The Motor City

After a quick night in Alpena, MI along the beaches of Lake Huron, we made it through Flint (without any knife wounds) and into Detroit the afternoon of the 13th of August. We stayed with Jimmy's godfather Danny in his very charming 50's-era red brick bungalow. From there, we were able to explore Big Jim Gribbin's old stomping grounds, and the downtown area of the city. I (Dale) have never been to Detroit before, and I was very surprised at how clean the downtown was...the whole place has a very cool feel to it, like it's been through the ringer so much that the residents that still make up the populous are very proud of their roots and want to keep it up, even in the worse-off socioeconomic areas. It truly is a tenacious metropolis, with very awesome freeways, I might add :)
Between trying to break into the Joe Louis to crash an employee's baby shower, Spanish films, deciding whether Lafayette's or American has the best coney, seeing John Lee Hooker, Jr. perform in Ann Arbor, and being in Recording Studio A of Motown Records, the Motor City was an eye-opener and a crazy good time:

Da UP

From Traverse City, we ventured up the finger over the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan (or the 'UP'). We spent the night camping right next to the famous Soo Locks (connecting Huron to Superior), just over the water from Canada. After some awesome local accents & delicious breakfast pasties the next morning, we drove out to the Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point (about 15 miles from the wreckage of the Edmond Fitzgerald) and then to Tehquamenon Falls, which were both breathtaking. It was a very interesting, very rural part of Michigan...again I digress to pictures, as they will say it better:

The Cherry Capital of the World

Helloooo, Cedar! After Chicago, we made our way into Michigan to the little aforementioned town just northwest of Traverse City to visit Jimmy's aunts Meg & Sarah, and cousin Chloe. All I can say is: cherries, beer, and the most beautiful crystal-clear lakes you can imagine. We swam 3 or 4 times a day, Dale got chased by lots of dogs, and we got very fat with all of Sarah & Meg's amazing cooking. We had the most amazing time ever, and I think the pictures can say it better than I can...thanks again to the Gribbins :)

Chicaaaago is...myyy kinda tooooown...

Its been a few miles! So Chicago was just about 2 weeks back, and its a pretty damn awesome city. We stayed in Greek Town with an old friend of Jimmy's/sorority sister of Dale's sister's Amanda Peters, her lovely boyfriend Scott Shapiro, and another past Chi O, Carlhey Bolz. Amanda and Scott are the best hosts ever, and Carlhey took us out to some pretty sweet places (DJ-off for Lalapalooza? Yes, please!). We also went up to Deerfield to see the house my grandpa built in 1957...oddly enough, the family living in it is from Arizona :) Among awesome jazz bars (The Green Mill...oh my god), Ian's Pizza, entire outfits of highlighter green, IO improv shows, Pasta Wednesdays, and thorough - I do mean thorough - explorations of the entire city, we got very good at riding the L's (even though Jimmy is already a seasoned vet) & left a pretty solid footprint...Chicago, we'll be back very soon.