Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 4: Auburn, IN

When I was forming our itinerary, I planned for a day in Auburn (about half an hour away from Fort Wayne) because Wes mentioned that he wanted to visit the Auburn Cord Duesenberg automobile museum. Turns out that Kenny is originally from Auburn so he served as our tour guide, and we got to explore a little more than just the automobile museum. Auburn is even smaller than Fort Wayne so it made for a nice mid-morning trip. Sadly, we went on a Sunday and all the cute shops along Main Street were closed -- we still got to do a little window shopping, though.

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum is gigantic (much bigger than you'd think it is from looking at it from the street). There were so many cars on display (three levels worth!), I didn't think there would be that many since they are rare collectors' items.  The museum is actually housed in the factory that the cars were assembled in, with the original show room and offices in tact. There were a couple of extremely rare models on display. I don't know a lot about cars so this post will mostly be pictures.

I thought the older cars were a lot prettier than the "newer" ones (new as in circa 1960s). Their colors were so vibrant; I love the blues and greens. I also really liked the detailed hood ornaments. The "trunk" for the older models was a literal trunk strapped to the back of the car. Wes's favorite cars were the Cord 812 and the black Duesenberg Model J. My favorite was the green one in the smaller picture above (I didn't write down its name, which is terrible because Dominique gave me a small notebook and pen when she picked us up from the airport. She must have remembered that I used to journal all of my travels).

The second floor of the museum had a little art gallery that displayed Duesenberg advertisements and old car show posters. The museum still hosts an annual car show to this day. The 2019 poster is pictured on the top right of the collage. The museum had a car set up for visitors to climb in and take picture with. I asked a passerby to snap a picture of all of us and afterward, he told me & Wes to go to the other automobile museum next door, and to not miss the basement. We had some time to kill so we took his advice and went to the National Automotive & Truck Museum. Weirdly, he also approached Dominique & Kenny and asked if we were their parents 😲

The National Automotive & Truck Museum was a giant mess. We started in the toy & model car collection and wandered into the first showroom. I think it was supposed to be set up like a garage or service station. There were a lot of old gas pumps, which I thought looked neat. Then we ventured downstairs to the basement showroom. That was a disorganized mess of cars. It looked like everyone randomly drove their car in, parked and left. There was no pattern or path for my eye to follow. We walked around a bit and I think we saw everything but there's no telling.

There was one cool thing in the basement. An old RV that was for sale! I don't remember how much they were selling it for but if we went RV'ing, I would have totally bought it. LOL It looked so cute! There was a fully functioning kitchen (stove, sink, counter space) and a couple of cushioned benches. I think that was my favorite thing in the museum. I recommend visiting the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum, but you can skip the National Automotive & Truck one. Wes appreciated that the national museum showed a larger variety of cars but he preferred the Duesenberg museum as well.

For lunch, we went to Mad Anthony's Taproom. I got the Strawberry Tart (a fruity ale, very tasty) and Wes got the Harry Baals Irish Nitro Stout (Harry Baals was a former mayor of Fort Wayne). I wanted another fruity/citrus beer but they were out. We ordered Scooby Snacks (potato wedges with a cucumber & dill flavored Ranch dipping sauce) and house pork rinds for our appetizers. I got the falafel pita for my meal and it was really delicious. I'd say that Mad Anthony's was one of my favorite restaurants we went to.

I just realized that I never posted a picture of the guitar string ring I got from GearFest, so here you go.

After lunch, we went to Byler Lane Winery. We had a 6-wine tasting. I only really liked two or three of the six that I tried. They offered a margarita inspired wine that tasted exactly like lime and salt; it was not good. It wasn't my (or Wes's) favorite winery. The weather was great for meandering through the vineyards and lounging on the deck. It was nice to have a rest after all the walking around we've been doing. I wanted to stay for a proper nap but everyone else insisted that we move on. LOL

