August 22, 2008...
Waiting on my flight, relaxing in the Grand Rapids airport. I've got a quick flight to Milwaukee, and a connection back home to Phoenix. It's been a great trip out East. The last night in Detroit, the Vesbits and I headed to Baker's keyboard Lounge for soul food and fantastic jazz. Such a great place... established in 1934, it's one of the world's oldest jazz clubs, and has seen the likes of Nat King Cole, John Coltrane, and Ella Fitzgerald. We hung out for hours, enjoying the feast and amazing service, not to mention the stellar live music.
The next morning, Jen dropped me off at the bus station. It was my first time hitting up the Greyhound from Detroit to Grand Rapids, so I wanted to get there early. Greyhound, on the other hand, didn't seem to care that much: the station was closed. Doors locked, nobody home. This posed a problem, because I still needed to buy a ticket. Our bus pulled up, and the driver needed 20 bucks cash, and I only had 12. But a nice lady gave me the extra, and we were under way... that sweet hospitality you can only find in downtown Detroit!!! The entire trip took less than 3 hours, and at a total of $27, you really can't go wrong.
Mom met me at Founder's Brewery for some lunch downtown, and I walked around while she went back to work. I checked out the museum for an hour, which was a bit of a snooze-fest although the jukebox exhibit was dynamite. Cool machines dating back to the 1940's. My buddy, Matt Priest called, and we met for a few beers at Flannagan's. Great to see him, and we couldn't stop giggling at the middle-aged man playing hard-core air guitar a few tables over.
Thursday, my folks and brother Mark headed to East Town for some solid Cajun food, and I caught another friend of mine, Paul Lesinski playing piano downtown at the B.O.B. Matt met up with us back at Paul's for some more live music. Stayed up way too late, and succumbed to Matt's midnight "McDonald's Run", which didn't hurt as much as I feared. Scary.
Friday, the folks and I headed West to Grand Haven, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Beautiful day... walked the boardwalk to the beach, and grabbed some lunch in the slick little downtown area. Back home, the summer Olympics sucked us in. Never thought I'd say it, but really got addicted to the beach volleyball.
Saturday, we hit up my Aunt and Uncle's house for a bbq, where they cooked up some fantastic steaks, with some of my Mom's amazing ice cream pie for dessert. So good to see everybody... it had been way too long. After dinner, I met up with Matt again and we cruised downtown, doing a little bar hopping and hanging out at our friend Colin Sullivan's apartment in the sky.
Perfect weather in Grand Rapids... such a nice week back in my hometown. On Sunday, I relaxed, watched more Olympics coverage, and prepared for my next trip... to Chicago.
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