Category Archives: Michigan

July 16, 2024 · 3:13 am

Michigan Central Station, Avalon Bakery, Bon Bon Bon – Detroit

I was so excited to see the Michigan Central Train Station, once a ruin porn mainstay, newly restored as a hopeful sign. But when we arrived on a Monday morning it looked beautiful from the outside and was unavailable to see inside. Grrr. It’s only open Friday evening and on Saturday. Not as hopeful a sign as expected. No matter, we enjoyed driving downtown to see the latest. Still a mixed bag. Downtown looks great. But plenty of streets look worn out. We walked in the neighborhood around the train station and found Mexican village businesses, derelict buildings, some gentrified spots.

We stopped for lunch at Avalon Bakery near Wayne State, which is part of a block long strip of interesting shops off Cass including City Bird and Bon, Bon, Bon, a Hamtramck maker of complicated little confections.

Around the station

Avalon bakery and neighbors near Wayne State

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July 14, 2024 · 3:31 am

Perfect pit stop between Chicago and Detroit- Cravings in Kalamazoo

Thanks to a Chicago friend, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan, we had delicious Bahn mi sandwiches at an Asian restaurant and market just off I-94 in Kalamazoo/portage. The restaurant had poke, sushi, ramen, bubble tea and a lot more in a clean well-lit market with a great selection of Asian food. The place looked like a cross between an ethnic market and a high- end grocery store. We’ll be back.

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August 28, 2023 · 4:10 pm

Red Arrow Road House, primitive art, Pricey Swedish stuff, the Local, and peach pickin’/Baroda — back to SW Michigan,

Finally made it back to southwest Michigan’s lake shore as the summer fades. The sky has been overcast but a wretched Midwest heat wave is over, leaving behind pleasantly warm lake water and giant whitecaps which were fun to swim in!

Red arrow roadhouse

We had excellent whitefish at Red Arrow Roadhouse in Union Pier, a fun casual spot. Judith Racht gallery in Harbert, which specializes in “primitive/outsider” art, located in an old school house, was closed for the week. I browsed inside SO (Stockholm objects) which had beautiful and expensive Swedish (and other) clothing and home goods.

On Saturday we took the three dogs for a walk along the beach and, as it turns out, a swim. All three labs love the water and Weko beach has a designated area for dogs south of the main swim area toward Warren Dunes State Park. Lunch was at The local, one of those little trendy touches in a still mostly ordinary small town, except there was one other trendy touch, a pottery gallery with ceramics from all over the world that was crazy expensive.

One pot, I kid you not, from an Australian ceramicist (for this price I’m not calling her/him a potter) was $4,600. You read that right and I did too after double and triple checking. Was it glazed in gold?

We went peach picking at a place in baroda and all decided peach trees are so pretty. The peaches are not yet ripe so here’s hoping. we went on a 17 mile bike ride leaving from Three Oaks, east on Kruger road and at the small town of Galien, we rode south on Cleveland, crossing the scary major highway (12) and then heading back east along very pretty Buffalo road which during the last mile was as A sandy gravel road that led to a dirt road (Avery) back over highway 12. Not a perfect loop but as close as we could get. We picked up an excellent Margherita pizza at patellie’s in Three Oaks.

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March 26, 2023 · 3:24 pm

Paparazzi, full circle cafe, watermark brewery/ Stevensville,Mi. And Weko Beach fishermen and Cottonwood Cheddar at Emma Hearth and Market, /Bridgman,Mi.

Lovely to be in southwest Michigan in March: when the weather cooperates. It didn’t on day one. It was cold, damp, blustery with occasional furious snow squalls. Perfect day to get my hair trimmed (for about a third of what I paid in Chicago) at Paparazzi salon in the quiet little town of Stevensville, where we had excellent salad and sandwiches across the street at Full circle cafe that we took to eat at Watermark Brewery a block south.

My Kansas cheese!

