I love the two Walt and Mickey statues at the two California Disney parks! The Partners statue in front of the castle is obviously the most well-known (and is replicated at other Disney Parks), but the statue at Disney California Adventure, featuring a much-younger Walt, is also charming!
Doing a little fairytale baking for summer school:
If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of Mary Blair’s work, especially with Disney. Last summer, I was over the moon to get to ride “It’s a Small World,” at Disney World but this year’s trip to Disneyland was even more special, because that’s where the original “It’s a Small World” was relocated after its time at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Instead of the bright colors that the ride in Orlando has at the entrance, the California version has the white and gold color scheme from the end of the ride out front:
Another difference is that the ride begins (and ends) outdoors:
The interior of the ride has the same bright, beautiful colors, which is Mary Blair’s signature:
You might notice references to Disney movies scattered throughout…we were especially excited to find Stitch surfing!
It doesn’t matter where you ride it, it’s still the “happiest cruise that ever sailed!”
As was the case at Disney World, I really didn’t want to say goodbye!
I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to ride this attraction at any of the other Disney parks?
Yesterday was a most anticipated day…it was Stitch Day!
In case you’re unfamiliar with this holiday, it’s a day in celebration of Experiment 626 (which is why it is celebrated on June 26), otherwise known as Stitch, of Lilo and Stitch fame. Last year, we just happened to be at the Magic Kingdom on Stitch Day, and it’s hard to top that, but Disney did just release Lilo & Stitch: The Official Cookbook last month, so I planned a special day of meals to celebrate our favorite alien-dog.
We started with ‘Ohana Fruit Salad, which had pineapple, lychees, pear, green apples, strawberries, and tangerines, and was tossed with coconut yogurt and served in a hollowed-out pineapple. It was really delicious!
Next was Kaua’i Sugarloaf Pineapple Salsa, served with plantain chips…I can’t wait to serve this with our next Mexican dinner, because it too was delicious!
Funny story about the drink I made…it’s called the Blue Hawaiian. Does it look blue to you? No matter how much of the blue vanilla syrup I added, I couldn’t get the pineapple and lemon juice based drink to change colors, not even to green! Even though the color wasn’t right, the drink itself was tropical and refreshing!
For dinner, I made Dawn Patrol Loco Moco. I’ve been wanting to try this Hawaiian dish of a hamburger patty served on rice and topped with gravy and a fried egg for a while, and we weren’t disappointed!
For dessert, we had the Pā’ina Haupia Cake, which had a lovely coconut filling. Bunny drew an outline of Stitch, and Ladybug copied it in royal icing to make the decoration for the top of the cake…they did a fantastic job!
We had a really fun time celebrating Stitch Day, and I can’t wait to try more recipes from the cookbook!
In honor of “Stitch Day,” I painted my nails a beautiful, glittery blue using Holo Taco “Frost Light,” which was my free birthday reward from them. I think the nail polish is even prettier since it didn’t cost me anything, and it’s the perfect way to honor Disney’s favorite alien!
And now we reach the end of our summer 2023 road trip. There’s not much to say about the drive from Bowling Green back home, but we did stop at Lic’s Deli and Ice Cream, an Evansville staple since 1950, for the first time, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be back!
I really enjoyed our trip (and our other travels this summer), but it’s always nice to be back home!
Before we left Toledo, we stopped for coffee and donuts at Tim Hortons. I had hoped to go there when we were originally supposed to fly through Detroit on our way home from Disneyland, and I was not going to be denied again!
I wanted to see Lake Erie, so we drove to Luna Pier in Michigan before we headed south. The lake itself was nice, but they were having a mayfly situation, something I hope I never see again!
It was a tedious drive…we sat in construction for what seemed like an eternity. We did get to stop and eat at Skyline Chili, which helped break up the monotony some. I’m still not sure how I feel about chili served on spaghetti (and with that amount of cheese on top!), but the chili itself was good.
The rest of our drive back to Bowling Green was fairly uneventful, other than some random rain showers along the way…at least we didn’t run into any storms!
Finally…Toledo!