We drove through Amish country on our way out of town. We saw a bunch of horse drawn buggies (and tons of horse dung EVERYWHERE). We saw an Amish teenager with an iPhone. And several houses with solar panels. I guess they're moving away from the traditional Amish practices. Kenny took us to the Amish goods store but it wasn't open. Sunday really wasn't the best day to visit. Over all, we had a nice vacation, it was really relaxing -- probably because Fort Wayne was a tiny town (no traffic; no lines; no crowds!) My favorite part was getting to try all the local restaurants. We tried our best to avoid chain eateries. I'm not sure if Fort Wayne is exactly a "tourist destination" but I would definitely recommend GearFest. It is really informative if you're a musician and if you're not, you can still have a lot of fun as a fan. Since eating isn't really an event or attraction, I'd say that GearFest was my favorite part of the trip.

Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 3: GearFest

A few years ago, Dominique wrote to me telling me of her amazing weekend at GearFest. (Yes, we write letters to each other... gotta keep the lost art of penmanship alive!) She told me how she took numerous workshops taught by famous musicians, got to test out several instruments, met fellow rock n' roll lovers and had an overall good time at Sweetwater. She is a true metalhead. 💀 While I do not listen to heavy metal music, Wes does and I thought he would enjoy a music festival like GearFest. That's when we started planning our little vacation.

The thing I was most looking forward to - the photo opp in front of the wall of Marshall amps! LOL 

GearFest is a weekend dedicated to musicians. Sweetwater is one of the nation's top dealers for instruments and gear. Each summer, it opens its campus to thousands of musicians and fans. There are several vendors hawking recording equipment inside and outside. We wandered around the merchandise tents but didn't really try anything out and certainly didn't purchase anything. Well, I take that back... I bought a cute ring made from beads and guitar string. Recording artists (mostly touring musicians and session players) are brought in to give presentations and demo the merchandise. We (mostly Wes and Dominique because I was not familiar with a single name on the "famous guests" list) reviewed the schedule of presenters and decided to attend a few workshops each day.

Steve Vai

The first musician we saw was Steve Vai. He is a famous solo guitarist who is known for his seven stringed guitar and technical & creative playing. I wasn't familiar with his music but I became a fan as soon as he started performing. He is an amazing player and his music sounds new. We've all heard a bunch of guitar music throughout our lives but his compositions sounded unique; not like anything else I've heard. Sadly, he only played two songs and then sat down to an interview. I didn't understand a lot of the technical jargon and I think he was mostly promoting the Vai Module (some fancy piece of equipment). He did tell us about his line of guitars that has vials of his own blood swirled into the lacquer design. Which sounds gross but is probably a great collectible for a fan. Steve Vai was who Wes was looking forward to the most.

Nick Bowcott (he had all of this neat memorabilia displayed but started packing it up as soon as his clinic was over)

My favorite workshop was Nick Bowcott's. He played in Grim Reaper and is a music journalist. Dominique actually took guitar lessons from him for about a year. He played on a left-handed white striped Van Halen guitar that was specially made for him. I think the story was that Nick liked that style of guitar but someone famous had it so he didn't want to copy him but then that famous person died but before he died, he requested that a replica be made for Nick. Or something like that; it was really hard to hear in the room where the workshop was held. I wasn't exactly sure what his workshop was supposed to be about (he kind of just told stories and rambled on) but he was the only presenter we saw who wasn't trying to promote their merchandise. I think he just wanted to motivate people to play guitar and become rock stars. LOL He was surprisingly inspirational; he told us that hard work will surpass talent any day because a determined hard-working person who believes in their dream will achieve their goals much more likely than a talented lazy person or a hopeful person who isn't willing to put in the effort. At the end of it, I was clapping and chanting, "Amen, brother!" along with everyone else. His talk was inspired by Dimebag Darrell from the band Pantera. "Dime" was one of Nick's closest friends and when he passed in the early 2000s, Nick started giving workshops in his honor. For this presentation, Nick wore one of Dimebag's shirts and taught us some of his guitar technique. There was one technique that Nick wasn't very familiar with so he invited a woman named Courtney (who plays in an Iron Maiden cover band named The Iron Maidens) onto the stage to demonstrate. 

