The Merry-Times

So, I finally made it back to the USA today, and I have to admit, I'm really grateful for that. But I had a wonderful few days in the Maritime Provinces beforehand.

Last Wednesday, I left Quebec City and drove to New Brunswick. To make the drive shorter than all-day, I drove to a small town called Miramichi. It's located on the Miramichi River, which apparently has amazing fishing, and some amazing local and provincial parks. I thought about staying in Miramichi to ride out Hurricane Earl, but two women at my hotel and my waitress at the restaurant where I ate supper all told me to go to Moncton, New Brunswick, instead. Moncton is larger, about 125,000 people, so there would be lots to do there, and it's closer to the other provinces. It's also on the backside of the Bay of Fundy, and so wouldn't take a direct hit from Earl. I decided to listen to them, and even though I'd never heard of Moncton, found a B&B to stay while I was there.

I left on Thursday for Moncton, after a morning hiking at the French Fort Park in Miramichi (which was really nice, BTW). The B&B was very cute; it's called the Wild Rose Inn. It's owned by a Chinese couple who had been living in Auckland, New Zealand, until they bought the inn about 5 months ago and moved to Canada. Anyway, when I arrived I took a long nap, and then I went out that night to see a movie. Ended up seeing Eat, Pray, Love against my better judgment. I wish I hadn't. I really liked the book, and the movie was a big disappointment for me. But it still was nice to see a movie; I hadn't seen one since I'd been in Portland in June.

On Friday, I went to the Hopewell Rocks. New Brunswick forms the western side of the Bay of Fundy, which has the highest tides in the world! The Hopewell Rocks are a famous site along the bay in New Brunswick. During low tide, you can walk among these amazing rocks which have been eroded by the high tides; during high tide, the ocean floor which you walked upon earlier is now 40 feet below the surface of the water, and you can kayak among the rocks! The rocks themselves are cool, too -- they have plants which grow on their tops, but they are each separated from the others, so they're called "flower pots". I wandered among the flower pots, looked out at the mud flats and at the water during low tide, and then had lunch at the park while I waited for the tide to come in.

A couple of hours later, I went to the salt flats at Demoiselles Beach, at the other end of the park. There were all kinds of cracks and crevices in the mud, indicating where there was water carving into the mud. I sat high on the beach for a couple more hours, and read and watched the tide come in. The crevices soon filled up with water, and then overflowed the entire flats, until the water came up almost to my feet! It was really cool. I could actually see the tide rising, it moved so quickly. I didn't stay until high tide, but even in the hour or so that I watched the tide rise, it definitely changed by at least 8-10 feet. Pretty amazing.

The following day was Hurricane Earl day. I decided to stay inside all day, and do some reading. So I took myself to a bookstore, bought a coffee, and hunkered down. I read for a long time, left and got some lunch at a fish & chips place, then actually went back to the bookstore and read some more. When I finally was sick of reading, I walked to the movie theater next door, and saw another movie, The Switch with Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. It was cute. After the movie, I went back to the B&B and went to bed early.

As everyone had predicted, Moncton didn't get anything serious from Earl. Nova Scotia did, though (200,000 homes had lost power), and so I was glad that I'd decided against going there for the weekend. But on Sunday morning, the weather was fabulous: clear, blue sky, 70 degrees, and breezy. So I left my B&B and drove to Prince Edward Island. And PEI is gorgeous! Farmhouses, manicured lawns, lots of dairy cattle, and vineyards inland, and then absolutely stunning coast with lighthouses and Victorian homes. No place on the island is more than 16km away from the coast (about 10 miles). I spent the afternoon on Sunday in Summerside. It was very windy that day, and I remember seeing a flock of seagulls trying to fly, but getting pushed around by the wind. So they hung out on the ground in a parking lot, waiting for the wind to die down. Every so often, a gull would take off and try to fly, get pushed backwards, and finally land back in the flock. It was pretty funny, and I watched them for a long time.

