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While we had plans to explore some of the small towns and touristy things in the area, the misses was a bit tried so today will be spend around the area.The Dow Botanical Gardens fit the bill. A short drive from the hotel which was good in case she had enough early, we could get back to the hotel quickly so she could rest up.
As should be expected from a family garden created by the Dow (chemical) family. Which is about a $26 Billion Dollar company. The grounds takes up about 110 acres which includes a pond or 2, a few overlook bridges as well as kids gardens and so much more.
They do a very good job of labeling a the plants on display and they encourage folks to walk anywhere- they just ask that you are respectful of others and the grounds.
Ok so you get the idea, tons to see and appreciate. I’d say 2 or 3 months earlier in the year would have been a lot prettier but anytime is a good time
After this we went back to get ready for our special night. A (hopefully) great meal and evening celebrating our 45th Anniversary. This was hopefully going to happen at my choice of restaurants- a fair amount of research went into this. While there are a lot and I mean a lot of restaurants in the area, this one seemed to be the best choice. From making the reservations, to arriving, to being seated and everything else it was easy, pleasant and looking like the right choice.
I had requested that if possible could we be seated away from folks and any traffic- they did it.
Our waitress was very helpful, pleasant and attentive. She helped with recommendations on both appetizers and our meal choices. For an appetizer we went with fried raviolis-perfect choice. For our meals we went with veal on top of fresh ravioli for me and she had eggplant with fresh made spaghetti My plate was clean, as in nothing left on the plate clean, a rarity for me. She had one whole eggplant left and was stuffed, so the rest came back for us.
We proceeded to check out desserts and got a wonderful surprise
