When Amanda asked me to submit a guest post for her blog I was a little surprised. You see, Amanda and I know each other IRL. We both work in the same office and we both happened to move to Cleveland from out-of-state in order to follow our jobs. But whereas Amanda is a woman-about-town, visiting the local Cleveland-area establishments and enjoying all Cleveland has to offer, I’m pretty much a hermit.

I’m married with two children. My wife works two part time jobs and I work a full time job M-F 6-3. By the time I come home from work my wife is usually on her way out the door and we pass like ships in the night. We don’t get to spend a lot of time together as a family so when we are together we usually just hang out with the kids or do some stuff around the house together.

But, I accepted Amanda’s request as a challenge to leave my hermitage and venture out into the great big world outside my door. My destination: two blocks away to the Miller Nature Preserve.

Located in Avon, OH, the Miller Nature Preserve is one of the recent additions to the Lorain County Metroparks system.

The preserve consists of a Rose Garden, a Demonstration Garden, an Herb Garden, a Conservatory and a Visitor’s Center (with a cafe and a gift shop).

As with almost any new place I take my kids, the first place they have to visit is the bathroom. After the kids were done visiting  the bathroom, we paid our $2.00 donation and I wrangled them into the Conservatory.

The Conservatory is a Green House which houses all of the preserve’s collections. There are various types of plants and the kids enjoyed looking around at all the flora. My son Chris would point out various plants to me and tell me about them.  Here he is telling me about the flowers blooming on a cactus:

Their favorite collections were the Desert Plants and the Carnivorous Plants. They had many different breeds of Pitcher Plants, as well as other carnivorous species.

Some of the plants have placards so you can learn more about them, and there are even some that have QR Codes on them, which take you to a mobile site to give you more information. My son had fun using my smartphone to read the QR codes and read through the additional information.

While we were there the staff was preparing for their next program, which started May 17 and focuses on Carnivorous Plants. They were setting up information, information centers and activities and games for kids. Chris and Sam got to play one of the games while we were there:

After we were finished in the Conservatory, we walked around the grounds and checked out the Herb Garden, the Rose Garden and investigated where there will be a walking/nature path that will connect the surrounding community.

I feel that it was still a little too early in the season to really get the full experience out of the nature preserve. There were no roses in the Rose Garden and there is a Butterfly Exhibit they do inside the Conservatory but that doesn’t start until July 1.

Our trip was short but it was nice to get out of the house and take the kids someplace new. They enjoyed the visit and seeing a lot of different plants from all over the world; plants that they might not have seen otherwise.

If you’re looking to kill an hour or two some afternoon and you’re in the Avon area, I recommend stopping by the Miller Nature Preserve and supporting the Lorain County Metroparks system.

Brian Edsell is a father of two, self-proclaimed nerd and zombie movie aficionado. He moved to OH in 2006 and the first place he went to was a local comic book shop. He spends his spare time with his family and enjoys playing games and watching movies. He also writes about his life and fatherhood at BEaLittleWeird.com (Dadstractions.com).

I should’ve known I’d love Cafe Melissa as soon as I saw the narwhal in their mural

Although I’ve lived in Avon Lake for three years, until recently I had only one or two suggestions for where to take people to eat.

I was more likely to drive downtown or even the far Eastside to dine out. It was easy to see the chain and fast food restaurants and overlook my suburb’s local gems.

Then Scott and I went to Strip Steakhouse in Avon which jumped to the top of our Cleveland restaurants list and motivated us to start exploring our backyard a bit more.

Our curiosity has been rewarded not just with special occasion restaurants like Strip, but dining that’s good for any budget in Avon and Avon Lake.

Next time you’re out my way, here are 2 places we recently checked out that we’d recommend:

My favorite dish at Cafe Melissa, a hearty pumpkin gnocchi

Cafe Melissa – Avon Lake

Last month Scott and I were looking to meet up for brunch on the westside.  We were going to head over to Sweet Melissa’s in Rocky River until our friend Joe let us know they had just opened a spot in Avon Lake.

Right around the corner from our house at Walker and Avon Belden roads, Cafe Melissa opened up in November with an excellent breakfast menu.

In the few weeks since our first visit, it’s quickly become our go-to for brunch with delicious offerings like their sausage gravy and biscuits and greek folded eggs (featuring artichoke, red onion, basil, kalamata olives, tomato, asparagus and feta).

