fun – Barnwood and Baked Goods

Tour the Town!

During a recent hangout with my BFF Amber, we decided we wanted to inspire something a little different for 2019. We were talking about some of the Instagram pages that really strike us, how the imagery makes us want to do more, and travel more, and eat more, and figure out internet fame! We cracked up over how popular some pages are and for such simple content. This discussion became a rabbit hole of ideas and before we new what was happening we were starting something pretty awesome!

We have decided to take 2019 and discover everything we can about our own hometown, and any other place that we might travel too or stumble upon along the way! And whilst exploring we’ll share these adventures with all of you here, along with pictorial reviews on Instagram! You can follow us @Tour_the_Town

Amber and I met 7 years ago when she and her husband moved back to Michigan from South Carolina. Her husband and I went to high school together, he and my husband grew up playing baseball together, and we had one other rather sad connection…. Her son was a cancer survivor and my late son was at the time a newly diagnosed cancer patient. Not something you expect to bond over but there was an empathy there that I needed, and 7 years later I don’t know what I would do without her!

We live a block away from each other in a small Michigan town that we both grew up in. We have thrown parties, held fundraisers, gone to community and school events, and even vacationed together! Our families often feel like one big family and we love that! So now that we are starting Tour the Town we hope you’ll have fun with us, laugh with us, and get to know us a little better.

Since we are so close to our little district of Vandercook Lake we plan to start there! There are a couple of awesome little restaurants right around the corner from us, and we plan to highlight these locations each week, or as often as our schedules allow! This week we visit Klavon’s pizzeria and pub in Vandercook Lake! This locally owned restaurant and sports bar has quite a story to share and we can’t wait to get to it! More soon, until then enjoy some memories from Amber and I. Thanks for following along!

Labor Day at the Last Minute

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend and although I had to work on Saturday, we still managed to fit in a brief get away. My husband and I love to travel and frequently do quick weekend trips to some of our favorite hangouts. We seem to gravitate toward the water here in Michigan (maybe because there’s water everywhere lol) but this time we decided to try a new… or newer destination. We had both been here before but not in a very long time. I think I was in high school!! We visited none other that Frankenmuth MI.

Frankenmuth is a couple hours north east of us, and seemed like a good fit for a quick stop vacation. We however didn’t take into account that this was after all a holiday weekend in a tourist town. We didn’t make reservations ahead and upon arriving found that all of the hotels were fully booked except the Frankemuth Motel. Now, I’m not usually a fan of Motel’s but this was a surprise, a little dated but clean, spacious, and the staff was very friendly. It was a quick walk from there to the Main st. action.

Once checked in we traveled over to main street to see what was happening there are a tons of little shops and specialty stores. We walked and walked, stopped by the Historical Museum, listened to the Glockenspiel, walked the historic covered bridge, and took in the sites…Did I mention that this place is literally coated in tons and tons and tons of gorgeous flowers!!

They had flowers everywhere lining the streets, hanging from the light poles, across all the building fronts, it was beautiful! In the evening we visited “the Tavern” a local hangout bar, it was OK. traveled from there to Tiffany’s there we had a couple of drinks and appetizers, and shared a dessert. It was a nice quiet laid back evening.

The next day we had lunch at Zehnder’s. They are famous for the chicken dinner served family style with all the delicious sides you can eat. We opted out of an all you can eat menu and order individual meals.

Now I usually order a pretty healthy entree’ I’m not overly picky but I don’t like a lot of heavy food especially early in the day. So I thought I’ll play it safe and order a hot chicken sandwich… This was not an ordinary chicken sandwich…

What I thought I was getting… Chicken on sandwich bread or bun with lettuce, tomato, etc… something like this…

What I actually got was a monotone plate covered in gravy! It was like drowning in gravy lol. Everything gravy…gravy…gravy…gravy…

Although not what I was expecting I ate it and it was delicious and I was super sleepy the rest of the day lol.

We let our food settle after that on the Bavarian Belle Riverboat tour, this is a nice relaxing tour of the river and the surrounding hotels and establishments there is an entertaining tour guide telling you about the boat, the covered bridge, and many of the area attractions that can be viewed from the river.

We ended our quick visit to Frankenmuth with a trip to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, a huge holiday store with everything you could possibly think of that is holiday related. I remember it as a kid and it’s still that awesome.

So all in all a nice trip away and something a little different that our usual get away. If you’ve never visited Frankenmuth I highly recommend a visit. It has a lot of beautiful sites, shopping, attractions, and a little old world German/ Bavarian flare. Thanks for reading!

Fantastic Fall Cookies for the WIN!

So after polling my various social media outlets, email subscribers, and getting some feedback right here on WordPress.com, it looks like this fall I will be hosting a blog series on Fabulous Fall Cookies!

I’ve already started to compile a list of favorites, and can’t wait to get in the kitchen and get things started! I will include a couple of sugar free options as well, so stay tuned! I promise there will be a little something for every taste… Happy Fall Baking Y’all!

