Wooo Weeeee, a gal's weekend! Yippeee!
Grace, Jean and I decided to head out to Fort Wayne over Labor Day weekend. On the way, Jean introduced me to my first ever podcast. Yeah, I stay current! (eyes roll)
Podcasting, previously known as audio-blogging, has been in existence for several years now. I'm sure ya'all already knew that. I enjoyed it.
I was told by a fellow blogger, that I had to try a Coney Island, coney dog. Us gals headed right for it, right off the bat. We were not disappointed! These coney dogs are superb! We each ordered one, and we were all thinking-- chili cheese dog-- our waiter said, "Our coney dogs don't need any cheese!" and he was right! They taste perfect just the way they make em: savory, with a hint of sweet from the onion, and doused in a tangy sauce. Let me tell ya, I don't generally even like hot dogs, but this was the bomb; no ketchup needed!
After we all had a coney dog, we saved some room in the ole bellies for a Yummi Bunni. (Pictured Above)
Located right down the street from Coney Island, Yummi Bunni is the newest fad to hit Fort Wayne. It's a ice cream sandwich, with a topping in a dough-nut crust. Us gals decided to share one, since they are rather large and very sweet.
The flavor we chose was French Toast, and the topping was chocolate chips. All the flavors were unusual, such as, exhausted parent, which has bites of coffee chips in a whisky flavored ice cream. We sampled a lot of flavors! It was a fun experience and they were probably glad to see us Goofy Goobers leave!
Our next destination, was the Castle Art Gallery, located only a few blocks away from where we ate lunch. As we passed houses in the downtown district, we kept thinking-- there's the castle!-- cause so many of the houses in that area were of the same type of castle-like construction!
We arrived not knowing what to expect. I had in mind something close to the Fisher-Price toy castle that I had as a kid, which was equipped with a draw bridge over a moat, trap door, dungeon, and a hidden secret room.
While the Castle Art Gallery was impressive, it was no where near what I thought it would be like. To my surprise, Sylvester's long lost cousin greeted us in the parlor! Meow!
Inside was shockingly modern, both in the décor, and choice of featured works of art.
Anyone know what body of water I can hook a fire bass?
The Castle Gallery also serves as the home of it's curators.
I found it to be an interesting experience.
Next we decided to check into our hotel. We had booked a room at Don Hall's Guesthouse.
Shortly after checking in, we switched rooms due to a leak in the ceiling. The new room was not only much less expensive, (do to a lack of movie star photos perhaps), it was also closer to the pool! Yay!
After relaxing in the pool most of the afternoon, we headed out for supper. Jean had been to Fort Wayne many times and she was eager for us to try delicious, fire cooked, pizza at Blaze; it was awesome!
Next up, we ventured out for some fun at Lakeview Rose Park.
The fishing was fun and easy. We all caught fish!
Grace was really into fishing that evening! So much so, that she stayed back to let more fish ride the hook, while Jean and I took another spin throughout the flower gardens.
Jean and I had to stop several times to take in all the beauty!
Flowers, flowers, everywhere! I do believe Lakeview Rose Park was my favorite part of the trip!
The next morning, we set out to check out the local chocolate factory, DeBrand Chocolates.
The tour of the chocolate factory had enlightened me to the fact that some foods covered in chocolate, dare I say-- I do not like! DeBrand is world renowned for it's unique flavor combinations. One such combo I got to try, and found out it wasn't for me, was a jasmine tea infused truffle. However, the chocolate covered, hazelnut paste, hearts were the best ever!
After the chocolate factory, we headed out to try a rather unusual place for lunch. I didn't take any photos, but what reeled us in was the urging from Jean for us to give bubble tea a try. As I walked inside, I couldn't take the array fishy cooking odors. I quickly stepped outside. Turned out, it was a place specializing in Japanese cooking. The bubble tea that Jean brought me was interesting and very sweet. It didn't seem to contain any actual tea as the name implies though. It was very much like a Kool Aid with little trout spawn sized eggs. The bubbles, aka fish eggs, was something I couldn't get passed. I was a trouper and did take a sip, but any drink containing balls resembling fishing bait isn't my cup of tea.
We were in search of a less fishy place to eat lunch and ended up at a Mexican hole in the wall place.
At first we were reluctant to go inside because the place was very run down, however, the reviews were outrageously positive, so we took a chance. Taqueria, I believe is the name of the place where we ate lunch. Luckily, I speak fluent Spanish, and even better Spanish when Tequila is involved. ;-)
Although the aviance was poor, (unless you enjoy flickering florescent lights in a very 1980's dining room), the food was delicious. The best thing I tasted there was Jean's pulled pork tacos. I do believe they were better than the steak tacos I ordered.
After lunch, we went to the Karpeles Museum. It's located inside a very grand building:
The Karpeles Museum was the worst museum I have ever been to! The grand building was over 90% empty. The artifacts, and I use that term loosely, on display were few in number and ridiculously non-authentic. The five minutes it took us to view the few items, left us with the rest of the afternoon to seek adventure, so we toured the botanical gardens.
The botanical garden self-guided tour was very relaxing and peaceful. For a Saturday afternoon, the place was virtually empty. I was fond of the wide variety of flora.
Everyday we enjoyed plenty of sunshine as we went biking, fishing, and swimming! We also enjoyed several good card games!
The next day, we shared a lunch at Shigs In Pit Barbeque; it was good!
Afterward, we explored the fishing at another park we passed when exploring.
The park looks pretty from the road, sadly, a closer look revealed water full of garbage. We didn't stay long. Besides, I had my heart set on fishing the rivers.
We fished several sections of the rivers in Fort Wayne. We didn't catch anything to brag about, but had fun anyways. Biking along the Rivergreenway Trail was much easier than I had anticipated. Thank Goodness. For good measure, we stretched frequently and relaxed in the hotel hot tub.
Salvatori's Italian restaurant was our favorite place for supper! I didn't take any pics, yet I got my camera pulled up on my phone when we ordered the berry tiramisu for dessert. Before I could function my button tapping finger, the dessert plate was empty! Not Joking Here! Anyways, I had the lasagna for supper and it was fabulous. I want to get me a calzone from there sometime.
The town of Fort Wayne hosted a HUGE Labor Day picnic!
We were curious and stopped by the picnic right before hitting the road back home. I was shocked by the generosity of the town of Fort Wayne! All the food and drinks were free! All the BEER was FREE! The food was really good too. I tried spring rolls, fried veggies and some nachos with cheese. They had a great spread of food and lots of variety including hot dogs, tacos, fried fish, fried veggies and much more!
All in all, we had a fantastic weekend, full of great food and fun experiences!
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