Slabtown Burgers
Our competition day ended around 3:00 on Saturday which, like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, is a change from year’s past. We were typically getting done closer to 8:00 so when we booked our rooms this year, we booked Saturday night as well.
L was a little cranky and wanted to go home but we already paid for the room. It was a gorgeous night out so why not just enjoy the down time sitting on the beach.
J, B, and I went outside to the beach when we got back to our room at the Grand Beach Resort in East Bay Township. L was still kind of mad so she stayed in the room until she realized she might as well enjoy it too.
I had asked several times about dinner before and after we headed to the beach. I never got a really good answer so around 7:00, I finally said, I’m going to go pick up dinner. If anyone wants anything, text me.
I, of course, had a plan.
I headed to Slabtown Burbers on West Front Street and Spruce Street west of downtown Traverse City. This is a place I’ve been wanting to go to for a couple of years but I’ve never had the time to run out to the west side of town. The restaurant, in what looks like a house in a residential neighborhood, has been open for over 15 years after it replaced a couple of failed restaurants in the same spot. The area has gotten a little more commercial recently with the addition of a multi story mixed use building across the street but Slabtown still looks out of place amongst the rows of homes that line Front Street
Read more…That’sa Pizza (Acme)
The Traverse City figure skating competition is one of our favorites. The area is gorgeous and we’re there right at the beginning of summer so it’s still nice and cool along the bay but also sunny enough to sit out on the beach.
We had a pretty big break in the day on Friday which has never happened in the past. L had one skate around lunch time and that was it. The second part of her event was Saturday morning.
B didn’t skate at all on Friday. He had one event on Thursday and one event Saturday afternoon. We went to the rink Friday morning to watch his friends and, of course, his sister but then he was pretty much off the hook until a late practice session after the event concluded for the day.
We spent the day hanging out on the beach with friends at our hotel and playing miniature golf across the street at Pirate’s Cove with some friends from Ann Arbor.
L had asked if she could go play mini golf with friends later in the evening then go to Olive Garden for dinner. I absolutely did not want Olive Garden nor where B and I invited anyway.
The two of us hung out in our hotel room until his practice session at 8:00 PM. Unfortunately, the excitement of the day got the best of him and he fell asleep. I had to wake him up and get him back to Centre Ice Arena.
The practice session did not go well and I ended up pulling him off early. He was tired and it just wasn’t going well.
While I was sitting in the stands, I started planning my dinner. J and L had went to Olive Garden so they were out. B said he wasn’t hungry. I decided to order a pizza thinking if anyone else was hungry, they could eat some of that too.
I picked That’sa Pizza in Acme Township. It’s not the closest That’sa Pizza to the Centre Ice Arena. That would actually be the Hammond Road location and we ordered from there last year so I decided to do something different.
The Acme location of That’sa Pizza is on US-31 South of Mt. Hope Road across the street from the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. The physically address keeps coming up for Williamsburg, MI but the restaurant is branded and sits in Acme Township east of Traverse City proper. The small roadside restaurant butts almost right up to US-31. There is some parking along the side and in the back but it’s pretty tight.
Read more…Chubby Unicorn
From St. Igance to Traverse City.
I realized I’ve been working on Mackinac Island the week after Memorial Day for about the last ten years.
The last five years, I’ve spent the weekend after that trip in Traverse City.
I hopped on the 6:00 ferry from Mackinac Island to St. Igance on Thursday night after I completed my work from the day. The car was already loaded up and at the Ferry Dock so I unloaded my wagon full of stuff I took to the island then started my trip towards Traverse City to meet my family who was already there.
I didn’t eat along the way other than a slice of gas station pizza. I had a pretty good sized lunch at the job site so wasn’t really hungry. I was just eager to get to my hotel in Traverse City for the night.
We were in Traverse City for the Traverse City Figure Skating Club’s Cherry Classic competition. It’s one of our favorite competitions not only for the competition itself but just being in Traverse City at the beginning of summer and sitting out on the beach at our hotel when we’re not at the Centre Ice Arena.
The skating was kind of spread out this year. I actually missed a good chunk of it because it began on Thursday for us for the first time. Friday, J had one skate then each kid had one skate on Saturday.
J and L got to the rink pretty early on Friday morning while B and I slept in. He wanted to get there around 11:00 to watch some friends skate so we got up and got moving. I dropped him off at the rink then I went to get myself lunch.
