Lansing Michigan – Part 5
We continued on our visit of the zoo. Since it was in a park, there was plenty of green space which was cool to see.
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Category: photograph
Lansing, Michigan – Part 5 – Strange Matter Coffee and Potter Park Zoo
Lansing Michigan – Part 4
During the middle of the night, it rained. Stormed actually. We were fortunate we didn’t chose to go to Grand Rapids because the storms were much worse. (Hubby wanted to go to the zoo in Grand Rapids because it was bigger.)
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Lansing, Michigan – Part 4 – Dinner and Michigan State University
Lansing Michigan – Part 3
After we were finished with the Riverwalk and downtown, we checked into the hotel and took a nap.
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My Valentine’s Days
Yes, I said days. I had an unexpected day off on Valentine’s Day so Hubby and I went out. Then I took the boys out on Friday which is a rare occurrence now that they are older.
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Lansing , Michigan – Part 2 – R.E. Oldsmobile Museum
After we were finished walking around the Capitol Building’s grounds, we went to the R.E. Oldsmobile Museum. The Oldsmobile automobile was started in Lansing which I thought was neat.
Did you know the band R.E.O. Speedwagon was named after the Oldsmobile company? I can’t remember the exact story of why they chose the name. However, that tidbit of information was interesting to me.
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If I Could Go Any Where for the Holidays
If I had all of the money in the world, I would love to go down to Walt Disney World for Christmas.
I would not want to visit on Christmas Day because it would be way too busy but I would love to visit at some point in December.
Why would I want to go to Disney during the busy holiday season?
Two years ago, I got to see the decorations at some of the different resorts throughout Walt Disney World. I loved seeing them. I also got to see some of the holiday decorations outside of each of the parks. (We didn’t go into any of the parks.) I would love to see the decorations inside each of the park. And photograph them.
Also I haven’t been to any of the Christmas parties in Disney. When we were there 2 years ago, I hoped they would have one but there was none scheduled. Bummer!
The last time I celebrated Christmas was during my College Program in 1995. I worked on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and maybe even New Year’s Day. I had a visitor during Christmas week and even though we spent time in the park we could not get to Magic Kingdom because it was so busy. The line for the monorail was all of the way to the entrance. It would have taken an hour or so to even get on the monorail.
Those are some of the reasons I would love to spend time down in Disney. The other reason is because honestly December is a hard month for me. In the last fifteen years, I’ve lost close family members during December – my grandpa in 2003, my grandma in 2008, my father-in-law in 2013, and my father-in-law’s aunt in 2014. (My grandma’s death was on Christmas Eve.)
WDW is my happy place. I’m like a child in a candy store while I’m there. I put aside all of my worries while I am down there. In fact, one of the reason I was down there in 2016 was because it was almost 3 months after my sister’s death. We had planned for a trip to Universal Studios prior to her death. A month after her death, I was seeing if there was a restaurant reservation available on Thanksgiving. I luckily found one and a hotel stay for two nights on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. While we were down there, she visited me on Thanksgiving. (Butterfly)
I would love to just go down there and forget my worries.
Christmas decorations 
Christmas deorations 
Christmas tree 
Christmas decorations 
Christmas decorations 
The Animal Kingdom Christmas tree 
Last year, I shared our local holiday display of Clifton Mill. They were featured on a national tv show and granted money towards continuing the 30 years of light displays.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Columbus Zoo – October 20, 2018 – Part 3
Part 2
Sorry I’ve been missing. There is nothing like an elementary teacher tired in December. I’ve been exhausted.
Anyway after we left the Congo area, we went over to Australia and the Islands. The gibbons were active and outside when we got there. We especially enjoyed watching the baby gibbon. He would climb up so far and then fall down. He kept trying and trying to get the top. So cute!
Next up was going to see the komodo dragon. Hubby refused to smell the komodo dragon’s breath. If the boys were there, they would have done it.
The pelican is new to the Islands area of the zoo.
The Asian otters were in rare form. They were running around the exhibit and playing around which was awesome to see. We don’t usually get to see them be as active as they were.
More of the gibbons.