We’ve passed by Emma Hearth & Market in Bridgman many times and today we finally stopped. It’s well known for its pizza and prefix Italian dinners but I was stunned to find amidst the small selection of gourmet cheeses my fav, Cottonwood River Cheddar from Kansas! I’ve been trying to get the cheese woman at DOM’S market in Lincoln Park to stock it and had just asked our daughter if she could bring some from gateway market in Des Moines when she visits. No need now! The Emma variety (“reserve”) is a little sharper than the kind I’ve had before and without the little white crystals that give the cheese a slight crunch but all good!

Sign at Full circle cafe

On Sunday morning, there was sun and warmer temperatures. Perfect for a walk with the dogs on Weko beach, past fishermen in waders with poles stuck in the sand, catching lots of coho salmon. Otherwise few other people and nothing like the summer crowds.

Beautiful washed out colors along the shore, sandy beach, pale blue water, pale blue sky with moments of yellow sun. Lovely until some uptight woman scolded us for walking the dogs on a section of the beach where we could get slapped with a fine for doing do. Karens everywhere.

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January 6, 2023 · 12:27 am

The stray Dog – New Buffalo,Mi

Early January (at almost 2 pm) proved an easy time to get a table for lunch at The Stray Dog, which is usually packed during peak summer tourist season here in southwest Michigan. Cute place, decorated with dog pictures and dog commands (SIT, STAY), good service and well cooked burger.

Many restaurants are closed in early-to-mid January in these parts, including froelichs in Three Oaks. Viola’s was open but not at 2 pm. Fair enough.

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December 11, 2022 · 11:34 pm

Mazet Antiques, Bella Amici, Alapash, Journeyman Distillery, Froelich’s and Acorn Theater – return to Three Oaks, MI – and cheap gas in NW Indiana off I-94, exit 16.

We continue to enjoy visiting southwest Michigan and shopping/dining in the little village of Three Oaks. This time, we went to a concert in the intimate little Acorn Theater, next to the Journeyman whiskey distillery, which has also offers some rentals in town (see journeyman.com/lodging).

In the shopping department, we visited some new places including Bella Amici, which has fun Michigan stuff, and Mazet Antiques, which has gorgeous, one-of-a-kind and very pricey rugs from foreign lands (the kind you hand on your wall, not throw on your floor). We also visited old favorites including Alapash (where we did buy a less-expensive rug to throw on the floor) and had a good brunch at Froelich’s.

For future reference: The gas prices in southwest Michigan are significantly lower than in Chicago but our best bet was in northwest Indiana, off I-94, at exit 16, where we found gas for $2.99 ($1.50 less than in Chicago.)

Mazet Antiques

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September 21, 2022 · 12:56 pm

Apple Cider Century ride and Biking beyond in SW Michigan’s Berrien County

Iowa spoiled us when it comes to biking, offering so many great trails hidden in the woods, lining rivers or along former rail lines, away from the cars and pickups that rumble down rural backroads, kicking up dust and occasionally causing heart palpitations.

why this area is called “Michiana”

But here in SW Michigan, in the absence of designated bike trails, we are getting into biking the backroads (aka “secondary roads”) around Three Oaks, with help from handy brochures with 9 routes to the north and 9 to the south. We found the brochures at the Dewey Cannon Trading Co./three oaks bicycle museum which also offers rental bikes.

The routes are charted by Three Oaks Spokes, a nonprofit bike touring club, the same folks hosting the annual “apple cider century” bike tour this weekend (last September Sunday), offering 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mile rides. I also found slightly different routes online at applecidercentury.com.

Avery road near Three Oaks (south of highway 12)

We rode most of the “Dayton Lake Trail” and learned the hard way that improvising can be tricky.

My edited version

We tried a few alternate roads to shorten the 28-mile ride (due to daunting headwinds that slowed us so much that I wondered if my bike had a flat tire) and occasionally found ourselves on a scary highway (route 12) with huge trucks speeding by, way too close, or bucolic dirt and gravel roads lined with tall browning corn or yellowing soybeans, dotted with an old barn or farmhouse. One very scenic and empty paved road (Buffalo Road) turned suddenly into an “un-improved road,” according to the official sign. Too unimproved to ride safely.

No trip complete without loading up here!

