Wing Snob (Delta Township)
645 Menard DriveIt’s not unusual for me to meet up with a colleague to head to Detroit for a job assignment. They usually don’t want to drive all the way by themselves and I don’t want to go to Grand Rapids to pick them up.
We have a meeting spot in Lansing. It’s a little out of my way but it’s still better than going all the way to Grand Rapids.
I typically tell whoever I meeting to meet me at the MDOT Carpool lot on Grand River Avenue right off I-96/I-69 in Grand Ledge. It’s a spot they have to pass anyway, it’s easy to get on and off, and there are two trucks stops right there open 24 hours for those nights I’m dropping them off at 3 AM.
A colleague and I had a morning job in Detroit last Thursday. I told him to meet me at the carpool lot at 8 AM knowing he’s always late. We needed to be in Detroit by 11 so that gave us plenty of time.
We did what we were assigned to do then headed back to Lansing around 1:30 PM putting us back at the carpool lot around 3 PM. We had breakfast at the job site when we got there but we hadn’t eaten lunch yet. I was kind of in a rush to get home so I didn’t ask about stopping in Detroit or along the way. I instead decided to grab something on my way home.
Once we went our separate ways, I sat in the car pool lot and put in an order for wings from a nearby Wing Snob. I needed gas and to grab a Pepsi so I figured the timing would work out that I would get there about the time they were ready to go.
Wing Snob has a couple of locations in the Lansing area but I was closest to the Delta Township location on Menard Drive and Saginaw Highway. The restaurant is easily visible from Saginaw Highway/M-43 as it takes up a large part of the Sunoco gas station. The restaurant has it’s own entrance and is rather large for a wing shop that shares space with a gas station. That’s because this actually used to be a McDonalds.
Read more…Pine Knob Music Theatre
33 Bob Seger Drive- Clarkston, MI 48348
- (313) 471-7000
- Website
Growing up in the ’80’s, my dad and I didn’t listen to the same music. The stuff he listened to from the 50’s and 60’s seemed ancient to me even though it was only 20 or so years old. Music changed so much over three decades that it was just inconceivable that I could listen to the same thing my parents listened to now.
Maybe it’s just because things are reversed now and I’m the ancient one but it seems like music lasts a little longer now. I still listen to a lot of pop music and I actually listen to a lot of music my kids listen to.
It’s true, they’re not the biggest Bon Jovi fans like they’re old man, but there is enough music out there that we do agree on. I have no problem going to a concert with my kids because chances are, I like the music too.
One of the artists that has surprised me is Kesha. My daughter chose a Kesha song (Praying) for her figure skating free dance this year and along the way, has become a pretty big fan.
I used to listen to Kesha all the time…15 years ago when Animal came out. Haven’t really listened to anything since Warrior but I’d always sing along when those early songs popped in to my playlist.
We knew Kesha was going to be on tour this summer but it’s been a busy and expensive summer with travel for figure skating. We didn’t make any promises that we’d go see her and we didn’t buy tickets in advance.
Friday afternoon, J hopped on StubHub and found seats below face value for the Saturday night show at Pine Knob. I got a couple sad puppy dog Snapchats asking if we could go. I hate being the bad guy and I’ve never seen a show at Pine Knob so I told her to go ahead and get them.
Pine Knob Music Theatre is about forty miles northwest of Detroit in the Village of Clarkston. The massive outdoor amphitheater is off Sashabaw Road north of the I-75 Interchange. The address for the theater is actually 33 Bob Seger Way which is in honor of the 33 sold out shows the Detroit native played there. There a couple of ways to get in to the property by the main entrance is at the marquee on the corner of Sashabaw and Seger Way. There are massive parking lots right on the property that are included with the price of the ticket so you’re not paying any more once you get in to the venue. There are grass lots off to the left when you pull in and paved lots off to the right. We got there around 5:45 for a 7:00 and ran in to no traffic on the way in. We were pointed towards the paved lot towards the west entrance and we just kind of found an empty spot on our own.
