by Pam | Sep 12, 2019 | Disney, Everyday Adventures, restaurant, travel
On a recent visit to the 2019 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, I had a lot of fun scouting out the best vegetarian dishes. Thanks to our annual passes and super cheap flights on Southwest, it’s totally affordable to visit for just a short weekend. My daughter is technically a pescatarian, so I did eat quite a bit of seafood, but I also checked out many of the vegetarian options. Luckily for me, there were more great choices than I could indulge in! One of the things I love about the Food & Wine Festival is how easy Disney makes it to find dishes that fit your eating style. The booklet has little symbols next to every dish that is Gluten Free or Vegetarian. There are THIRTY options at the festival this year with the vegetarian symbol! You’ll also find a little symbol for “kid-friendly” dishes. It’s such a fun way to try lots of different things, and definitely a highlight of the year for foodies! I grabbed my booklet and started my adventure. This year, instead of starting in Mexico or Canada, I noticed there were a number of booths that appeared before the World Showcase. The first one I tried was at Earth Eats. Both of the dishes are vegetarian, although the Impossible Cottage pie contains Almond milk in the topping, so it was off our list (I have a severe tree nut allergy which makes this all a bit more challenging). It was a super humid day so I passed on the Impossible slider and opted for a flight of Kombucha. This was an excellent...
by Pam | Sep 4, 2019 | Everyday Adventures, Indiana, Relationships, Relaxation, restaurant, travel
It’s time for another Explore Indiana adventure. This time, I grabbed my son (he’s a great travel partner) and we took off for Hartford City. Hartford City is the largest city in Blackford County. I have to admit, this adventure made me a little nervous as I couldn’t find much on the area online. Would this be my first “fail” in proving there is something to do wherever you are? As we made our way to Blackford, we drove by numerous cornfields and farmhouses. It was an absolutely beautiful day – low 80’s, blue skies and no humidity. I couldn’t ask for better exploring weather. As we tend to do, our first stop was downtown. The courthouse in Hartford City was beautiful in a very different way than most of the ones I’ve recently seen. This one was built in 1893 – 1895. It’s called a Richardsonian Romanesque style. To get a feel for the size, the clock tower is 165 feet – so it definitely towered over the rest of downtown. Sadly, this downtown area was pretty deserted. There weren’t really any shops and only one local restaurant that we could see. Many boarded-up buildings. It’s really too bad as the architecture of the buildings was beautiful – I imagine it was a lovely downtown square at one time. Just a block from the square is a very interesting building that houses the Old Blackford County Jail and a speakeasy. Unfortunately, it was closed the day we visited. Supposedly it’s haunted! If I’m passing back through I’ll make a point to stop if it’s open as it looked...
by Pam | Aug 30, 2019 | book reviews, Everyday Adventures
It feels like forever since I’ve done a book reviews post and as I’ve read some terrific books lately, I felt compelled to share my favorites! Instead of my usual long list of holds at the library, I’m trying to get through some of the stacks of books I’ve had TBR at home. So, some of these titles are a bit older. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth reading – AND it means most will cost less or be easier to obtain at your library – seems like a good deal to me. Non-Fiction Book Reviews FutureBoards: Learn How to Create a Vision Board to Get Exactly the Life You Want #FutureBoards was sent to me as a review copy and I have to say I loved it! Most entrepreneurs have done or at least heard of vision boards before, but this book took it to the next level. I enjoyed the friendly tone as well as practical advice. I especially liked the step-by-step action items at the end of each chapter. Definitely, a fun way to dream and plan a little. My rating 4 out of 5. The BUILD Framework: A Heart-Based System for Personal and Professional Growth This was another book sent to me as a review and I thought it was quite helpful. It is a very quick read, but there is so much wisdom in it, that I’d recommend reading it twice! Most of the ideas and suggestions are common sense, but the “heart-based” philosophy made me feel a lot more excited about them. This is definitely worth adding to your business help books. My rating...
by Pam | Aug 27, 2019 | Everyday Adventures, travel
Seeing as how it’s right next door to Indiana, Ohio is a state we visit often. This great article by Dylan Thomson shares four fun adventures to be found – I’m adding all of them to my future travels! Read on and I’m sure you’ll want to add them to yours! Are there fun things to do in Ohio? You bet! Ohio sometimes gets a bad reputation among non-natives for being comprised of little more than cornfields and fans of mediocre sports teams. There is much more to the Buckeye State, however, and it can be a great place for a road trip if you’re looking to experience another part of the Midwest. Below are a few of our recommendations for the most exciting things to do in Ohio! Photo from Wikimedia That’s right, Ohio is home to its very own National Park! Although it’s not Yellowstone or Zion, Cuyahoga Valley is still a true gem of the Midwest, justifiably preserved among the country’s greatest natural wonders. Filled with waterfalls and trails accessible to anyone, this is a great place for any kind of traveler. You can take a historic train ride through the park, or commit to a day hiking through the forests. You can also kayak or canoe if you’d prefer to travel by water. Photo from Wikimedia Cedar Point is one of the bigger tourists draws in Ohio, given its wide variety of extreme roller coasters. One of its most famous attractions is the Top Thrill Dragster, on which passengers are accelerated from a standstill to 120 miles per hour in just 3.8 seconds. Another popular...
by Pam | Aug 21, 2019 | Everyday Adventures, Food, Indiana, travel
Boone county is full of adventures. It was my most recent “explore Indiana” adventure. Most people (including me) automatically think of Zionsville when they hear Boone county. I’m sure I’ll get back to Zionsville soon as it’s a wonderful town and a really fun place to visit, but for this trip, I wanted to see what else Boone county had to offer. Aside from Zionsville, Lebanon is the largest city in Boone County. With a population of around 16,000, it’s a large enough city to have a traditional downtown square with a gorgeous courthouse. On a beautiful sunny day, the best place to spend at least part of your visit is at Memorial Park. This well-maintained park is home to a cool little waterpark called Seashore Waterpark. Not only are there several slides, but it houses one of my all-time favorite waterpark attractions – a wave pool. So.much.fun! Outside the pool area, you’ll find playgrounds, shelters and a lovingly restored cabin called Herr Cabin. Herr Cabin was built in 1839 and was given to the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1937 as a memorial to Abigail Herr. After a fun few hours in the sun, a food break is in order and although the downtown doesn’t have a lot in the way of shopping, there are several delicious dining choices. I suspect that based upon the amount of construction I saw going on that the downtown is in the midst of a revival – I hope so as I love shopping and dining in quaint downtowns! I enjoyed a yummy lunch at Greek’s pizza. Greek’s is an Indiana...
