Jennifer at the local post office has been so helpful every time I have to go overseas for work. I…read moreappreciate her always wanting to work with me with holding mail for extended periods.

I became very angry this past week when I dropped off 2 packages at the Manchester Post Office. I…read morewas treated very badly with passive aggressive behavior from a male postal worker in customer service. If you have a choice of where to ship your mail and packages, I would avoid going to this post office, if you want to have a pleasant experience!

At the roundabout where Kalamazoo Avenue meets Michigan Avenue, which is at the western end of the…read moremain street of Marshall, is this pretty fountain. It's May, so the water is drained, but I'm sure it will start looking great in the next couple of weeks. There is a historical marker nearby that provides some history. It reads: "In October 1929, Marshall's mayor, Harold C. Brooks, announced his gift to the city of an 'electric fountain' in memory of his late father, Charles E. Brooks. Architect Howard F. Young, landscape engineer Herman Swanson, and engineers from General Electric collaborated on the design. At its dedication, on April 26, 1930, some seven thousand people applauded with 'exclamations of surprise' and 'wonderment' when the mayor's son, Craig, turned on the fountain and its multi-colored lights." [Review 11088 overall, 861 of 2019.]

My friend drove me past the Chelsea Fairgrounds on the outskirts of town and I thought they were…read morevery pretty if small. I'd love to come back in the summer when a fair is being held. I love small town fairs! I wish I had remembered to take a photo.

Not far from downtown and the main traffic circle on Michigan Avenue is this beautiful home. It's…read morevery striking and should be part of any architectural tour that you might make of Marshall. It's not open for tours but you can see quite a lot of it from the outside. The marker reads: "Erected in 1843, this house is among the oldest in Marshall. It came to be known as "Hillside", a named derived from its prominent location. The house was designed in the fashionable Gothic Revival style. Its architecture and landscaping were likely influenced by the design for a "Cottage in the English or Rural Gothic Style" in Cottage Residences, a popular book of house plans by landscape gardener Andrew Jackson Downing that was published in 1842." And on the other side, "This house, built for local attorney Henry W. Taylor and long owned by the Schuyler family, was also home to Mary "Mazie" Miller (1871-1941) and her husband, Craig. An outspoken suffragette and Republican political activist, Miller was an early president of the Michigan League of Women Voters. She resided here from 1905 until her death. During that time, Miller hosted many political luminaries, including future U.S. president William Howard Taft, as well as state legislators from Lansing." [Review 11101 overall, 874 of 2019.]

This was the location of the founding of Jackson, originally called Jacksonburg, named for…read morePresident Andrew Jackson. This park at West Michigan and Jackson has a small fountain and murals depicting early Jackson heritage.

What a cool place to spend a couple of hours. On a whim we stopped to check out the the Sharp…read morefamily farm and view the art gallery they had on the property. The tour of the house was guided and it was just two of us and the guide. The guide had a wealth of knowledge and we appreciated what she had to say about the house and the Sharp family. One interesting and impressive fact, their well was inside the house. This way they didn't have to go out in Michigan winters to get their water. My daughter is a big fan of old homes especially Victorian style homes. While it's a Victorian style house it also had Italian influences in the structure. The art gallery had a World War I exhibit (100 year anniversary), sculptures and a quilt exhibit.

I thought "Free Museum Day" at Ella Sharp would be a nice treat. What a joke. First, I stopped by…read morethe gift shop to buy a little trinket for my grandbaby, but they don't even take cash. What kind of museum doesn't accept cash? Are we living in the future or something? The real disaster was trying to see the actual Ella Sharp house. There was a woman standing guard at the door who looked like she'd lost a fight with a highlighter her hair was the color of stale piss. She was clearly having a terrible day and decided to take it out on anyone with a baby. When I approached with my stroller, she huffed and puffed and snapped, "We're trying to limit strollers, so you can leave it with me." Excuse me? Leave my grandbaby with you? I don't even know you, lady, and based on your attitude, I wouldn't trust you to water a plant. Calm down, Stephanie Swift, you're a museum guide, not a prison warden. I wasn't asking to bring in a pack of wild dogs, just my sleeping grandchild. The whole experience left me wishing I'd just stayed home and saved myself the aggravation.

I'll be fair about this libary. It is like every other libary you've probably been to, just a…read moresmall one. The choices are limited, but works for little old brooklyn.

Quite a lot of history in Marshall Michigan and this house just off the main street near the…read moreroundabout is some of that history. It reads: "Samuel W. Hill, legendary figure of the northland, surveyed the Great Lakes' harbors in 1840-44 and worked with Dr. Douglass Houghton on the first geological survey of the Upper Peninsula in 1845. He was later involved with the sale of land and the building of roads and canals in the area. For many years he directed some of the most successful copper mines of the Lake Superior region. Twice elected to the state legislature, Hill retired to this house in 1875. He died in 1889." [Review 11099 overall, 872 of 2019.]