Friday, June 23, 2017, Grand Rapids, MI

Day 43

The morning was spent at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. The Park included a very beautiful Japanese garden among others. The sculpture garden included one of our favorites, Claes Oldenburg. A special exhibit was the work of Ai Weiwei, a very interesting display of mostly porcelain art. An exception was his 3 part Lego display of “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn.” The afternoon was spent at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, a well done and very interesting display. It is pretty neat when presented with history that I can vividly recall happening during my lifetime. On second thought, that just means I’m getting old. Upon closing the museum at 5:00, we were standing right at the Brews, BBQ and Bourbons festival along the riverfront. Naturally we had to attend. I started with a Big Sky Moose Drool Brown Ale. After perusing the BBQ, I had a nice talk with Gary, the head guy at Stonewood Smokehouse. Of course, I happened to mention I am a KCBS judge. I could not refuse the offer of a free rib to give my opinion of his BBQ. Well, the opinion was delicious and we purchase a full rack to go for dinner back at the coach.