A Mid-West Vacation: Part III

Last week, Andrea, Kellie and I visited South Bend, Indiana to visit Jessica Zekus, a friend and fellow alumna of Alfred University.  Currently, Jessica is a graduate student working to get her MFA and works with ceramic art.  Back in March of 2010, Andrea and I came to visit her, and this was Kellie’s first trip out to Indiana.  As we traveled, I did my best to blog and remember as many of the more notable details.  All the pictures in this installment are used with permission from Andrea.

Day 5: Friday, May 27, 2011 – A Beautiful Day Outside

With the rain gone, a perfect day of vacation laid before us.  But before starting our busy day, this would be a good time to mention the secret mission.  You see, throughout the entire week, Jessica's spectacular hospitality and generosity to the three of us was so unparalleled that we wanted to repay her.  So under the cover of "going for a run" Andrea and I borrowed Jessica's car (Kellie had secured her car keys the night before) while Kellie conversed with Jessica over a prolonged breakfast.  Knowing that Jessica was interested in buying a small external hard drive, Andrea and I bought her one and filled up her car with gas.  After some initial shock, confusion, and a made up story about finding it in the middle of the street, Jessica was gleeful and appreciative about her surprise.

Jess excited about having a backup for all her pictures.

After the surprises, it was off to the Potawatomi Zoo.  Grateful to have lived near a great zoo in Syracuse, I thought that the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend was just as impressive.  Apart from the typical exhibits, I was impressed by the number of animals that I saw for the first time, namely the camels, zebras, prairie dogs, kangaroos, wallabies, an anteater, a kuku bird, and a macaw.   In addition, I was fascinated with the Australian section they had, which actually put you in the exhibit and allowing you to be within an arms length of some of the braver animals.  And even though I had seen them in the past at other zoos, I thought their peacock and flamingo exhibit was good as well.

A goat inside his water bucket.  It wasn't really that hot outside.

 

Mrs. Camel on the left, Mr. Camel on the right.

Don't remember what this animal was, but the baby was cute.

The baby prairie dogs were very fuzzy and could easily fit
in your pocket!  Andrea wanted to bring one home.

 

With only an hour left before closing time, the four of us zipped over to the Shiojiri Nira, a Japanese strolling garden only a mile or two away from the zoo.  I was hoping it would have more flowers, but instead it was a landscaped area with traditional Asian trees.  So still a great take portraits, especially on the bridges and large rocks.  My favorite section was where someone had simulated a pebble dropping in a stream, except that the stream was composed of small white pebbles.  Like this...

Someone spent a lot of time to make it look so nice!

On our way back home from the zoo and garden, we decided to eat out for dinner. Last year, I was curious about eating at a Steak-n-Shake, and this year I got to try it out.  Though I loathe eating at greasy fast-food places, I thought I'd make an exception this time.  And I'm glad I did because it was quite tasty.  To get an idea of the place, think of a Johnny Rocket's (or any 60s or 70s burger joint) but a less selection and a specialty in unique steak burgers and milkshakes.

Dark chocolate, peach, strawberry and key lime.

Friday night concluded with a quick trip to the South Bend Chocolate Shoppe and one more night of (naturally) Sequence and ice cream.

Day 6: Saturday, May 28, 2011 – The Long Drive Home

I didn't mention it to Kellie, but I remember the trip back last year was miserable.  After having such a great time, driving back for all those long hours can be downright depressing.  Not this time.  It makes a difference when you have a third person with you to share more conversation and seat time with.  In fact, I thought the drive to Binghamton was as pleasant as the drive to Indiana.

Although it's not as amusing as the sign we saw as we were driving to Indiana, check out this beauty:

All of these are apparently legal for sale in Ohio!

For lunch, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel.  Andrea's family has a tradition of eating there on vacation so Kellie and I to followed her lead.  That meal (and some snacking) got us as all the way to Bath, NY where we were fortunate enough to join Kellie's family for their Memorial Day cookout.  After some brief picture showing and gift giving, the (relatively) short drive to Binghamton was quick and vacation officially declared over.