Ho hum

So life has been pretty boring for me of late. A nasty head cold followed by a sprained ankle have had me feeling rather "ho hum." And, worst of all, have kept me off my scooter for almost three weeks now--needless to say, I'm getting a little stir crazy!

This lack of mobility has left me feeling rather sluggish on the creative side as well, but I did manage to get a piece finished (all be it a week late) in response to the creative challenge in the Etsy forums. My entry, some hot new stickers (pictured above), feature cayenne, purple haze, nectar, mint leaf and corn silk from the fall color chart.

My ankle is slowly getting better and I have high hopes for getting back in gear soon!

Mark Your Calendar!

Be sure to save a spot on your calendar for the UNusual Suspects Arts & Crafts Festival on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Bethesday, Md. Polly Scoots is excited to take part in this awesome show presented by the D.C. Craft Mafia.

Guess I better start making my "to do" list!

Postcard from the road: odds, ends and oddities

As our journey north began two weeks ago (and finished just a few days after that), I figure it's about time to wrap up this set of entries. Ryan has promised to provide a post about small displacement motorcycles available outside U.S., but in the meantime, I'll finish with some additional images from the road.

A grape squashing frog in North East, Pa.

Great stuff for your yard

A noble chief in Dunkirk, N.Y.Llamas at the Toronto Zoo

Warnings at the local church

Beautiful centerpieces at the reception

Public recycling options in downtown TorontoSage advise at Dunkirk

Postcard from the road: Toronto Scooter Shops

It's always a treat to visit a scooter shop when traveling someplace new. Sure, they usually have a lot of the things I'd find at home, but there's always something that I haven't seen before (and generally must have) and new scooterists to meet.

If you're in town, I highly recommend a visit to Motoretta (Vespa Toronto). The shop has two locations: we visited the one on College Street in the heart of Little Italy, not far from the University of Toronto. If you've visited the shops in the D.C. area, you'll understand Ryan's description of this great store: "it's a combination of Vespa Washington and The District Line." A number of great looking new Vespas were featured along with some hot classic bikes and loads of books, clothing and assorted merchandise for the scooter enthusiast.

For me, the decor was just perfect for a scooter shop. Scooter art lined the walls (some for sale and some not), memorabilia of all types was tucked onto the shelves and there was even a lighted display running along the front of the store detailing the history of Vespa. And merchandise wasn't limited to Vespa branded apparel. There were books on Lambrettas, general scooter tomes, and clothing lines from Fred Perry, Ben Sherman and Adidas.

Needless to say, we left with a bag of goodies (a Lambretta model, an awesome Adidas bag and a Motoretta t-shirt). Well worth the stop in!

After our visit to Motoretta, we spent an enjoyable afternoon exploring Kensington Market were we spotted these fun jackets (pictured below). I was already feeling a little guilty about overindulging on scooter stuff, so I resisted taking one home--put I did snap a picture!

One shop we didn't make it to, and didn't even know we were near, was Vespa Markham. During our visit to Toronto we stayed in a suburb about 20 miles north of downtown to be close to the wedding that was our real reason for the journey north. On our last night in town, we decided to visit Main Street in neighboring Markham, which looked to be lined with good places to eat. Low and behold it was also home to a scooter shop. Alas, we got there after closing, but still took a peak inside the windows--there's always next time!


note: travel log not posted in real time

Head to the shore!

Were I wish I could be this weekend!

Postcard from the road: ummmm, sandwiches

When I'm getting ready to hit the road (for business or pleasure), there are two things I generally research along with the usual lodging, transportation, blah, blah, blah. First, where's the nearest scooter shop and, second, will I be able to eat a sandwich from "the show."

And, by "the show" I mean the 2002 PBS documentary by Rick Sebak of WQED, "Sandwiches That You Will Like." In case you haven't seen it, this fun show explores the unique sandwiches available in various parts of the United States. I've seen the show several times and even bought the book which recaps everything, gives you recipes and includes some unseen tidbits from the show.

While we tucked a list Toronto area scooter shops in our trusty travel folder before leaving home, I must admit that I had not done my homework on local sandwiches--we were going to Canada after all and Toronto did not make "the show."

So, I couldn't have been happier when on day two of our journey north, after two disappointments (being unable to photograph the town with the unfortunate name of "Little Hope" and searching in vein for the historic lighthouse of Dunkirk), we sat down for lunch at a place specializing in wings and Ryan said, "they have Beef on weck."

