Anyway, back to the weekend! My Saturday started out early (well 8am is early for Saturday) in order to avoid chaos of the final celebration day of The Feast. I snuck out with my iced mocha and chocolate croissant from Presti's just before all the booths opened up and road closures began. I was heading east for the day starting with a trip to the Holden Arboretum and then going from there.
I spent my whole morning at the arboretum, it was lovely. It's about 3700 acres total with about 800 acres of gardens. At first, I strolled around on my own and checked out the gardens and spent some time in the woodland areas. I also decided to sign up for one of the registered tours, that way I could get a better overview without getting too lost! What a small world it is, my tour guide, Steve, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Chemistry. I was the only one on the tour, so it was nice to just have a chat while viewing some of the highlights of Holden. My favorite garden was definitely the butterfly garden. I felt it was the best looking garden there, but then again that is likely a result of the sporadic weather and early blooms of nearly everything else.
Holden Arboretum is beautiful and they have an impressive plant collection, however, I have to say they didn't quite live up to my high expectations comparatively set by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Perhaps I am partial and have to much U of M pride, but I cannot wait for a cool, sunny afternoon to come so I can spend it taking in the fall colors at the UMN Arboretum! I haven't been in awhile, but this is one of my favorite photos of me and dad last fall. I am looking forward to another day like this soon!
After a few hours at the arboretum, I checked out a map of the surrounding area and it turns out I was very close to the Ohio wine country again. I decided to take in a few of the wineries recommended by some of my coworkers. I stopped at Grand River Cellars first for a light lunch and a couple of tastings. It was a beautiful area and I am thinking of adding it to the itinerary for next weekend, too. Next weekend, my parents will be back out to visit and help move me back to Minnesota. I am really looking forward to showing them some of my favorite places from this summer! Anyway, Grand River Cellars had a delicious ice wine which I enjoyed for dessert. I also liked the Muddy Paws Semillon, not only for its delicious taste but also for its charitable causes. Part of the proceeds from each bottle go towards local animal rescue.
Next stop, The Winery at Spring Hill. My favorite here was the Blackberry wine, I enjoyed their selection of different fruit wines to add some variety to a normal tasting. I continued on my path towards the lake after the wine. I was in the Geneva area, which was really fun to see. I just did some wandering with no goal in particular. I was mostly scouting out some places for mom and dad to check out, but also enjoying an afternoon cruise. By five, I was exhausted from my long day so it was back home for me to take a little nap. The rest of the evening was spent taking in the last of the Feast festivities and beginning to get my life in order with a little packing. The fireworks show was spectacular, I was already home when it started so I just watched out of my kitchen window.
So far today has been dedicated to packing, laundry, and beginning to empty my cupboards. I made a couple of dishes for this week using some of the vegetables picked by Mark and me last week. I enjoyed being able to use veggies from CBG, just another great perk of my awesome job!
The countdown has reached one week. Seven days remain for me to squeeze the last few ounces out of my summer in Cleveland. I am looking forward to it, and to my parents arriving. I have a great weekend planned for us, including The Ashtabula County Wine & Walleye Festival, now how fun does that sound?! I am excited, hopefully they will be too!
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