photography

Arnies restaurant closes after 45 years serving Edmonds WA

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One of our favorite establishments we discovered during our visits to family in the Seattle area was a restaurant on the waterfront at Edmonds, Washington. Arnies restaurant had been in business for 45 years until the 22nd day of September of this year. That afternoon a sign was posted on the front door declaring that the restaurant was permanently closed.

Fresh fruit with Yogurt dip to start

Local TV FOX 13 broke the news. Several potential customers were seen driving to the restaurant just to be surprised by the written signage declaring that Arnies was now closed. An Arnies partner had been quoted as saying that “Unfortunately, the current business climate does not allow us to continue.”

Sparkling Mimosa (OJ also available)

Decadent warm sticky bun

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sher and I both really enjoyed all aspects of Arnies. The atmosphere in Arnies was friendly and had a high class feel to it. The Sunday Brunch was really our favorite offering. It started with a delightful fruit tray and a freshly baked cinnamon roll. The fresh OJ or Mimosa was also a great start.

This pic was taken the last time we ate at Arnies. Glad our daughter took this.

We are going to miss Arnies. Our trips back and forth to Seattle were always an adventure of one kind or another. Of course the highlights continue to be the time we get with our family, including sharing a meal prepared with care and with quality at Arnies. There are plenty of great restaurants in the Seattle area, but now Arnies is gone. We will always remember and cherish the good times we had at Arnies.

Stream Cliff Historic Farm is more than a winery

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Draw a triangle with Louisville, Indianapolis and Cincinnati as the points and in the center you’ll be close to the Stream Cliff Historic Farm near Commiskey, Indiana. We were surprised when we found this listing for a winery in south eastern Indiana that we had not seen before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The now famous heat wave of September was not enough to keep us from adding this new to us winery site to our travel agenda last Saturday. We packed some drinks and headed out in search of a new winery to see.

 

The Steam Cliff faculty is a beautiful farm with quite a fascinating history. This is a seventh generation family farm. The John Hunt Morgan Trail of the Civil War Confederate raid runs across the property. A barn from 1821 and a chapel dating to 1880 are memorable structures. History is a strong and vital part of the Stream Cliff property.

 

The farm has many different features. There is a full service restaurant that features herbs and edible flowers  from the farm. Freshly baked breads and delicious homemade deserts coupled with unique sandwiches and salads make for a wonderful culinary treat in the hills of southern Indiana. Mother’s Day celebrations are popular by reservation.

Several display gardens are laid out in clever use of quilt patterns. These are wonderful photo ops and ideas for your own gardens. In addition, there is a large nursery that is Indiana’s oldest herb farm. It specializes in culinary herbs and ornamental perennials and annuals. Some classes are also part of the nursery’s offerings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Winery of course was the main reason we made the trip. The winery offers a 5 sample “flight” with many of the on site made wines. Sher and I both had a 5 sample serving, which we were able to share and  let us sample 10 of the wines! We ended up purchasing two different wines, “Grandpa’s Blackberry” and “Captain Jack”. It was a most comfortable experience, and an enjoyable taste adventure.

Our hostess told us about about a holiday event that includes a full dinner and a walking tour of the property and the buildings. We are planning to go back and do this tour. Their website is www.StreamCliff.com

 

Snoqualmie Falls Washington

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One of the most popular attractions in the Seattle area is the Snoqualmie Falls, a 269 foot single drop waterfall. The falls are near the town of Snoqualmie, which also offers interesting attractions to tourists and locals alike.

View from the observation deck

The area became an active logging site in the 1870’s with logs actually floated over the falls. In 1889 a railroad was built, opening the logging trade further. The town of Snoqualmie was platted in 1889 as well, and by the 1890’s Charles Baker had constructed an underground hydroelectric plant at the falls. Some of the original generators still function today.

 

 

 

 

It is very easy to gain access to the falls. Free parking is available, and an easy walk on the pedestrian bridge leads to the concrete paths to observation decks. If you prefer, for $7.00 you can park next to the gift shop next to the observation decks.

Salish Lodge, note the wedding tent

Beautiful scenery from the observation deck

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Salish Lodge and Spa offers high end accommodations, spa, and dining. Many use the striking views as a place for weddings. It overlooks the river, the generating plant and the top of the falls.

The walk to the observation decks is easy with only a couple of places with widely spaced steps. There were quite a few people enjoying the sights, but we felt comfortable and not crowded. The layout was very nice, and all of the paved paths and safety fencing was kept in excellent condition. It is easy to see why Snoqualmie Falls is one of Washington state’s most popular scenic attractions.

Colonial is good Bread says the door

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Old advertisements have always been popular, it seems. Keep your eyes open and you never know when you’ll spot a piece of pure Americana.

The back of the oval sign says “Thank You”

We found a nice example of a vintage (pre 1958) functional advertisement in the form of a working wooden/screen door on the Whistle Stop Cafe in Osgood, Indiana.  The well worn metal cross piece proudly announces that “Colonial is good Bread”. Colonial Bread began in 1928 in Oklahoma City. The name was changed to Rainbo Bread in 1958 when the recipe was changed.

Complete Colonial Bread screen doors are bringing quite a lot on the online sites like eBay, Pinterest and Etsy. Just the signs without doors also command high prices. By the way, the meals are delicious and affordable at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

 

Oldenburg Indiana 1871 Sorrowful Mother Shrine

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Oldenburg Indiana is known for its rich religious history. Founded in 1837 by German settlers, it is known as the “Village of Spires” due to the multiple church steeples that make up the town’s skyline.

