Detroit or Bust.....Friends Trump All!

You may be wondering why anyone would want to take a vacation to a city that has just declared bankruptcy.  Well, friends trump all.  Every year we make the sojourn to Florida to go on the Holistic Holiday at Sea, a vegan cruise that draws passengers from all over the world.  We join together in our love of macrobiotics and veganism to attend lectures by renowned speakers such as Colin Campbell, the China Study, Caldwell Esselstyn, known for helping Clinton get healthy, Neal Barnard, the head of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and others.  On this amazing cruise in the Caribbean, I have met fantastic people from all over, many of whom have beat cancer using macrobiotics and the plant based diet.  For the last several cruises KO and I have formed an unbreakable bond with macro travel friends from Akron, Ohio and Dearborn Heights, Michigan.  We have enjoyed vacations together to Hawaii, a North Carolina beach house, the Cleveland Film Festival, New Years Eve in Maryland and now the Ann Arbor Arts Festival, Detroit and Canada.

We begin this reunion of D14, Chi Master, The Dancer, KO and myself at the Ann Arbor Arts Festival on the grounds of my alma mater, the University of Michigan.  The festival is actually five art shows together and covers the entire town.  So, of course, we need refreshments before we begin.  Our first restaurant, and you know we are an eating bunch so there will be many, is called Jazzy Veggie.  We gorge ourselves on Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers, Couscous "Crab" cakes with remoulade sauce, Vegan Enchiladas filled with creamy beans and healthy vegetables and delish cherry and apple pie.

Tanked up and ready to spend the next eight hours walking the streets in 100 degree temperatures, we head out.  The art is amazing!  There is everything represented from stained glass oak doors, handsomely  crafted  pottery  bowls with crushed glass inlay, and brilliant watercolors to a whole section devoted to causes such as green living and charities.  I find a CD where,  in a second, the guy puts my grandson's name in and  it becomes a personalized tribute to MILO!  Another find is a water balloon contraption you hook up to a faucet and it turns into a powerful squirt apparatus.  We rest on the lawn of the University of Michigan where Chi Master treats us to his yogic expertise as he twists his body into positions no one else should attempt. Our stomachs are rumbling again so we head to Silvios, an organic pizzeria with vegan and gluten free options.  They grow their own herbs right inside the restaurant under bright lights!  We share a polenta fritta, sorrel and dandelion soup, vegan pizzas and colorful leafy greens salads.  I love traveling with this group because no one minds sharing and if you stick your fork in someone else's food, no problem.  Exhausted, hot and tired we head back to D14's house in Dearborn Heights. Perspiration records were beaten today.  Global warming is alive and well in Michigan!

D14, our host, is the most amazing tour guide.  He allows no grass to grow under your feet and we are on the move all the while!  Today, he starts with a drive through customs as we enter Canada.  We head toward Sarnia, Ontario, the kissing capital of Canada, and the beautiful lake country.  I have never been to a Great Lakes beach and Lake Huron does not disappoint.  The fresh water is clear and blue and so refreshing compared to our salty east coast beaches.  We had the whole place to ourselves and it was a welcome respite from the heat.  Of course, we found an excellent vegan restaurant nearby.  Organic Greens Cafe was a yummy find.  It is a cozy and colorful joint on the Main Street  of Sarnia, surrounded by a hippie tie dye store and vacant storefronts.  It turns out that this cafe is owned by some fellow cruisers and has only been opened a few months.  I am surprised to find such delicious vegan food in a town like this, but the Kale of Dreams soup is deliciously creamy without any dairy of course, and the peanut butter smoothies are decadent!  Caesar Salad is fortified with Romaine dressed in Cashew Dressing, toasted sunflower seeds, Tamari and apples.  I opt for a Japanese rice bowl with miso and bok Choy.  The display case is filled with homemade goodies we purchase for home.  After a walk around this ghost town we head home after another full day.

The last day D14 leads us to the amazing Eastern Market in downtown Detroit.  Blocks and blocks of stalls boast several vegan and organic growers alongside traditional fare. The berries are plentiful and we see the largest organic blackberries and red ruby strawberries.  We sample fresh raw chickpeas, tart pickled radishes, Avalon Bakery's sweet vegan cookies and other delicacies.  Everyone enjoys walking through the endless rows of produce and flea market goods.  Next we take a tour of areas of Detroit where the homes date back to the turn of the twentieth century.  Henry Ford's home built in 1908 and where he lived until 1915 is located in the Boston Edison area and we peek in at his lovely gardens.  Just a few blocks away we witness vacant buildings with every window broken.  D14 explains that the city has no money to repair these relics of the past and it is a sad site to see such abandonment.  