I left Summerside that afternoon and drove to Charlottetown, where I'd booked a hotel room. Charlottetown is the capital of PEI, and so I wandered around a bit that afternoon. It's really cute there, with lots of little shops and restaurants. There's a famous ice cream place there called Cows; Nimmi and I had eaten at the Cows in Banff when we were there. But the original is in PEI, and so I stopped in for an ice cream, then pretty much wandered through the town and then along the harbor. That night had dinner at a famous seafood place called Water Prince Snack Shop, and met another traveler there; she lives in Vancouver but is originally from Australia. It was nice to hang out with someone, and to compare travel notes.

Monday was Labor Day, and I decided to spend the morning walking along the Charlottetown boardwalk. It was gorgeous that day, very sunny and cool, and I walked for a long time, then sat on a bench on the boardwalk to read for a while. I didn't get much reading done -- an older couple sat next to me on the bench and started chatting with me. They are PEI'ers, although they are both Lebanese. The wife was born in Quebec City, and moved to PEI when she was 3; the husband moved from Lebanon to PEI when he was a teenager. They were very cute, and they insisted upon taking me around town to show me the sights, and then back to their house for coffee, which turned into a full-on Lebanese luncheon feast. Two of the husband's brothers showed up, as well, so it turned into a full family event! Lunch was great, but the best part of all was the grapes that we'd picked from their garden for dessert. They have a large backyard and greenhouse, and they have many grapevines of different varieties. Jean and Labeeb were so excited that they got to show me around their garden, and it was fun learning about everything they grow, and picking our grapes for our lunch.

Eventually, after I'd eaten my fill of goodies and drunk the coffee which started the entire event, it was time for me to leave for Halifax, Nova Scotia. I arrived there around suppertime, and I was pretty tired, so I just stayed in my hotel that night.

On Tuesday morning, I went to the Halifax Citadel. It was incredibly cool. Halifax was apparently always considered a key strategic location for British North America, and George Washington (among others) had planned on attacking it. The buildings currently standing are the 4th iteration of the citadel itself. After WWII, when military technology changed, the Citadel was no longer needed to protect the area, and so now it's a National Historic Monument. They have it decked out to look as it did in 1864, when cannons were the typical method of firepower, and when the soldiers wore kilts. It was incredibly cool, because all of the personnel at the Citadel are dressed in traditional Highland Regiment (Scottish) garb: argyle socks, kilt, red velvet jacket with brass buttons, and wire-cage bonnet covered with black ostrich and white vulture feathers. And unlike the American fife and drum units, they had bagpipers and drummers, so there was always music being played. It was really, really neat, actually. I got to see several different types of cannons being fired, learned about muskets and rifles and saw many of them fired, had a long conversation with a bagpiper and got to see the pipes in detail (i.e., disassembled), and walked the entire grounds including the main level, ramparts around the citadel, and the ditch which was meant to keep out invaders. I'd only planned to be there for 2 hours, but ended up spending almost 5 hours there! When I finally left, I went to the Halifax harborfront, and wandered around for a long time looking at all of the ships docked there and just glancing into all of the shops. I had dinner at Alexander Keith's brewery and tried his IPA, which was really tasty.

Finally, on Wednesday, I left Halifax and drove to St. John, New Brunswick. Unfortunately, it was raining and very foggy all day, so I really didn't see very much at all -- which is too bad, because I hear that St. John is gorgeous, as well. But I did try Keith's red ale that night with dinner, and it was really tasty, too, just like the IPA. I've never really had Keith's beer before....suddenly, I'm a fan!

Anyway, the Maritimes were really unbelieveably gorgeous and charismatic. I just wish I'd had a little more time to spend there, rather than running from place to place. But definitely, I'll return for a visit sometime in the future. PEI, especially, was too gorgeous to be believed.

Earl and Me

Hmmmm. This is supposed to be my weekend to visit the Maritime Provinces of Canada: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, there's a hurricane on the way. Earl is supposed to hit Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, tomorrow. It'll work its way up the East Coast, and will hit Nova Scotia on Saturday, right when I was supposed to be there. It may just be bad wind and rain, but could possibly be a Category I hurricane, as well.