Michael Sweet

The musician Dominique was most looking forward to was Michael Sweet of the band, Stryper. A few of the presenters tried to be subtle when promoting their gear, but Michael had no problem advertising his guitar pedal box thing. It's some fancy piece of equipment that he helped design and a lot of the presets are inspired by his style of playing. I really don't even know exactly what it is and I had to listen to him talk about it for an hour. Ha ha ha! He also gave a very personal audience Q & A session. Stryper is a Christian heavy metal band so there were some fans who gave testimonies about how Michael's music literally saved them. It was a little awkward. Michael didn't play very many songs, which was how most of the workshops went (I expected there to be more music).

Eric Johnson

We also saw Eric Johnson (another solo guitarist). He was supposed to be giving a "special performance" but after a handful of songs, the concert turned into an audience Q &A session. It would have been an interesting interview but no one in the audience had access to a microphone so no one (including Eric) could fully understand the questions. I think he did his best to answer, though. I enjoyed GearFest alright but I really expected there to be a lot more demos and performances. Instead, the presenters were hired by Sweetwater to sell, sell, sell! Wes liked all of the talks on guitar tone and technique. 

The Sweetwater All-Stars on top; other GearFest highlights throughout

The supposed highlight of GearFest was the customer appreciation concert (I, personally, think the highlight was the rows and rows of food trucks 😂) The concert started with a young (aged 15 - 18) band of Sweetwater musicians named Bonsai. They are all currently taking lessons on the Sweetwater campus and they were really good. During the set change, I Believe in a Thing Called Love played on the loud speakers, which was exciting because that was the first song of the festival that I recognized and I was wearing my The Darkness concert t-shirt! The Sweetwater All-Stars played for the remainder of the concert. The all-stars are made up of several Sweetwater employees who are also really good musicians. Their CEO played the saxophone! Many of the presenters (including all of the ones mentioned in this blog) took turns playing a song with the all-stars. The concert was extremely efficient. The MC would announce a featured soloist, famous person would come out, play exactly one song, go off stage and the next one was announced. I think anywhere from 20 - 30 musicians came out to play during the two-hour concert. It was really fun! I love trying new things and am not afraid to jump into topics that I am unfamiliar with but I don't like heavy metal music nor do I play an instrument so I really expected GearFest to be for Wes and Dominique but I think, in the end, I enjoyed it as much as they did and am really glad we went. 

Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 2: Ft. Wayne, IN -- Where to go

Downtown had several murals and gardens throughout. 

With how much this blog post is being split up, you'd think Wes & I were on vacation for weeks but in fact, we were only in Indiana from a Thursday (arrived late at night) thru Monday (left mid-afternoon). Dominique just took us to A LOT of places. One of her and Kenny's favorite pastimes is hiking/walking so we did a ton of that all around town. Dominique told us that Fort Wayne is known for its nature trails and she is actually a certified Master Naturalist. She took us on a short hike through Matea Park. The park had several trails and we took the Raccoon Trail. While on the trail she showed us the Indiana state tree (Tulip Tree) and identified some other plants and animals (mostly insects but we also saw a tiny tree frog). Since the weather was amazing (about 78℉ - 80℉ each day we were there, slight breeze, no rain!), we went on a couple of other hikes.

We walked through Headwaters Park, which is a beautifully maintained park in the middle of downtown. It lead to the old historical fort that Fort Wayne is named after.  The fort looked like a huge campus with brick ovens, several lodges and a large plaza. The outer perimeter is always open but the gates have been closed all of the other times Dominique has visited. Luckily on the day we went, there were groups of school children going for educational tours so we just followed them in. The lodges had their windows propped open so we could look inside to get a glimpse of how the inhabitants lived.

Dominique also took us walking through Johnny Appleseed Park. Remember the Johnny Appleseed legend from grade school? He's kind of a big deal in Fort Wayne. We saw his grave site and many apple trees. There were some other random graves near his but we couldn't figure out who the belonged to. Probably just some regular townspeople.