Our group tries two other restaurants that we enjoy.  Om Cafe in Ferndale  is our destination for brunch one morning.  They offer tofu scramble, miso soup, sushi rolls, and other macrobiotic choices.  Inn Seasons Cafe in Royal Oak is a dinner spot where we wait forty five minutes for a table.   I choose brown rice, black beans and veggies as I need a break from all this fussy food we have been having.  Others order excellent earthy mushroom soup, KO and D14 have baked spaghetti, Chi Master has enormous marinated shiitake mushrooms and the Dancer has fragrant pesto risotto.  The meals in the Detroit area have been most satisfying and who knew there were so many vegan choices here?

In Royal Oak we happen upon an Armenian festival.  As we stroll down the street and the sky darkens into evening, we hear lilting tunes and see a crowd gathered.  We are excited to see Armenian foods, crafts and fortune telling.  The Dancer and Chi Master show off their smooth ballroom dancing moves as we all look on. It is a magical end to our evening.

One of the highlights of the trip is a lavish brunch presented by D14's mom and aunt.  We have met them on the cruise as well.  Walking from D14's home to his mom's, around the corner, we are greeted fondly by many neighbors.  I am waiting for Ward and June Cleaver to invite us in as this reminds me of the neighborhoods of the 50s and is surely different from home.  When we arrive the table is laden with Zucchini Carrot Fritters, Raw Kale Salad with blueberry pomegranate dressing, Raw Beet Salad, German Chocolate Spelt Cupcakes, Raspberry Banana Cream Tart, and Peach Cobbler.  We sip on Fresh blueberry lemonade, Pomegranate lemon tea and ginger, lemon and mint infused water.  It is a feast to behold!  Caterers in their previous lives, these gifted woman have shifted their menus to meet their vegan lifestyles.  We chat into the afternoon until we must reluctantly  leave for the airport and our flight home.

Our four days spent in Detroit and environs has been a connection among kindred spirits.  The group of us enjoy sharing our love of the vegan way of life and having adventures together.  It is well worth it to go out of your way for friendship.  When you care about people it is crucial to make the time to keep them in your life.  My friend, Kelly, in Maryland and I have spent every Friday for the last twenty two years hanging out and having adventures.  It is important to us so we make it a priority and do not let other things get in the way of our special time together.  Be sure to make the important ones in your life a priority even when your every day responsibilities try to take over!

Next stop....Kushi Macrobiotic Summer Conference in Basking Ridge,  New Jersey.

Ambling Through Historic Annapolis

Ambling Through Historic Annapolis

For a wonderful journey back through time to colonial America, spend a day in Annapolis.  Located just an hour from suburban Maryland, Annapolis provides many diversions for a summer day.  We head over early on a Sunday morning to pay a visit to the dockside Farmers Market.  Yachts, speedboats, sailboats and kayaks ring the harbor as we walk toward the market.  Fresh colorful vegetables and crafts are offered here and though it is smaller than most markets the setting makes it charming.  We have brought a picnic lunch of bean salad and couscous, sweet and sour tempeh, greens and  twig tea and we sit on a bench near the water to eat.

Following the path along the water, we see many crowded seafood restaurants and adorable shops.  We have come to tour the William Paca House or the Hammond Harwood House where the docents give guided tours.  As we walk up the Pinkney Street along the aged brick walkway,  we spy the open door of the Hogsheads House.  Two ladies outfitted in floor length 1700s frocks greet us warmly.  Hogshead House was built in the early 1700s and then rebuilt in 1800.  The entrance way is filled with artifacts including a group of firearms, leather goods and implements made from hides and horns of animals.  The docent explains where the term " Lock, stock and barrel" comes from.  They are individual parts of the gun which can be replaced without purchasing a whole new firearm.  We learn about hard tack, flour, water and salt,  which hardens into a rock and then can be kept and later softened with tea or soup.  Tea for the wealthy was made from expensive tea leaves while the poor only got the dregs, tea compressed into a block.  Horns of animals were used to hold gunpowder that one could carry with himself until needed.  Horns were flattened by boiling them in vinegar and placed in molds to make spoons.  Beeswax was used to make cups airtight.  Hogheads are the barrels into which the cash crop tobacco was twisted for storage and transport.  Pipes of clay were used for smoking the tobacco and when done the ends were bitten off .

It is fascinating to hear all these stories and to learn about all the uses the colonial settlers found for what was in their environment.

