My day in Bowling Green Ohio

Happy Wednesday everyone! Look at me, getting back into this blogging mojo! 

I mentioned on Sunday that I took a quick 24 hour trip to Bowling Green, Ohio. Rebecca auditioned for and was selected to be a part of Bowling Green State University's high school Falcon Chorale Festival. It was a one day workshop on Monday that culminated in a performance with BGSU's Collegiate Chorale. She had to be on campus to register at 8:30 AM. BGSU is 2 hours away from my house. That means we would have to leave no later than 6:15am and meaning we would have to get up around 5AM. Then I would have to figure out how to get the boys to school, etc. I decided instead to have the boys spend the night with my parents and have Rebecca and I go up to Bowling Green the night before. I invited my sister to come up with us as well. 

So last Sunday afternoon, I dropped the boys off and Rebecca and I headed up to Bowling Green. My sister was going to drive separately as she had to leave Monday night to head up to Avon Lake to meet with clients as she is interning as an art therapist as part of her requirements to finish up her Master's degree. We all arrived within 5 minutes of each other at the hotel. 

We decided to order dinner in and we got stuffed breadsticks from Campus Pollyeyes. 

They were recommended by several people, including Rebecca's high school choir director, and they did not disappoint. Their homemade ranch was to die for. It was so good. We enjoyed our stay at the Fairfield Inn which was right across from BGSU athletic arena. 

The next morning, after a well rested night of sleep, Rebecca and I took advantage of the breakfast bar and then headed over to campus to register her for the day. After making sure she was registered and getting my parking permit for campus, I headed back to the hotel. My sister and I chatted with her girlfriend and made plans for the day. We decided to head out to the Wood County Museum as a way to take up some of our day. 

This was an interesting museum in that it was the county poor farm. It was very interesting to read about living conditions and to see reasons people were committed, including the areas where they thought people were insane due to epilepsy. It really kind of felt haunted to me but so very interesting.

 

They also had an exhibit of wedding dresses from throughout the ages on display. 

Another exhibit that they have is one that is the story of Mary and Carl Bach, which is a story of domestic violence and the controversial preservation of evidence, including the cut off human fingers of Mary Bach. 

We didn't see a lot of the grounds as it was freezing outside but it was a very informational tour. 

After we left the museum, we decided to head to downtown Bowling Green and to visit some of the shops. One in particular I wanted to hit was "Ben's" as I wanted to take a picture of the sign to show my own Ben. It was a cool store full of lots of different things. 

We also stopped in a few more shops and I bought a Christmas ornament. 

We stopped for a late lunch at Easy Street Cafe, which was a hole in the wall diner that was really good. They had writings all over their brick walls and it was cool to see some of the things written.

 

After the yummy, late lunch, we headed over to Bowling Green's campus as I wanted to hit their bookstore to buy a t-shirt for Rebecca. Mary and I walked around campus and saw these delivery robots that were moving around campus. Apparently students and staff could order food and snacks from some of the different places on campus, and these robots would deliver them to them. Really cool.

 

After buying a shirt and a magnet for me at the bookstore, Mary and I went to Starbucks on campus and I got a peppermint mocha frappuccino. It was super yummy. We then headed over to the recital hall so that Mary could call Cecilia and I could call the boys before Rebecca's concert. I also admired some of the artwork in the hall. 

Then it was time for the concert. The 140 high school students who made up the choir sounded so good! It was a great experience for Rebecca. Her high school director made the 2 hour drive up to see her perform which was nice. 

Then it was time to head home. We said our goodbyes to Mary and headed home. First we stopped at a McDonalds to get something to drink and to get some fries for Rebecca and for me to make a goodnight phone call to the boys. They were spending the night with their father. Then it was time to hit the road and we got home at 11:02pm. We headed to bed as we had to rise early the next day for work and school.

Overall, it was a very nice little getaway. It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with my sister in a new to us place. If Rebecca does end up going to Bowling Green for college, I wouldn't complain.