OTHER THINGS TO DO AROUND TOWN -
       Castle Gallery (☆☆☆☆☆) - this was an amazing art gallery housed in a three-story home. The old neighborhoods in Fort Wayne are beautiful. We spent a day just driving around, looking at historic homes. On a neighborhood walk, we ran into a LuLaRoe consultant who was getting out of the direct marketing business. She was selling all of her inventory for crazy cheap ($3 leggings and $5 for all other clothing). Dominique & I did a little shopping while Wes patiently waited. LOL And around the corner was a gorgeous mansion -- the Castle Gallery! I would love to be neighbors with an art gallery. The Castle Gallery had mostly oil and water color paintings (my favorite!). The house, which is currently lived in by the gallery owners, was immaculately decorated and each room had so much personality -- art, furniture, antiques. There was so much there but it didn't feel cluttered. Our favorite room was the upstairs loft on the third floor. It was a little hectic on the day we visited because the owners just acquired some new art and were rearranging the decor. The women were still super nice and welcoming. Their cat, Stella, followed us around. Sadly, the gallery dog wasn't at home that afternoon.

       Fort Wayne Museum of Art (☆☆☆) - the museum was tiny. It looked fairly large from the outside but only the first floor was open. There are no permanent exhibits. There were five temporary/travelling exhibits on display. The only one that I enjoyed was Tim Tate's The Persistence of Visions. The artist glued ceramics onto a mirror and used light to manipulate depth perception. It was really cool.

The other exhibits showed lithographs, etchings and wood block panels. There was a photography exhibit by Imogene Cunningham. She is known for her black & white photography and her revolutionary interpretations of the human body. The other artist being shown was Marlene Rose with her Japanese glass art. We weren't too impressed with the museum but I guess we just showed up during the wrong travelling exhibits.

       Artlink (☆☆☆) - a small non-profit gallery for creative arts. It showed several different art mediums, from paintings to jewelry to the ballet (a rehearsal was happening but it wasn't a public one so we couldn't watch, but we did hear them stomping about). There was one thing there that I would have bought if I had $1,500 and space in my luggage. It was a rock covered in glass beads (the pink blob pictured above). An artist wrongly interpreted the story of the albatross (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) and it ruined the gallery for Wes. LOL
       Creative Women of the World (☆☆☆☆) - a cute little boutique in downtown. I liked that everything was handmade but I don't think many cultures/styles were represented. It was mostly beaded art. There was a nice variety of beaded products - a TON of jewelry, which is normal, but there was also some clothing, home decor and purses. I really wanted a souvenir from our vacation but I didn't see anything there that I wouldn't see at a local craft show in Oklahoma.

       PugFest (☆) - was a complete bust! 😒😑😔😩The event was held in the huge Fort Wayne Coliseum but the turnout was awful. I think there was at most ten pugs at the event. There were some other dog breeds, too, so probably a total of fifteen dogs present. There were a handful of vendors but they were mostly selling items for humans and not for dogs, which kind of sucked because I was really wanting to buy a souvenir for Sadie & Athena. We watched the pug costume contest (I wanted the "pugicorn" to win but he didn't), a pie eating contest (they ate whipped cream and the Chinese Crested dog won) and the talent show (turns out that pugs are not talented). The only good part was that all of the dog owners were very friendly and didn't mind me petting all of the dogs. There was a pug that coming back around to us for more and more cuddles!

       Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Chapel and Museum (☆☆☆☆☆) - the Gothic style cathedral was erected in the 1800s. I love going into cathedrals, so I insisted we take a peak inside even though Dominique & Wes aren't Catholic, and this one did not disappoint; the woodworking on the alter area is stunning. The baptismal font had glass "cut outs" so it looked as if the water was flowing out of it. The organ was beautiful. And there was a crypt but it was not open to the public. Otherwise, we wold have gone downstairs. We walked around the diocese grounds and viewed all three buildings since everything was open. The chapel had all limestone and/or marble walls and ceiling. The museum had some interested displays. I especially enjoyed the display of communion wafer making tools.

