Month: July 2026

Dipping into Arkansas…..Keith Haring in 3D and America 250.

Moving on from the July 4th shenanigans in Chicago….the next stop on this summers’ itinerary was Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas to catch the Keith Haring in 3D exhibit which had just opened (as well as the America 250 birthday exhibit also showing)

In order to get there sensibly (we try not to travel huge distances per day……..mostly because we don’t have to!!!) I had scoped out a couple of likely stops….the first being a Harvest Host on the outskirts of Springfield, Illinois.

Kentucky Burn…..a bourbon bar (well….why not..?!!!!)..with over 200 bourbons on the shelf…..and their sister bar across the street serving food, and a handy patch of grass between the two.

Harvest Host stops come with an obligation to spend a few dollars at the host location…..so…we HAD to have a couple of bourbons….!!! It was only polite…!!!

This part of the road is also on Historic Route 66…..so Scott snagged a couple of pix at the fairgrounds right across the main road from our handy spot….(this being the 100th anniversary of The Mother Road)

A little further down the road, another overnighter at a rather lovely new campground in St Robert…still in Missouri…. (campgrounds with 50 amp service in July heat have to be pretty ropey not to get called lovely…LOL)

In 2024 when we traveled Historic Route 66, we stopped in Joplin, Missouri to jump down to Bentonville, Arkansas. This time I had scouted a Campground in Bella Vista …minutes from Bentonville.

The park in Bella Vista was Blowing Springs Park.….when we checked in the guy on the desk asked if we had brought bicycles….when I said no he said ‘Well…what are you doing here then?”…turns out that this is a premiere spot for mountain biking. There are multiple biking and hiking trails that start in the park…the park also has a coffee shop, an ice cream truck, a burger truck and a craft beer garden.

I always seem to find the best spots completely by accident…LOL

The purpose of our visit to Crystal Bridges this time was an exhibit of the artist Keith Haring, specifically his 3d art. If you are not familiar with the name you will most likely recognise the style of his work.

Its the first time his 3d work has been on display as an exhibition.

Quite the interesting saunter through his work.

Keith Haring died aged 33 in 1986…of AIDS related complications……another exceptional artist lost at that time.

The exhibt was well worth the trip…and there was a second exhibit showing celebrating America 250….which was included in our admission to Keith Haring.

The America 250 had a collection of folk art…and some pieces made for the centennial……truly hand stitched quilts…and many different representations of the American National flag…..including this one….

….and this….a cheque signed by Mr Lincoln himself…(cool…!!!)

The gallery here at Crystal Bridges has an exceptional collection of historical and contemporary American Art, which is free to visit along with the sculpture gardens.

The building itself is an architecutral marvel……such a beautiful place….

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Chicago Botanics and beer with Al Capone

The first part of the summer this year had a bit of a plan….and the next part was to spend some time just south of Chicago with some friends for July 4th celebrations. (250th anniversary after all…!!)

With a few days here to hit some high spots……there was a singular lack of any ‘must see’ events for the big anniversary, so we took this opportunity to visit the Chicago Botanical Gardens.

It’s quite the place, all 385 acres of it……

Expecting a hot day, and with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon, we set out early…both to make the most of the cooler part of the day…and to…..hopefully….avoid being drenched in a thundershower……

When entering the gardens…the first part of the landscape you meet is the lake……beautiful….a popular spot for wedding pictures….!!!

We were headed to the cactus house first…..but to get there we passed through the bonsai garden….always a fascinating place…..

The Chicago collection was no exception…..I particularly liked the plum tree……with both blossom and fruit on it……amazing…..

….but the cactus house was no disappointment either……

Trying to follow the map…our next stop was the Japanese garden……as I crossed the bridge there was an enormous turtle feeding on ‘something’…(no idea what…but it looked like it was munching on some floating weeds)

The Japanese garden is a loop trail around an island…..a lovely stroll…..

Once you have looped around this section…the bridge off now had us at the other end of the Botanics…we were not quite sure where we were on the map…but we could see these shimmering globes on the water….so we headed that way.

