Detroit, Chicago & East Lansing

Such a fun whirlwind of a weekend!

Detroit

Gage was in Detroit for a night. His copilot was in his class at the Air Force Academy, and he's also from Michigan. Gage, Charley and I met at their hotel The Book Cadillac, and we walked to The Anchor Bar to watch the Detroit Red Wings play. I ate the little cheeseburger sliders, and they were delicious. 

Gage suggested we find a karaoke bar, so we googled and called around to find one that was open. We also walked there - no coats, even though we all wished we had them - and ended up in such a cool place! It was named Sid Gold's Request Room. It was small, and the hostess asked if we had reservations. Since we were there 20 minutes before the karaoke started, she was able to get us in, and every other table had a reserved sign on it. It was full before it hit 9:00 p.m., and the music was provided by - not a karaoke machine, but a man on a real piano!  Looking online now, I see there are four of them in the U.S., but I hadn't heard of them. The crowd was great, the venue was fantastic, and it was really fun. Gage and Charley sang wonderfully, and the entire experience was great. I had parked at the Financial District Garage (just $10!) so I walked back and made it home by 12 because...

Chicago

I left for Chicago at 8:00 a.m. I love that you can drive to Chicago, and not only can you drive to the city, you can drive DOWNTOWN right into the busiest part! I parked at 875 North Michigan Avenue parking which is in the bottom of the John Hancock building. It wasn't super easy to find since the sign didn't state that, but I found it. ($55 overnight.) 

Our hotel the Knickerbocker was just a block away. I checked in, threw my stuff in the room, and immediately walked to the lake! I had driven on Lake Shore Drive along the water, and I was just dying to get there. It was about four blocks away, and then...Lake Michigan! The sun was shining, the water was so blue, and there were tons of people walking and running along the lake. I walked along it a long way to where it moves from cement to beach, and then walked on the sand. The skyline, the water - all of it was so beautiful. Sheer joy.

I met up with my friends in the hotel for our yearly reunion! I went to WMU with these girls. They all majored in engineering, and I was their lone English major friend. Some of them are my former roommates. (We lived in a house of seven girls at one point and my bedroom, literally, was a hallway. I liked it because I had a door on each side of my room and the rent was cheap.) They all have gone on to have great careers with impressive titles!

Erica - manager power supply portfolio, Hoosier Energy

Jen - Senior business process specialist, Hayworth

Joy - Director labor relations manufacturing, GM

Jodie - Owner, Little Caesars, formerly Vice president of global operations, Rockwell

Aletha - Senior director of inventory planning, Sweetwater

Sarah - Quality manager Chicago stamping plant, Ford

I mean come on! What powerhouses. We get together once a year so there's a lot to catch up on!

We headed out and stopped at Streeter's Tavern. It wasn't a place we could also eat, so we went to Pippin's Tavern. We split a lot of foods like giant pretzels and potpies. Then, out on Michigan Avenue, where there are tons of stores and people. 

We had a reservation at 6:00 p.m., where Sarah joined us at a fancy corner table on the second floor. People here were dressed to kill, and it was so fun to see them. 

We stopped off at Hopsmith after that to collect Sarah's boyfriend, and they set off to Sarah's apartment for a nightcap...but I walked back because...

East Lansing

I had to leave for East Lansing at 5:00 a.m., and not only was there a time zone change, I lost two hours because we also changed the clocks!

 The drive was so incredibly easy with zero traffic. I met Kris at Art's Pub in East Lansing, which has become one of our favorite spots to eat in EL. They have breakfast all day, all the food is great, and the service is fantastic. It was packed in there, but we had no trouble getting in and out to see the Spartan beat the Wolverines, then hoist the Big Ten Championship banner. What an exciting game! It was senior day, and there was tons of confetti and happiness in the air.