Super-fantastic Journeys

 Ivywild Kitchen is one of seven food venues available in the Ivywild School.  The Iveywild School serves great pub food to accompany your drinks from the Bristol Brewing Pub located just down the hall of this revived elementary school.  The menu offers a nice collection of shareables, chicken sandwiches, and burgers.  We looked at all the eatery options and this was the one that called to us during our first visit to Iveywood School. We ordered the Bacon and Blue burger as our main item.  This burger was the perfect size burger and full of flavor.  The blue cheese was subtle and added to the burger but allowed the caramelized onion and house sauce to shine.  I was nicely surprised at the flavor combinations when eating the burger.  The burger is served on a potato bun which held up to the burger well and tasted great. We shared our burger so that we could try some other menu items, so they were nice enough to cut it in half for us.  This was...

Roxborough State Park is located just 40 minutes from Denver and is designed to preserve the natural beauty of this area of red rock formations.  The park focuses on making a minimal impact on the land while preserving the area and providing habitat for birds and other wildlife.  The park has 3, 339 acres of property.   The park has a small visitor center that provides a few displays about the wildlife and ecosystem in the area. The visitor center is a great place to start your journey and provides guests with restroom facilities.  There is a central courtyard at the visitor's center which is well-designed and is a nice place to sit before or after enjoying one of the hikes in the park. Most of the park is accessible by hiking paths that explore different portions of the park. Many other activities are not permitted in the park including mountain bikes and horseback riding.  There are nin different trails in the park to explore, for 12.54 miles of hiking av...

I absolutely love travel locations that focus on food, so it should not be a surprise that I had to visit the Best Maid Pickle Emporium.  Living in Texas for 12 years, Best Maid Pickles are a part of the local food culture.  Best Maid Pickles have been being produced since 1947 in the same factory since 1947.  They have grown and changed with the times, so they now offer a wider variety of pickle options.  I love trying different types of pickles and love to snack on a jar of pickles while I am preparing dinner.    The Pickle Emporium is Best Maid's latest addition, providing pickle lovers a place to come and find everything possible related to pickles.  While 90% of the Pickle Emporium is focused on merchandise and food items, there are a few displays that show the pickle making process.  The store is just a fun place to visit and Smily, the Best Maid character is standing proudly over the store.  If you are coming for food items you will no...

South Valley Park is an open space park in Jefferson County Colorado.  Consisting of 995 Acres this park sits in a unique valley on the west side of a rock uplift called the Hogback.  The park has numerous red rock formations similar to the rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheater or Garden of the Gods, just smaller.  There are two separate parking lots at the park.  The north lot is large and has lots of space, while the south parking spot is smaller but still has a good number of spots.  Restrooms are available to hikers at both parking lots.  The upper parking area also has picnic spots available after your hiking journey. There are 7.7 miles of Trail available in the park.  The trails create a variety of different loops of varying lengths.  Most of the trails in the park are rated as easy with a few sections that are rated moderate because of the increased steepness.  All Trails has eight different trails listed for this open-space park.  Con...

After 27 years away from the Denver area, we are headed back home to be able to explore the great outdoors and do what we love best.  We have moved to Wisconsin, Oregon, Washing, and Texas in pursuit of a career, and after 33 years I am pleased that we can take a giant leap of faith and get back to the state and community that is the best fit for us. I am looking forward to hitting the trail and have set a goal to hike 100 new trails in the remainder of 2023.  If the route is plotted out on All Trails then I will count it.  Some of the trails will take us high up into the Rocky Mountains, while others may be more urban trails in open spaces and parks around the city.  Hiking is my number one outdoor pursuit.  I like to be out enjoying the outdoors, being self-reliant and focused on my surroundings.  Hiking can be challenging at times and you have to overcome some tough moments, but it allows you to really connect with the environment like nothing else. As w...

 Lee Richardson Zoo, located in Garden City, Kansas is a testament to the way this community thinks about its park.  The zoo was founded in 1927 by the city and the local chapter of the Izaak Walton League in Finnup Park  It all started with two skunks that were brought in by the town police chief who happened to become the zoo superintendent.  Eventually, the zoo was named after him in 1950.  Today the zoo is a department of the city. The zoo now has over 300 native and exotic animals in large animal-enriching spaces throughout the park.  In addition to the extensive collection of animals, there are some other elements that make this zoo unique.   First, the zoo is designed as both a walk and a drive-through zoo.  If you are walking, admissions is free.  We walked the zoo and believe that is the best way to see it, but the zoo covers a lot of ground so wear your comfortable shoes.  If you choose to drive there is a $10.00 fee for d...

