Grand Rapids Official Visitor Guide 2007 - Bonus Section

Did you enjoy reading our stories in the 2007 Grand Rapids Visitor Guide? Still thirsty for more? We have some more information to tickle your taste buds. If you didn't get a chance to read the stories in the Visitors Guide, read the Visitors Guide online!

Characters story: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Read the menus at The Cottage Bar and One Trick Pony. Plan your visit to Martha's Vineyard, where owner Kameel Chamelly recommends you check out food as well as beverages. Regarding an aged Gouda he says, "Everyone imagines it to be soft and mild, but after four years it's like a Parmesan Reggiano in texture, with a caramelized flavor and smoky taste that lingers."

Ralston Bowles' favorite places to hear live music in Grand Rapids. In his words:

• It's hard to beat 97 WLAV Blues on the Mall in Rosa Park Circle downtown during summer.
• Every June, Festival of the Arts brings a plethora of players to the heart of Grand Rapids.
• Frederik Meijer Gardens, of course, is a must. It's hard to beat a setting like the outdoor amphitheater for the Summer Concert Series and Tuesday Evening Music Club.
• As far as local clubs, One Trick Pony is a consistently good place to see national touring acts in the Hat Trick series, hosted along with WYCE (local alternative music radio station, 88.1 FM). The Acoustic Stew series at the One Trick offers up local fare every Thursday all year long.
• You can hear national performers sponsored by Grand River Folk Arts Society at Grace Bible College Chapel, which is a multi-faith friendly venue.
• At Calvin College, the Student Activities Office sponsors national acts (ranging From Jars of Clay and Rosie Thomas to Death Cab for Cutie) in the Fine Arts Center and Gezon Auditorium. Both have great acoustics and a refined smoke-free setting.

Ralston's U2 Bono story

Ralston Bowles

Question: I've heard that after you wrote and published a song based on Philip Yancey's book, What's So Amazing About Grace! Bono wrote and released a similar song based on the same book. Do you know whether he'd ever heard your song?

Ralston: The CD Carwreck Conversations has "Grace" on it, and, yes, it was inspired by reading the pre-published galley of the book while an artist friend of mine, Rick Devon, was working on the cover art for the book. I was able to play it for Mr. Yancey at an editorial meeting when he was in town for meetings prior to the book being published. The book came out in 1997.

U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" was released in 2000, and my son Shmuel brought a copy for me to hear a song that ended the album. It took a similar approach to my song...It obviously was inspiring to both Bono and myself on a creative level, which I found fascinating. It shows the power literature has in the creative process and the music which it inspires.

I was told that Mayor Heartwell presented my CD to Bono along with the key to the city when he was in town speaking to the Economic Club this past spring.

Not sure if Bono's heard it yet. But he did comment on the artwork. "Cool cover," he said and held it up to his ear. And then he said, "Cool tunes too!"

The best sites to hear Ralston's songs online are the official site, My Space, CD Baby, FolkWeb.

Convention story: Meet Me in Grand Rapids

DeVos Place

Meeting professionals at the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau will help you every step of the way, just as they did for the 2006 gatherings of the Model A Restorers Club and Handweavers Guild of America (HGA).

Read Convergence 2006 reports by HGA attendees from Santa Cruz, California (scroll down). Learn more about HGA in their quarterly journal, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot.

Downtown living story: Living Downtown

Read Grand Rapids Magazine features on why more people are moving downtown and how downtown development has a healthy mix of incomes and housing.

Take a self guided tour of outdoor sculpture in downtown Grand Rapids.

Horticulture story: Back to the Land

Check out West Michigan Fresh, a fantastic online guide to local farm markets, U-pick and already-picked produce, and more.

Mary Walters Garden

Mary Walters is a principal at Walters Gardens, a wholesaler specializing in perennials and hostas. Check out their online guide to choosing and planting perennials.

Many of the flower photos you see on plant tags or in nursery catalogs or garden magazines come from the camera of Mary Walters. Her stock photography company is Image Botanica.

Here are Mary Walters' tips for getting the best photographs of plants and flowers:

• Try to take photos in the morning before the sun gets too bright. Or choose late afternoon or early evening, when blossoms are back lit.
• Mid day photos are tough to do well because the contrast between light and shadow is often too great.
• Overcast days are perfect for taking plant photos, because the colors really pop out.
• Consider composition. Try to fill your frame as you look through the LCD or viewfinder.
• Walk around a flower bed and look at it from different angles. Overcome the common tendency to see something nice, walk up, take the shot, and leave.
• Use a tripod so the photo will be clear, not blurry.
• Especially if you don't use a tripod, consider using a vibration reduction lense.

Beach town story: Lake Michigan Beaches

For a map and more information on planning your beach outing, including maps and costs (if any), visit the online beach guide compiled by Michigan's West Coast.

To explore bike trails near Holland, and Zeeland, see this online interactive bike trails map.

Neighborhood shopping story: Distinctive Neighborhood Finds

Get maps, routes, schedules, and other details on riding The Rapid bus system to different neighborhoods.

Learn more about the history of the Creston-Cheshire neighborhood and read why people like living there.

Take in a movie, concert, or other event at Wealthy Theatre. Use this guide to shops and restaurants on Wealthy Street SE between Union Avenue SE and Fuller Avenue. Or check out other local businesses.

Arts story: Make your visit a masterpiece

Local artists explain why there's so much art in Grand Rapids

• "The Grand Rapids artist community has grown so much just since I moved here three years ago. People acknowledge that art is important even in lives of children. They care about learning, developing, finding your creative self," says JynnaVyve Bruntmeyer, who manages the Fulton Street Artisans Market. She also coordinates events at Kendall College of Art and Design. Bruntmeyer's favorite subject is the human body in motion. Though her paintings and sculptures are too large to show at the artisans market, you can see them at Imagine360 Art House in Grand Haven, Michigan.
• 

  Reb Roberts with wife Carmel

  "We have a wealth of talented artists who've chosen to stay here in this community. I think it's because so many residents in this area have supported artists. The studio lofts on the Avenue of the Arts were created to be affordable to artists. The city interviewed artists to ask what they needed. It was willing to invest in the streetscape. All that inspires others to do public arts project," says Reb Roberts, the folk art painter and sculptor who owns Sanctuary Folk Art. He leads young people in creating murals and other public art forms, often in cooperation with ArtWorks. "When people create art together it generates a lot of energy," Reb adds.
• "We're dedicated to building the careers of emerging and mid-career artists who take creative risk. People are surprised to learn that within an hour's drive of Grand Rapids, there are more than 2,500 students in college-level art and design programs. This fuels energetic, high-quality work and a culturally diverse community," says Jeff Meeuwsen, executive director of Urban Institute of Contemporary Art. Meeuwsen creates mixed media that blends his training in studio furniture, sculpture, graphic design, and landscape design.

Weave art into your own life tapestry

Fulton Street Artisans Market

The best websites for finding almost 200 downtown and metro-area sculptures are sculpturesitesGR.org and GRsculpture.com. Read about or download a downtown walking tour of sculptures and architecture.

Visit The Eyekons Gallery and Grand Rapids Art Museum. Pick up a free Grand Rapids Gallery Association guide to local retail and nonprofit art galleries.

Get the latest news about Fulton Street Artisans Market.

Learn where all the shops, eateries, and galleries are on the Avenue of the Arts. Read about the Avenue of the Arts renaissance, including Heartside's Grand Rapids Furniture City mural, and live/work spaces for artists completed in 2005 or in 2006.

Plan to visit Grand Rapids for the annual downtown Festival of the Arts or a more intimate Avenue of the Arts open house.