Discover St. Joseph

I like Mexican food, sometimes. I'm not much for strongly spiced food of any ethnicity but if the spices are subtle I can appreciate just about any ethnic flavors. So I went to El Cozumel with an open mind and hoped the food wouldn't be too spicy. D likes his food hot and spicy so he was hoping for just the opposite. I wasn't disappointed :-) El Cozumel is located at Hilltop Rd. and Lakeshore Drive in St. Joseph, overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan. It's a brightly painted building that harkens back to 1892. You can read the story of this former residence and it's inhabitants here . The weather was mild and even though there were threatening rain clouds overhead we took the gamble and ate outside on the patio. It has an outstanding view of the lake! I ordered a chicken taco and 2 chicken enchiladas. D ordered the Tbone Steak Rancheros. Here's what we got. We were also served a complimentary basket of nacho chips and salsa (mild). I enjoyed all my food. It was al...

I love going out to breakfast. In fact, it's my favorite meal of the day to eat out. There's just something about having that first meal of the day cooked for me that sets a mellow tone for the rest of the day. That's probably because weekends are when I tend to go out for breakfast and I like my weekends mellow when I can get them that way. Sophia's House of Pancakes is rather unassuming sitting as it does in a largely abandoned strip mall parking lot in Benton Harbor . It once was a Big Boy restaurant, the evidence is there in the rest rooms. But as soon as you enter and are greeted by not one but two gentlemen in suits/sport coats you know you're at an establishment that has a higher standard. Finding Sophia's was like finding a treasure chest and looking over the menu was like looking through a treasure chest. So many goodies... which to choose first? When D and I read on the menu that the omelets were made with 5 eggs and came with a side of 2 pancakes pl...

The first southwest Michigan winery we chose to visit was Karma Vista Vineyard in Coloma . Why did we choose this one? Corny as it sounds, the names of the wines are what intrigued us. Names like "Starry, Starry, White", "Pink Side of the Moon", and "Stone Temple Pinot" sounded just charming! Coloma is just 16 miles from St. Joseph which amounted to a 20 minute drive for us. We were there in no time. It's in the heart of Michigan's "fruit belt" where apples, grapes, peaches, and other tasty fruits grow in abundance and glory. As I recall, I've only visited one winery before and that was the Beringer Vineyard in the Napa Valley of California. I guess my expectations for Karma Vista were a bit high given that Beringer's was my source of reference. Not that I was expecting anything on that scale mind you, but I was expecting an actual tour of the vineyards and the wine making process. That didn't happen at Karma Vista. Visiting...

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in St. Joseph, Michigan! Mother nature gave us lovely weather... sunny and highs in the low to mid 70s. I don't know that it's reasonable to expect 3 days in a row in late May to be any better than that. :-) This was our first non-work weekend. Up until now, we've spent every weekend working on the condo. We managed to get the ceilings and every room on the main floor (5) painted, installed a new toilet in the 1/2 bath, replaced the garage door opener, had new countertops, sink and faucet installed, painted the master bedroom, got all new kitchen appliances installed, bought some new furniture and moved a houseful of our old furniture in, and did a LOT of cleaning. All that in just 10 weekends! The last 3 months have been very intense. We were focused and didn't allow ourselves to get distracted by exploring the city and surrounding area. As a consequence, this weekend was our first chance to really relax and enjoy St. Joseph. We ...