Thursday, April 23
Today, we had reservations for the lunch tour at Polymath Park. The park is home to two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces – Mantyla and Duncan, and two homes designed by his apprentice Peter Berndtston – Balter and Blum. We toured Balter, Duncan and Mantyla.
Some background: In the 1960’s, the Balter and Blum families from Pittsburgh, both entrepreneurs, retained Peter Berndtson to design two summer houses for them in the mountains. They purchased 130 acres of farmland in Westmoreland County, with views of the Chestnut Ridge Mountain and untouched forest. The Balter house was built in 1963 and the Blum house in 1965. The houses both have different settings although there are several similarities, including: the use of the stone harvested from the property for the fireplaces; the “Cherokee Red” dyed concrete used for the floors; large windows; and galley-style kitchens. The families enjoyed the houses and embraced nature and the refuge the houses and land provided for almost three decades.
In 2003, Tom and Heather Papinchak had the opportunity to purchase the Balter and Blum houses and the 130 acres, known as Polymath Park, with the purpose to preserve the Peter Berndston-designed homes and the land from potential development. In 2006, “Duncan” was relocated from Lisle, Illinois and was rebuilt in Polymath Park. “Mantyla,” originally located in Cloquet, Minnesota, followed in 2016, opening to the public in 2019. A bit of trivia for the Kassi family – “Mantyla” is Finnish for among the pines.
We started with lunch upon arrival at noon. A 3-course menu was served with baked ricotta cheese and fruit and bread for an appetizer, your choice of entree (salad / ravioli / tostada), and crème brûlée for dessert. The meal was fabulous – Markus had the shrimp Caesar salad and I had the ravioli (we shared both), and the service was incredible.
There were only four of us on the tour – two ladies (probably in their 70’s), who were self-proclaimed FLW fans, joined Markus and me. The tour was absolutely fascinating! We learned so much about the houses; the pictures do not do them justice!
After our tour, we stopped at the Highland Market to get dinner. The market is a small up-scale grocer right outside of Seven Springs Resort; not a huge selection, but they had pasta, sauce and meatballs – all that we needed for dinner tonight and tomorrow night.
Travel Distance / Time: 41 Miles : 4.75 Hours (Including Tour)
Friday, April 24
In keeping with the FLW theme of the area, we visited Kentuck Knob today (we had reservations for the 11:00 tour). Visitors are not permitted to take pictures inside, so I had to rely on a stock photo for a picture of the great room.
Our tour was 45 minutes in length and then we were free to roam the grounds and make our way down the mountain path to the visitors center. FYI, Kentuck Knob gets its name from an 18th century local legend where setler David Askins intended to move to Kentucky but stopped and settle on a hill in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, calling it “Little Kentuck.” The “knob” refers to the rounded hill or knoll upon which the home sits.
We left the property around 12:30 and after a brief stop in Somerset for wine, we were back at the townhouse before 2:30. We had chips and guacamole for a snack and I had a conference call with my partner for actuarial exam grading. Dinner was meatball sandwiches. We got a load of laundry done while listening to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game before calling it a night.
Travel Distance / Time: 80 Miles : 4.75 Hours (Including Tour)
Saturday, April 25
Check-out was 10:00 this morning; we were on the road to Hermitage a few minutes before that. We stopped for gas ($4.19 per gallon, which is the most we have paid on the trip) and got on the PA Turnpike, then hit I-79, and finally I-80. We were running ahead of schedule, so we stopped at the plaza, where I shopped in TJ Maxx and the Shoe Show, but didn’t buy anything.
We were scheduled to meet my cousin, Denise, and her husband, Tim at 1:30 at Hickory Grille. We were about 10 minutes early and they were already there. What a lovely lunch we had! It was great to catch up with family – it had been many years.
After lunch, we headed to Grove City and checked into our hotel. Then, Will and Sarah came by for a visit. It was so nice to see them and to get to spend some time together. We watched baseball for the rest of the evening, and headed to bed at 11:00.
Accommodation: Townplace Suites (2 Nights)
Travel Distance / Time: 142 Miles : 5.0 Hours (Including Lunch and Stops)
Sunday, April 26
It’s a girl! But, we are getting ahead of ourselves. We had a leisurely morning, before heading out around 1:30 to pick up Wendy for the Gender Reveal Party. After a brief stop at Walmart for a few things for Wendy, we arrived at Friendship Presbyterian Community Center in Slippery Rock at 4:00. There was pizza, sandwiches and chips to eat, which of course was followed by cake – with pink icing on the inside! I won an Applebee’s gift card for winning the baby version of Family Feud (guessing the most popular answers to baby related questions).
We dropped Wendy back at Meadow Creek and then visited with George and Courtney and the kids for awhile. It was almost 9:00 when we got back to the hotel. We were exhausted – it had been a long day!!