Exhausted  from our free tour and our walk through the many narrow winding streets, we happen upon the Reynolds Tea Room.  It sits on Church Circle and has a lovely view down the steep street to the waterfront.  This dwelling was constructed in the year 1747 and owned by a hatter and dry good salesman.  It has been a home and bed and breakfast as well as a tavern for weary travelers.  There is a massive offering of teas here.  We choose from names like Angel Falls Mist, Gunpowder Green, Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose Festival, Hawaiian Lili'uokalani, and Yin Zhen Silver Needle.  It feels so relaxing to sit near a window , sipping our tea and sharing a warm golden raisin scone.  

Besides walking along the streets and touring the homes, Annapolis has many other activities.  You can take a boat ride and tour along the coastline or dine in one of the excellent restaurants that line the streets.  There are large parks to explore.  The State House offers tours where you can learn about Maryland's government and the Benjamin Banneker House details African American History.

How fortunate we are to have such rich opportunities for learning and spending our weekends so close to the Nations Capital.

Weekend Japanese Cultural Experience

Weekend Japanese Cultural Experience

I have been sick for a few days this week and what better way to cure my ills than to partake in some authentic Japanese Ramen, the answer to the standard chicken soup.  So we went on a quest for a true Japanese experience in good old Maryland this past weekend.  It was a challenge to find vegan Ramen, but we were up to the challenge!

KO and I started our day Saturday at the Kensington Farmers Market.  Nestled near the eclectic Antique Village, the Market included some delicious choices under the colorful multitude of tents next to the train station.  Homemade soaps and lotions made of healthy herbs and oils smelled heavenly. We sampled slivers of paisley colored fabrics that were filled with ice to keep you cool on a hot day.  Delectable fragrant scones and buttery croissants reminded us of our recent trip to Paris and England.   There were enormous barrels of pungent pickles and red, yellow and purple flowers beckoned us to enjoy their aromas.   Across the street, a building housed a wonderful selection of used books and I picked up The Secret Lives of Presidents, which interested me after viewing Hyde Park on Hudson, the story of FDR's love affairs right under the nose of Eleanor.

We capped off this part of our adventure with a lovely stroll through the turn of the century homes in Old Kensington.  One story is that when you bought a home here after the war, you got a Chevy along with it!  Every home is adorned with picture postcard gardens and it is a pleasure to walk back in time through this neighborhood.  In one of the antique stores we found an early 1900s wedding dress and an 1850s Chinese chair. It was fun to see what treasures we could discover there.

  

Our tummies were growling with hunger and the day had become humid and scorching so we ventured up to Wheaton to our first culinary experience, Ren's Ramen.  If you have been eating that cheap instant ramen in the packages found in every grocery store, than you are probably thinking that ramen is no big deal.  I was in for a real surprise.  KO had experienced ramen on his two journeys to Japan so he was seeking to recreate that experience.  The wavy Nishiyama noodles at Ren's are aged perfectly and sent here from Sapporo Hakkaido Japan.  The vegan ramen here is made in a seaweed broth, cooked overnight and onions, carrots, bean sprouts and cabbage complete the package.  We eagerly dug into our steaming bowls and were greeted with an almost buttery taste of wholesome broth and a kind of al dente noodle like none I had ever experienced before.  It was the perfect choice to sweat out any ailments you may have.  With less than twenty tables, the place was swimming with both Japanese and American clientele and the prices were very reasonable at eleven dollars for a large bowl of this amazing confection.

As we had planned a progressive meal where one has a different part of the meal at different restaurants, we headed to Tamari in Rockville to continue our Japanese experience.  First we stopped in at the Japanese grocery, Maruichi, located in the Talbot Shopping Center.  I had been searching for jinenjo, a wild yam which, when grated and eaten,  is supposed to promote strength and well being.  The store had this root vegetable along with many other interesting products.  We asked the proprietors what their favorite restaurant was and they said Niwano Hana,  so we scrapped our plans for Tamari and headed up the Pike.  We were greeted with the traditional Irasshaimase, which means welcome as we entered this quiet oasis in the Wintergreen Center.

Sushi chefs in their white hats and coats busily and meticulously prepared our vegan sushi as we listened to lilting Japanese melodies.  The sushi was fresh and flavorful. We topped our meal off with Yokan.

This is a type of dessert which is made with agar and Aduki beans, similar to jello, and was delectable and refreshing.  This food put us in the mood to complete our Japanese day by watching the movie, Ramen Girl, the story of an American girl in Japan who decides to find the secret of making real ramen and learns a great deal about life in the process. 

In the evening, we decided to work off some of this food with some more exercise.  At Kentlands  in Gaithersburg, on Friday and Saturday nights, there is a Tiki Bar next to the Diner.  It is here that the whole community comes out to hear bands play various genres of music.  This night Beggar's Tomb was on the bill.  Old and young came together to rock out to Grateful Dead tunes til late into the night.  Under the twinkling stars we danced with others clad in their tie dyes shirts and skirts, listening to music that took us back to our youth.  Nice to still be able to experience a small town feeling just ten miles from the DC line.