There are three sections to this art installation that is the Shimmering Summer event for the season…….if you look closely at the globes…you can see my blogtographer has been up to his tricks……there’s me in the reflections…LOL

They were really pretty on the water……the big ones on land were emitting music as well….!!!

We were just too early for the blossoming of the corpse flower…..according to the information boards it was due to open the following week ( I was not disappointed….!!!)

The Chicago Botanics are beautifully laid out with one section segueing neatly into the next. Gorgeous landscaping and pristine management.

As the thunder started to roar around us, it was time to hit the road and head back to the trailer. We made it to about 20 minutes from home when the heavens opened and we drove the last bit in torrential rain with vague visibility. As we drove…I was watching google maps as roads in the area were closing with flooding…..!!!

Our next venture out with our hosts could not have been a more stark contrast to the serene beauty of the Chicago Botanics.

After a lovely breakfast out we visited a local tavern….Edwin’s Place. Formerly the Miami Gardens.

An unassuming little establishment in Peotone Illinois…..run by a lovely lady, Janice, and named for her late husband with whom she bought the place.

This prohibition era establishment was the former bar and brothel built in 1929 and run by the infamous Chicago character, Al Capone. Janice has maintained the bar and the back party room in its original condition…and if you ask her nicely she will take you back there to see the room where all the notorious gangsters partied and gambled.

The history of the place is fascinating…..the walls in the entryway are lined with memorobilia and newspaper articles.

There are photographs of the patrons themselves…!!!

The photo below of the last supper was recreated for The Godfather movie.

And Janice has maintained the floors and ceilings in there original ornate splendour…..

She even has the actual money laundering till that they used to count bills, the first unit made by NCR….and there used to be a basement large enough for up to 20 cars. If you read the newspaper article regarding John Dillinger and his escape from the posse chasing him, Capone hid him in Miami Gardens and gave him a different car to escape the law.

If you visit this place and meet Janice….be sure to ask if she will show you the special tiles in the shower…..!!!

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July 1st, Canada Day in Amherstburg.

Having taken full advantage of the quieter day ( the day before a public holiday ) in Point Pelee National Park, July 1st, Canada Day was a day for wandering the festivities in the lovely little town of Amherstburg, Ontario.

There was a bit of a delay to the start of the day to miss the road closures for a 10K/5K walk/run happening through the town…then we wandered downtown…..stopping for a gander through Park House Museum..

…..where the first of our heritage demonstrations was happening with the local tinsmiths .

…….to the park along the river that is the Fort Malden property.

Amherstburg has a fair bit of history…being right on the Detroit River….and the US/Canada border.

We were heading through the town to Fort Malden National Historic Site, checking out the food trucks/vendors and museums along the way. The museums were open for the day and we were promised some heritage demonstrations in the park.

Fort Malden was built by the British army in 1795 to defend Canada against those marauding Americans……it has quite the interesting story.

The food trucks were basically the ice cream truck and the burger truck….but the demonstrations involved fully costumed re-enactments.

So we had the great pleasure of chatting with this young man…Ben…..

….in his full ‘redcoat’ attire (complete with his grandfathers hobnail boots and fob watch which he proudly showed us…!!!) as he guarded the guns which were being prepped for the demonstration firings on the hour at 12.

The uniform also had the ’34’ buttons of the 34th Cumberland Regiment of Foot.

We took a stroll through the museum as we waited for the gun firing demonstration.

…and then back out to the riverside for the demo……we also learned that with the loud ‘BANG’ apparently you don’t cover your ears….you cup your hands in front to deflect the sound around your ears…..I learned something new…!!!

Theres a whole process to prepping and loading the barrel…..

….and then…….’BANG’…..

My intrepid blogtographer positioned himself to capture the fiery shot….!!!

….I gather there was no actual shell fired as none of the sea-doos out on the water seemed concerned…or were harmed..!!!

With a walk through the museum and out the other side to the barracks rooms we met more young people all fully dressed in period uniforms…..

..some practicing marching drills and many acting as tourist information. All very friendly and helpful.

