Don't Call it A Come Back

It's 2011 and don't call it a come back.  I plan to start posting again about Food, Drink, Arts, Entertainment and anything else around the Detroit Metro Area and all around Michigan and even the universe.  Thank you all for following and please leave a comment!

Vampires from Royal Oak in Ohio!

Rad vampire story from the Daily Tribune!  Even the vampires are leaving Michigan.  What can we do?

 

Preserve the Saugatuck Dunes

I just got done reading a newsletter from the National Trust for Historic Preservation that released it's 11 most endangered historic places in the U.S.  The Saugatuck Dunes was listed as one of them.  A developer is planning to build a shopping district with hotels and residential areas, a plan that goes against the community's zoning laws.  Read more here and help save the dunes!  View a slideshow of the dunes here.

The Last Drag and the smoking ban in Michigan

Folks that are familiar with the bar scene all over Michigan will be headed out tonight for the last night of legal smoking inside Michigan's fine beer and liquor serving establishments.  Starting tomorrow, all the juke joints, holes in the wall, watering holes, pubs, taverns, clubs, lounges, and neighborhood bars will be under the watchful eye of Michigan's finest.  Having a cigarette indoors at one of these places will now be punishable by fine.  In order to celebrate this final night of cancer accelerating behavior, bar crawlers will be visiting all their favorites across Detroit's bergs, and I assume across Michigan, to smoke enough cigarettes to last them the total amount of time they plan to spend in a bar for the rest of their lives.

If you are one of the many then you have options for tonight.  In Ferndale, the Ruth Ellis Center and D. Erickson PR bring you the Take the Last Drag pub crawl.  The crawl will be lead by fashionable drag queens and will take smokers and non-smokers to all the hot spots like the WAB, Dino's and Como's.

At the Belmont Bar in Hamtramck owner Darren Grown will be hosting The Last Great Michigan Smoke Down to celebrate those who choose to smoke and those who don't.  Entertainment will be provided all night will a variety of Detroit bands.  Grown says that the party is to lament the loss of yet another personal freedom.  

Not all the last chance smoke events are against the ban.  In the same article it mentions The Magic Stick in Detroit will be ushering in a new era by having fun and celebrating both sides of the ban.  Also mentioned is the New Place Lounge in Dearborn.   

Whether you are for or against the ban I suggest you go out and celebrate tonight to support your local main street and business owners!

Go Hiking!

As the sun breaks and the snow melts now is the time to break the seal on your cabin door and head out into the wilderness and do some hiking.  That is exactly what I plan to do this spring with a trip to Moab, Utah and a visit to Arches National Park in the high Utah desert.  But you don't have to travel across the country to enjoy the outdoors.  There are plenty of ways to get your hiking fix here in the Detroit area.

I got on the website Trails.com and looked up hiking in Southeast Michigan and the Detroit Area and the site brought up a map that highlighted all the trails in my area.  From here I checked the websites of the ones I was interested in to find out more.  Trails.com gives the name, length and location of the trail on an easy to read map.  It also offers a short description of each trail and some helpful tips.  I looked at three hikes that vary in location and length.

1. Paint Creek Trail - length 8.9 miles, location - Rochester Hills - This trail is a hike through northern Oakland County that passes a local cider mill.  It was the first Rail-to-Trail conversion in Michigan.





2. Island Lake Recreation Area - length 12 miles, location - Brighton - This recreation area has two hiking loop trails that total 12 miles.  If you want to extend your stay there are campsites but the trails are pretty easy. Island Lake also offers canoe rentals (we've done this before), a shooting range and picnic facilities.



3. Proud Lake Recreation Area - length 21 miles, location - Commerce Township - This park offers 21 miles of trails and is the premier hiking destination in the Detroit area.  They also offer canoe and boat rentals along with biking trails.  If you want to make a weekend out of it there are two campsites one more rustic than the other.






I caught the hiking bug in college but have not been in a long while.  My wife and I are just getting back in to hiking and backpacking (camping along the trail for multiple days).  Along with these local trails my backpacking wish list also includes Isle Royal National Park and the Porcupine Mountains in the U.P.  If you are also interested in getting outdoors this spring and summer checkout Hiking Michigan, a free hiking club that offers info on group hikes, classes, camping, canoeing, kayaking and almost everything you need to know to get outdoors.