Any bright ideas about where, and how, to spend a hurricane weekend?

Three Great Tastes

Okay, a brief interlude about food love. Yes, food love. For those of you who know me, the fact that I've tasted three new food items and decided to post a blog about it won't be a big surprise.

I left Montreal yesterday morning to spend a day in Quebec city, the capital of the province of Quebec. But I couldn't do it without tasting at least ONE of Montreal's culinary treasures. I decided on bagels, since I was leaving in the morning, and felt that a Montreal smoked meat sandwich would be a bit much for breakfast.

I went to Fairmont Bagels, which is an institution in Montreal. I was surprised; it's more like a teeny-tiny bakery with a tiny take-out window than the booming, 24-hour bagel place I was expecting. And it was super-hot in there with a huge wood-fired oven and no air conditioning.

Anyway, I ordered my test of a good bagel, pumpernickel. The bagel was smaller than I was used to in the States, and tasted differently, too. The texture was good, dense and chewy, but different than a New York bagel, since Montreal bagels are wood-fired. It also had an unusual sweet-sour flavor that I wasn't quite used to (apparently, Montreal bagels are boiled in honey-sweetened water before they're baked). But it was tasty, and I enjoyed it.

I made it to Quebec City that afternoon, and wondered around town for a while. It's super-cute there, like a European city, basically, with narrow cobblestone streets and lots of inns and cafes. But I was drawn to one with a big "Montreal smoked meat" sign out front (I'm such a sucker, aren't I?) I went into the restaurant, and it was a booming little coffee shop/sandwich shop. Anyway, I asked about the smoked meat, and the waitress said it was delicious, so I ordered it.

And she did NOT lie to me. That was one amazing sandwich. Rye bread, good dark mustard, spicy-salty-savory meat, and a French pickle on the side, along with some coleslaw and fresh-fried potato chips. It was food heaven.

Today, I left Quebec City and drove for 350 miles to make it to the Maritime Provinces (more on that later). But now that I'm on the Atlantic coast, seafood is the thing to eat. I went to a restaurant tonight that served it up in all manner of ways, but the waitress recommended the Lobster Roll.

Now, let me say this: I am Jewish, and so eating lobster is not something I've done a lot of. In fact, I've only had it once before, years ago, and then it was only to be polite. But since then, I've turned into a foodhound, and so I had a decision to make: avoid the bottom-feeder? Or take advantage of a culinary opportunity in its unique habitat? I thought about it for a few seconds, and then I decided to go with the Lobster Roll -- after all, this trip is both a journey and an adventure, and I figured I may as well suck the marrow out of it.

So, after eating a Jewish bagel and then Jewish smoked meat, I swung the pendulum 180 degrees and ate my first lobster roll. And it was outstanding. Sweet, creamy, delicate, on a fabulous buttered roll, served with coleslaw. It was amazing. I ate it as slowly as I could possibly manage, trying to savor it as much as possible.

So, there it is. In two days, I've had a Montreal bagel, Montreal-style smoked meat, and a lobster roll. Not great for the hips, but fabulous for the soul.

Montreal

Yesterday, I left Toronto and drove to Montreal. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about this portion of the trip; I'd heard that Montreal is not friendly, especially to those who don't speak French. But I arrived safely and in one piece, and the folks at the hotel were extremely friendly and helpful. I was tired last night, and so I had dinner nearby and worked on this blog some and read a book.

Today I decided to check out the town. I decided against a bus tour like I'd done in Toronto. Instead, there were two particular sites I decided to see: Old Montreal and the Botanical Gardens. I decided to go to Old Montreal first, and decided to take the subway to get there. I love the subway -- I have ever since I lived in NYC. But this subway was much more confusing than the subway in New York. Mostly, the signs are pretty nonexistent. So I'd find the station, which was clearly labled, take the stairs underground, and then suddenly, the only way to go was via another staircase back up to street level! Confused, I'd ask someone where the train was, and every time, it turned out I was going the right way, I just had to go up and down some more until I finally reached the actual station. Very strange.

