history – Barnwood and Baked Goods

Jackson Coffee Co.

Snow days are great! Am I right!? With the wind blowing and the snow coming down Amber and I headed out for a days of pics, coffee, candy, and maybe a quick well deserved lunch! We laughed, posed, and all in all had a great time!

Our trip started off with a slow drive to Ella Sharp park for a few pics. We were met by an indecisive squirrel who danced in front of my stopped vehicle trying to decided which snow bank looked less menacing. It was pretty entertaining. A few quick pictures and we were off to downtown!

Once there we grabbed a couple more pics and laughs and headed to Jackson Coffe Co. For a wonderful warm up!

Jackson Coffee Co. Opened it’s doors September 2006 and have made quite a claim to fame in the Jackson MI community. Their locations are a reflection of the community with photos, art, music and more all from local artists and other area businesses. The crown jewel is the downtown coffee house location! This beautifully restored location in the downtown business district is beautiful and easy to get to! The perfect stop before any major …or minor downtown event or excursion. Right away when you walk in you’re hit with the fantastic aroma of fresh roasted coffee! The decor has a fun nostalgic feel and the staff was super friendly and informative!

There are two levels to the cafe’ the lower level with a long counter space for a fantastic street view or a roomy upstairs with seating and a small stage where they host live local musicians on Friday nights. They even offer a conference room area for satelite meetings or small group gatherings.

So what makes Jackson Coffee Co. the best? They slow roast small batchs of perfectly selected beans from some of the best growers in the world! It doesn’t get any fresher than that! But it’s not just coffee they also offer tea, smoothies, and snacks!

If you’d like to try it for yourself visit them at their downtown location on the corner of Mechanic st. And Cortland Ave. Or visit their website at http://www.jacksoncoffeeco.com

@Tour_the_town visits Jackson Candy and Fudge Factory next, just in time for Valentine’s Day! Stay tuned, and get out and enjoy your own hometown…or ours!

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!

National Candy Corn Day!

Happy National Candy Corn Day!

Candy Corn was created by the Wunderle Candy Company in the late 1800s. It’s original colors were yellow, orange and white, but it has become popular in other colors as well.

This confection was originally made by hand using corn syrup, sugar, water, marshmallows, fondant and carnauba wax (a wax made from the leaves of a palm tree), but it is now produced using machines however original ingredients are still used in the recipe.

Here are some more fun candy corn inspired treat ideas! Enjoy!

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!

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.

The Rose Parade and Picnic in the Park

Back at it again after a busy weekend! This past Sunday we celebrated the Rose Festival and attended the picnic in the park, this is a local tradition that started 59 years ago! The Rose is our official flower, and the rose festival is a Spring/Summer event that celebrates all of the wonderful things that Jackson has to offer. Jackson MI, is known for its abundant and beautiful parks, lakes and waterways, recreational resources and of course roses.

A little more history for you… For decades, Ella Sharp Park, community and residential gardens have cultivated the rose. In 1931, the rose was chosen as the official flower of Jackson and we became known as “The Rose City”.

In 1958, The Jackson County Rose Festival was inaugurated with The Jackson County Rose Parade, followed by The Jackson County Rose Queen Pageant in 1960. The Parade is a celebration for local organizations to honor and reward individuals and groups. The Parade allows schools, scouting troops, churches, civic organizations and businesses to promote a positive image of themselves and the Jackson area. The Rose Parade is one of the largest in Michigan with over 100 entries each year.Over the years, various Rose Festival events complement the Parade and Pageant including the Picnic in the park event featuring a good old fashioned pie eating contest!

The event has not changed much since it inception, the route changed slightly for a couple of years and reverted back to the original location in honor of the 50th anniversary. However the picnic in park, and pie eating contest have held strong and still take place today!

So why the history lesson, well… our daughter Brianna was in the parade this year as Miss Teen JTV, proudly driven down the parade route with her Mentor Celia Napoletano, by none other that her very proud Dad, and big brother. It was truly an honor for one of our kids to be a part of such a wonderful community event.