"Dinners and weekends with friends"

I'm not really one for resolutions, but I do support continuous growth. So I have goals from year to year, but generally, they all boil down to "do more of what you love." This year, as with the past year, I hope to be intentional about traveling and seeing loved ones more.

Sometimes, those two ambitions intertwine, as with a girls trip to Phoenix (top left). I thought Arizona in September might be a welcome reprieve from the coming winter in Ohio, but record-setting high temperatures were scorching the Southwest at the time (top right). Luckily, the AC in our mid-century AirBnB was fully functional (bottom left), as was the tabletop video game inside (bottom middle) and the gas fireplace next to the pool outside (bottom right).

 

  

My primary objective for the trip was quality time with friends, a mission that was fulfilled in spades as we took things slow and easy. We spent a day at CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa (top), where I lounged in the pool in between two yoga classes and a 5-mile training run for an upcoming half-marathon. The desert harshness meant I was confined to a treadmill, but at least I had a good view of the mountains. The vistas were equally dreamy at the Desert Botanical Garden (middle left), which we visited close to dusk to stay out of the sun. It also turned out to be a good time to spy some local wildlife emerging for some evening action (middle right). We did brave the rays for a few minutes in Old Town Scottsdale to preserve some memories in pixels (bottom).

 

 

Another laid-back outing came in the form of what might become a fall ritual: camping on Lake Erie in order to make a day trip to Put-in-Bay. This year, we missed the Halloween celebrations at East Harbor State Park, so it was quiet at the campground. It was only slightly rowdier on South Bass Island for its closing weekend (top). We had better weather than the previous year, so we biked and hiked around a bit (bottom left) before we imbibed at some favorite watering holes, including Joe's Bar (bottom right).

 

Different friends and location but the same fun was on tap during a weekend trip to Fort Wayne. The Indiana downtown is more vibrant than you might expect (top left), especially with the development of the Electric Works, a former experimental and industrial factory complex that is being converted into a mixed-use development (top right). A few in our bunch got some grub at the food court there, but we were full up after our breakfast from Davey's Delicious Bagels (bottom left), which had a vibe apropos for a group of Bagel Street Deli devotees. During the day, we watched the OSU-Michigan game at Mad Anthony Brewing Company. Unfortunately, we didn't have the means to cheer on Columbus as they beat Orlando in the MLS semi-finals that evening. So we had some drinks at The Brass Rail before the bands took the stage (bottom right) and before we continued the college-reminiscent merriment at our AirBnB .

 

 

The Crew pulled off a come-from-behind win against Cincinnati in the finals to land in the MLS Cup Championship, which it won despite the odds -- literally, many sports-betting lines did not favor them over Los Angeles. A triumphant parade marched through downtown during a workday (top left), so I spent my lunch hour chasing the cup. An oversized replica was created for fans to behold while the real one was passed around on flatbed trailers (top right). It was a little surreal to cheer on players from so close up after watching their skills from afar for so long (bottom).

 

A few weeks after the parade, we took a short trip to Cincinnati, which was also a bit surreal since the last time we visited was to watch the Crew play there. This time, though, we had Bowie in tow, so we took him on lots of walks, including at French Park, so he would hit the hay while we hit the town (top left). Despite the sports rivalry, we made friends wherever we went: discussing the Coen brothers over dinner at The Pony, examining the works at the Contemporary Arts Center (top right), enjoying a Spaghett and pickled egg at Uncle Leo's (bottom left), or playing pool at neighborhood haunt Milton's (bottom right).

 

 

------

Wyndham, Marivic. “Feeling a Bit Leftish’: The Post-Depression Years.” ‘A World-Proof Life’: Eleanor Dark, a Writer in Her Times, 1901-1985, UTS ePRESS, 2007, pp. 133–73. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1w36pcq.8. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.