Anyway, I made it to Old Montreal. It is beautiful, very European looking. I started out at the Basilica of Notre Dame. I love going to cathedrals -- they always amaze me with their beauty. And this one did not disappoint. The entire altar is carved, and is backlit with blue lighting, so it looks like it glows. The original name for Montreal was Ville Marie, or City of Mary -- and so there's a depiction of Mary at the very top of the altar, which I liked. In fact, the entire basilica intertwined typical Catholic iconography with historical depictions of the founding of Montreal. The basilica is also painted in 23 karat gold leaf, which adds to the glowing phenomenon. Apparently, the interior designer decided to do this because it lasts longer than paint (!), up to 80 years before needing maintenance. And a factoid: apparently one ounce of gold leaf will cover one square meter of space. Anyway, it was gorgeous. There's also a pipe organ at the back of the basilica which is quite impressive, too: it has 6992 individual pipes in it. It was originally water-powered by the St. Lawrence River, because it required more power than the traditional bellows could provide.

After touring the basilica, I was taken to the wedding chapel in the back. It was surprising, too: it's all wooden, and much, much less ornate than the basilica. It started out ornate, but much smaller and more intimate -- until 1978, when a fire burned half of it. The back of the chapel now remains ornately carved wood, but the front and ceiling is now contemporary light-colored, simple wooden paneling. Its simplicity is really nice actually, and goes well with the ornately carved back. But the most impressive part of this chapel is the bronze wall carving behind the altar. It's called "The March of Humanity", and is also very contemporary-looking. It depicts humans marching through three difficult periods of life, each represented by an arch: childhood, adulthood, and death. At the top, above the death-arch, is the Holy Trinity, depicted by the face of Jesus, the sun, and a dove. Were it not for the face of Jesus, it would have looked right at home in any modern synagogue!

Anyway, I left the Basilica and went walking. I saw the Montreal City Hall, several courthouses, and the Marche Bonsecours. I also walked along the harbor and looked over the water. Finally, I took myself to a nice, luxurious lunch on the plaza Jacques-Cartier. I had a cocktail, then had a crepe and an espresso.

When I left, I wandered over to another subway stop, got completely confused again trying to find the actual train, and then went uptown to the botanical gardens. I'd heard about these before, and was excited to see them. But first, I walked right past the Montreal Olympic Stadium from the 1976 Summer Games and snapped a few photos.

When I got to the gardens, I went first to the rose garden, then to the aquatic gardens, which I thought were very pretty -- basically, they were a set of partitioned fountains, each of which contained a different water plant. It was nice, and I loved listening to all of the fountains and waterfalls. But I couldn't stay too long, because I had a mission -- to see the Chinese and Japanese gardens.

I got to the Chinese gardens first. These gardens were ASSEMBLED IN CHINA, then disassembled and shipped to Montreal, and then reassembled onsite. Chinese workers came over to do the actual assembly. Pretty crazy. There were pavilions all over the place, stones assembled into a 9 meter-high mountain, a lake with a small island, and colorful statues depicting animals and people from the Ming Dynasty. It was very colorful, but a bit much for me, actually. I found it distracting.

After I left there, I walked through the First Nations gardens, which are typical of the forests and areas where the Canadian natives lived. It was very natural, basically a forest, and a nice change from the gaudy Chinese gardens, I thought. Once again, I was reminded how respectful the natives were, and are, of the natural land around them; instead of sculpting, they allow the land to just be. I also learned that they'd plant corn, squash, and beans together, and that all three plants grow better when they are grown together.