  Moomers Ice Cream is a pretty famous ice cream shop near Traverse City, Michigan.  Moomers is all about the experience which makes this a unique stop on your road trip as much as the ice cream.  Started in 1998 on land adjacent to the family dairy farm that provides the milk for their ice cream, Moomers grew in fame on May 28, 2008 when viewers voted on Good Morning America as the nation's best spot to get ice cream. Moomers makes 160 different flavors of ice cream and is still a hot spot today.   The founder Nancy Plummer was driven by " The hope was to provide a unique premium product in a country atmosphere, to share the world of agriculture with others, employ local young adults, and provide a family oriented place to enjoy with family and friends." This is exactly what they have done. The popularity of Moomers is still strong today and they are still serving great ice cream.  As you would expect there was a bit of a line when we arrived at Moomers w...

Kitch-ti-kipi is considered one of the natural wonders of Michigan. Located just outside of Manistique, Michigan this unique geological marvel is worth a visit while you are in the Upper Peninsula. Water flows into an aquifer in the surrounding higher elevations until it flows down to this crystal clear lake where it comes bubbling out of the ground at a rate of 10,000 gallons a minute. The state park system provides visitors a great way to see the springs flowing into the lake.  There is a raft that is connected to both sides of this small lake by a cable.  A wheel on the raft allows visitors to propel themselves across the lake. The raft can hold about 40 people and has a an opening in the center of it that serves as a viewing area into the lake. As the raft proceeds across the lake, the clear water allows you to observe the fish swimming in the lake.  As you get further out you can see the silt in the bottom of the lake look like it is building away as the water flows ...

Mackinac Point sits on the southern side of the Mackinac Straights which is where boats pass though a passage connecting Lake Michigan to Lake Huron.  The Mackinac Point lighthouse is also referred to as the "Castle of the Straits" because of the construction of the keeper's house looking like the top of a Castle. Construction of the Mackinac Point lighthouse started in 1889 but funding was limited to creating a steam run fog horn.  The McGulpin Point Light was located to the west of this site but was not as visible as it needed to be to protect boats trying to navigate through the straits. It was not until 1892 that construction started on the light tower and the light was placed into operation on October 25, 1892.  Once the lighthouse was built it was realized that the fog horn building was only 71/2 feet away from the keeper's house, imagine trying to get some sleep with that noise, and they ended up moving the fog horn building a whole 15 feet to the east.  Great...

The Grand Hotel is one of the first buildings you will see as you cross over to Mackinac Island on the Ferry.  It stands out with all its great opulence and its impressive size on the hill.  This historic hotel opened on July 10, 1887, as Mackinac Island became a popular place for summer vacations for people from around the Midwest, especially Chicago and Detroit.  Mackinac Island had grown in popularity since it had become our nation's second National Park in 1875, before transitioning to a Michigan State park in 1895.  Train and steamship services provided a means for visitors to make the journey to Mackinac Island.  Amazingly the hotel only took 93 days to complete construction. In 1957 the Grand Hotel was designated a State Historic Building and in 1989 the hotel became National Historic Landmark.  You can feel the history of the hotel today as carriages drop guests off in the grand portico outside the front entrance. The bright yellow awnings capture y...

During a recent trip through Oklahoma City, I wanted to make sure and try the Oklahoma Onion Burger. I did my research and decided that Tucker's Onion Burgers was going to be my choice. I made the right choice because this burger was amazing. I ordered a single onion burger with cheese, a side of fries, and the shake of the month. It is understandable why the onion burger is such a hit. The flavors of the onion and beef complement each other, and the fact that they are truly cooked together is amazing. It is so much better than just having grilled onions on top of your cooked burger patty. The burger is big and fills the bun fully, and the cheese adds to each delicious bite. The fries were also very good and cooked crispy. The shake of the month was a peanut butter chocolate, and unfortunately our least favorite part of the meal. The staff were helpful while ordering and the burgers were freshly prepared after we made our order. The staff brought our burgers to the table ...

 Old Fashions are a popular drink in the upper Midwest and you can find this popular drink in a number of local bars on Mackinac Island.  The great thing is that because you will not be driving a vehicle on the Island and many of the bars are close to the lodging, you can safely try a couple of these local spots and make it back to your hotel. An Old Fashioned is a muddled mixture of whiskey, sugar, water, and bitters.  It is a classic and aptly named as it has a long and rich history. In Michigan, we found that most were muddled with an orange slice and a cherry, which makes it classic Michigan. 1. Seabiscuit Cafe Our favorite Old Fashion was from a restaurant we stopped in for dinner called Seabiscuit Cafe.  The bartenders here were excellent and really made a great Old Fashion, along with other drinks. At Seabiscuit they let you build your own Old Fashion so you decide on your sweetener and your choice of Burbon.  They had Makers Mark, Bulleit Rye, Wood...