       Hampton Inn (☆☆☆☆☆) - simple and comfortable hotel. Sometimes that's better than the ritzy ones. We were barely "at home" so we didn't need anything too upscale. Our room was clean and furnished nicely. It actually looked like a cozy bedroom instead of a stale hotel room. The staff was really friendly. The check-in receptionist complimented Wes's eyes -- and not his hair!-- and she gave us lucky room #222. I wasn't sure why it was lucky. The hotel is right off the highway and near a lot of restaurants. Breakfast was a bit lacking but all the other amenities were good.

Wes & I enjoyed our vacation to Fort Wayne. It is a very small town so don't expect too many things to do around town. Besides visiting Dominique, we mostly went for GearFest. GearFest is a huge music festival hosted by the Sweetwater music gear & equipment company. More on that in next week's blog post.

Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 1: Ft. Wayne, IN -- Where to eat

Kenny and Dominique were wonderful hosts!

I've been wanting to take a trip that required airplane travel (even though I prefer the convenience of my own car) and overnight hotel stay for a while now and in late June, it finally happened!! Wes and I went to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see one of my old college roommates. Dominique & I met at OU and crossed paths during our study abroad semesters; then we were roommates for a bit when we returned to Oklahoma. She is one of my only friends from college that I still keep in touch with (we actually send each other post. LOL) I haven't seen her in probably ten years so I figured it was about time for a reunion.

Wes & I have never been to Indiana and we found Fort Wayne to be a charming town. I really liked the old neighborhoods and we both liked the style of their narrow multi-storied houses. I did not enjoy its roads and was relived that Dominique drove us around everywhere. There were "diverging diamond interchanges" that are supposed to be safer for traffic but they looked so confusing. And the roads curved and forked at every intersection without any warning. It's a pretty small town so I'm sure everyone else gets around just fine. The airport was a breeze to get through! It had a therapy dog (named Murphy) for passengers to pet after we got through the security check point, which was kind of hilarious because the Fort Wayne airport was literally the least stressful airport that I've ever been to. Fort Wayne is quite a bit smaller than Oklahoma City so we were able to see all of the sights in about a day and a half. I usually blog chronologically but I think I'm going to split this up categorically -- food, places to go and things to do.

Cindy's garbage breakfast (mine) and two egg plate (Wes's)

FOOD (the main reason why I travel) -
       Bagger Dave's (☆☆☆☆) - Wes & I arrived pretty late so there weren't that many dinner options for us when Dominique and Kenny picked us up from the airport. We decided on Bagger Dave's because they have all day happy hour on Thursdays and it was just a block or so away from our hotel. The restaurant is known for its hamburgers but I ordered the Twisted Mac n' Cheese, which was very cheesy and rich. It was macaroni and cheese with several difference cheeses and crumbled pretzel bits on top. Wes ordered a hamburger and said it was pretty good.
       Cindy's Diner (☆☆☆☆☆) - go on a weekday morning; there was no wait!! Cindy's Diner is a tiny retro diner in the middle of Downtown Fort Wayne. It's only open for breakfast and can seat a maximum of fifteen people at a time. It has been there, in its original building, since Fort Wayne had a Downtown. The restaurant is known for its "garbage", which is potatoes, onions, eggs, ham and cheese scrambled together into a loaf and served with toast and jelly. It was delicious. Coffee is served in vintage mugs, which added to the cozy vibe.
       Coney Island (☆☆) - we really lucked out on getting seated at restaurants. We never had a wait, even when we went during popular hours. Kenny absolutely loves Coney Island so I won't say anything bad about it but Wes & I didn't find anything special about their food; at least it was cheap and fast. The baked beans were sweet... like grotesquely sweet. I really think Coney Island is franchised because the restaurant was set up exactly like the one in Oklahoma City's Downtown and the hamburgers and hot dogs tasted the same, too.

