Mile 1397: Michigan 1, Stacey 1
So I had great aspirations on Tuesday…get up early, take the ferry to Mackinac Island, bike eight miles around the island, be back in time to check out of my motel and make it to Grand Haven, Michigan by 4 pm as planned. Unfortunately, sleep deprivation (courtesy of the Minnesotans) finally caught up with me and I ended up sleeping in and skipping the island. I’ve heard that I didn’t miss much…my friends in Grand Haven described Mackinac as “cheesy” and Angie says it’s “boring”. Either way, it’s going to have to wait for some other trip.
I did manage to complete the rest of the plan…checked out of my motel and made it to Grand Haven by around 4 pm. Grand Haven is a very cute beach front community on Lake Michigan near Grand Rapids. I was planning to visit my old college friend Jason and his family in Kalamazoo but it turns out they were on vacation at a rented cottage in GH so I popped in to see them there. Jason’s in-laws Denny and Ellen were gracious enough to both feed me and offer a night’s accommodations which was extremely nice of them. I had a great time catching up on old times with Jason and his wife Michelle, whom I hadn’t seen since they got married nearly 4 years ago.
Speaking of Jason and Michelle’s wedding…this is perhaps a good time to explain how Michigan scored its one point against me. You see, the last and only other time I’d set foot in Michigan…I was double-crossed by this great state. Indeed Michigan seems very midwesterny in its presentation. It looks a lot like Minnesota and Wisconsin…green, lots of trees, lots of water. Michiganites have proved to be just as friendly and gracious as everyone else in the Midwest. But don’t be fooled. Michigan actually resides in the EASTERN time zone…not CENTRAL like the rest of the Midwest. Seems simple enough but unfortunately my friend Nate and I were not aware of (or rather, had forgotten) this fact and ended up showing up at Jason and Michelle’s wedding AFTER the ceremony was over. Score one for Michigan.
At any rate, a grand evening was spent in Grand Haven (pun completely intended) in which I met some new friends Sara and Kirk and got to hang out with Jason and Michelle’s adorable little girls Caitlin 
and Nora 
. After breakfast and coffee by the lake, I headed back out on the road towards Kalamazoo for lunch with some work colleagues. It is the strange nature of my work-from-home gig that I’ve worked with many people across the country over the past few years whom I’ve never actually met in person. Such is the case with the crew at Comsys in Kalamazoo so it was great to finally put faces with the voices. Here we are (from left: Johnny, Jo, Jill, Cartier, me (of course), Jim):
After lunch, the Comsys Crew had to get back to the office for the standard Wednesday conference call and I decided to get back on the road towards Detroit. An uneventful drive (for which I’m scoring myself a point) landed me in St. Clair Shores where my friend Jared’s house is located. We celebrated my arrival by heading to downtown Detroit (no, I did not get shot) for sushi at Fishbone’s and drinks at a local Irish pub. I’ll likely hang out here a few days as the draw of a washing machine, wireless internet and a couch to lay around on is too tempting to pass up. Plus, I’ve been talked into sticking around for the home Tigers’ game on Friday night so will likely head towards Niagara Falls on Saturday morning. More to come from Detroit….
Tags: 2 - MN/MI/Niagara Falls, detroit, mackinac island
Stacey
July 19th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Hi Stacey,
Sounds like you are having lots of fun! We are enjoying reading about the places and people along the way. I really liked Angie and Nate’s tags. I am headed to Concert on the Square. Yes, Thursday night, it was cancelled last night due to rain even though it hardly rained.
Ryan says, “Are you sure it was a snake and not just a worm?”
Have fun in Detriot and Niagara Falls!!
July 19th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Colette, considering you told me you would NEVER type comments on my blog you seem to have gotten into the swing of things!! 🙂 Tell Ryan it was most assuredly a snake…a very long and slithery snake. Ick.
July 19th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
I got a good chuckle remembering how Michigan scored its point against you and Nate; I forgot how funny that story was! The day has gotten better, albeit Alyssa’s sleeping issues….a good bottle of chardonnay always takes the edge off. And my sweet husband was kind enough to come home early and make me a seafood dinner! I must say I did NOT enjoy seeing the big ” 3 0 ” on my birthday cake…:( I’m sure I’ll get over it…