Out with the old, in with the new!

 I told you that as we were getting ready to leave last weekend, our refrigerator suddenly died!  We were able to find a new one and it was delivered shortly after we came home.

Here's our old one, pushed out of the way and ready to be taken by the delivery guys.  They sure don't last as long as they used to!

Here's the new one.  I really like having the freezer on the bottom.  It makes it easier to find things at eye level in the refrigerator.  This frig has a nice layout and lots of storage in the doors.  I hope it lasts awhile!

Historic Home Tour

 Today I'm going to share some pics of the home tour we went on. This is the longest running tour in the midwest and many people come to Marshall to join.  It isn't just houses and every year is different. We did lots of walking, all over the city on the first day.  The second day we drove to some of the places that were further out.

One of the first places we visited was the Honolulu House.  It was built in 1860. The man who built it had been an ambassador to Hawaii before it became a state.  He loved it and built a house to reflect Honolulu.

Here's some pictures to give you an idea of how it looked inside.  The most amazing thing about this house is that what looks like wallpaper is actually paint.  And not only are all the walls painted in detailed design - all the ceilings are too. It took 3 years for them to paint all the ceilings.

We toured this old church that was built in 1872.  Theyhad someone playing classical music on the organ when we went in.  It had beautiful stained glass throughout.

We walked down Mansion Street - which had lots of gorgeous houses.

Here are just a few of them.

We saw this carving which was carved in 1970 from one tree.  The tree was 250 years old.

Have you ever heard the saying "What the Sam Hill?"  Well, Sam Hill was an actual person and this was his house.  However, he was known for using terrible language and that's how that saying came to be.

Charming streets in the city as we walked.

This was one of our favorite houses to go through.  It was built in 1856 by the owner of the Stagecoach company that took people from Detroit to Chicago with a stop in Marshall. The inside had been completely restored and had beautiful old furniture in it, and even an antique organ.

This was an old school that is restored to look like it did when it was built, and it has all the old school items in it as well.  We went through another old school that had been renovated into a gorgeous home.  

This home was to be the Governors mansion.  It was expected that Marshall would be the state capitol.  However, at the last minute that changed and Lansing was chosen.

On Saturday Evening, there was a Civil War Ball.  There were quite a few people dancing in costumes, which looked quite hot! I loved seeing some of the young kids participating.

Look at those authentic costumes!

At night, the fountain across the street from our bed and breakfast was lit.  On this night they had luminaries lighting the walkways as well.  Such a pretty scene.

We enjoyed our little getaway!  If you ever have a chance to visit Marshall, I recommend it!

Marshall, Michigan

 I'm back from my little break. Because I just started my new job in December, I don't have much vacation time.  Bob and I usually take our vacation in September, so this year we just took a long weekend.
Before I tell you more, I need to share what happened before we left.  We planned to leave mid morning on Friday.  I was at work Thursday, when I got a message from Bob. He had left work and was not feeling well at all.  I was immediately concerned about covid when he gave me his symptoms, and thought this weekend might not happen.  I did a covid test on him when I got home and it was negative.  So we thought we would see what the morning brough.
He was feeling a little better in the morning, so we thought we were back on track.  However, suddenly there was a hot, smoky smell in the kitchen and then the refrigerator made a crackling sound and quit. 
We were thankful it happened while we were still home!  Thankfully we have a spare refrigerator in the garage, so we loaded everything into it and went to buy a new frig. 
Then we were off - a little later than expected, but still on our way.
We went to Marshall, Michigan which is said to be the most historic city in Michigan.  Marshall is a little over 1 1/2 hours from our house.

Every year they have a 2 day tour of historic homes and buildings.  We love history and old homes so we knew we would enjoy this.

We stayed in the National House Inn, which was built in 1835 and served as a stagecoach stop between Chicago and Detroit. It was a beautiful place, full of charm and history.

Across from the inn is a huge fountain with seating areas around it.

This was our room.

Here are a few other rooms that we got to a chance to see, each one different and each one named for someone important in Marshall's history.

This is the entry.  The fireplace and old wood floors were amazing.

This is the dining room.  We enjoyed some delicious breakfasts here.

There was even a pretty little garden with a sitting area.

This is now a little telephone nook, but it used to be a closet under the stairs.  But, behind the wall was a hidden area, where someone could look out through grates in the stairway, and see who might be coming in the door.  There was a trapdoor hidden in the floor that let to a secret room in the basement.  It was a way to hide runaway slaves and help them get to safety.  

Do you ever buy Win Schulers cheese?  Win Schuler was from Marshall and had a restaurant there.  My friend Bonnie had told me often how they enjoyed eating there, so we had supper there on our first night.  It was delicious.  This is how they served their famous meatball appetizers.

Tomorrow I'll share more about the home tour.