Camp Kippewa - Monmouth, ME

After visiting friends in Boston, (see post below) I ventured north into Maine to visit friends that are working the summer at Camp Kippewa - an all-girls, residential camp near Augusta. It was nice to get into the cool woods after a hot and humid weekend in Beantown. The camp was recently purchased by a company called CampGroup from a husband and wife, who had owned the camp for about 50 years. Kippewa has experienced decreased enrollment over the past few years and CampGroup buys distressed camps in the hopes of reviving them.

The campers enjoy activities such as land sports, water sports, arts and crafts, theater and horseback riding. Nice place to spend a summer.

View of the camp from the lake front

Bunkhouses nestled in the trees

More bunkhouses

Overlooking Lake Cobbesseecontee (pron. cah-buh-see-CAHN-tee)

Lakeside bunkhouse

The Playhouse

Old water tower

Climbing wall

Arts and Crafts building

Freedom Trail - Boston, MA

Boston Common

On a recent road trip to Boston to visit the Ropers of Quincy, I and the Big Retarded Boy walked the 2.5 mile Freedom Trail in downtown Boston from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument. Below are pictures of some, but not all, of the stops on this historic walk. By the way, I think I like the term "burying ground" better than "cemetery." Your thoughts.

Massachusetts State House

Park Street Church

Granary Burying Ground

King's Chapel Burying Ground

King's Chapel

Old South Meeting House

Old State House

Faneuil Hall

Paul Revere House

Old North Church

Old North Church

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Bunker Hill Monument

FoJo Coffee Works - Fostoria, OH

We're close to finishing the coffee house side of the building. Our electrical and plumbing upgrades have been completed and soon we'll be buying the espresso maker and coffee brewing system. I have to say, considering what we started with, the place is looking great. Once we have our final electrical, plumbing and building inspections, then the county health department will inspect and give us the go-ahead to open for business. It's been an arduous process so far; more so than I expected, but I think it will pay off. I can honestly say that this is gonna be the coolest place in town to hang out. Please enjoy the following 8 min. 20 sec. video tour...

Put-In-Bay, OH

Put-In-Bay is a city on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. The island is accessed by boat, ferry or small plane. Once on the island, most people get around by foot, bike, scooter, taxi or golf cart. Others bring their cars or motorcycles across on the ferry. I took my truck across on Miller's Ferry, which leaves from Catawba Island.


The Rental - For the 3rd straight year, we rented the Chalet at the Bay. It's an A-frame house the sleeps 14. There's a huge yard with horseshoe pit, fire pit, volleyball net and grill. Two of the guys brought their cornhole sets with them. Our cornhole matches on Friday night got rained out and sent us inside for some spirited games of euchre. Once the rain stopped, it was downtown to the Barrel House for some drinks. A LOT of drinks. For those of you that I drunk dialed on Friday, my humblest apologies. On Saturday, we paired up into teams and made it through two double-elimination cornhole tournaments. I got destroyed in both of them.

The Chalet

Tallying the score

Cornhole consists of throwing bean bags with one hand and holding a drink with the other

The Battle of Lake Erie - Put-In-Bay was the site of a War of 1812 naval battle between the Americans and the Brits. The Americans were victorious under the command of Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry. A monument was erected on the island in his name.

View of Perry's Monument from downtown

A seawall near the monument

Kind of a bland monument, if you ask me

The Bar Scene - Put-In-Bay is known for it's active bar scene. In addition to the aforementioned Barrel House - which claims to have the world's longest bar - the Round House bar and Frosty Bar are island institutions.

Frosty Bar

Round House

A Tour of the Island - On Saturday evening, I drove around the island to see the sites.

A man and his goat

Catawba St. in downtown

Now how did this picture get in here?

Did not know this

The Doller House

The Crew's Nest - a private club

Do you really need anything else?

Crown Hill Cemetery

Old school farm implements

Put-In-Bay airport

Beautiful house near Perry's Monument

The marina

Gibraltar Island from South Bass Island

Holland, Michigan

After weeks of battling the gas company and the county building inspectors, I needed a break. I took a little road trip with my brother and his wife up to Holland, MI to take in a day at their famous Tulip Time festival. The downtown is peppered with tulips and there are citywide events such as a Tulip Trolley ride, carnival rides and wooden clog dancing. We had a great, sunny day in the low 70s and it was nice to get away.


Tulip Time -
















Hope College Architecture -









Other Random Architecture -










Veldheer Tulip Farm -









Bonus Feature - for those that viewed the entire post...