Our trip was inspired by Jamie Farr’s/Maxwell Q. Klinger’s love of Toledo, but you can’t take a trip in his honor without also recognizing his mentor, Danny Thomas, so we stopped by Danny Thomas Park in the morning. As Jamie Farr said when his park was dedicated (keep reading to see that) “The great Danny Thomas has a park named after him on the south side of Toledo and I have a park named after me on the north side of Toledo. This is the only city in the United States guarded by two noses!”
After visiting the park, we drove a bit outside Toledo to The Historic Canal Experience, which gave us the opportunity to ride a canal boat down a section of the Miami & Erie Canal, go through a lock, and tour an old mill. It was a really cool experience…stay tuned for full details!
One of the main destinations of our Klinger road trip was dinner at Tony Packo’s. I absolutely loved the place…it felt like a neighborhood pub, but Hungarian, which makes sense since it’s in Toledo’s Hungarian neighborhood (see St. Stephen of Hungary Parish just down the street!). I felt like I had come home!
We also stopped at Jamie Farr Park, which is not too far from the intersection Klinger says he’s from in “The Grim Reaper”…Michigan and Galena. I really love the quote on the plaque!
And then on to the Toledo Mudhens game! I really liked their ballpark, and it was so much fun sitting so close to the field!
We didn’t see Muddy, but we did get to have a picture taken with Muddonna!
Ryan also found Cat Trick, one of the Toledo Walleye’s mascots:
It was a great game…the Mudhens were in the lead for most of it, but the Buffalo Bison tied it in the ninth, setting the stage for a walk-off home run by Joe Rizzo.
It was a fireworks night, so while they set that up, the crowd was entertained with music, dancing, and a giant beach ball!
The fireworks were amazing!
I kind of didn’t want to leave when they were done, but we had a day of driving ahead of us, so I bid Toledo a reluctant farewell.
Last summer, Rare Dirndl introduced a charity apron in support of Alex’s Lemonade Stand…they’re back this year with a beautiful sunflower edition supporting Mercy Corps, an organization with a mission to “to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities.”
Mercy Corps is currently on the ground in Ukraine (thus the beautiful sunflower print with contrasting blue ribbon in the apron ties), as well as Romania and Poland, and they are working specifically to aid Ukrainian refugees by supporting organizations that provide medical supplies and food items.
I accessorized with (what else?), lots of flowers! I kind of wish I had a floral crown with sunflowers, but at least the blue flower in this one matches the ribbon on the apron, right? I also pinned my edelweiss clip to my dirndl in place of a brooch. I didn’t wear my edelweiss necklace this time, though…instead I went bold with my stag!
This is not just an apron with a conscience, it’s also perfect for summer! Since it is such a great look for warm weather, I swapped out the shoes I normally pair with dirndls for a pair of well-loved Birkenstocks, and I think they’re the perfect footwear for this dress and apron combo!
I really want to wear this to a sunflower field when they’re in full bloom!
Erika kindly gifted me this apron, so I didn’t have to make a purchase to help fund the charity’s effort. Instead, I made a donation directly to the organization, and I encourage you to find a charity to support this summer, too!
We were up extra early on the third day of our trip, because we were headed to Cincinnati!
On the way to the zoo, we stopped in Covington, KY, to see this new Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland-themed bench that is part of a project to bring literacy and artistic expression together by the Kenton County Public Library Foundation. I love a public art installation!
On to the Cincinatti Zoo!
One of the main reasons we wanted to visit the Cincinatti Zoo specifically is because they have little blue penguins (just like Roald from Animal Crossing!), and I have always wanted to see them!
The other main reason for our visit was to see as much of their hippo bloat as possible. Not only did we see all four hippos, Fritz put on quite a show, doing his best to harass his big sister, Fiona!
There’s even a special “Bloat Float,” featuring grape soda over vanilla soft-serve, available at the zoo this summer!
We also saw quite a few different kinds of pigeons, including the Victoria Crowned Pigeon:
It was a beautiful day to walk around the zoo!
On our way to Toledo, we stopped in Lima to eat at Kewpee Hamburgers, the second-oldest fast food chain in the country. The location that we stopped at dates back to 1928…what is the 20s version of mid-century marvelous?!? Moderne marvelous perhaps? It was a cool place, the food was good and also surprisingly cheap!
After we ate, we finally made our way to the main destination of our trip…Toledo, OH!