       DeBrand Fine Chocolates (☆☆☆☆) - the chocolatiers were really nice and tours are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we went on a Friday so didn't get a tour). They have really unique flavor combinations. We all split three squares from their Connoisseur Collection: the Brazil (which tasted bland  and not chocolaty enough for me), Rosemary Citrus (my favorite; it was very tart) and Chai (Wes's favorite). There was so much to choose from! And a lot of it looked too pretty to eat.
       West Central Micro-creamery (☆☆☆☆☆) - the BEST ice cream that I've had in a while. The ice cream is made in small batches inside of a house-turned-creamery. They have rotating flavors; their upcoming ones are Blue Moon and Mint White Chocolate Chip. I was pretty upset those weren't on the current menu but I got the Vegan Lavender Lemon and it was amazing. It didn't taste like coconut or nut milk, which is the issue I usually have with vegan ice creams. I sampled the Strawberry Cheesecake and Pineapple Orange (which is what Wes got). They were really good, too. They have ice cream flights where you can get four tiny scoops of different flavors, which is what I should have gotten instead of a waffle cone. But, no regrets... it was so yummy!
       Rise & Roll Bakery (☆☆☆) - Dominique really wanted us to try this place; I thought their pastries were okay but not the best. I got the cheese danish (which was way too glazed and hard to eat), she got the pecan roll (I wish I had gotten that because it was actually really good) and Wes got the cinnamon caramel donut (dubbed "Amish crack"; I didn't like it, maybe because I'm not Amish. LOL). All orders come with a free small coffee and free refills, so that was nice.

       Sweet Monster (☆☆☆☆) - rolled ice cream doesn't necessarily taste any better than regular ice cream but it is certainly so much prettier! We shared the Peanut Butter Time, which was peanut butter flavored ice cream with Reese's and Nutter Butter on top. Kenny and Dominique got the strawberry shortcake.
       AA Poke (☆☆☆☆) - fairly average poke restaurant. Wes and I took an Uber there for a late dinner and the ingredients were still fresh. I got the salad with yellow tail and various toppings and Wes got the rice bowl with tuna and salmon.  My only complaint would be that the portions weren't very filling. An aside -- Fort Wayne is pretty small so the pool of Uber drivers isn't spectacular. The driver who took us to the restaurant smoked in her car and the one who took us back to our hotel drove recklessly. And weirdly enough, they were both named Brandy/Brandi.
       Firefly Coffee Shop (☆☆☆) - this place had a super awesome vibe but I thought the coffee was just so-so. I got the raspberries and cream iced latte; way too much raspberry syrup. I could barely taste the coffee. Wes got an iced coffee and said it tasted pretty average. The coffee shop had a really nice and large patio (a lot of the places we went to had patios but I didn't see very many dogs. Sad face). It was decorated with handmade artwork and had jewelry, art and decor made by local crafters for sale.

       Mahnin (☆☆☆☆) - Fort Wayne has a populous Burmese community and this is one of the most well known Burmese/Thai restaurants. This place is genuinely authentic. The staff was so friendly! I got the stir fried seafood over glass noodles and Wes got the Burmese fried noodles with pork. We both enjoyed our meals very much. Our meals came with traditional soup, which had a little too much ginger. I thought my meal was over peppered (too much black pepper) but I think that's how it was supposed to taste. This is one of Dominique's favorite restaurants.

       Conjure Coffee (☆☆☆☆☆) - another one of Dominique's favorites. We had a lot of coffee throughout our trip and this was my favorite spot. I got the iced mocha. It was served with a metal straw! The cafe had a hipster vibe but the staff was really nice (and not arrogant). I had the root vegetable hash with arugula and corned beef tongue for breakfast. It sounds crazy but was really good. I would definitely recommend it. Wes got the coconut strawberry oatmeal and enjoyed it. Everything was very filling and worth the price.

It probably sounds like all Wes & I did on this trip was eat but we actually did quite a bit of sightseeing. Dominique took us all over Downtown and we had a full trip. Dominique likes to get the most out of her vacations so she really jam packed our days with activities. I think we convinced her to take it easy but we still did quite a bit. Oh, you probably noticed our weird unicorn/mermaid figurines. Dominique and I traveled with/photographed My Little Ponies on adventures in college (before it was cool) so I had us go to Barnes & Noble for these Mermicornos. I still found it humorous but I think Dominique grew out of it. Next blog post will chronicle our touristy adventures!