Art in Leelanau County: An Alternative Day at the Beach

What a lovely day to paint! When my mom and I decided to spend an afternoon at the beach and we weren't playing volleyball. Have you ever painted a scene from your summer vacation?

This slope of land that juts into Good Harbor Bay is know as Whaleback, because the shape resembles a whale emerging from the water. I have photographed it many times and I knew that it would be a great landscape to paint.

Monet, I am not, but I did have fun trying my hand at the local landmark. I am going to mail this card out to Dan in Seattle. It's not wonderful, but it is definitely refrigerator-worthy.

City Series: Dallas: Bush Center: Cafe 43

What a way to spend the day!  Carol and I had a leisurely lunch at Cafe 43 (George W. Bush was the 43rd President!), the museum restaurant at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas.

I ordered an entree salad of tiger shrimp, quinoa, arugula and feta with a roasted lemon vinaigrette.  They had me at "roasted lemon." It sounded delicious and it married the flavors of the sweet shrimp and peppery arugula perfectly.

We had a lovely table by the window and enjoyed catching up in the bright and friendly restaurant.  As we were leaving, Carol bought some of Laura Bush's famous "Cowboy Cookies" for us to snack on.

Do you remember the famous "bake off" in Family Circle magazine between Mrs. Bush's Cowboy Cookies and Tipper Gores' Ginger Snaps during the 2000 Presidential campaign?  I do! I thought it was a really cute idea and think that Mrs. Bush's cookies could have won by name alone.  The cookie recipe is printed on the Cafe 43 card and was published with slight modification here in The Washington Post.

After lunch, we looked through the museum gift shop and I passed up my chance to get a really neat souvenir.  Then I drove back the next day to buy it. Have you ever done that?

The souvenir was a Christmas ornament with a photo of a cardinal painted by George W. Bush.  I kept thinking about it afterwards and not knowing if they had an online store, I took a sudden detour when I saw "SMU" on a highway exit.  I made my way back to the little parking lot, walked to the gift shop and got my ornament.    When I left, I showed the parking attendant my new treasure and he too thought it was worth the trip back.  He also told me to "say Hi" to Michigan for him.  Done!