We are back from a quick trip to Chicago. This was the last weekend that the golden orb spider silk weaving would be on display. We picked up P from school on Friday and were on our way.
I had forgotten how much there is to see at the Art Institute of Chicago.
P and I spent a bit of time looking at the Thorne Rooms.
There we are!
We wandered around the museum for hours until we couldn't absorb any more. There was much that we didn't see. I guess we'll have to make another trip to Chicago one day!After a quick walk over to the lake we hopped back on the train to go back to the airport area where we had stayed the night and left our car for the day.
Quick trips can be fun!
Magic Garden
After visiting the guitar factory we stopped at Ringing Rocks State Park and hit some rocks.Back in Philadelphia, we walked from our B & B in search of some food.
On our walk we passed Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.
This kind of folk art is so interesting.
I love the doily imprints.
Our walk ended here, at the famous Geno's Steaks.
The next day we arrived at my mother-in-law's in Virginia just in time to experience the first earthquake! We really had a fun vacation!
Martin & Co. - Factory Tour
While in Philladelphia we didn't see the historic spots downtown, we toured the Martin guitar factory just north of Philladelphia.
It was a much bigger operation than I was expecting.
Guitar parts were everywhere.
I loved all of these clothes pins used in this step.
They have a mix of automated and hand work procedures.
The on site museum was also interesting. You can get a taste of the older ways of making guitars and see some pretty fancy custom work.
I couldn't resist a little costume bling.
If you are ever in the area I think it's worth a stop.
Big City Tours
Our trip south to Virginia included a few big east coast cities. The first was Boston. We stopped long enough to take a walk around Harvard and visit the Harvard Natural History Museum.My favorite exhibit there was the collection of glass flowers.
Yes, these are pictures of flowers that are made of glass. "The models were created by father and son Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, nineteenth century glass artisans who perfected their family craft. Their lineage of jewelers and glassmakers trace as far back as the fifteenth century." (from the Harvard Natural History Museum website.)They worked on the flowers from from 1887 to 1936. 
Truely incredible delicate creations all of glass. 
I also enjoyed some of the needlework like these molas.
We also took a quick walk around the MIT campus which wins for "coolest building on a college campus".
I wonder what you have to do to get this lab space.
We also saw this sculpture on our MIT walk.
From there we headed to Rhode Island. Because, well, none of us had ever been there before! (I think this means that Alaska is the only state I have not visited!) Next we drove through New York City, just because we could and stopped in Philadelphia.I hope you are not too bored with the details of our trip. We have been home a couple of days and are still dealing with the catch up at home. We have lots of garden stuff to do and the boys are packing and cleaning their rooms in preparation to move off to school later this week.It is wonderful to extend my vacation by sharing a bit of it with you.Stay tuned for a FACTORY TOUR tomorrow!
Liberty Tool
B took us to a very interesting shop, Liberty Tool, not far from our camp site.
It was filled to the brim with tools and other old interesting things.
I am pretty sure they would have just about anything you might be looking for...do you have a tool with a broken handle?
Do you need a hammer?
Or maybe a saw?
It was a great place to browse.
The first floor was pretty much all tools but the upper three, yes there were FOUR floors to this place, had more variety. There were lots of books but we also saw an unusual piano, an early style bike, and a huge floor loom, and a number of things that I have NO idea what they were.I liked that most items were displayed in old wood crates of all sizes.
If you are ever in the area it is definitely worth a stop. There is even a great ice cream shop around the corner. They make all their ice cream on site.
Boats
My posts about our trip to Maine wouldn't be complete without a post on boats.
We saw lots of boats.
So many different boats.
Can you tell I loved the shore?
I have a couple of other fun places to share with you next week.
Found
We found lots of treasures on our walks on the beach.
There were lots of interesting shells, 
and sea creatures.
Rock hunting was fun too. We found a few heart shaped rocks.
D found this BIG heart shaped rock. It gave his sister a thrill!
I even found time to do some stitching on my Daisy Chain Sampler.
Maine - hiking in Camden Hills
Yesterday I told you about what was down hill from our campsite. Today we go up the hill.
There are many trails in the park but we had limited time so we chose the trail to the highest point, of course.It was a steep climb and we were trying to make it to the top for a sunset view. Some of us got tired and waited at a spot near the top with a great view and a few wild blueberries while the boys dashed to the top.
I let them take the camera so we could know what we missed.
Beautiful. (Our view was similar just not from the very top.)
You can see Camden there at the bottom.
Maine - on the shore
While in Maine we camped at the Camden Hills State Park. Our campsite was a short walk from the shore.
The Maine shore is very rocky.
So. many. rocks.
The rocks are great for climbing
and skipping.
I do love the places where water and land meet.
I had a lot of fun taking photographs -over a thousand pictures of the trip!
I'm just warning you that there might be a couple more posts on our vacation.
Canada!
We have been traveling! Our trip started by driving east through Canada. We made a quick stop at Toronto
and the bluffs just beyond.
We were thrilled to leave the mosquitoes behind in Michigan and enjoyed a little wading at Sandbanks Provincial Park.
We had lots of fun squishing the "seaweed" together and squeezing the water out to make balls to toss around. They were a lot like balls of felt but they fell apart again when they got wet.
