7-27-2019 Day at the Lake

Friends, Craig and Elaina, had a party at their house on Cordry Lake in beautiful Brown County. We were happy to be able
to make it and enjoy the nice day.

They are located at the end of a nice cove for swimming.

After most people had left the rest of us got a pontoon boat tour of the lake.

It was a lovely day and evening, and a few of us stayed the night there.

7-25 to 7-26-2019 Short Trip to Northern Indiana

We went to northern Indiana Amish Country to work with a client up there. After work on Thursday evening we drove over
to South Bend to walk around downtown. First we walked along the riverwalk by the East Race Waterway, a man-made
channel that was used by mills back in the 1800s, but has now been transformed into a whitewater kayaking/rafting course.

We walked to the mouth of the waterway where the East Race Waterway joins the St. Joseph River.

We saw a mother duck feasting with her ducklings in the canal.

We wandered over to the downtown area and found a nice statue.

We saw that several restaurants downtown were offering Restaurant Week deals, and we chose to try South Bend Brew
Werks because they had a good deal and yummy sounding vegetarian food for Cara.

Their gazpacho soup was light and refreshing.

The roasted jalapeno cheese dip was nicely spiced and served with hearty, warm tortilla chips.

Cara's Buffalo Cauliflower Wrap was delicious, and Eric enjoyed his Dill Chicken Salad Sandwich.

We each got a giant peanut butter cookie (gluten free) for dessert.

Evening view of the St. Joseph River on our walk back to the car.

After we finished work the following day we headed to nearby Shipshewana to our favorite Amish cheese shop. 

We also stopped at the discount grocery to get good deals and some freshly ground cinnamon
peanut butter.

The Amish shop here too, as you can see.

Before we met up with another business contact we killed some time checking out small towns. This is downtown Ligonier.

We also found another fabulous discount grocery near Wolcottville.

Then we found a lovely tasting room and event center called Sylvan Cellars outside Rome City.

 

We enjoyed a drink on the nice patio, where they were going to have live music later that evening.

7-24-2019 Summer Under the Sails - Jazz at the Eiteljorg Museum

This time we drove downtown with our friends Mark and Annette to attend the free Summer Under the Sails Concert at the
Eiteljorg Museum.

The Rob Dixon Quartet was playing some nice jazz music.

We had seen this band at a free concert from the Indiana History Center earlier this summer and knew they were good.

It's a really nice venue if it's not raining and can be held outside.

We enjoyed the concert, then went for a walk around downtown before heading home.

7-23-2019 Yelp Down on the Urban Farm Event

Early Tuesday evening we went with our friends Mark and Annette to a Yelp event at the Growing Places Indy urban farm
located in White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis.

This is a working urban farm that provides produce to local restaurants and individuals.

However, as the sign says, you can walk around the gardens and sample a little.

This bed has lettuces like rainbow chard.

Another bed had two types of basil plants.

The Growing Places Indy booth.

Kat from Growing Places Indy explained what they do, then led us in a short guided meditation.

The couple (one vegetarian, one omnivore) who started Duos Kitchen, which sources produce
from the Growing Places Indy gardens.

We sampled a delicious carrot soup made from carrots and other things from these local gardens.

Phil, one of the farmers, talking about these Anise Hyssop plants, which have a yummy
black licorice or root beer flavor.

After the event we all went to MacNiven's Restaurant to try their Savor Indy menu specials.
Eric enjoyed our appetizer of Scotch Eggs.

Cara had a nice Vegetarian Taco Salad.

Eric had a hearty Steak Pie.

We split a nice, locally made toffee ice cream for dessert.

7-21-2019 Biked Downtown for Live Music

Mark bicycled downtown with us. We first stopped at Centerpoint Brewing Company in the
Circle City Industrial Complex. They have lots of games you can play, so we played some
Splendor while listening to live music.

They have pinball there too, but we didn't play any this time.

 

After we left it started to rain, so we took refuge under the Interstate.

We finally braved the rain and biked down to the Slippery Noodle Inn, where there was a faint rainbow.

We listened to Gordon Bonham and Paul Holdman play some good blues.

Rebekah Meldrum joined in for a few songs.