I headed towards downtown Traverse City because I wanted to grab a sandwich from the Chubby Unicorn on Front Street near Wellington Street along the Boardman River on the east side of downtown. The small..very small…sandwich shop opened a couple of years ago in a spot that is well known for amazing restaurants in Traverse City. J and I actually ate in this spot way back in 2008 on our very first visit to Traverse City when it was the Cooks’ House. That restaurant moved not too far away and is still going strong on nearby Wellington Street.
Read more…Buoys By the Bay
One more night in St. Ignace.
I still had a full day of work on Mackinac Island on Thursday but Wednesday would be my last night in the area.
I got back to the mainland at a decent time. I was able to get on the 6:00 ferry so I was back in my hotel by 6:30.
I had no idea what I wanted to do for dinner. I was hungry but I didn’t have a taste for anything. A burger didn’t really sound good at that moment but I had no idea what I wanted.
I set my sights on but I felt bad taking a whole table to myself when there was a wait. I walked out as soon as I realized that then drove around aimlessly for a bit.
I was kind of thinking pizza and I saw the bowling alley had that but I kept circling back in front of another bar that looked like it’s probably a lot of fun in the summer. I eventually said screw it, I’m tired of thinking about it so I’m just going to go for bar food again.
I parked my car in front of Buoys on the Bay on South State Street near Spring Street on the south side of St. Ignace’s downtown area. Like most places in St. Ignace, Buoys sits across the street from a marina that sits on the East Moran Bay. There’s a nice big patio out front that has some great bay views but it was too cold the nights I was there and that area wasn’t even set up. The building for this restaurant has been around for a while. It was MI Patio up until 2022 when it became Buoys by the Bay
Read more…The Driftwood Sports Bar
My second night in Northern Michigan was actually the first day I had to work on the Island. I hopped on the first ferry at 7:30 AM and got back on the ferry at 6:30 PM. It was a long day and I still had some work to do before I could go to bed for the night.
I had eaten breakfast at the job site but I didn’t have time for lunch. By the time I got back to the mainland and decompressed for a bit, it was pushing 8:00. I was hungry and needed to find a place to eat.
There are a number of pubs along the main stretch of road that I passed on my way in and I didn’t really know much about any of them. I ended up picking the one closest to my hotel just because the menu looked good enough to me.
The Driftwood Motel is on State Street south of Reagan Street in St. Igance. It sits right across from one of the Arnold Transit Ferry Docks. The motel has been in St. Ignace for a couple of decades. It has both a restaurant and a sports bar attached to the main motel. The restaurant sits further back from the road and has it’s own entrance. I was heading to the sports bar which is right next to State Street.
Read more…Salty Mac Brewing Company
The first thing I had to do when I got to St. Ignace was get fudge. I did that by going to Original Murdick’s.
The second thing I had to do was get dinner.
I parked on State Street right in front of Murdick’s and I didn’t feel like going somewhere else for dinner. There was a spot on my short list of places I wanted to check out while in St. Ignace right down the street. I took my fudge back to the car then headed to a brewery not too far away.
Salty Mac Brewing Company is on State Street northwest of Truckey Street which I assume is “downtown” St Igance. The brewery is fairly new having been converted from a coffeehouse to a brewery a couple of years ago. The business officially opened in February of 2025 after doing some renovations to both the inside and the facade of the building.
Read more…Original Murdick’s Fudge (St. Ignace)
My kids know what’s up.
When I left them on Sunday to head home from the lake, both kid said, “good-bye. I love you. Bring home fudge.” I’m little shocked “bring home fudge” beat out “I love you in the order of things they said.
This week is my annual trip to Mackinac Island for work. I drove Monday night to a hotel in St. Ignace. I’ve stayed at the Best Western Dockside in Mackinac City for the last several years but this year, I decided to do something different. The Best Western Harbour Pointe Lakefront was cheaper (I like to save the company money whenever I can although I think it goes unappreciated) and I wanted to do something different. I had made trips to St. Ignace for pizza last year and I ate at Clyde’s Drive-In one year but I’ve never really looked around town to see what else was there.
I got to my hotel around 6:00 and got all my stuff in the room and started to set up a work station. I had lunch on my way up at Get Hooked at Curries in Big Rapids but I was starting to get hungry again. I also wanted to grab fudge and it’s just as easy to do that on the mainland where there aren’t as big of crowds.