We stayed the night on Amherst Island and continued through Canada to Main. The scenery was lovely, especially in the "magic hour" light.
We even saw a MOOSE cross the road just at dusk!Stay tuned for more from our trip.
Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?
If you ever find yourself near Dover, Ohio, you MUST take the time to visit the Warther Museum. Freida Warther collected buttons while her husband, "Mooney" created ebony, ivory, and walnut carvings of trains. The incredible carvings are on display in the museum and there is a "button house" that holds over 73,000 buttons from Freida's collection.
She created beautiful display panels to show off her collection.
I love how she sorted them by color, size, and type.
The center button in this star is from Mrs. Lincoln's inaugural dress.
So. Many. Buttons.
These are all bakelite.
She created this panel from novelty buttons and cracker jack prizes.
Your head will be spinning after a visit to the button house.
You can read more about Freida here.
A Day (or two) at the Beach
We had a great spring break week with B's mom. We saw some sights near her home, relaxed around her house, and when the weather got warm and sunny we made a quick overnight trip to the shore to visit Chincoteaue National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. 
It was quite lovely and relaxing.
I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
Vacations are great but is is also good to be home.
Retreat Ambiance
I thought I might set the stage a bit today by sharing some pictures of the location of our quilt retreat.Traverse Bay.
Shells on the beach.
The "Craft Boat"
Elk Lake.
White Birch Lodge.
Stitching by the water.
Thoughtful Sunday
(storm photo by D on our trip to the gulf coast.)"Those people are earthbound. They heap too many goods. They have not learned the trail of beauty."Waterless Mountain, Laura Adams Armer, 1931
Gulf Coast Trip
We have returned from a trip to the Mississippi gulf coast.
We stayed in a rental house on a narrow strip of land between the bayou and the gulf.
It was a week of family fun. Me, my sisters, and our families - fourteen people in one house. We ate lots of Michigan blueberries (twenty four pounds) picked the morning we left here.
There was a ferry trip to Ship Island.
We also explored the beach area near our rental house. 
In the heat of the day we entertained ourselves with jigsaw puzzles, hula hoops,
Rummikub, chess, anagrams, dictionary,
and lots of different card games.
You can find more photos of our trip here.
Oberlin - The College Tour
Friday we took a road trip to Oberlin, Oh. We are gathering information for D's college choice.Oberlin is a very small town but reminds me a bit of Blacksburg, where I grew up.
There is a Ben Franklin with a used/new bookstore in it on the mainshopping street. A store where you can buy used books, fabric, games,and school supplies! Is there anything better than that within walkingdistance of your school? Another shop has a great selection of Easter treats.
They have a great art museum with works by Picasso, Miro, Klee and more.
The Conservatory of Music.
There are some great student housing facilities like this,
and this. There is a lottery for this most desired building. It is filled with lucky upperclassmen.
Oberlin has the best campus food I have ever eaten. There are also nine food co ops here.We were impressed with the student faculty ratio and their new science center. Since there are no graduate students the undergraduates have the opportunity to do research with the faculty. Many have their own labs and publish papers with the faculty before graduating.
University of Michigan campus tour last week scored low in the campus housing and food categories. It does score points for being the most affordable of the three choices.This week,- Cornell. I can't wait to see the pictures D and B bring back. They plan to eat at Moosewood tonight.
Collected
I thought I would share some things we collected on our beach walks. We found a number of beautiful shells.
Shark teeth.
P's pink collection
Favorites.
We found a number of shells that were still connected.
Recharging - to Make it Through March
We are just back from a short but much needed trip to sunny Florida. I think we will be able to make it through muddy March now. Shortly after we arrived, we rolled up our pant legs and waded in the water. Yes, we were really in Florida.
We flew with our tents and sleeping bags and camped at Fort DeSoto right in the mouth of Tampa Bay. It was wonderful. Each morning we got up early and walked on the beach. We saw a lot of wildlife - fish, sea urchin, whelk, crabs, hermit crabs, starfish, dolphin, pelicans, gulls, sand pipers, osprey, egrets, and, of course, the raccoons that live around the campground. We even found some small shark teeth.
The sun was a welcome change from our gray Michigan winter days. It was wonderful just to see such vibrant color.
We were jumping with joy.
What a wonderful few days.
New Years Eve
We usually stay home for New Years Eve and sit around working a puzzle or playing cards trying to stay awake until midnight. Not very exciting. This year we are doing something different. We are traveling to Cadillac, MI for the First Night festivities there. We will hear both boys play with the Chelsea House Orchestra. D will play violin and M will play djembe. P will dance in the audience.
Have a great New Year's celebration!(cookie boy ornament made by my sister M)
Leaves
This morning we walked in the woods near Grandma's house.
Last month was the warmest October on record here in Virginia. They also have had a drought for several months. I wonder if that has anything to do with the leaves staying on the trees longer than normal. One of our usual Thanksgiving week "chores" is to rake all of the leaves in Grandma's yard. We make a huge pile for the kids to play in. When they have had their fill of the leaf pile we drag the leaves down to the back of the yard on tarps. This year most of the leaves are still on the trees.
There were enough leaves to make a small pile for P.