Fall Blog Series

Morning Everyone! I need some help deciding on a Fall Blog series! I have been tossing around a few ideas but I would like your feedback please! I am trying to choose between a few themes they are…. drum-roll please…. Fall cookie series, Homemade Holiday, or Cozy Breakfasts

The fall cookie series would be just what it sounds like. A baking series with several different cookies that are great for fall entertaining and maybe just a yummy treat around the house.

The Homemade Holiday series would be a grouping of side dishes made from scratch that you could incorporate into your holiday menu. Things like Perfect Parker House rolls, Candied yams from scratch (no canned yams people!), Pies, green bean casserole with homemade cream of mushroom soup. I think you get the picture here….

And finally one of my faves the cozy breakfast series. I could eat breakfast all the time. This series would focus on warm wonderful breakfast foods for a quick morning, or a big family breakfast feast!

So those are the options! Let me know what your thoughts are. I can’t wait to see what we’ll be cooking up this fall!

Cheers to 20 Years!

Today my husband Andy and I celebrate 20 years of marriage. It’s quite a milestone, and I’m both glad and sometimes a little surprised we made it this far lol. One thing they don’t tell you when your young and in love is that marriage is HARD! You have to be willing to work at it, and understand that not every moment of your life is a family picture… Christmas card…pumpkin spiced latte…perfect date kind of day with your spouse.

In twenty years we’ve lived together in three different homes, our first was a tiny two bedroom bungalow with dated blue carpet… but it was perfect for us then. We’ve lived through the births of three beautiful babies, and survived the devastating loss of our Logan. We’ve collectively held 8 different jobs, and now live in the challenge of working together. We’ve made countless friends, enjoyed hours of fun together, and have done a bit of travelling.

In twenty years we have learned how to both communicate effectively, and shut each other out… not a proud moment usually. We’ve laughed, cried, screamed, sulked, joked, surprised, and most of the time loved each other. On less of a becoming note I will say though that we have also hurt each others feelings, forgotten to be the most responsible people we know, called each other terrible names, and yes even contemplated a divorce. What you come to realize after 20 years though is that all of it is normal, and sometimes expected and although not always fun, it’s part of life.

I’ve enjoyed the last 20 years. There are things I would have done differently but I would never change the person that I have spent those 20 years with. So, Cheers to 20 years Andrew Richard Bailey. I love you.

Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum, Las Vegas- Review

On our frequent trips to Las Vegas, we often look for new interesting attractions to visit. There is certainly no shortage of things to do in this city!

On our trip last August we noticed advertising for a new haunted Museum going in. We thought it looked interesting so we looked it up to find it was opening in the Fall so we kept it top of mind as an option for a quick visit on our next trip. Well here we are back in January and the museum is up and running!

Zak Bagan’s is well known for his television show Ghost Adventures, and while investigating a number of haunted locations he has collected items, and purchased items that are believed to be haunted, are tied to macabre events, or have a unique history about them.

Some of these items include…Bella Lugosi’s mirror, paintings of the crying boys, Dr Kevorkian’s death van, haunted and possessed dolls, and many many more!

This is a little off the beaten path but not difficult to get to. So venture off course a moment and visit. You’ll find a well versed staff of people to guide you through the 30 room mansion that is completely stuffed with items to look at!

Some rooms have specific themes, for example the puppet room, the celebrity collection, the funeral parlor, the doctor’s office, the library, and more! There are surprises everywhere you turn.

Before admittance they ask that you sign a waiver and swear an oath as items in the museum are said to be haunted by demons and ghosts that could attach themselves to you! And while interesting I never felt threatened by anything in the museum.

If items have a particularly devastating history then you are given opportunities not to view them. For example the Dibbuk Box in a room by itself it’s said to contain a demonic entity kept safely under glass surrounded by salt and sage it was a unique piece during the visit. Zak featured this item in one of his shows as well.

All in all this is a very interesting attraction. You don’t have to be a believer to enjoy this collection, there is certainly no lack of imagination in it’s set up, and display. Plan for about an hour to get through the guided tour. At $44/ticket it’s actually well priced and very entertaining. I feel like I could go again and see things I missed the first time, because there is seriously so much stuff in this museum. I hope you find this helpful, Travel safe and have fun!

Halloween planning!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite calendar days. I raised my kids with the idea that Halloween was something really special. We would dress up, decorate the house inside and out. When they were little we travelled to see family and friends all dressed up and as they got older we began to host get togethers at the house where we could all have a little festive fun. Well, as the years have gone on our Halloween party has gotten a little bigger each year… Last year was the biggest yet and here’s the fun part there is usually a fun theme to play around with!

We’ve done Alice in Wonderland, my BFF and I went as Big Alice and Little Alice lol.

And last year’s party was Great Gatsby style with lots of bling!

This year we took to social media and let the people vote! So we are now planning a Steampunk Carnival/Circus themed Halloween Extravaganza! I am transforming the barn into a dark circus tent with lots of hidden surprises! The decorations have started to roll in and we begin the process of transforming the barn this weekend! Guests are asked to bring their own drinks and a passing dish (this is an adult atmosphere so no little ones this time). We’ll have some fun games, and the DJ is confirmed! As always all are welcome!

See you at our dark funky fun carnival friends, festivities take place October 21st!