On our way out of the Fort there was a blacksmithing demonstration…..they were branding wood blocks with the royal ordnance symbol…

I have no idea how those young folks managed that day…it was very hot…and they were in full uniform…with those wool jackets on….but none of them were complaining…and all of them were very polite and personable.

The only way to finish the day was with an ice cream on the way home….and a cold beer when we got there….!!!

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Point Pelee National Park…an Ontario Treasure.

Leaving Paris behind….but not quite out of Ontario yet….our last stop before crossing the Ambassador bridge was in Amherstburg to spend a couple of days with a good friend.

The weather had returned to the more typical Ontario standard of hot and humid …..so in the interest of not boiling the cat alive we opted to stop at Willowood RV park just a few minutes outside Amherstburg.

It’s a lovely campground with big spreading trees and reliable 50amp service to run both chilly AC units.

Even though we lived in Ontario for many years and it was on our list for a visit, we had never made it down to Point Pelee national park. So we packed up our water bottles and snacks and headed down there for a grand day out.

Point Pelee is the most southerly point on the Canadian mainland…..apparently as far south as parts of Northern California…..

Knowing the walk out to the point was going to be pretty much flat…we made the woeful decision to put on sandals…..Sandals are fine in the heat…perfectly comfortable for easy terrain with little or no elevation….but really not suited for walking any purposeful distance on the beach….!!!

The blogtographer wanted us on the beach….( Editor. I mistakenly assumed sandals were designed for ‘sand’ )

We posed for his pictures…..( Editor. In a ‘let’s get this over with’ way )

Then headed back to the trail….. (he was the smart one with shoes on…!!…don’t tell him I said that)

Tho we were past the spring season and well into summer…there were still some blooming cacti and trees along the way….

The trail we were following, tho not on the beach front was still pretty sandy…so we thought we might indulge the guy with the camera and since our feet were being filled with sand anyway….maybe try walking along the water edge….

The sand not in the water was hot…..and gritty ( in a large and sharp way…!!)…the ‘sand’ on the waterline….was also pretty sharp…and you can see the slope of the beach….it was tough going to walk barefoot…..so we gave up again…..

But then the problem was de-gritting and drying our feet….

Before the last walk out to the point …there is a huge lookout tower…(in the first picture we are halfway up….in the second we are at the top looking for camera guy.)

The view from up there is phenomenal….but it was a hazy day….

From there its more walking on sand (whilst chatting …of course..!!) to get out to the point.

It’s a strange projection out into the lake…and the way the waves come in from opposite directions they clash over the sand point…..hard to photograph…..you just have to go there I guess…..😊

We used the sandy feet excuse (plus it was hot and humid..!!) to take the shuttle back to the visitor centre…..

….then took a stroll out onto the baordwalks through the marshland……which is HUGE at Point Pelee….its a birders paradise…..

If you look really closely at that final picture above you can see we are still in it…and still chatting….putting the world to rights…LOL

All in all a lovely place to visit and wander through…..maybe in cooler weather tho…..

We stopped at the Oxley winery for a very civilised late lunch/early supper……and then another stop to see if we could see Pelee island from the ferry port at Kingsville….

It was too hazy….but we did meet these lovely people fishing off the pier……and successfully too….

A Grand day out it was indeed.

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Ontario Re-Visited

The Eastern journey brought us back to Ontario once again, where the stay always turns into a whirlwind of checking in with as many of the good friends made in the 30+years there that we can shoehorn in….. If we did not get to see you this time then apologies…we will try and catch you next time.

We were busy enough that I fell out of routine with ‘the blog’ hopefully I can stay on track for the rest of the adventuring season. The cat was happy tho….!!!

Our return to Ontario coincided with one of our favourite events…the Allentown Arts Festival, in Buffalo NY. Always mid June…always worth a visit.

Buffalo NY has a terrific history, beautiful architecture and a thriving art community……the old buildings with their brickwork and stone work…..and the colourful and plentiful murals…

The theme for travel this year is a bit more ‘where the wind blows’..(as opposed to the “Route 66 year, or the Kentucky Bourbon trail year).. .so we will see where we end up.