a day in West Virginia

It's kind of absurd that for as close as we live to West Virginia, we rarely visit. It's true - often it takes me longer to get to work than it does to get to West Virginia. But we spent last Saturday there and it lives up to its motto - Wild and Wonderful.

We have a Stone tradition of taking our birthdays off of work and spending the day just the two of us, doing whatever activities the birthday person wants to do. But because we were just on vacation, we opted to celebrate Mark's birthday with our outing on a weekend. And he couldn't decide what he wanted to do, so he asked me to surprise him.

Our first stop was Cabela's in Tridelphia/Wheeling. 

Mark's wanted to visit this hunting and fishing paradise store for ages, and we've passed it a few times on the way to Oglebay or to Lake Cumberland and he's looked longingly out the window. So we finally went. Hoo boy.

Behold, Taxidermy Mountain.

Oh wait, there's more.

Yeah, it was a veritable museum. I'll admit, there was definitely some cool merchandise and plenty that would interest Mark as someone who likes to hunt and fish and be outdoors.

Though this was taking it a bit too far. Under Armour pink camo running tank? Yeah, no.

From Cabela's it was on to Moundsville to tour the former West Virginia Penitentiary. 

This place looked like a fortress, and that's basically what it was until it closed in 1995. Our tour guide was a former guard and he wasn't too convinced about the stories of it being haunted. For me, there wasn't anything more creepy than the fact that this place actually housed human beings less than 20 years ago.

It's a tour worth taking for the interesting (and creepy) history of the place, though I wouldn't go so far as to do what the ghost hunter shows do and stay overnight in the place (which apparently the general public can do too). I'll spare you more photos of rusty toilets and peeling paint, but let's just say it was easy to see where WV tax dollars did NOT go.

We followed up the tour with a picnic in the shade at Grand Vue Park nearby.

Mark and I had never actually had a picnic before in all the years we've been together, so this was a nice change of pace. But man was it hot. After the picnic we tried geocaching for awhile but mostly managed to traipse through a lot of weeds and get frustrated. Good thing we'll get to learn more about geocaching at the Venture Outdoors membership event on Sunday.

Due to the heat making us wilt, we skipped the zip line and mini golf they have at the park and headed back home to watch the original Planet of the Apes and eat pizza.

We'll definitely be making more day trips to West Virginia - and can't wait to go back to Grand Vue Park in the fall, with proper hiking gear and another picnic lunch!

stones on a boat: Lake Cumberland, Kentucky

After a completely crazy week leading up to it, we took a few days of much needed vacation last week and headed off to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. We were there for just under 4 days and I was reluctant to leave. I'm still in denial that vacation is over. I mean, who wouldn't, if you spent a few days waking up to this?

We rented a house boat with 6 other friends and spent our time tooling around the most gorgeous lake I've ever seen in weather that couldn't have been better. No rain the entire time we were there, and sunny skies with low humidity. 

Probably the best part about this vacation was how much of an actual vacation it was. Having a few days off of the internet and not using my phone was nice. I posted a few photos to Instagram, fully intending to record the vacation that way. But after the first sunrise I saw, I turned the phone off and forgot about it.  

We didn't even know what time it actually was most days, since we were in and out of time zones, bouncing back and forth between Eastern and Central. I read several books, got some sun, swam in the lake and even jumped off the top deck of the boat a few times.

Mark and one of our friends got to fish, but they released what they caught since none of them were "legal" size. Each night we moored in a different cove and got to watch the sun set on the lake.

While I'll mostly be back to regularly scheduled programming this week, I know my thoughts will likely often be at the lake. (It's taken me a couple of days to realize I'm not on a boat when I wake up in the night and think I'm swaying.) The houseboat was a fantastic idea and we are highly likely to go back. 

My preference would be tomorrow.

touring red eagle distillery

We spent the weekend in Geneva, Ohio with friends for a friend's wedding. While we were in town for the weekend, we checked out some local wineries, which are fine, but not being a fan of sweet wine, most of the stuff we tried didn't exactly float my boat. 

But one place in particular stuck out and was definitely worth the visit - Red Eagle Distillery.

They make three of their own spirits - a rye whiskey, a bourbon and a vodka. While the whiskey is obviously made from rye, the bourbon is made from various grains (primarily corn, which is why it's a bourbon) and the vodka from grapes. 

We did the tasting option for all three, and I was surprised at how much I didn't hate it - only because I'm not a hard liquor person, typically. Maybe I like micro-distilleries like I like micro-breweries - the small batch and artisinal quality make the difference? Anyway, the vodka intrigued me the most, especially as our knowledgeable bar tender / tasting expert explained how you can make vodka out of many things, but they make it from grapes, since the same people who own Red Eagle own the next door South River Winery.