Hopefully Macro Adventure blog is giving you some ideas for how  to spend your weekends in this cosmopolitan area.  Please leave comments on the blog and join as a follower of the blog so we can all share ideas.  Until next weekend....

Keeping the Vacation Alive While Blazing Through Baltimore

Keeping the Vacation Alive While Blazing Through Baltimore

After returning from our European trip, we felt the expected letdown of the humdrum of everyday life.  I brought up this topic in my Spiritual Meetup and others mentioned that they too felt down after a wonderful vacation.  Our friends Charlie and Carolyn shared that they took a vacation day every week, right in their own town.   What a great idea, we thought.  We are fortunate to have Washington D.C., Baltimore, MD., Frederick MD., Alexandria, VA., Annapolis, MD., and many other places within a 45 minute ride of our home.  A little further is Richmond, VA. and Philadelphia, PA.  So I have decided to continue the macro adventures with jaunts to these places on the weekends.  Hopefully you will enjoy the trip with me.

Last weekend, KO and I got an early start and drove to the Fells Point area of Baltimore.  Fells Point was a shipping Mecca back in the day.  This area's shipbuilding supplied vessels for the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 and there are many seventeenth century buildings still standing along the cobblestone streets.  The Fells Point Farmers Market, every Saturday  is filled with brightly colored canopies and vendors selling homemade breads and pastries and fruits and vegetables. It is difficult to find organically grown produce and usually the farmer says that he is not certified but he does not spray.  I found some luscious blueberries and snap peas which I later made into a stir fry. 

Roaming  around the booths I could not help but picture what it would have been like here when, during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner as the British bombarded Fort McHenry nearby.

Our next stop was breakfast at One World Cafe, a vegan hotspot near the north campus of the stately Johns Hopkins University campus.  This eclectic restaurant offers zesty tofu scramble, sweet potato pancakes, vegan sausages and offerings for gluten free as well.  The overflowing
bakery case boasts vegan coconut cake, chocolate cake and tarts as well as non vegan options.  We also enjoy the Paper Moon Diner nearby with its walls covered with kitschy remembrances of childhood such as a pez dispenser collection, GI Joe miniatures and doll heads.  Their  menu is also vegan friendly.

We found a lovely park nearby and wandered down by a stream and under bridges.  It was quite warm but the shade of the umbrella of foliage kept us comfortable.  It was nice to find this refuge so close to the busy city streets.

Our next stop was the neighborhood made famous by John Waters's Hairspray.  Hampden Town, with its Cafe Hon and multitude of adorable shops and thrift stores is a real authentic find in Baltimore.

We were headed to Breathe Books, an independently owned book store which had recently opened a cafe which had vegan offerings on the menu.  On the way we passed funky shoe stores, a newly opened bakery and a chocolate shop.  At Breathe Books we scanned the titles downstairs and then went upstairs to peruse the sale books.  To my delight there was an entire bookshelf of items that were free.  I picked up a number of exciting books for a donation.  We sampled one of the vegan vegetable  tarts on the menu as I had made a donation to the startup of the cafe and was then offered a cost free item.  I try to support any independent entrepreneur that I can as I do not want to see them disappear as so many have in the shadow of Walmart.

There are many others ideas for a visit to Baltimore.  These  include the Water Taxi, which takes you from one site to another or is just nice to ride around on, and the Museum of Industry.  This museum celebrates Baltimore as a working man's town and traces its history as having the nation's first passenger railway, oldest gas company, and first traffic light.  Red Emma's Bookstore and Coffeehouse is an interesting find with books on worker ownership and democratic management.  The Inner Harbor has current shops and  a wonderful restaurants with a view of the waterfront and the big ships there.  Lexington Market dates to 1782 and it is a ball to walk around the stalls with food and flowers there and get a feel for the real people of Baltimore.  Other farmers markets are Waverly Market on Saturdays in a funky neighborhood with turn of the century homes and, on Sundays, the Baltimore Farmers Market and Bazaar at Holiday and Saratoga streets which includes crafts, foods and lots of atmosphere. Next to the market you can view the diner used in the movie Diner.

Baltimore is the home of the Natural Foods Expo as well.  A lovely place to stay is the 1840's Carrollton Inn.  It is located near Fells Point and Inner Harbor and includes a breakfast that can be macro and vegan.

So many options for a day trip can be found in Baltimore.   Next stop, Washington DC.