Finally, I made it to the Japanese garden. Like the Chinese garden, it was landscaped, and used stone and water in the hardscape. But this garden, designed by a Japanese landscape architect, was as simple and elegant as the Chinese garden was big and bold. Basically, it consisted of a few simple pavilions, surrounding a large koi pond. A waterfall was off to one side of the pond, and a lantern was on another side. The pond was curved, and all around it was landscaping of different heights and textures. Every single place I stood or sat provided an amazing view. It was simple and lovely, and very relaxing. I sat there for an hour and a half before I finally tore myself away. The only thing I didn't get to do was the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, which they hold in one of the pavilions; apparently, I need a reservation for that. Next time....

Anyway, I'm back in my hotel room now, safe and sound. I had a really nice day in Montreal. Like Toronto, it's a beautiful, vibrant city. And despite my fears, I found the people here to be very helpful and friendly. Yet another place for me to make a return visit someday.

Toronto and Niagara

I left Ann Arbor on Thursday afternoon, and I arrived in Toronto in the early evening. Back to Canada! This time around, I'm planning on continuing the drive eastward, all the way to the Atlantic coast. And for most of this trip, I'll be alone and motel-ing it, but for the Toronto portion, I had a host family. They are the parents of my friend Mark, a former resident of mine from Emory. Mark grew up in Toronto, and when I called him for recommendations of places to visit, he contacted his parents, who offered to host me while I was there.

Anyway, I met Guico and Lily that evening, and they are fantastic. They are originally from Lima, Peru, but moved to Toronto shortly after they married. We had a nice evening at their home, and Lily gave me lots and lots of recommendations of things to do and see while I was in town.

I actually took her up on one of the most unlikely ones: to do a double-decker tour bus trip through downtown Toronto! It was interesting, and I certainly saw lots of sights I would never have seen on my own, including a 19th century castle which was built for a private citizen, the old and new Toronto City Hall buildings, and the financial district. But several of the things I saw were really interesting to me, and influenced my entire day in downtown Toronto.

First of all, the bus took me directly to the Toronto harbor, which is directly on Lake Ontario (Great Lake #4 of my trip!). From there, I got off and took a boat to the Toronto Islands, which are immediately south of downtown. I spent a while wandering around the main island, which has gardens, fountains, bike and boat rentals, three beaches (one nude), and even an amusement park! But I wandered through the gardens and over to the shoreline. The lake was beautiful, calm and turquoise, and I just sat there for an hour looking out over the water and the occasional sailboat which flitted by. I could have stayed there all day.

Reluctantly, I got back on the boat and then went back to my tour bus. The next place we went was to the St. Lawrence Market district, which had a huge street festival going on that weekend, and we drove past the Distillery district, which was the old whiskey distillery that made whiskey to sell to the USA during Prohibition -- it's now been renovated and turned into shops, galleries, and restaurants.

When my tour finally ended around 3pm, I made the executive decision to go to the street festival. It was cool! It was called Busker Fest, and although I didn't know it before I came to Canada, a busker is a street performer. There were buskers from all over the world at this festival! I saw fire breathers, stunt men, a Japanese unicyclist on a 15 foot-high unicycle, lots of "statues" which moved when you got too close to them, clowns of all shapes and sizes, and trapeze artists and all kinds of acrobats. It was amazing, but expensive -- especially since I kept tipping all of the buskers as I watched their shows, and paid $30 to park!

After I left Busker Fest, I drove to the Distillery and wandered around there for a little while, as well, and I'm glad I did -- they did a fantastic job renovating it. The buildings are the same old buildings, and the streets are still cobblestone, but the shops and galleries are really cool. There was one gallery, in particular, which had something I'd never seen before: art made out of Rubik's Cubes. There were pictures of Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Marley, etc., and each of the "dots" of color on their faces was a pixel from a Rubik's Cube face. It was kitschy, but cool nonetheless.

That evening, I went back to Lily and Guico's house for Shabbat dinner, which was really nice. They had a friend over for dinner, too, and so the four of us had a great time together. The next morning, Lily had her housekeeper cook me breakfast (Lily wouldn't cook on Shabbat, but wanted me to eat something substantial), and then sent me off to see Niagara Falls.