I ended up choosing a vodka cocktail to drink, and Mark had a bourbon cocktail. It was a cloudy day, but warm enough to hang outside on their patio. Though honestly, check out this amazing interior. Just beautiful. Made me want to have a party.

Red Eagle also serves craft beers on tap, including a stout that was aged in bourbon barrels. Between the cocktails and the beers, there was definitely something for everyone, and it was a great alternative to most places in that area that only serve wines. Had we more time, we probably would have stayed for a second drink!

If you're ever in the area, definitely give Red Eagle a visit! 

Mother Earth News Fair recap

For the third year in a row, we headed to Seven Springs for the Mother Earth News Fair (MENF). The best way I can describe it is a giant convention and vendor fair for sustainable living. Vendors showcase everything from farming equipment to handmade soaps and workshops are offered for just about all things under the sun - from classes about livestock to home fermentation.

We have found something new to learn and discover each year, and the fair gets bigger and bigger. This year, I went to workshops on chickens in gardens (and how they can peacefully co-exist), home fermentation, building a real foods pantry and foraging for wild foods. A wicked storm moved in on Saturday and when we were soaked and freezing, we skipped an afternoon of workshops to get dry and warm. But otherwise? Awesome.

In particular, the class on lactofermentation inspired me to finally get off my duff and get my kombucha (fermented tea) going at home. Mark had given me all the tools to get started for a gift one year - including a SCOBY - so I don't know what's been holding me back from starting. Someone at one of the workshops mentioned that you can't be afraid to be a beginner. I think it's given me enough push to get started!

Mark and I laugh that we both leave the MENF each year and want to quit our jobs and move off grid into a cabin in the woods and raise some goats. While that's not in our immediate future, it's nice to come away refreshed and with new ideas on how to live more sustainably.

One of my favorite parts of the fair is the presence of all manner of animals. If you follow me on Instagram (@nextgenhouse), you might have seen these guys.

Seven Springs doesn't offer much in the way of good food options for this fair, which is the only down-side. Particularly at a conference about sustainability, I don't want to eat commercially raised meat or rock-hard, out of season vegetables. Thankfully there were a few vendors that had some good snack options - and one local food truck in particular that had good meal options - Randita's Grill.

It's no secret that we aren't vegans by any stretch of the imagination, so I was a bit hesitant to try out a vegan food truck. I guess in my head I was expecting creepy textured vegetable protein, but I ended up having a great chili and a fantastic salad that was fresh and delicious (with figs! so yum!), a sharp contrast to the processed commercial offerings at the main food area. (The main food area had a mashed potato martini bar. I mean, seriously. Ew.) I was impressed by the food from Randita's - and also how the people in the truck kept their cool despite a ridiculously long line and pouring rain. I'm adding their restaurant in Saxonburg to my list of places to try!

Really, we actually end up learning a lot from the vendors we meet. Here are some of my favorites:

Snack Taxi - I bought two reusable snack bags for my lunch and thus far they've been working out fantastically. I am working on reducing consumption of plastic bags, so my two Snack Taxi bags have already saved me almost 20 bags! Plus it looks cute too.

St. Lynn's Press - Pittsburgh publisher of some great gardening books, including some by local authors. We picked up Good Bug, Bad Bug to help us with pest ID. They'll be publishing The Steel City Garden: creating a one-of-a-kind garden in black and gold by Doug Oster in the fall, which looks to be awesomely Burghy! Might be an idea for our front yard flower area. 

Gourmet Grassfed - I had my first ever beef jerky from Gourmet Grassfed and holy cow (no pun intended), was I surprised at how delicious it was. We bought some jerky and beef sticks - they'll be perfect for Mark to take out in the woods when he's hunting all day.

Farm Fromage - Fantastic raw milk cheese from PA farms. I had a mushroom and leek jack cheese which was amazingly bizarre but delicious.

CeCe Caldwell's Paints - non-toxic, eco-friendly paints, including one called Pittsburgh Gray, which is highly appropriate

Singer Farm Naturals - producer of some delicious cherry juice concentrate. We picked some up to mix with soda water as a yummy drink, but I'm also interested in its use as a recovery drink for running after seeing a blurb about it in an issue of Runners World.

Julia's kitchen

We recently visited friends in Virginia, and while doing some things in D.C., we stopped in to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In particular, we wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen. I've seen it before, but it's so special, I could see it again and again and notice something new every time. This time I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was part of a larger exhibit called FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000.

We didn't have much time to spend there since the museum was about to close, but I managed to make it through most of it. (Mark got mesmerized by a video of Julia Child cooking a lobster and didn't make it through the whole exhibit. I don't really blame him. She was quite the character.)

