Circle K – Milham Rd

• 1800 W. Milham Road
• Portage, MI 49002
• (269) 349-7037
• Website

Another one of my guilty pleasures.  This one has roots from my time in Peoria, IL.  My job in Peoria had me driving around Central Illinois everyday.  Every now and then, I would just need a break and since I have an unhealthy Pepsi addiction, my preferred stop was someplace where I could get cheap Pepsi. 

When J and I moved to Lansing, I really missed Circle K.  The closest was either here in Kalamazoo or Ann Arbor.  Everytime I’d go to U of M for work, I’d hit up the Circle K on Stadium Drive…whether I was going that way or not. 

There are four Circle K locations in the Kalamazoo/Portage area.  Some of them are just convenience stores.  Some are also gas stations.  Up until now, I had never seen a Circle K that wasn’t a gas station, but the one we stopped at on Milham Road in Portage is just that. 

The store shares a building with a Domino’s Pizza.  It’s not much different from any other convenience store except for one major thing.  Polar Pops.  Man, I love Polar Pops.  Not because there’s anything special about them.  Hell, it’s just Pepsi in a styrofoam cup.  But, it’s Pepsi in a Styrofoam cup for just $.69

J and I were out running some errands and we happened upon this location.  The funny thing is, this is the location we stopped at last summer on our way through the area on a trip home.  I was just thinking the other night that I needed to look up Circle K locations because I knew there were some here. 

Neither of us needed a drink, but since we drove by, we had to stop.  The store itself is a little rundown.  It’s not the nicest Circle K in the world, but all I really cared about was cheap Pepsi. 

The fountain at this location is really basic.  They only have eight pop choices and one ice choice.   It also doesn’t have the flavor shots that some of the newer machines have.  If you hit the right Circle K, their fountain could have thirty fountains to choose from.  This one had Pepsi, but I got a Mt. Dew instead while J got a tea. 

The total for two pops was $1.25 which didn’t seem right to me, but I didn’t argue either.   Thats’s two 32 oz. pops for less than the price of one 20 oz. bottle.  How can you argue with that.

Some will say Polar Pops are bad.  Heck, a buddy of mine back in Central Illinois actually wrote a newspaper article on the subject.  A lot of the points made are very true.  At one point, I was probably a two or three Polar Pop a day person just because they were so cheap.  My waistline has paid for it and I know that now, but never thought of it at the time.  I’ve switched to Diet pop for the most part, but I still have to have one full flavored Pepsi a day. 

Circle K is just one of those things that remind me of home.  I won’t frequent as much as I used to, but an every now and then stop will definitely make its way into the rotation.