Monday, April 27
We checked out of the hotel at 11:00 and went to Blackout Burger Bar for an early lunch (we skipped breakfast). We shared the Blackout Melt with a side of Tomato Bisque Soup. The burger was good, but the soup was incredible!
Properly fortified for the day, our first stop was at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is about 20 miles outside of Cleveland. We visited the Beaver Marsh and Brandywine Falls and enjoyed the walks to each. There are numerous other sites, but, unfortunately, we didn’t have time for them today.
We left the park and drove the remaining 21 miles to our hotel. Valet parking was $50, but “event” parking (for the baseball game) in the garage across the street was $75, so we opted for valet! Our room was not ready at 4:00, when we arrived, so we sat in the lobby for 30 minutes. We schlepped all of our stuff to our room, and got on-line to get tickets for tonight’s game. We were somewhat surprised at how few tickets were available on the Guardians MLB site, so we went to the secondary market (Seat Geek) and found decent seats on the third base side for $30 each (and they were on the aisle!).
The ballpark was within walking distance of the hotel – actually only about 3 blocks – and we were in our seats a few minutes before first pitch. It was a good game – a bit of a pitchers’ duel – through the first 4 1/2 innings; the rest of the game was much more exciting with both teams scoring and the lead flip-flopping through the 8th. For dinner, we had tacos – one beef and one chicken, which we shared (the chicken was better). Wine was available in 125 ml boxes – pinot noir for Bonnie and chardonnay for Mark (there was only one red choice and one white choice – take it or leave it!).
We left the game in the middle of the 8th – unusual for us, as we normally stay until the end of the game, but it had been a long day. We returned to the hotel and stopped for a glass of wine in the bar (complementary, since we had to wait for our room); we decided to order a flatbread as well. We ate half of the food, and will have the other half for breakfast tomorrow. Cold “pizza” for breakfast is perfectly acceptable in our book!!
Accommodation: Hotel Indigo Cleveland
Travel Distance / Time: 132 Miles : 3.75 Hours (Including Stops)
Tuesday, April 28
After breakfast of leftover flatbread, we were on the road to Cincinnati at 10:00 this morning. It was pretty easy to get on I-71 south since it was only a few blocks from the hotel, and there was little traffic downtown. The route was straight down the interstate until the last mile. We stopped along the way for gas and a cup of coffee and arrived at the parking garage just after 2:30. By the time we found a decent parking space, left the garage, and found the condo (we initially walked in the exact opposite direction!), it was just before 3:00, which was check-in time. The condo is a loft conversion and we are on the top floor, thankfully there is an elevator! It’s really nice – it’s not that large, but it feels quite spacious with the high ceilings and exposed brick walls.
We had some chips and salsa for a snack and went out in search of food. We found Silverglades Deli just a block away, and got a turkey sandwich to share, as well as some chicken salad and quiche for tomorrow (or the next day). We returned to the loft, ate our sandwich, and scoped out tickets for tonight’s baseball game. The game starts at 6:40, so we had quite a bit of time to relax before walking to the ballpark. It was about 6 blocks / 0.6 miles away – took about 15 minutes; we were in our seats a few minutes before first pitch. Our seats weren’t as good as at last night’s game in Cleveland, but it’s about the experience at the ballpark, not the seat!
We watched the first four innings and decided to walk around so that we could overlook the river. We also took the opportunity to get a hotdog, a beer to share, and a hot fudge ice cream cup for dessert. It was 3-2-1 Tuesday at the park, which meant that beers were $3 a can, hotdogs were $2, and ice cream was $1 (choice of chocolate or strawberry sundae). Our entire meal was $9 – definitely the least amount we have ever spent at a major league park! The weather was gorgeous! We took our jackets, but didn’t need them – even for the walk back to the loft at 9:00.
Accommodation: Downtown Loft (2 Nights)
Travel Distance / Time: 248 Miles : 4.50 Hours (Including Stops)
Wednesday, April 29
It rained all morning, so we lazed around enjoying our coffee (Nespresso!) and eating our quiche breakfast (well 1/2 of it; the other 1/2 will be breakfast tomorrow). The weather improved around 2:00, so we decided to go check out Findlay Market. We took a Lyft because we knew that we had to pay for parking at the market – and we would have had to give up our primo spot in the parking garage! The stalls were not what I expected; I thought they would be more boutique-style shops, but they were mostly meat and seafood counters with a couple of deli stalls and one or two bakeries. Outside of the main market building, there was a small cafe called the Empanada’s Box, which specializes in – you guessed it – empanadas! Markus and I shared a Bordeaux (short rib beef, bell peppers, and onions) and a Miami (think Cuban sandwich – marinated pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard). They were excellent! In fact, they were so good that we bought 2 more of each (frozen) to bring back for tonight and/or tomorrow.
We got back to the loft a few minutes before 5:00 – just in time for happy hour! It’s definitely cooler today, even with the evening sunshine; so glad we went to the baseball game last night!