this week’s
top ten Dance the Night Away The Traverse City Dance Project returns as part of Glen Arbor Arts Center’s 2022 Manitou Music lineup with 10 professional dancers from around the country. See them perform at Nash Road Red Barn in Maple City on Saturday, July 30, from 7pm to 9pm. $30 GAAC members; $35 non-members. glenarborart.org/events/ traverse-city-dance-project
4 Flying Through the Pages Retired U.S. Navy captain, Vanderbilt professor, and former Traverse Citian Barbara Bell returns to her hometown on Saturday, July 30, for a signing of her new book, Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence. The first woman from TC to head to Annapolis—and one of the first women, period, to attend the U.S. Naval Academy—Bell had a career full of trailblazing highlights like heading to Capitol Hill in 1992 to help repeal sexist combat exclusion policies and gaining a master of science degree in astronautical engineering. After a successful career as an aviator and naval flight test officer, she retired and turned to writing, teaching, and public speaking. From defying gender norms to navigating 35 different types of aircraft, Bell captures personal stories and high-flying tales in her autobiography-slash-self-help guide. Catch the event and buy the book ($15.99) at Horizon Books in Traverse City (243 E. Front Street) on Saturday from 1pm to 3pm.
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tastemaker Hearth & Vine Café’s Black Bean Burger
Did someone say “beer and a burger?” Hearth & Vine Café will do you one better. Transformed from a farm market in 2010, this seasonal bistro at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay offers casual farmstead fare, all crafted to complement a glass (or two) of wine. As for those seasonal burger cravings, their answer arrives in black bean form— and it’s about to blow your mind. Featuring a house-made patty studded with peppers, yellow lentils, and spices, Hearth & Vine’s decadent Black Bean Burger towers with tomato and fresh bibb lettuce all stacked atop a locally-sourced brioche bun. The burger is finished with a duo of scratchmade sauces—chipotle aioli and jalapenoonion jam—and accompanied by Great Lakes Potato Chips. Staff recommends pairing this hearty handheld with a pour of Hard Apple-Cherry Cider (straight from the tasting room, no less). Get your hands one for $15 at Hearth & Vine Café. Open Tuesday-Saturday from 12pm to 7pm. 10844 E. Revold Rd., Suttons Bay. (231) 944-1297. blackstarfarms.com
4 • jULY 25, 2022 • Northern Express Weekly
Hey, read It! When Women Were Dragons
In America’s alternative past, dragons are a taboo topic. No one dares to talk about them; in fact, society says they don’t even exist. Yet—one by one—women around the country are turning into dragons, a phenomenon that peaks in the mid-1950s when thousands of everyday wives and mothers sprout scaly wings and wreak fiery havoc, leaving their years of patriarchal oppression behind. Protagonist Alex Green is left with the unanswerable question: Is becoming a dragon a choice? And even worse—what if it’s not? After all, why did Alex’s mother stay human while her beloved Aunt Marla transforms? How does she reckon with the fact that Marla’s “dragoning” abandons her daughter, Beatrice? In the genre-bending speculative novel, When Women Were Dragons, Newberry Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill reimagines one woman’s comingof-age in a world where hers might be considered the lesser gender…but breathing fire is always an option.
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