Great Lakes Living

Z and I have been driving along I-90 from Windsor, Ontario to Cleveland, Ohio for four years now. Everything used to be so fast-paced and intense that we barely allowed ourselves a stop on the turnpike to pee, let alone find somewhere to have a decent cup of coffee and some tasty, worthy food.

Things are still fast-paced – we’re 30-somethings in 2014 – but each week that goes by we seem to eek out a touch more normalcy, stability and extra time. Now when we travel, we stop to pee, we fill up on gas, and most recently we actually get off the highway in Toledo to head to a new favorite of ours, Plate 21. A coffee shop offering tasty baked goods like pistachio muffins (they are green!) and Turtle biscotti, alongside lunch favorites such as edamame and kale salads and gooey grilled cheeses, the real treat we’re willing to detour for, no matter what time we told friends and family we would be arriving in town, is for the matcha frappes. Z used to love Green Tea Frappucinos from Starbucks, and I suppose still does, but nothing compares to Plate 21’s smooth, milk-shake like consistency bursting with sweetly balanced matcha green tea flavor.

On weekends, as a quarter-way or three-quarter-way stop, we scoot down tiny Rugby Drive side road, happily guzzle down our drinks, then continue on our way, tracing alongside Lake Erie, to wherever it is we are headed.