Beef on weck (pictured above) is served in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The kummelweck (roll), kaiser like with pretzel salt and caraway seeds, is topped with slow-roasted rare roast beef and served with horseradish and, in our case, au jus. The roast been on our sandwich was quite tender and flavorful and the roll was yummy (although I'm not a fan of caraway seeds). All in all, I couldn't have been happier with this unexpected find on day two. And, happily enough, the restaurant manager was able to provide us with directions to the lighthouse at Dunkirk (more on this later).

As an added bonus, our explorations in downtown Toronto on Saturday took us to Chinatown and we enjoyed Banh mi sandwiches (pictured below), another favorite from "the show." We've had these yummy sandwiches, a Vietnamese baguette topped with a variety of good things, before, but not since moving from Northern Virginia more than a year ago.

note: travel log not posted in real time

Postcard from the road: Meadville, Pa.

We pulled into Meadville, Pa., at 10 p.m. our first night on the road. Our fun detour in Indiana had us looking for a hotel a little later in the day than was wise. After finding no room at any inn in Grove City, we called around and found a place up the road a ways in Meadville. We were happy to find the hotel in the dark, lug in our bags and crash.

The next morning we pulled out of the hotel looking for a gas station. As we approached the first traffic light, I pulled out the camera and started shooting pictures through the windshield of the amazing sight on our left. We pulled into the gas station across the street for a fill up and I still wasn't close enough. I had to get closer--it was a garden made entirely from road signs! Speed limit, adopt-a-highway, street signs, you name it. Some genius had turned these ordinary signs into a flowers--I was in love.

After a close up look (and more pictures) I knew we had to be on the road, so I finally jumped back in the car. As we drove by the front of the building next to the garden I saw that it was home to the Crawford County Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It was only as we continued to drive away that we saw the entire diorama made from road signs complete with a town hall and school bus.

If you every make your way to Meadville, Pa., be sure to take a look at these awesome works of art. Thanks to the power of the Internet, you can learn and see more about these Arts and Environment Initiatives on the organization's web site. Click on "Signs and Flowers" for more on what's pictured above and "Read Between the Signs" to see an amazing 1200' x 9' sculpture constructed from signs.

note: travel log not posted in real time

Postcard from the road: Toronto or bust, day 1

Not yet an hour into our trip North, we decided to ditch the directions--and the Pennsylvania turnpike. On this our first real vacation together in more than four years, we decided to avoid rush hour in Pittsburgh and take a more leisurely trip through the countryside. As an added bonus, we took a break in Indiana, Pa., home of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), our Alma mater.

I haven't been back to campus in more than seven years and my how things have changed. New buildings are up, others are gone and still others are in transition. We drove by our old apartments, Bruno's too (the scene of our first date), my old dorm (Ryan's has been leveled) and took a walk through the Oak Grove. To be honest, things look a mess and I don't envy students trying to walk from one end of campus to the other this fall. We'll have to come back in a year or two when this latest phase of construction is further along.

No trip to Western Pennsylvania is complete without a meal at Eat' n Park so we stopped in for a burger and some salad bar.

Roadside oddities on day one included: the "Lick n' putt" near the Butler County line, a burger man (pictured top) outside Kittanning, and large-scale roadside statuary in the shape of rhinos (one) and horses (three).

note: travel log not posted in real time

Quirky, creative fun

JewelStreet on Etsy makes some gorgeous jewelry (as you can see above) and hosts something really fun in the Etsy forums: the weekly Creative Challenge. Back in the fall I was participating fairly regularly, but things got hectic this spring and I petered out.

The heat at home (it was 90 degrees in our living room at 11 p.m. Saturday night) has left me pretty lethargic, but I finally got up off my keester and put something together that combines two recent creative challenges: Paris (#60) and the colors of the rainbow (Roy. G Biv, #61).

The result was this quirky bit of colorful fun: Gnomes and scooters and Paris on stickers, oh my!

Cheers!

I sure will be happy to see this week draw to a close. It's 90+ degrees in my house thanks to a busted AC unit. Since fall and cooler temperatures are a ways off, I'll be happy to see the repair man next week--even if his bill does make me cry. Here a a few items that might come in handy as you toast the end of your week. Cheers!

Destination: Annapolis

Looking for a fun place to scoot to in the Baltimore/DC area? There's nothing like a day trip to Annapolis. Instead of detailing all the touristy things to see and do (lots of web sites already do that well), I'll stick to the basics.

There are some nice tree-lined, moderately twisty roads in and around the area, making the ride there a pleasure. People watching along the docks is loads of fun. There are tons of places to grab yourself a good crab cake. And, most importantly, FREE SCOOTER PARKING at the city docks! Get yourself out there!