Football Weekend - MSU good - Lions bad

It was a workout to say the least on the liver this weekend as I partook in a double dose of football with MSU-UM on Saturday and the 0-6 Lions on Sunday. My parents are off on a cruise so I was able to get their two U-M tickets while Mark got four through a co-worker of his so we had a strong posse of four Spartans and two independents with slight favortism towards U-M. I was going to park where my Dad usually does for the game but looking on how far of a walk that was (I know now why my Mom stopped going), I took a gamble and was able to get pretty close parking on a front lawn of a house, literally right up to the front door. Thankfully Mother Nature delivered some bearable weather with the rain holding off for the tailgate time in addition to the game.

The MSU-UM game was a good one if you are a Spartan fan. I got a laugh when the guy sitting behind us, I assume he talks to my Dad quite a bit during the games, mentioned after a Michigan touchdown, "the guy I usually throw a high five to right about now usually is sitting right there," motioning to my seat. He didn't have much to cheer about as the Spartans actually delivered when they were supposed to. Hopefully it's the start of something great in East Lansing as I really hate U-M, especially their pompous fans. After a victory cigar and a few post game pops, it was time to head home to rest up for Part 2 of the football weekend.

Rather than tailgate again, Al, Greg, and I made an executive decision and went to Cheli's Chili Bar for some pre-game beverages. One positive thing, if there is one, for the Lions playing so bad is the bars aren't as crowded. I will give the Lions a little credit in that they created kind of kid-friendly atmosphere outside the stadium on Brush Street. If the games are going to be bad, and bad it was on Sunday, at least the kids have something to remember besides another loss by the oh so pitiful Lions.

Trail Head

Brighton Recreation Area - Cool Colors

A beautiful evening it was last night at Brighton Recreation Area. The tree colors are just about at peak. The trails were covered in leaves so the damp tree roots jumped out to throw your front tire in a tizzy from time to time. Mark came oh so close to falling over the front handlebars but managed keep on his feet while his bike ghost rode into the ground.

Jim joined us after the ride and we got some chuckles about hurling in the back of friend's cars (everybody has some experience whether it be actually letting it fly in the car, out the window, or calling for the "pull over"). Well, I guess it isn't so funny when it's your car that is being sprayed upon but at least we can laugh about it now, eh?

It's a bummer how early it's getting dark these days. We thought we were whooping it up into the wee hours of the night but when I pulled out of the parking lot, it was only 8 o'clock. Sad. That big moon was looking pretty fierce on the ride home.

Trail Head

Reliving my youth at the Pumpkin Festival

I felt like I was in the "way back machine" this past weekend at the Stonewall Pumpkin Festival in Rochester Hills with Jennifer, her son Calder and his friend Andrew. We got to pick out a pumpkin out of a pumpkin patch (well, it was more or less a bunch of pumpkins spread out on a lawn), take a hay ride to the carving area, carve our pumpkins, play pumpkin bowling, walk on stilts (that is Calder trying to push me over), and watch the oh so exiting gourd race where they dump a bin of them in a nearby creek with numbers on them and whomever's gourd floats down creek first wins. Kudos to the people putting on the festival. It was very kid friendly. Of course, there is always one bad apple in the batch. While we were leaving the pumpkin carving area, we witnessed a bitter lady putting up a stink because she couldn't find a carving tool and wanted her money back unless someone got her one. It was a beautiful day and it's too bad that lady just couldn't enjoy the moment.

Trail Head

Culture-ized in Chicago

In the past, my trips to Chicago could probably be classified as very large bar tours with sports mixed in some way or another (no complaints whatsoever there). Well, this past weekend, I utilized the portion of my brain that doesn’t get too much activity, the culture area. I had read things about this culture thing and some have told me about it but quite honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am happy to say my body did not implode in my exposure to this side of the world. I enjoyed every minute of it actually.

Jennifer and I took off Friday afternoon for the Windy City and Mother Nature couldn’t have delivered better weather. After settling in Friday night, we went on a lunch cruise on Lake Michigan Saturday on a ship called The Odyssey. Jennifer has good taste because the whole operation was first class and the meal was great. My version of a swanky lunch probably would have been chicken fingers at Harry Caray’s Bar (not that there is anything wrong with that!). The cruise took us out of Navy Pier and into Lake Michigan right along the skyline. I tried to do my Titanic version of “I’m the king of the world” on the top deck of the boat but I just didn’t have the Leonardo DiCaprio going for me that day.

After lunch we went up to the viewing deck at the Sears Tower. I felt like a cow being herded with the amount of people that were waiting to go up. It was worth it however. The views were outstanding. I liked the “Go Sox” imprint within one of the buildings below (although I can’t stand the White Sox fans---mean people).

To wrap up the day, we went to see the play “Wicked” at the Oriental Theatre downtown. I must say my background in the arts is a bit limited. Most of my theatrical experience has been watching my niece and nephew in plays when they attended St. Clare of Montefalco in grade school with the most recent being an outstanding version of Godspell (picture a group of twelve year olds dressed as hippies singing “Day by Day”). Well, I am here to tell you I had a great time at the play. It’s like a version of Wizard of Oz, the untold story.

I was able to get in a very small football watching fix Saturday but this culture thing isn't too bad.

Trail Head