The exhibit started off by talking about how the last half of the 20th century was an incredibly transformative time for food in America - not only what we eat, but how we get our food, how we eat it, and what it means culturally.  

The centerpiece of the exhibit was a large table where people could sit and talk. There were discs of information on the table that functioned like lazy susans and were conversation starters.  

 I was really excited to come across an old copy of Mother Earth News in a display about progressive food movements. I'm a subscriber today to the same magazine!
  

The entire exhibit was fascinating, and also was beautifully designed. I wanted to read every caption (and dream of making it back there before the exhibit closes).

Of course the real highlight of the exhibit is Julia Child's kitchen, which is a reconstruction of her own home kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Paul Child, her husband, had the counters specially designed to accommodate her height, and created the pegboards that held her pans, complete with outlines.

I've always been a fan of Julia - I've read a lot of books on her life, as well as her own books. One year I was Julia for Halloween (albeit a 4'11" version of her). During our first visit to the Smithsonian exhibit, Mark noticed the saint hanging on the pegboard with her cookware. 

He did some research and found out it was Saint Pascal Baylon, one of the patron saints of cooks. So as a gift, he had this made for me to hang in our kitchen. (The photo is terrible and doesn't do it justice.)

If you take joy in cooking like I do or you enjoy eating foreign foods, you probably owe some of that to Julia Child's legacy. She made cooking outside of the box accessible to Americans with an infectious enthusiasm. She encouraged people to be fearless in the kitchen and try things they would never have considered. 

Check out episodes of "The French Chef" if you get the chance. In a world with glorified cooking shows that make everything seem glamorous and easy in the kitchen and food stylists manipulating meals to make your mouth water, it's gratifying to watch Julia drop things on the floor and make a royal mess. I especially enjoy the episode where she flops a giant fish onto her counter. 

Make it a point to see this exhibit when you're in the D.C. area!

cleveland's west side market

We spent Saturday in Cleveland visiting family and friends, and made it to the West Side Market, the city's oldest publicly owned market. It started back in 1840 and in 1912 was housed in its yellow market building, where it still exists and thrives today.

We got some produce from the long line of produce vendors that line the arcade. In particular, I was excited to get a melon from Rooted Cleveland, a "seasonally and sustainably-oriented produce stand...providing local and organically minded specialty produce." The market is great in its variety of produce and its affordability, but much of it comes from far away. I am really happy to see a vendor specializing in truly local and seasonal produce there, and I hope they thrive. We'll definitely be back to visit their stand next time. (They even sold rhubarb pie kits with all the ingredients you'd need to make a pie!)

We ended up with some salad greens, as well as the aforementioned melon and some other fruit.

My photos aren't the greatest - it was a cloudy day and I was using my cell phone inside the market. And also holding bags of fruit. Lots of meat places with many cuts and specialty items. I hope that over time the market gets more vendors using locally raised meats and grass-fed items.

We didn't think ahead enough to bring a cooler, or else I definitely would have come home with some cheese. (made in the Cleve!)

Earlier in the day we had eaten lunch at Noodlecat, a ramen restaurant and one of our favorite restaurants in Cleveland. (Home of the most amazing brussels sprouts dish that you could ever dream of. Thanks to Noodlecat for making them for us at lunch even though they are on the dinner menu!) We discovered that they also have a stall at the West Side Market!

We also came home with some papardelle from Ohio City Pasta. It's hard not to put your hands all over the case and press your nose up to it, the pasta looks so good. They also have tons of homemade ravioli that were tempting too.

Mark and I also gave into our favorites - Campbell's Sweets Factory White Cheddar Dichotomy Popcorn for me, and a cupcake from Grandma Campbell's for him.

After the Market, Mark met some friends and I met his sister for dinner, and because both of the places we had originally intended to go had crazy long waits, we both ended up at the same place without knowing it until we arrived: Market Garden Brewery and Distillery. This is a shot of the back of the restaurant - where you can see the stills.

Saw this community chalk wall on one side of the restaurant. Before I die, I want to... (I'm going to go with live on a space farm for mine. A girl can dream.)

Food was good, but the beer sampler was the best. I got to choose 6 of their own beers to taste. I was really happy to be able to fill 6 without having a stout or an IPA in the list. I loved them all, but the All-American Lager was my favorite (far right). Had I had some forethought, I would have taken a growler or a growlerette home. I just love craft beers, especially having them at the same place where they are brewed. 

We also drove by several urban farms yesterday that have popped up in Cleveland within the last year or two, which is really great. I'd like to check out the Ohio City Farm Stand next time we're there - it was purple!