Red Wings, Metro Times Blowout and D'Mongos Speakeasy

Ladies and gentlemen of the Detroit Metro area. Tonight there exists a hodgepodge of things to do that kind of present themselves nicely. Plus with the clear blue, crisp skies it is a perfect time to get outside and get downtown to see a show, go to a game, or visit a Detroit bar or restaurant. So I have carefully put together the following itinerary for those of you looking to get out and go downtown for a night.

1. Head downtown in The Night Move - This is Detroit's Green Transportation vehicle. The bus itself runs on B20 biodiesel fuel which cuts emissions by 50%. They have also partnered with CarbonFund.org in order to help fund more ways to cut emissions. The bus goes between Royal Oak, Ferndale and Detroit with round trip tickets for $10. Plus this weekend The Night Move is providing FREE transportation around Hamtramck for the Metro Times Blowout (read on).

2. Metro Times Blowout 2010 - This event actually started last night but continues tonight and tomorrow night with 200 bands playing in 12 venues around Hamtramck, MI. The Metro Times is a Metro Detroit entertainment guide available for free every week and this is their 13th annual blowout celebrating local music. The music starts at 6pm tonight at Detroit Threads with music by the Detroit Techno Militia.

3. Red Wings vs. Nashville Predators - Tonight at 7:30pm the wings take on the preds at the Joe. Because of the Olympic break the season is two weeks shorter this year and there are only a few home games left going in to April (not counting the playoffs). I would fork out a few extra bucks for some good seats as this promises to be a gritty match up with most of the injuries for Detroit are behind them.

4. Go to a local bar! - After the wings win... or after an awesome blowout show... head downtown to one of Detroit's 100+ bars and restaurants. Don't know where to go? Check out the list at insidedetroit.org virtual welcome center. Inside Detroit is also a tour company that offers group or private tours around downtown and themed tours like the St. Paddy's Day pub tour coming up next week. My suggestion would be to visit D'Mongos Speakeasy, a small restaurant bar that is only open on Fridays. The distinctive interior was once described to me as a preserved version of "Liberace's living room."

Do it all... or just do one thing. Either way you'll be getting out of your house, having some fun and supporting some Michigan businesses! Let me know your itinerary or send some pics from your night out and I'll post them!

Mock Winter... Celebrate Beer

This Saturday is the 5th Annual Michigan Winter Beer Festival which will take place at Fifth Third Ballpark north of Grand Rapids, MI. The sold out festival boasts 299 Michigan beers from 51 Michigan Breweries. Some of my favorites include Bell's (Kalamazoo), Founder's (Grand Rapids), Dark Horse Brewing (Marshall) and Short's (Bellaire).

The festival begins at noon but members of the Michigan Brewers Guild will be allowed in one hour early. The festival lasts until 5pm. It is so awesome that an event like this has sold out and that so many people are supporting Michigan beer!

Let's Save Michigan! campaign

A friend and former Kalamazoo College classmate of mine, Sean Mann, has started a campaign.  He is trying to mobilize the people of Michigan to save the state from the economic downturn that the whole world suffered.  In order to kick-start this movement he has started the web site www.letssavemichigan.com

The website offers a pledge to its visitors that states they will frequent the "main street" of their town in order to support local businesses.  The philosophy is that this will in turn boost the economy of the entire state and make it a more desirable place to live so that more people and businesses will want to be here.  If more businesses want to be here they will bring more jobs that can help chip away at Michigan's historically high unemployment rate.  Simple enough.

Lets Save Michigan also includes posts that review current issues that different communities in Michigan are facing, including many ways to improve Michigan's largest city, Detroit.  Recent posts include one on the metro/light rail train issue in Michigan as well as one on the popularity of winter festivals in other large cities and how Michigan might benefit from hosting some.  On each page there are "fun facts" about Michigan.  Starting today (1/27) Sean Mann will be on the radio at 760 AM WJR for a segment discussing the Let's Save Michigan campaign.

The overall theme is that WE have to do something to make a change for a better Michigan.  We cannot wait for a bailout from "big brother."  Personally, I am in favor of this idea.  My family has just bought a home in Ferndale and we will probably be here for a while.  Let's work together to make Michigan great again... Let's Save Michigan!

Michigan an Independent Country?

Check out this petition I found online today.  I think it is ridiculous but maybe you are for it. Could Michigan break from the US?

Although, if you think that by signing this you can legally require state reps to consider it you are wrong as online petitions like this one are not legally binding (as I've heard, I'm not a lawyer).