And then there’s my favorite: crab n’ eggs, featuring a crab cake, 2 fried brown eggs and a fried green tomato dressed in a chipotle aioli. While it’s one of the more expensive items on their breakfast menu, it’s worth the price for that combination of flavors.

Cafe Melissa’s lobster bisque

However, it’s their lunch and dinner menu where Cafe Melissa really shines. Hearty small plates, large flavorful salads and sandwiches and an entree list that offers fresh selections for all tastes, it’s one of those menus that has me excited to try something new each time.

While we’ve only been there for dinner twice, we’d recommend any of the following:

Matzo ball soup: Although a little dense (which is how I like mine), the matzo ball was huge and the soup incredibly flavorful. I had given up on finding a matzo ball soup as good as the one we used to get in NJ until I ordered Cafe Melissa’s.

Lobster bisque: Cafe Melissa’s is the lobster bisque that finally made Scott realize how delicious bisque can be. It’s velvety with a slight sweetness. Balanced with their wedge salad, it’s what Scott orders every time he’s there.

Cafe Melissa’s steak salad

Steak salad: Although I’m going to order the steak on the rarer side next time, this salad featured a hit list of my favorite flavors: field greens, wild mushroom, red pepper, red onion, tomato, asparagus and goat cheese. Those ingredients paired as well in reality as I had imagined they would.

Pumpkin gnocchi: Hands down my favorite entree. While I love pumpkin-everything, I was grateful their pumpkin gnocchi did not have a strong pumpkin flavor.  Instead it was subtle, combining with sweet cranberries, wild mushrooms, creamy goat cheese and crunchy pumpkin seeds to make a very delightful earthy dish. The balsamic + vegetable stock sauce it comes in unites the different flavors and textures.

In addition to really great food, the staff has always been friendly and helpful – often going above and beyond to answer questions or take care of our table even when the restaurant is crowded.

Cafe Melissa offers lunch and dinner Monday-Friday and brunch, lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday.

Similar to Sweet Melissa in Rocky River, they also have fresh-baked sweets on hand for purchase.

Two Bucks’ cheesesteak sliders – just one of many menu items that costs $2

Two Bucks – Avon

On the opposite side of route 90 is another new addition to our Avon-Avon Lake eats list: Two Bucks Avon.

Although Two Bucks Food and Spirit has been open for a few years, a recent restaurant review on Cleveland.com prompted us to check them out.

Located at 36931 Detroit Road, Two Bucks is an unassuming storefront next door to a couple of antique stores and florist.

Inside, there’s a modern bar design with slick lighting, a mix of comfortable hightops and booths and a large patio space for the summer.

The real reason to go to Two Bucks, though, is in the name – with most of their food and drinks costing only $2.

Two Bucks’ steak and blue chips new to their seasonal menu

Snacks like a bowl of mac and cheese and sage-and-garlic fries are $2. A large selection of sliders (burgers, fish, stuffed mushroom, and sesame chicken among others) cost $2 each. And most domestics, imported beers, and liquor shots – $2.

In fact, the most expensive thing I could find on the menu was the Bistro Filet Stroganoff on their winter seasonal menu, a 5 oz file with garlic mashed potato and red wine sauce for $10.

And just because it costs cheap doesn’t mean they scrimp on taste or size. When we stopped by Two Bucks for lunch last week, I enjoyed 2 Cheesesteak sliders with creamy peppercorn aioli ($4), their mac and cheese ($2), and an Angry Orchard cider on draft for $3.

A filling meal plus drink for under $9? Pretty impressive.

I agree with others’ reviews praising their sliders; however, the mac and cheese was the winner of the night. A bowl of ziti pasta was elevated by a rich smoked gouda cheese sauce – a must-order for cheeselovers.

My favorite Two Bucks menu item – smoked gouda mac and cheese

Our only issue was the service. After sitting down, we got water while we looked over the menus. After another staff member brought us our water, we waited for about 15 minutes until someone else came over, asked if we needed anything and took our drink and food order.

Fortunately, the rest of our visit went very smoothly and the initial delay was a small blip in an otherwise very good experience.

Of course you can’t argue with our final tab for the quality and quantity of food. Skip the fast-food and head here for the same price.

In addition to the Two Bucks in Avon, they’ve recently expanded with locations in Middleburg Heights, North Olmsted and Milwaukee.

What restaurants would you recommend in your own neighborhood?