Fort Wayne Japanese Restaurant

 

Today I had a therapy session in Fort Wayne. My husband drove us there. There is a large lobby as you enter the building with a less busy section around the corner with comfortable chairs. Much quieter and less crowded than the PT waiting room. I finished early and decided to step over to this quiet lobby area to phone my husband. There he was! He had discovered this area also. He was starting to doze off. 

We had lunch at Asakusa Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar just north of Costco. We had eaten here once before but at least a year ago. 

There is a separate large menu for choosing sushi. You fill out an order on a paper left at the table which is taken to the bar so the sushi can be made fresh. We know very little about sushi other than California rolls; we did not order any. Instead, I ordered teriyaki chicken, and my husband ordered a bento box with tempura vegetables, Katsu chicken (panko crusted and fried), and shrimp. We knew our orders included rice, but we did not know broccoli and carrots were part of it. My teriyaki mentioned that the chicken would be on a bed of mushrooms, but my husband also ended up with mushrooms in his box.

The lunch orders included soup. The soup also had mushrooms. They must have a standing order for mushrooms from somebody.

When the waiter came to take away the empty soup bowls, he asked how we liked it. I told him I liked it very much and asked what it was called. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Clear soup". We joined him in a laugh. Now that I am home and look at the menu on the website, it does say clear soup; but it also describes it as fish-based broth with tempura crumbs, mushrooms, and green onions. 

The food was good, but like much Japanese restaurant food it was high in sodium. We were busy gulping down water. 

We ended our outing with a stop at Costco. Busy, busy, busy! We did snag a parking spot not too far from the entrance. I dozed off some in the car on the way home. Now, I do not need an afternoon nap. 

Fort Wayne Dining and Shopping

 

We wanted to pick up a few things at Trader Joe's at Jefferson Pointe in Fort Wayne. When the weather forecast looked nice, we decided to take the opportunity today. Starting Wednesday, we will have very cold days with some snow by the weekend. 

Near Trader Joe's is Biaggi's, an Italian restaurant. I had the butternut squash and walnut ravioli. I have ordered this before, but I had forgotten how wonderful the sauce is.

 We usually are not in Fort Wayne on a Sunday; this restaurant had its dinner menu instead of the weekday lunch menu. We were pleased to see that for the pasta dishes you can order a smaller portion. Not only were these $4 cheaper, but it turned out we had room for dessert.

The main item I wanted to find at Trader Joe's was the peppermint flat pretzels.

 I am co-hostessing the December 3rd Winona Literary Club meeting which means I and another lady will decorate the tables and provide refreshments. We hostesses will get together this Tuesday to firm up decisions. Lois has lots of nativity pieces from different countries we will use as the centerpieces. I had hoped to find some napkins with Merry Christmas in different languages, but I have struck out. 

The nuts are from Costco. I also bought some croissants for Thanksgiving sandwich snacks; and some reading glasses. In the past month the bottom frame of my glasses on the right has cracked and the lens fell out on two pairs. These Costco glasses which came in a package of 3 also are plastic; but on sale the price is about $6 a pair. 

Not much choice of color, but I usually wear my bifocals when not at home, and these plastic readers at home. I will see how they hold up.

When at Trader Joe's I bought some flowers. Now that I am home, I think maybe I should have bought the pot of narcissus. Unlike the plant I bought several years ago, this year the narcissus was in bloom (with some buds yet to open). I do not think my flowers will last as long as the narcissus would have.

When I did my grocery order this week, the chips I wanted to use on Thanksgiving were out of stock. I saw some tortilla chips at Trader Joe's and decided I would buy them instead of making a special trip to the grocery store this week. 

We will eat our main Thanksgiving meal at our retirement community dining room: turkey or ham, dressing, potatoes, 2 vegetables, cranberry salad, pumpkin or pecan pie. We are going to the 12 noon seating. 

Have a good Thanksgiving thanking God for His many blessings.

Sweet Breeze Boat in Fort Wayne

 

Yesterday we rode the Sweet Breeze canal-style boat on Saint Mary's River in downtown Fort Wayne. These tours are operated by the Parks and Recreation Department.

A narrator wearing a headset mic told about the bridges we went under and some history of the Miami Indians who had an important settlement called Kekionga along the banks of the river. 