I have to admit I had some trepidation about seeing the falls; they are supposed to be so....overdone with all of the touristy stuff. And it was, no doubt. But once I saw the falls themselves, I mostly forgot about all of that. The falls are just impressive. First of all, some facts:

1. There are two actual falls: the American falls, which are straight, and the Canadian falls, which are curved and area also called the "Horseshoe Falls".
2. The falls occur where water flows from Lake Erie (Great Lake #5 for this trip!) into Lake Ontario.
3. 34 MILLION gallons of water flow over the horseshoe falls every minute.
4. 16 people have tried to go over the falls in a wooden barrel; 5 of them have died.
5. One person has accidentally gone over the falls and survived; he was seven years old, and fell out of a boat that capsized. He was rescued by the Maid of the Mist. He is now a practicing minister in Detroit.

I ended up doing two "must dos" while I was there, and I was glad I did. The first was the "Journey Behind the Falls". It's basically a tunnel behind the (Canadian) falls themselves, with some places where you can look out and see the water. The first two lookouts were truly behind the waterfall, and you can't even see anything -- just a wall of roaring water. The next two lookouts were cooler; they are located just to the side of the falls, about halfway up. From there, if you look up you see the falling water; if you look down, you see the huge spray from the water as it lands in the lake below. It's very cool. From that perspective, the wall of water appears green.

The second was the Maid of the Mist, the boat which takes you close to both sets of waterfalls. The Maid of the Mist has run continuously since 1846. We passed the American falls first, which was nice, and then went over to the Canadian falls, at which point we turned the boat around to go back to the dock. When the boat turned, we literally got right up underneath the falls -- and we all got soaked!, poncho or no poncho.

After I dried off, I went back to my car and then went north a bit, through a LOT of wineries, to a town called Niagara-on-the-Lake. Lily had recommended it to me, and I'm so glad she did; it is completely different from the tourist hubbub at the falls. It's a little Victorian town, old and super-quaint. The main street is Queen Street, and it's lined with tea shops, bakeries, boutiques, inns, and restaurants. I wandered up and down until the shops started to close, and then I found a little restaurant and had a nice dinner before driving back to Toronto that night. It was lovely. I definitely would like to go back there someday for a long weekend.

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Lily and she showed me some of the art and Peruvian artifacts in their home -- they have quite a collection of pre-Columbian artifacts, and it was impressive to see, especially after appreciating the primitive style of the Eskimo art from Alaska. It was a wonderful couple of days in Toronto. I felt very badly about being so...active...on Shabbat when I was staying with a religious family, but they truly didn't seem to mind. Toronto is a beautiful city, and there is certainly lots to do and see there. It was great, pure and simple.

24 hours of Zing!

On Wednesday, after much consternation about not having been able to go earlier in the week, I finally made it to Ann Arbor. It had been so long since I'd been back there, and it was weird being back. I realized that I don't really know my way around the town anymore, and that I don't remember lots of the street names. But I was back in town with a laser-like mission: to eat lunch at Zingerman's, and to see how I felt being in the deli once again, after so many years.

Zingerman's is like nirvana to me; it's part New York-style delicatessen, part high-end gourmet food shop. And I've always felt that, despite my success in medicine, that my true passion lies within the food world -- and Zingerman's is my holy grail.

I arrived around 3pm, and walked into the shop for the first time in years. It looks the same: decorated tin roof, linoleum tile on the floors, crowded aisles with folks at the cheese counter, the bread counter, the sandwich counter, the cashiers' lanes, and the olive oil and vinegar tasting areas. Even at that late lunch hour, the place was packed. I didn't even need to look at the sandwich menu, because I'd been dreaming about my lunch for a long, long time: a nosher-sized #18 (Georgia Reuben, invented at that very deli) and an old (sour) pickle. I'm salivating now, just thinking about it.