Located about a mile outside the town limits visitors will find the beautiful Sorrowful Mother Shrine, erected in 1871 by Siegfried Koehler, who had arrived in Oldenburg from Alsace, France in the late 1830’s.

The Altar

Prayer bench

 

 

 

 

 

The statue on the altar is actually a plaster cast of the original that Koehler brought with him on the ship from France. The original was found to be hand carved from black walnut, and now is in the Holy Family Catholic Church in Oldenburg to protect it from vandalism.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary

Seven Sorrows pictured

 

 

 

 

 

The shrine is found on a country road, and is in a beautiful setting. Trees, lawns and a stone bench ad to the ambience. While it can be locked, the shrine was open the day we visited. This is a Holy and Sacred place, and you can feel peace and serenity at the location of the shrine.

Old concrete fence posts dot rural Midwest country roads

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A 1915 Purdue University guide to concrete fence posts

Take a drive on most any rural Indiana road or some other Midwest states and it won’t be long until you spot some rather massive concrete pillars apparently serving no purpose. These are in fact old and now abandoned concrete fence posts. Decades and decades ago almost all farmsteads raised livestock, including work horses, thus strong “cattle and horse tight” fencing was an absolute necessity.

Constructing livestock fencing that is functional and remains functional year after year is a skill that farmers and ranchers had. One of the important parts of a good fence is the end post and/or corner posts. These posts anchor the wire fence that stretches along the length of the particular fence line. If the end and corner posts do not hold, the fence wire will sag and livestock will get out, causing quite the kerfuffle.

Remnants of fence wire is still wrapped around this post

White wing to the left of the post keeps the post from leaning from the tension of the fencing wires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former large entrance to a fancy farmstead

Old concrete fence posts can be seen alongside many roads in the country. Sometimes you can tell from the locations of these relics coupled with the position of mature trees where once stood an old house and barn yard. Some will be painted, others will be nearly covered with weed and bush growth. They do stand as a reminder of the days when all farm families raised livestock as a part of their livelihood.

Link to a 1915 Purdue University guide to concrete fence posts

 

 

Ancient tree stump at Smokey Point I-5 Rest Stop

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Usually interstate rest areas are straight forward: a truck and RV parking lot and a separate car parking lot. In between are the restrooms, vending machines and a scattering of picnic tables and a “pick up after your dog” park.

The Story

However, the Northbound I-5 Smokey Point Rest Stop at mile marker 207 north of Seattle has the above mentioned features (including an RV dump station) and a huge tree stump. Yes, it is a piece of local history. The story of this artifact is fairly well documented on the story board. The striking size of the stump is obvious in the photo.

The Stump

When I first saw this I thought that it was some kind of new picnic table shelter. Then I saw the story board. Strange but true are the things you find when traveling!

Travel US 40 the historic National Road

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Why they celebrated the new concrete paving!

One journey that is enjoyable is following portions of the Old National Road, aka US 40. It was built between 1811 and 1834 and was the first federally funded road in U.S. history. The whole route runs an approximately 820-mile-long path through Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Anyway, near Brownsville, Ohio, east of Columbus, you’ll find the Eagle’s Nest Monument. It was erected around 1916 after a 29 mile stretch of the then unimproved and often nearly impassable road was replaced with concrete. The stretch of highway ran from Zanesville to Hebron. The large granite rock has some great markings, including a primitive Conestoga wagon.

The Eagles Nest monument

Conestoga wagon etched into the granite

 

 

 

 

 

You are 220 miles from the start of the National Road in Cumberland, MD.

Get off the interstate and travel the Old National Road anywhere along the route in any state. The signage is excellent and easy to follow, and you won’t be bored!

A 1909 four-span stone arch bridge

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Ripley County in southern Indiana is a scenic land of rolling hills, wooded tracts interspersed with farming enterprises. Amongst the unique sites include a wonderful stone arch bridge just outside the tiny village of Friendship. This bridge was constructed in 1909 on the Olean Road where the road crosses Raccoon Creek.

From a distance

The approach to the bridge

Nearly perfect stonework

Side view of the stone work arches

The stonework on the four arches is really a stone mason’s dream. This bridge has spans over 20 feet. The deck is nearly 15 feet wide over the 103 foot length. Stone arch bridges were a very common design for many rural stream and river crossings. There are eleven still standing in Ripley County alone, according to records.

Raccoon Creek is typical of southern Indiana hill country drainage streams. Usually running, it can go dry in droughts. The bubbling sound of the passing of the water adds to the serenity of this environment.

Treat yourself to the best

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This barn’s Mail Pouch paint job is fading fast.

A Mail Pouch Barn is a barn with one or more sides painted with the slogan:

CHEW

MAIL POUCH

TOBACCO

TREAT YOURSELF TO THE BEST

Starting in 1890 the Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling West Virginia began offering farmers a bit of cash and a years supply of their Mail Pouch chewing tobacco in exchange for painting at least one side of their barn with their slogan. Even without the cash or product, a free coat of paint helps keep your barn siding protected, and this deal would look inviting.

The advertising campaign continued until the mid 1990’s. Over 20,000 barns in 22 Midwest and Southeastern states were painted during that 100+ year run. If you have any of these in your area or when you spot one while traveling, take a look. They won’t be around forever, and are an interesting slice of American rural history.