The Last Hoorah for Michigan

Our Last Full Weekend in Michigan

On Friday, after Dennis quit work for the day, we jumped in the truck and headed up to East Lansing to make a Costco run.  After shopping, we decided to eat one last time at Claddagh Irish Pub for D to get his Reuben sandwich fix again!  Here's a little trivia about Dennis for you guys. He goes through food phases! No matter where we eat, he eats the same thing until he has had his fill! We have been through the nacho stage, Filet Mignon stage (thank God that one is over), a mac & cheese one, Philly cheese steak, the hamburger kick and now the Reuben. Pray for us that this one will soon pass!
Then we quickly booked it back down to Eaton Rapids to join the Ridler's at a church community outreach in the park.  I think they were all surprised about how many from their community attended.  It was a great success and the weather was perfect too! Great job Chris on leading the praise and a shout out to Becky for staying up til 4am making signs!

Frankenmuth, Michigan

Saturday morning we headed north with the Ridlers in the truck to Frankenmuth.  This town is known as Michigan's little Bavaria.  It is a quaint little town with lots of little shops and plenty of places to grab a bite.  The biggest draw is Bronners Christmas Wonder Land Store.  Saying this store is huge is an understatement!  You could fit a small town in that place!  One could spend a full weekend in there looking at all of the different ornaments and still not see them all.  I only bought two since storage is an issue living full time on the road.  One is of a Santa holding a wine bottle and the other is a happy camper themed one. My first one!




After visiting the Christmas store, we ventured over to the River Place Shops to walk around.  The parking lot to our surprise was pretty full and we later found out that there was a big vintage baseball tournament going on.  It was so fun seeing all the different uniforms and also some of the period outfits a few of the spectators had on.  This particular tournament was played by the rules of 1860's baseball.

We met one of the players from Columbus Ohio at Norlins Beignet & Coffee shop that was taking a break between games. He filled us in on a few of interesting facts: first of all, they don't use gloves, foul balls and pop-ups caught on the first bounce is an out, the pitcher must deliver the ball as near as possible to wear the batter asks for and a batter is called a striker! To my surprise, several of the teams had women on them and there were also all-women teams.

	Union BBC of Dexter
Canton Michigan Cornshucker	Chelsea Merries	Ohio Village Lady Diamonds
Richmond Bees	1860's Umpire

Our last Sunday in Michigan

On Sunday we drove over to First Baptist Church in Eaton Rapids for church and lunch with the Ridler's.  Service was great and knowing it was our last Sunday to worship with Chris and Becky made it a little sad as well.  I have truly enjoyed our visit with them and hope we will make it back this way soon.


After church we had a quick lunch at one of Becky's favorite small restaurants called the Robin's Nest.  Lots of food choices.  The pancakes were HUGE!  I wanted one so bad but in the end, I settled on watching Noah devour one instead.  The place was packed and is only open for breakfast and lunch.  The waitress/owner was excellent.

Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan

After lunch, we decided that we would visit the Henry Ford Museum.  We had discussed visiting when we first got here but then decided since we don't own a ford nor have we ever, we would skip it.  But since we had a free day, we decided why not.  Well, I have to admit it was so worth it.  First of all, it is huge and has tons and tons of things to see.  If you visit Michigan and are anywhere near Dearborn, the ford museum should be on your list of places to visit.  We only had time for the museum but there is so much more to do there.  Plan on spending all day there!
President Kennedy's 1961 Ford Thunderbird Convertible	1952 Wienermobile
President Reagan's 1972 Lincoln Continental	America’s 3rd Steam-Operated Train (Reproduction) The DeWitt Clinton
Those Sunday Drivers!
U.S.S. Enterprise	Captain, we are being hailed.
Number One, you have the bridge.

Our final week here, we hope to meet up with Chris, Becky, and Noah for one last dinner.  Otherwise, our big plans are to research things to do while we are at Niagara Falls for the week and figuring out what we can and cannot take across the border into Canada. So far, the biggest surprise has been that we can't take dairy. Looks like we will be having a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches between now and then.

Notes from Dennis - Well Michigan, we have driven your broken roads, jawed with your locals, dined at your cafes, and eye-balled your sights.   I would say that bang for the buck, Michigan is a great place to vacation!  Soo many things to do and see.  We hung with some great friends as well.