Read more…Browndog at the Shuffle
325 Riverfront DriveWhen J and I moved to Lansing in 2008, we were really excited for the Lansing City Market. We didn’t have anything like that where we were living at the time so a year round market sounded really exciting.
It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It wasn’t the bustling market we had hoped it would be. In fact, it was kind of on it’s last legs. The building that had been there for about 70 years closed and the market moved in to a new building across the parking lot in 2010. The site of the original market was redeveloped into an apartment complex.
That new building last about nine years and closed in 2019.
It sat empty for a few years until it was developed in to Lansing Shuffle, a shuffleboard social club and food hall. That business opened in January of 2023 and that’s what occupies the space still today.
I was in Lansing for work one day last week. I had only one quick job assignment then needed to run back to Grand Rapids to finish a project with a co-worker. I wrapped up in Lansing just before noon. I told my co-worker I was going to grab lunch then I’d meet him back in Grand Rapids.
I headed towards the old Lansing City Market because I saw there was some tasty looking food options in the new Shuffleboard club. I don’t think I ever went in to the Market once the new building was built so this was a totally new experience for me.
Lansing Shuffle is right near the riverfront and across from Jackson Field on Riverfront Drive right off North Cedar Street. Riverfront Drive leads you in to the parking garage for the Lansing Center but off to the right is a small parking lot for the Lansing River Trail with a few two hour parking spaces. The building is a giant metal building. It doesn’t have the character of the old market but it has the utility needed for this modern day space.
Read more…Subway (Martin)
1190 M-222Sometimes things just work out.
J and the kids were in Dallas for a figure skating competition last weekend. I stayed home because I am running out of PTO and the flights to Dallas were just really expensive.
They left early enough Thursday morning that I could take them to the airport before work and were coming home late enough Monday night that I could pick them up.
My plan was to work my normal evening shift, get off at 11:00 then head up to Grand Rapids to pick them up.
Without even realizing it, I took an evening shift working out of the Grand Rapids office that night. One of my co-workers was off and they needed someone to fill in up there. I took the shift then realized later that it was actually going to work out really well for me. I would already be in Grand Rapids at midnight when they got home so I wouldn’t have to rush up there from Kalamazoo after work. I could just hang around.
I slept in pretty later on Monday morning just because I could. I got up and moving around noon. I took a shower, watched some TV then started heading towards Grand Rapids a little after 1:00.
I had planned on grabbing something to eat on my way to the office. As I was putting my shoes on, I noticed some coupons laying on the counter for Subway. I don’t normally eat Subway but if I could get lunch for under $10, I figured I could eat Subway this time.
I put in an order for a footlong sub for the Subway in Martin. I needed gas too so this would kill two birds with one stone.
The Martin Subway is right off the highway on M-222 right at the interchange with US-131. It’s inside the Marathon gas station. There isn’t a lot of great signage for it on the outside. The sign near the road is broken on the south side and there isn’t a sign on the building. You just kind of have to know it’s there.
Blazin’ Coop’s Nashville Hot Chicken
47182 Michigan AvenueEvery time I go watch my nieces play softball, I’m a little bit grateful that my kids chose an indoor sport.
It was a hot day at the Canton Sports Center for the USSSA Great Lakes National Championship. My niece’s game was supposed to start at 1:00 but rain moved through right before that and set them back a couple of hours.
The second game started around 4:45 and after a couple of comebacks, the won their game and advanced to Sunday.
It wasn’t the end of the season so as soon as the game was over, the team kind of all split up and went their own way. My brother asked if I wanted to join them for dinner and asked if I had anything in mind.
I noticed a hot chicken place right across the street. I figured that would be easy if they liked hot chicken. My brother said he was up for it as long as there was something that wasn’t spicy for my niece.
