48th Wedding Anniversary

 

Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. We had talked about going to a seafood restaurant in Fort Wayne, but we have been to that city so many times in the past month (and still more to come) for medical appointments and procedures that we decided to eat closer to home at Noa Noa Wood Grill in Warsaw. Though the food is a bit on the expensive side, the dress code allows casual items like jeans and shorts. However, I decided to dress up a bit.

We had a reservation for 6 p.m. We could not believe how full the parking lot was. The restaurant was mobbed for a Wednesday night. Turns out that because it is close to the Wagon Wheel Theater, people dine there before going to the show. Things emptied out some and got much quieter around 7 p.m.

I wanted the halibut, but they did not have halibut available tonight. So, I ended up with snapper. It had a mango sauce, but it did not taste like nor look like mango. It looked like brown gravy. It came with rice, summer vegetables, and a piece of grilled pineapple. I thought we would share a piece of Key lime pie, but my husband said he wanted us to each have our own.

It was delicious. It must have had coconut added into the graham cracker crust as well as toasted coconut on top. I was pretty full after the entree even though I did not eat all of the rice. I finished the pie. 

Just a smear of whipped cream, a few crumbs, and the lime garnish were all that remained. And happy memories of celebrating our 1977 wedding.

Sushiko Restaurant

 Today we ate at Sushiko restaurant on Detroit Street for the first time. This building has seen so many restaurants through the years; I hope this one is able to stay around. It has a pleasant setting.

The menu has several pages of suishi. My Bento box had 4 pieces of California roll; my husband ordered tuna rolls. He did not think that  they were very good. I gave him one of my rolls because I am not a big fan of suishi. He said it was better than the tuna.

I found the teriyaki chicken with dumplings good. It came with California rolls and fried rice. 

Tuna suishi roll with ginger and wasabi.

Shrimp dinner with vegetables that my husband ordered.

The restaurant is on the shore of Center Lake with an outside deck. Not very sunny as we are expecting rain this afternoon. The menu prices for lunch during the week (including Saturday) are quite a savings from the regular menu. We will have to come back on a nice weekday to eat and maybe sit on the deck.

Parasols hung from the ceiling make a colorful decor.

The suishi case at the entrance had a man making more.

There are steps to climb to reach the main entrance; maybe there is a ramp to the deck which would allow one to enter without steps? Not sure.

Saw one couple eating crab rangoon which were large and looked good. For the more adventurous, a variety of suishi. Our meals included salad or soup. We chose the egg drop soup which was tasty. 

Worth a second visit on a weekday.

Central Park Christmas Decorations

 We drove through Winona Lake's main drag and then over to Warsaw Central Park Tuesday night to see Christmas lights/decorations. Tuesday was supposed to be warmer than Wednesday would be, and a chance of rain ruled out Thursday and Friday.

At the Park I was so cold. After walking around 15-20 minutes in a biting wind, I returned to the car with a cold nose and face, cold fingers, and an earache. I had put on my winter coat, but I didn't have any head covering, and the gloves I wore were pretty thin with a coating on some of the fingers to enable one to use a cell phone. I tried to take pictures on my phone. My husband had a light jacket, no hat, and no gloves. We were not prepared.

 

You can see the county courthouse dome in the background. The park sits beside a small lake right next to the downtown area.

These trees next to the stage constantly changed color and pattern. There was Christmas music playing as we walked around.

The little blue sign said to keep on the walkways, but you can see not far ahead puddles which were slushy and not safe to navigate. Several areas were like that; we tried the grass a few times but it was soggy. We had no rain recently so I guess the water came from the watering/irrigation system. 

There were lights and figures throughout the whole park. Some of them were "animated" (made to look like there was movement).

On the weekends they have a hot cocoa booth open and sometimes carolers. We saw 2 other people walking around at about 8:30 p.m. It seemed like a good idea, but it sure had a cold outcome. 

Car Picnic

Our plan today was to drive to the public boat ramp on the east side of Chapman Lake, park our car, and eat our lunch. When we lived on the north side of Warsaw, a few times I parked here and walked through the neighborhood which is a mishmash of small old cottages and luxury lake homes. Today the lot was parked full of boats and boat trailers. I suppose people are getting their boats ready for the Memorial Day weekend. There are no public parks along the lake.

