Wednesday, January 24, 2018

The Arches Wisdom Club

By Joann M. Ringelstetter

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Whenever Ruth and I are out photographing for the day, we are often in areas where there are no restrooms. Sometimes that means finding an outhouse somewhere, which wouldn’t be our first choice. So, whenever we get near a town or city, we often take the opportunity to find a restroom. Usually, it’s at a gas station, but sometimes we stop at McDonald’s.


A couple years ago, in the late afternoon, we stopped at a McDonald’s, went in and used the restroom, and then went back to the car. I started the car and, as Ruth and I were discussing where we would go next, the following conversation took place.


Ruth, motioning toward the building with her head: “Check that out.”

Joann: “Check what out?”

Ruth: “That.” And again, she motioned with her head to get me to notice that there were three older gentlemen sitting by the window in McDonald’s and they were all looking intently at us and having quite a discussion.

Joann: “What do you think they’re talking about?”

Ruth: “I think they’re trying to figure out what our license plate stands for.”

Joann: “That’s pretty cute.”

Ruth: “I think you should go in and explain it to them.”

Joann: “Really?”

Ruth: “Yeah, why not?”

Joann: “Okay, I’ll be right back.”


So I jumped out of the car and went in and introduced myself to the group. I asked them if they were wondering what “SHNPKR” stands for and they eagerly listened to me as I explained that it stands for Shunpiker, which is a person who avoids the turnpikes and travels the back roads. After quite a discussion about that, I asked them about their little group.


They happily explained that they call themselves “The Arches Wisdom Club” and they meet twice a day, at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. I asked them what kind of wisdom they share with each other. The gentleman who looked like he was the most senior member of the group said, “We’ll tell you who to vote for, who to pray for…” and then he laughed, while the rest of the club members smiled and nodded.


I was having a lot of fun talking to this group of “wise guys,” but I knew Ruth was probably thinking maybe she shouldn’t have sent me back in because we had places we wanted to explore yet that day. So I thanked them for the lively conversation and headed back to the car with a big smile on my face.

I’ll end this story with a little McDonald’s drive-thru humor from Hampton, Iowa.


Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!

Happy Shunpiking!
Joann

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Liverwurst, Anyone?

By Ruth A. Ringelstetter

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You probably have heard before that Joann and I eat out of our cooler whenever we can on our photography trips, whether they be for one day or our annual 10-day trips. Unless it’s raining cats and dogs, we eat out of the cooler.


Usually, any sandwiches we have are lettuce wraps, but we do make a couple of exceptions. One of those is for liverwurst sandwiches. We don’t exactly remember how often we had liverwurst, also known as Braunschweiger, when we were growing up, but we both love it. Maybe it’s our German heritage, or maybe it’s just fond memories of Sunday afternoon lunches of liverwurst or bologna sandwiches, but we consider it a treat.


We learned early on that for our 10-day trips, bread doesn’t travel well. Luckily, we can either find a healthy loaf at a big grocery store or, if we’re lucky, a fresh-baked loaf at a local bakery.


We’ve taken photography trips to Ohio many times, and twice we’ve stopped at Kennedy’s Bakery as we passed through Cambridge. They’ve been baking there for over 90 years, with the slogan, "Serving the Area with the Finest in Baked Goods Since 1925.”


On our first trip to Kennedy’s Bakery, we were anticipating liverwurst sandwiches for lunch. We picked out a fresh loaf of bread and went to the counter to pay. A smiling woman waited on us and as we chatted a little, she asked if we had plans for the bread. We excitedly told her we were looking forward to liverwurst sandwiches for lunch.


And then she made one of those faces people make. You know the face. It’s the “ewww!” face. She laughed, and then said that she hoped we enjoyed our lunch. She was kind enough not to say she thought we were wasting good bread.


We went a few blocks to the city park and made our lunch. These sandwich meals are our treat meals. Other people might have a pizza or burgers, but for us, its liverwurst sandwiches with a healthy version of our mom’s Ambrosia salad. What a treat!


Usually we buy grocery store liverwurst, but in the spring of 2017, we were going to more northern locations in Ohio, which included Amish country. And I had read about Troyer’s Trail Bologna, which has been made in Holmes County since 1912. When we stopped at an Amish store to pick some up, we discovered that they also had liverwurst in the butcher case. So, we got some of each. We also picked up a loaf of fresh, soft, sourdough bread.


And all of it was delicious! It was the best liverwurst and the best bologna we’ve ever had. We decided we would always look for local meat markets and bakeries if we could when we travel. Just one more thing to research. And I apologize if I made you make that “ewww!” face!

Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!

Happy Shunpiking!

Ruth