I walked next door to the seating area, grabbed my drink, and waited not-too-patiently for my sandwich. When the server brought it to me, he said: "You know, that's my very favorite sandwich here." "Mine too!", I exclaimed. Sandwich love....what could be better? I was full after the first half, but there was no way for me to not eat every last, sweet-savory-buttery-crunchy-rye-filled bite. I was transported, via sandwich, through the microfiche of my memories: from the first time I'd had that particular sandwich when Julie was visiting, to the time when they accidentally gave me someone else's sandwich, which was NOT what I'd ordered but was delicious nonetheless, to many lunches with Slade talking about his latest escapades at the gay bar, to eating with Diann who always ordered just a salad while I gorged on grilled rye bread, Russian dressing, red cabbage coleslaw, Emmentaler swiss, and turkey. Truly, if ever there were a heaven for me, sitting at Zingerman's eating a Georgia Reuben would be it.

I looked around the specialty foods and cheeses for a long time. And then I saw it: an advertisement for an olive oil tasting class for that evening. I'd been trying to reach several friends in Ann Arbor for plans that evening, but hadn't reached anyone. So I decided to sign up for the class.

I went to the class that evening, and it was great. We tasted five different olive oils, and ate it in lots of different ways: pan de tomate, bruschetta, cheeses with olive oil and spices, several different salads, even olive oil cake. It was really interesting, and I enjoyed myself immensely. At the end of the class, I was speaking with one of my neighbors during the class, a woman named Lois who works for Zingerman's. I told her about my love of Zing, and that my dream would be to someday open a place as delicious, fun, and fantastic as Zingerman's Deli. And that's when she told me about the Partners' Group meeting the next morning.

See, Zingerman's is now made up of multiple different businesses:

Zingerman's Deli

Zingerman's Coffee Roasters

Zingerman's Bakehouse

Zingerman's Creamery

Zingerman's Mail Order

Zingerman's Roadhouse (farm-to-table restaurant)

ZingTrain (corporate training organization)

and each of these has several partners. Once a month, the partners get together for a meeting, and this meeting is open to the public. So Lois suggested I go, and meet the founders themselves. It took me about 5 seconds to decide that yes, I'd do whatever it took to be there.

So I went the next morning to the partners' meeting. Actually, one of the teachers from the olive oil class had made breakfast for us, which was quite good. And I learned a lot about how to run a well-organized meeting: they had a timekeeper to keep all comments and announcements in check, they had an agenda which was posted at the front of the room for everyone to see, the facilitator kept the meeting moving along, and everyone had a good time while staying very much on point.

During a short break, I introduced myself to the managing partners of the deli. I spoke for a while with one of them, and told him that I'd attended the meeting because I really love the Zingerman's concept, and that I had hoped to be able to open a restaurant/specialty foods shop someday. He asked me where, and I told him I'd been thinking of Austin, Texas. He liked that idea, but told me that if I wanted to open a restaurant, I should "go to Vegas, and put all of your money on Black 13." He told me that only 3% of restaurants turn a profit in the first 3 years, that margins are very low, and that it's generally a bad idea. He also recommended that I consider starting with a food cart, which has lower overhead and which forces you to focus. Overall, not terribly positive.

When the meeting was over, I also introduced myself to Paul Saginaw, one of the founders and co-owners of Zingerman's, along with Ari Weinzweig. Turns out, I'd been sitting next to him at the deli the day before; I'd noticed him, but just didn't know who he was! I complimented him on a business which literally makes my heart sing, and he was very gracious accepting the compliment. I only wish I'd had the chance to meet Ari, as well.

So here's the point of all of this: I was supposed to go to Ann Arbor on Monday or Tuesday, and then go back to Detroit that night. It didn't happen that way, which had initially made me frustrated. Instead, I went on Wednesday, and because of that, signed up for and attended the olive oil class, and because of that, learned about the meeting where I made lots of contacts of generous people who said they'd be willing to speak to me about the food industry and any ideas I have for business ventures of my own. Amazing. Seems like it happened the best way possible, actually....

