent Van Gogh. We finished the afternoon at Black Kite Coffee & Pies. Black Kite serves the excellent roasts of local roaster Flying Rhino. 0005