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September 8, 2022 · 3:21 am

Granor Farm, Froelich’s, 3Arbor Arts, Alaplash, 3 Trilogy, $3.99 gas —-return to Three Oaks, MI

granor farm heirloom tomatoes

The young stylish couple dressed in expensively non-showy casual wear in front of me in line at A. V. Granor Farm, an organic farm market with specialty foods as well as organic fruit and veg, racked up a $313 tab before soaring off in their Tesla into the otherwise unassuming rural countryside. Is this The Hamptons? No, it’s southwest Michigan. Who knew? (Many, other than us.) Open during the week only on Friday, the farm also has farm-to-table summer dinners that sell out way in advance.

Three Oaks felt different on a Friday in August, compared to Wednesday. Lots of city folks. Bet they appreciated the $3.99 gas. It’s $5.48 in Chicago. And we thought $4.15 in Bridgman was bargain. We saw $3.97 in Indiana, just over the Michigan border.

On a Friday, more galleries, furniture and home good stores catering to tourists also were open. 3ArborArts has contemporary artwork, all by women currently; Alaplash has cool curated home goods and furniture; 3 trilogy has retro furniture and artwork; Froelich’s has two stores across from each other on the main drag,a sweet bakery and a cavernous restaurant and retail shop with good food (excellent muffuletta, salads) and rows of jars containing Froelich’s homemade dill pickles, jams, tomato sauce, chopped olives, with helpful recipes posted beside each.

Froelich’s

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August 5, 2022 · 2:09 am

Taps at sunset on Weko beach, rough hike in Grand Mere state Park, fish at flagship specialty foods – SW Michigan

Last night, we joined a small crowd on Weko Beach here in Bridgman to watch the sun set and as my sister promised, just as the red sun disappeared from view, a lone trumpeter played Taps…apparently this happens every summer night here and it was a lovely, evocative moment, reminding me of my lost youth summers spent at a girls camp in northern Michigan’s Elk Rapids.

Weko beach sunset

This morning, we braved another hike in the Warren Dunes, on a unmarked trail at Grand Mere State Park in Stevensville, a contrast with yesterday’s well-marked trail further south. It was very buggy in the woods after a night of rain but we managed to do a 1.5 mile (or so) loop and not get lost.

Fortunately we had dowsed ourselves with bug spray pre-hike but we should have brought it in our pack. The hike began as a flat, wide, wooded nature trail hugging the edge of a swampy area with lots of cattails, sprinkled with bright red wildflowers, then went up across the dunes to the lake shore and along the beach, which was blissfully unpopulated except for a few hardy souls swimming and sunbathing. They appeared to be townies who have kept this secret beach to themselves. So be it.

Grand mere state park

Lunch was fish and chips, perfectly crispy local white fish, from flagship specialty food on Red Arrow Highway in Lakeside. We ate at a picnic table outside the small store set back from the highway. The fish was delish, albeit expensive.

Weko beach

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August 1, 2022 · 5:40 pm

Root Cafe, Salt of the Earth — Return to Fennville, MI

Fennville was only about 20 miles out of our way on the drive back to Chicago from Empire and proved to offer a welcome alternative to the Farmhouse Cafe in Douglas that had a 45-60 minute wait for sandwiches on our trip up north. Instead, we waltzed in and out of the Root Cafe in downtown Fennville in a matter of minutes with great food and service to dine on a dog-friendly patio. Perfect! It has a broad menu – we tried the Cuban sandwich, the turkey sandwich and the mixed salad greens with pulled chicken and bacon. It also has excellent homemade lemonade (pulp and all)! We stopped in Fennville maybe 10 years ago en route to up north and ate at the Blue Goose Cafe, which was fine. Roots Cafe is an even better option.

Tile from Kuilema Pottery
Dining al fresco at Root Cafe

The cafe also shared space with a gallery with lots of local or near-local ceramics, (kuilema pottery in Grand Rapids) so I did a wee bit of shopping too. It also sells rustic bread from the well-regarded restaurant /bakery(dinner only) a few doors down called Salt of the Earth, which serves new American cuisines made with seasonal fare from local farmers and producers.

We noticed there is also a cute little Children’s on the small main drag, that looked like a good stop for our grandchildren, next trip!

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