I must confess I found the wooden chairs uncomfortable. There was a head (potty). Passengers were allowed to go out on the front of the boat in the fresh air. One father took his kids out there. The narration though interesting to me became a bit boring after 30 minutes. Kids' attention spans are short.

The first bridge we passed under was the Harrison Street Bridge on the east edge of Promenade Park. 

The dark "mud" you see on the overhang are actually swallow nests. 

Lots of people out on the river in kayaks and privately-owned boats. The kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards can be rented at the park. 

Headwaters Park adjoins Promenade. Once under Harrison Bridge, most of the landscape and bridges we saw are on the banks of Headwaters. I wish the narrator had talked about the Columbia Street Bridge as I would have liked to know who made the globe lights.

The Saint Mary's River joins the Saint Joseph River and then those waterways become part of the Maumee River. 

Significant buildings we passed were the water filtration plant and the replica wooden Old Fort.

Though it was not the largest settlement of the Miami tribe, Kekionga on the shore of the Saint Joseph was a central ruling village. Here important decisions were made. The Indians were involved in many wars against the white settlers (French, British, and American). Little Turtle was the admired war chief. 

William Wells who had been abducted by Indians from Kentucky as a teen ended up living among the Miami for several years. He married one of Little Turtle's daughters.  Her name was Sweet Breeze. 

Fort Wayne has done quite a bit of beautification of its bridges. The Martin Luther King bridge is pictured below.

Spy Run Bridge has been renamed or will be renamed Veterans Memorial Bridge. Current status not clear to me.

We parked on Harrison Street just south of Superior. On the weekends the metered parking is free. Across from our car was a mural on a building at the start of The Landing (a pedestrian shops/restaurants area). 

Since Kilwin's Ice Cream was about 2 blocks from our car, we indulged.

As we headed back to the car, we stopped to chat with a lady painting a picture on the cement above the storm drain. This is a project that Fort Wayne does from time to time to bring awareness to storm drain safety (not dumping stuff). The artist told us that special waterproof paint is used, then some kind of a varnish is applied so that the drawings will last at least two years. This was her first time to participate.

More Fresh Air (At Fort Wayne's Old Fort)

 Sunday we decided to participate in Fort Wayne's special event titled "Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown".

The sites included museums, churches, the botanical conservatory, the new Abraham Lincoln research center at the public library, children's museum Science Central (required reservations), the courthouse and other buildings with interesting interiors which offered self-guided tours.

We had never toured the Old Fort. I thought we would do that and maybe the War Memorial Coliseum.

We parked at the Headwaters Park and walked over to the Old Gas House restaurant. After a nice lunch, we headed toward the pedestrian bridge to cross the Saint Mary's River.

The fort is actually a replica of the 1815 fort which was the last of a succession of forts. It does not sit on the original site; the big apartment building in the background two photos above is where the 1815 fort had stood. 

For Sunday's special event various crafts were demonstrated and some of the people were dressed in period costumes (but not all from the 1815 era). 

The tinsmith had the various pieces to the candleholder light.

A blacksmith, woodwright, chair caner, and pewtersmith were located in the outer buildings, not directly inside the fort.

Inside the fort, a cooking demo, a display of games, a dulcimer player, leather stamper, demo of using flint to light a fire took place.

At 1 p.m. a cannon demonstration took place next to the river.

This gent had a contraption with a lighted wick that was used to ignite the wick placed down into the cannon itself. 

The man in the red coat is not British. He was a musician for the troops (bugler?) and also had the job to retrieve the wounded off of the battle field. I guess the red coat told the fighting troops that he was unarmed and not to be shot.

A French marine had a display outside the fort of his belongings. The French controlled the area for quite some time.

Families apparently participate. Two wives were sewing or knitting while their husbands practiced tinsmithing and making items from wood.

I didn't really get much of a feel for fort life, however. They do have guided tours sometimes, but not at this event. I don't think I would make an effort to take a tour as the fort is so small and not impressive. 

My husband suggested walking over to the downtown buildings offering events, but after being in 88 degree temps I just didn't feel like walking 8-10 blocks. It was not humid, but city centers tend to have even higher temperatures because the skyscrapers block the wind and the concrete reflects heat. He didn't want to try to find parking; he also nixed driving to the Coliseum. I agreed it was time to go home. So we ate the cookies we had bought at the fort bake sale and drank our bottled water sitting inside our car with the air conditioner running. 

I believe this event has taken place annually for several years (not last year). We will try to take in some other buildings another time.