A great end to our first U.S. tour in 2022/2023.
We decided to stay at a couple of Harvest Hosts on the way home, and Barb once again found the best two around for sure. They were both farms, one larger than the other. They both had multi-generational retired owners with children/grandchildren either living in the same home or very close by. Both men were incredibly fit for their age. Both were well off, with the second being very well off. Most important……they were all wonderful, kind, considerate people.
While travelling back north and to these last two locations for the final two nights, we did see an interesting sight on day 1, as well as had a great stop midday on day 2.
The first interesting, and sobering, sighting was the remains of some buildings after a series of tornadoes had hit Little Rock Arkansas just days before we passed through. The severe weather in that area made the top 3 list for number of tornadoes in a 24-hour period. Over 140. We are so blessed to have not been involved despite having been so close.
The next day we stopped at Blake’s. Not Blake Shelton, wouldn’t THAT have been a great story! But Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill in Armada Michigan, where a local farmer built a cider tasting room, two restaurants, and a great bakery with fresh donuts, fresh baked apple cinnamon bread, lots of fresh pies (we bought a strawberry/rhubarb pie along with an apple cinnamon loaf), lots of jams, salsas, and gifts. Quite lovely really. We decided to order some takeout and chose chicken wings and sautéed Brussel sprouts. While we were waiting we decided to start with chicken cordon blue egg rolls. They were OK, but we both decided that regular egg rolls were better. We also decided to walk around while we were waiting for our takeout. We thought why not try some cider, so off we went to the cider house. It looked open and in we went. Interestingly, as we stepped in, a few people turned from the bar and stared, then a few more, then everyone turned to stare. Weird……..so I said, “I know we look good”, to which the bartender said, “we are closed for a private event.” OK, there were a couple of guys who thought this was funny, but maybe put up a sign to say closed for private event???? Sheesh.
Here are some pics of the restaurant/bar and our spring rolls.
Wings came home with us and we had a delightful last night in the U.S. Our final task before crossing the border the next day was to get Jim a large bottle of vodka. Not sure if any of you have crossed the border into Canada around the Niagara area, but there is NO sign for duty free…….anywhere! When we got to the border crossing, Barb asked the guard where the duty free was as we hadn’t seen any signs, to which she replied “ ya…..there is no sign, you have to take the exit that says last exit in the U.S.”, good grief. Soooo Jim didn’t get his huge bottle of vodka, but a promise that next year we would “do better!”.
So now back in Canada, quickly getting back into the routine of life not on the road. There is still a lot to see/do and we are both looking forward to hitting the road down south once more in the fall.