We drove north along the curvy road to Road 450 North and headed west toward Warsaw. We ended up at Lucerne Park on Pike Lake. Like Center Lake, there are no picnic tables set out. There were 3 metal benches along the shore, but with all of the recent rain, they were in 2-3 feet of water rather than on land. We ate the packed lunch we brought inside our car. It is mostly cloudy today though we saw some sun north of Chapman Lake. We had the Lucerne Park lot to ourselves. It was just nice to look at the lake and trees, to have a change of scenery. 

I am thankful to be able to see through the windows of my home or with a short walk or drive the beauty of the natural world.

This morning as I sat at the computer, a goldfinch landed on the edge of the patio next to the blooming cheddar pinks. The bright magenta flowers in contrast to the bright yellow was lovely. 

Sheltered

When the weather radio alert went off around 5 a.m. I turned it off and went back to sleep. I had heard the thunder and seen the lightning. I worried a bit about the new hanging basket I bought yesterday and the other two pots on the porch, but really what could I do about them. If I knew a big storm was coming through, I would have put them in the corner of the porch to protect them from wind; but though I knew rain was predicted, I had no idea the storm would be so severe.

When I got up around 7:15, I immediately went to the front door and peeked out. My plants were just as I had left them. I noticed my across-the-street neighbor's two pots had blown over. Otherwise everything seemed peaceful.

It turns out Grace Village is an exception in the town of Winona Lake. I went to Martin's to pick up a few grocery specials, driving on Highway 30. I guess I didn't notice the roof damage to the Economy Inn. Coming home from Owens was a different story. As I drove King's Highway in Winona, I noticed the side streets were blocked off with cones. The streets were full of limbs. Grace College also had a crew out gathering up branches and fallen limbs.

 I see on the internet news that the downtown of Warsaw has no power and the library and city offices are closed. The Warsaw school district also cancelled classes today because of power outages. The area across from the lake of Winona where there is a green space and park also has lots of limbs down and some trees snapped in two. God was gracious to our home and retirement community in light of what happened to others.

Warsaw First Friday

The first Friday of every month (except January) downtown Warsaw Indiana has a special event on the streets around the courthouse (or at nearby Central Park in December amid the Christmas decorations). The August event was a classic car show.

From well-known cars like corvettes and camaros to rarer models, there were over 100 cars in the show.

I'm not sure I've seen a Kaiser before. Interesting futuristic hood ornament.

I don't remember what the sign said this midget was.

There were some vintage early autos as well.

It looked like it would be such fun to hop into this car and take a ride through the country, the wind blowing across your face and in your hair.

Seeing the carburetor and air filter brought back memories of Big Bear where because of the high altitude thin air, we had to poke a stick in so the choke could get enough oxygen for the engine to start.

Most of the cars had signs asking browsers not to touch the car, but only one crude and rude sign. Seems to me if you didn't have clothes on you would leave more prints and smears, but I didn't give it a test run.

There were trucks and motor bikes and motorcycles besides cars.

Don't want the paperwork to blow away from your bike, do you?

You could see how autos have evolved thru the years; this hood seems to have gone extinct though. Maybe because not much room for anything or for anyone to reach parts.

At the same time as First Friday, there was a family festival going on over at Central Park. Lots of bounce houses and a big wheel race for the kids.

Glad it was last night and not tonight. Almost 90 outside and muggy this evening.

United States Navy Band Concert

This afternoon we attended a concert by the United States Navy Band at Warsaw High School Performing Arts Center. Free admission, but we did have to send away for tickets. This group is on its national tour. The band also marched and played at the presidential inauguration in January as well as other ceremonial venues.

Today there was a variety of music from a Sousa march to classical pieces, a song from the Disney movie The Incredibles to a vocal tribute to Barbra Streisand. An interesting piece was a song by Ryan George based on the beliefs of the Celts. He titled it An Ge Fhiain (The Wild Goose). When the Celts were introduced to Christianity, they did not relate to the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Instead they thought of the Spirit as a wild goose to be pursued and chased until He led us to "the thin places", the places where we meet God in transcendent ways and God speaks to us. The opening motif changes and transitions until at the end of the piece it breaks out in a jig, a dance of joy as we meet God.

Another way to "fill the well" though this time with buckets of stimulating music.