Hold the salt… Shake a hand…
I used to tease friends with posts about their trips to Florida/Carolinas/etc… talking about how they love the beach. I would tell them… reduce your drive… come see me in Michigan… we have as much coastline as just about any other state. And it’s all fresh water! No salt on the rim of this margarita. And while I can see the appeal of the “Salt Life”… I also love my saline free alternatives within a few hours in just about any direction.
I had a special reason to enjoy the West Coast this weekend. A old buddy called and said they were headed to his brother in-laws house near Saugatuck… and asked if I could meet them there. How could I pass that up? Free room and board… they wouldn’t even let me buy dinner! Visit with an old from back home… and meet a friend from my home town I never knew I had!
John’s family had found a very nice cape cod house… in a lakeside community (in Glenn, Michigan)… not too far a drive from their homes near Chicago. He was able to purchase it a few years ago… and I fell in love with it just like he had. This John… going to visit his friend John… visiting his brother in-law John. So we had John (Johnny) B, I and W.
Michigan’s West Coast has a lot of wonderful areas where you can kick back and enjoy the wind, waves and water… along the mile after endless mile of sandy beach. Or you can visit local vineyards… orchards… farmers markets. They grow just about everything over there… and have found very tasty ways to ferment a lot of it! Not to mention the great restaurants and pubs scattered about. We opted to not be picky… and just try all of the options we could hit.
What made it fun was the entire time we were telling old stories… mixed in with new… and somebody was constantly mentioning names I (we) had not heard in years. At least between the three of us… we could usually come up with names of the people/places from our past. Half the stories started… oh you remember___ … no it’s been too long… come on they were (brother/sister/cousin/friend) of ____ … OH Yeah… now I remember them from ____. Which would trigger another story!
A lot of those stories are not for mixed company… so I’ll just say it was great to catch up! You can watch the video below to watch and hear the waves… but be forewarned my version of the “Yes Michigan” jingle slipped out… and might kill the mood. Hope this finds you happy with life… filled with magical memories… and knowing you are loved by family and friends!