Most of the kangaroos were hiding in their behind the scenes area. One kept looking out to the exhibit area and then opted not to come out. It was in the 50’s so it could have been too cold for them.
Join me next time for the aquarium and manatee bay.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Berne Clock Tower – Berne, Indiana
Forty-five minutes south of Fort Wayne is a little Amish town called Berne. The founders immigrated from Switzerland by way of Ohio. A lot of the architecture reminds me of what I think of when I’ve seen Swiss architecture. I felt as though I was in another world when I was walking through the town.
It’s also an Amish town. I had to remind Hubby to watch out for the Amish buggies. I didn’t want to be on the news because we hit a buggy.
The reason for our visit was the clock tower. The clock tower is designed after the Zytglogge in Bern, Switzerland. Every noon, 3, 6, and 9, there is a glockenspiel when the clock comes alive. There are 13 different symbolic representations during the 5ish minutes. I took a video but since it was raining I was far away so you really can’t see the individual characters. 😦
These were taken Friday at almost 7 p.m. You can see it was raining. Plus it was cold! Hubby wanted to come back for the 9 o’clock glockenspiel. I’m was like no way!
The next day we went to the Swiss Heritage Center. They allowed us to pause the tour until we saw the glockenspiel. Then we went back and continued the tour.
These are photos I took during the glockenspiel. I was underneath a shelter so they are not close up shots. You could certainly click on a photo and enlarge it if you want to see the actual characters.
Some of the views from the plaza. That is an Amish horse. The buggy is behind the bush.
I hope you enjoyed visiting the clock tower. I don’t know if next time if I’m going to share random photos of the town or the Swiss Heritage Center. Maybe I’ll share the Amish furniture in the hotel we stayed at. Who knows.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Johnny Appleseed’s Grave Site – Fort Wayne, Indiana
When researching ideas of what to do in Fort Wayne, I discovered John Chapman; aka Johnny Appleseed had lived there. We decided to try to find the grave site.
Close to the grave site is the Johnny Appleseed Campgrounds. That is where we ended up at first. We weren’t far from the actual grave site.
It was still raining when we were at the grave site so I got some photos. Honestly, there is not much around there except if you go into the area where the campground is located. There is a river which would have been pretty to photograph if it was not raining.
There was two other graves located there. I also took photos of those graves.
After we got done at the grave, we went to get supper. We were going to drive to a pizza joint that was 20 minutes away. However while stopped in traffic at a light, I saw a Blaze Pizza restaurant. Hubby quickly turned into the parking lot.
Boy were we glad that we changed our minds about where we were going to eat. The food was delicious. We both were able to get our own customized pizzas. His was a meat lover pizza while mine was a veggie pizza.
They had an awesome deal where you got half of a pizza with either a salad or garlic knots. I got the deal with the salad while Hubby got the garlic knots. The half of a pizza was perfect since were traveling.
Afterwards we traveled to Amish country – Bern, Indiana. It is also a city based on the culture of the Swiss. Join me next time for more of our adventure. I can’t wait until you meet Char. She took us around the Swiss Heritage Center in Bern. Such a great storyteller which is a lost art.
Have a magical day,
Traci
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Fort Wayne Museum of Art – Fort Wayne, Indiana
Part 4 of our visit to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo
After we were done with the zoo, we went to the Museum of Art. It was between lightly raining and raining harder so we could not really explore the downtown area.
We enjoyed the Museum. Since it was the Friday before Halloween, they had a Day of the Dead exhibit. I took a few photos of the area.
They had a book for visitor’s to sign and leave messages for their loved ones who have died. I left a message for Tanya. You can see it on one of the photos.
These were taken in the hallways. They had a glass ware display and an older toy display. I thought the bourbon keg and the Fisher Price circus toys were pretty interesting.
They also had a guitar exhibit. Hubby decided to pretend he was playing an air guitar.
In the hallways
In the sculpture garden
The friendship garden outside the museum.
Join me next time for when we visited Johnny Appleseed, aka John Chapman’s grave site. He lived and died in Fort Wayne.
Have a magical day,
Traci