I headed down the street from my hotel to Original Murdick’s Fudge. The small Mackinac Island fudge shop has three stores on Mackinac Island itself, one in Mackinaw City, this one in St. Ignace, and three in Massachusetts in Martha’s Vineyard.
The St. Ignace shop is one State Street near Central Hill across the street from East Moran Bay. This stretch of road is kind of St. Ignace’s “downtown” with a row of shops lining the south side of State Street. There is some street parking in front of the row of buildings as well as a parking lot in back of the shops off Chambers Alley. The shop has a look similar to the Mackinac Island shops with kind of an old time candy store look with a white storefront and the word “Fudge” much larger than the word “Murdick’s.”
Read more…Get Hooked at Curries
Time for my annual trip to Mackinac Island.
I needed to be on the Island in the afternoon on Tuesday but I prefer to not get up at 5 AM to drive if I can help it. I typically go up on Monday. I like to take my time and just drive. It’s one of those few times I’m in the car by myself. I can listen to whatever podcast I want or whatever bad classic rock or 90’s pop music playlist that I want. I can stop wherever I want and not have to worry about making sure everyone else is happy.
J and the kids were still at her parents house on the lake in St. Joseph County Monday morning so I got up around 10:00 and hit the road. I had several stops I wanted to make along the way including stopping for lunch somewhere north of Grand Rapids.
I got to Big Rapids right around noon. I actually had some errands I needed to do while I was in town so I took care of them then started looking for lunch.
I’m not sure how I found it but I found a sandwich shop on Google in a gas station. I needed gas to so this was going to work out.
Get Hooked at Currie’s is on Maple Street near 2nd Street on the Northeast side of Big Rapids. The small sandwich shop is inside the Amoco gas station known as Currie’s just to the east of Muskegon River. The gas station actually has a pretty long history in the City of Big Rapids. The original gas station was just down the street at Maple and State Street but they eventually moved to this location. The station was a BP for years but when offered the chance to rebrand to Amoco, they jumped at the chance. The name comes from the towing business also owned by the family that owns the gas station.
Read more…Big House Breakfast & Burgers
Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about Needoh hunting? It’s a little out of control.
Forget Me Not, the shop in Three Rivers I blogged about a few weeks ago, announced on their Facebook page they were going to have huge Nee-doh drop on Sunday. J and B had already made plans to run down there and see what they could get.
But on Saturday, they put a post up saying if you came in and ordered a specific ice cream, there was a special surprise. It sounded like a Swirlin’ USA Needoh. J asked L and I if we wanted to go. L said yes for the ice cream, I said yes if we could go to breakfast/lunch afterwards.
We got down to Three Rivers, got the kids their Needohs then headed across the street for lunch.
We did the whole Michigan left thing to make our way back to Big House Breakfast & Burgers. We’ve eaten at this restaurant on US-131just north of Broadway Street a few times over the years. It looks like it was originally a Big Boy, but we’ve eaten there when it was Oasis Family Restaurant and more recently when it was Flat Rock Grill. The restaurant changed hands again last September and became The Big House.
Read more…Casey’s (Hartford)
There was a time not too many years ago that I longed for Casey’s General Store. They were all over the place when I lived and worked in Central Illinois. In fact, there was one right down the street from my office and that was one of our go-to places for dinner (the other was Taco John’s).
I don’t know what’s happened in the last couple of years but Casey’s has made an aggressive expansion in to Michigan. The first store popped up in Watervliet followed by one in Bridgeman. After that, they turned all of the old Kum & Go’s and Maverick’s in the Grand Rapids area in to Casey’s.
The chain slowly keeps inching it’s way towards the Kalamazoo market as another store has popped up along I-94. I just happened to be getting off on that exit the other day and couldn’t resist.
The newest Southwest Michigan location of Casey’s is in Hartford. The new build store is on the east side of County Road 698 just north of the I-94 interchange. Ground was broken on the store in September of last year and the gas station/convenience store opened up just a few months later in late February of 2026. The design is one of the new build designs that still has the iconic red band along the top of the store but they’ve dropped the “General Store” theme and design from these newer buildings. The store is just branded as “Casey’s”….something they started doing about six years ago.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 