Buggies, Cheese Curds, and Chinese Lanterns

I was delighted to re-connect with my friend Zhiling for 24 hours while she trekked the Midwest on her family medicine residency interview trail. She and I worked together five years ago in AmeriCorps out in CA ... we had many fun adventures out west, so it was natural that the fun would continue in Iowa! We ate at two of my favorite Iowa City restaurants Graze and Hamburg Inn, toured the old Capitol, went shopping at neat boutiques and art galleries downtown, redecorated my living room, bought plastic plants at Wal-Mart on a Saturday night, and ate our way through nearby Kalona Amish country. Hence, the buggy-chasing, cheese curd-eating (not to mention frosted cookies, dried pears, and oat sesame sticks), and Chinese lantern-buying (and rugs and used shoes for Z!) references in the title of this piece. Bon voyage, Zhiling!


Ahh ... Hamburg Inn. One of the most famous haunts in all of Iowa City. Known for its electic atmosphere (including the current Bean Caucus) and well-known clientele (a.k.a. President Reagan), it is a favorite of mine for its delicious omelets and pie shakes.


Zhiling and the newly renovated Capitol!


Posing in front of the Capitol ... no double chins this time!


Poor Zhiling --- it was a day of her posing with random objects for my camera. This little paper we found in the Capitol gift shop.


Ready or not? Zhiling is prepared for hunting season!


Now it was my turn to pose ... we checked out the "Kalona mini-mall" after buying frosted turkeys at the bakery. This mall turned out to be a tiny computer store, a random rack of bizarre t-shirts, a couple paintings, and a few shelves of dusty school supplies on sale tucked way in the back. We heard a bluegrass band practicing as we approached the school section, and the banjo player stopped to tell us that they were rehearsing for church the next day and that most supplies and pictures (such as the ones we're holding) were on sale two for 75 cents ... not a bad price, if you ask me! The original price of both the photo entitled "Jesus is Coming Soon" I'm holding and the one Zhiling has ("Noah, Get in the Ark") was $1.59 each. Of course, the photos and the messages are both quite meaningful, but I had a good chuckle when I noticed that the artist's printer ran out of ink on my photo and left a streaked print in its wake!