Detroit Days

I arrived in Detroit on Saturday afternoon. This was to be a different stay in Detroit than I've ever had before. Since residency, whenever I've visited Detroit, I'd always stay with my friend Diann. But a couple of years ago, Diann moved to Charleston, South Carolina. So this time, I planned to stay with Tim, an old boyfriend turned good friend. He's married now, with three daughters, and several years ago he made me the godmother to his second child.

His wife, Rachel, had taken the kids up to the UP for the weekend, and so Saturday evening and most of Sunday, I had Tim to myself. Which was really nice. Now that everyone I know is married, it's rare for me to spend quality alone time with one of my friends, but that is the gift I was given that weekend. Tim and I went out for Mexican food and margaritas that night. Then we came back to his house, played video games, and watched Road House until late into the night. Not a highbrow night, for sure, but definitely fun.

On Sunday, we each slept late, then we got up and listened to music for a long time. Tim has always loved music, and over the years, he's introduced me to lots of bands I'd never listened to before. He made me a large iMix before I went on this trip, as well; you can find it on iTunes under "Emily's Traveling Medacine Show". Anyway, he played me lots of music, and we again caught up, laughing about funny things we had done years and years ago. That afternoon, I went to his neighbors' home for an 8 year-old's birthday party, and met one of Tim's oldest friends and his family. They were warm and welcoming, and I had a really nice time there.

I also got to see the coolest thing while I was there -- the father has spent the last 10 years completely rebuilding a 1934 Ford hot rod. And it is an absolute work of art. It's painted a black cherry color, with hand piping on the sides, beautiful leather upholstery, chrome trim on the inside, white-wall tires, and a greyhound headpiece on the front. It's absolutely stunning.

Rachel returned from Escanaba, and met up with us at the party with the kids. I couldn't believe it to see them -- the last time I'd been to Detroit, the middle daughter was an infant having her Christening -- now she's three years old. There are three of them: Olivia, almost 5; Lucy, 3; and Sara, 9 months. They're super-cute, and obviously love their Daddy very much, which was great to see.

On Monday, Rachel went to work for the day, and Tim and I took care of the kiddos. We watched Kung Fu Panda and Avatar, played video games, sang karaoke while Tim played the drums, wrestled, rode bikes, and drank lots of chocolate milk. I was reminded that it's pretty great to be a kid, I have to say.

The next day, I was originally supposed to go to Ann Arbor, but I had an appointment to take my car in for an oil change, and that ended up taking much longer than I had thought it would, so my plans were thwarted. Instead, Tim and I had another day with the kids while Rachel worked. She came home early, though, and that night, all of us went to a Tigers' game!

I haven't gone to a Detroit Tigers baseball game in many years. It was terrific fun for me. I loved being in the park, eating peanuts and singing and cheering, and the Tigers won, 9-1 over the Royals. But the most unexpected and pleasant surprise was that, sitting two rows in front of us, was Tim's brother Rob! Tim had told me that Rob was going to be at the game that night, with some clients from work. But Tim didn't know where Rob would be sitting. And we hadn't prepurchased tickets, either, but just bought random tickets at the gate. Our seats weren't all that good. We tried to see if we could find better seats that were just unoccupied, and completely randomly, the seats we picked out were two rows behind Rob and his clients! We realized it two innings into the game. Rob and Tim had lived together during my residency, and I got to know him well at that time. He's married now, too, and has three kids. But he's such a great guy, and it was really wonderful seeing him after such a long time. It made for a completely perfect evening for me.

Wednesday, Tim spent the morning making me some CDs to take on the journey, and then I left their home around 1pm for a day in Ann Arbor. It was a really nice few days in Detroit. It was wonderful to catch up with Tim and to get to know his children. The only imperfection in the trip was the fact that I hardly saw Rachel at all, other than for supper Monday night and at the game on Tuesday. But I I got to catch up with Tim AND had the chance to know his family, and I'm grateful for both of those opportunities.