Isn’t this an amazing roof? I’ve never seen another one like it.
These pansies are pretty, but the colored pots are what make these special.

Very ornate wrought iron looked wonderful in front of a Victorian house in Charlevoix…
The Charlevoix Public Library is a renovated elementary school. The children’s area was one of the best I’ve ever seen – and it was obvious that the kids thought so too. One thing I noticed in particular was this old refrigerator door mounted on the wall with word magnets. The kids were encouraged to make new poems. Great idea for an old fridge.
All in all, I have to say that the parts of Michigan we visited were absolutely beautiful, the people were great and the food was magnificent!

Charlevoix, MI, is a lovely resort town. We did a walking tour of the “mushroom houses” designed by architect Earl Young. These houses are happy! The owner of this house was outside and we got to visiting. He and his family are from Austin, TX. He invited us in to see the house – what a treat! The house is tiny and quirky – perfect for a summer home.

The mile long drive into Charlevoix is lined with petunias on both sides of the street.
This young woman was outside a restaurant, luring in diners. I would seriously love to have those striped tights. But not the dress.

This mosaic was outside of a restaurant. Very cool.We had dinner with friends, Jackie and Jerry, at their house on Torch Lake. It was so much fun! Jackie helped me find petoskey stones on the lake shore (mostly she found them for me). Petoskeys are the state stone of Michigan. Steve and Jerry went sailing. Where the color of the water changes, the lake bottom drops from about 5′ to 200′. Torch Lake at its deepest is 300′. It’s so very clear and blue – it makes our lakes at home look like mud pits.

We spent several days in Michigan. Petoskey was our first stop. The town of Petoskey surrounds an older township called Bay View. It was founded as a religious resort community in 1875. As we walked around I realized that when I imagine small town America – this is what’s in my head. Lovely Victorian houses, tall leafy trees, lawns that blend together, kids out playing, people on porches, and the most amazingly clean outdoor smells – amazing. Unfortunately we didn’t actually get to stay here – but it was fun to visit.

The sign on the green house says “Wee Hoose”! You can’t say that without smiling.

Chicago has lots of fountains. Big ones, little ones, modern ones, old ones. Water does not appear to be a problem in Chicago.

I had to stop and look at this fountain in particular. I couldn’t help but wonder why is the water hitting this poor stone woman in the waist? I’m just sure she’s wondering the same thing. That would drive me crazy.

That’s Steve in front of the largest painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s Georgia O’Keefe’s Sky Above Clouds.

I loved this green dotted wall. Steve looks lots better in front of it than I did. The photo he took of me was almost immediately deleted. Don’t you love that – no wasting film, no guilt, just delete those bad photos!

We went to the Art Institute of Chicago last Wednesday. What an amazing place! The bronze lions flanking the entry are just about as wonderful as the art inside.

I wondered about people taking photos of the art… and then I found myself snapping a few photos. It was allowed, I wasn’t breaking any rules. I bought a postcard of this Van Gogh, but I’m glad I have the photo too. It’s different in its frame.
I’m also happy to have this detail shot of one of Monet‘s waterlilies. That man could do amazing things with splotches of paint.Dots have always been good…