We headed across Michigan Avenue to Blazin’ Coop’s Nashville Hot Chicken. The restaurant is in the Crossroads Village Shopping plaza on Michigan Avenue east of Beck Road. The restaurant got it’s start a few years ago as a food truck in the area. They opened this brick and mortar building last year in what used to be a diner.
Read more…Angie’s Hamburger Stand
47417 Michigan AvenueI didn’t get to go to Dallas last week for my kids’ figure skating competition but that doesn’t mean I totally missed out on youth sports.
My niece, who lives about an hour south of Chicago, was in Canton this past weekend for the USSSA Great Lakes National Championship at the Canton Sports Center.
They got to town Wednesday night and played games on Thursday but were rained on Friday. That ended pool play and they were seeded number one in their bracket so they didn’t play until Saturday afternoon.
I don’t see my nieces very often. Usually just once or twice a year. Last year, my other niece played in this same tournament at a different level but she switched teams and played her Championships July 4th weekend near Indianapolis.
I had nothing else I needed to do Saturday and since I was home alone, I decided to head over to the East Side for some softball.
I ran through a pretty heavy rain shower between Jackson and Ann Arbor. I knew it would eventually catch up to me and the games would get delayed so I stopped and grab lunch on my way to meet my brother and niece at the complex.
I stopped at Angie’s Hamburger Stand on Michigan Avenue near Beck Road in Canton Township just west of where the sports complex I was headed to is located. The building is an old style 50’s shiny metal diner with simple signage that just says “Hamburgers.” While it *looks* like it could actually be a 50’s diner. That’s not the case. The building was actually buillt in the early 2010’s. There was some kind of commercial building on the property but it had been vacant for a while. This restaurant cleaned up the area, added the parking, and built the retro diner as it looks today.
Read more…Joe Shmoes’s Bar & Grill
7454 N. 6th StreetFriday night is pizza night even if I’m home alone.
The rest of my family was in Dallas for a figure skating competition. I didn’t have enough time off work so they had to go without me.
We don’t eat out at restaurants as a family very often anymore just because it’s gotten way too expensive. Most bar’s cost us close to $100 by the time you factor in a decent tip. We do a lot of Jimmy John’s and Culvers during the week as we leave Wings West or Wings Event Center which effects how much we eat out on weekends.
Thursday night was my first night home alone. I went to Dave’s Bar in Alamo Township. Friday night, I wanted pizza and I ended up, again, heading to Alamo Township.
Joe Shmoe’s Bar & Grill is on North 6th Street north of DE Avenue. The building will be very familiar to a lot of people as it’s the same building Fricano’s of Alamo was in for many, many years…45 to be exact. When the building went up for sale, two friends, including one guy who owned Wayside West and Y Bar bought the place and turned it in to Joe Shmoe’s.
Krispy Krunchy Chicken (Columbia Ave.)
4647 W. Columbia AvenueTell me if you’ve heard this one before. I stopped for gas station chicken.
It seems like there are A LOT of these Krispy Krunchy Chicken’s popping up at gas stations all over West Michigan.
Thirteen years ago, I wrote my first blog post about the chain. At that time, it wasn’t in gas stations in West Michigan. It was a stand alone store in a shopping plaza in Grand Rapids that was incorporated into another food business. There was only one other store in Michigan at that time, it Ypsilanti. Now it seems like there’s a new one popping up every other week.
I was in Battle Creek the other day for a job assignment near the Air National Guard base. My colleague and I were running pretty tight on time when we got done but I needed gas before heading back to Kalamazoo.
I stopped at Arlene’s Truck Stop on West Columbia Avenue right near the I-94 interchange. I needed gas and I needed a pop. I knew Arlene’s had undergone a major renovation not too long ago and I had seen the signs for Krispy Krunchy Chicken when I drove by. I needed to go inside anyway, so I thought I’d grab something.
Dave’s Bar
6225 D AvenueOn my own for the weekend.
I could be good knowing my family is going to be eating out a lot while they’re in Dallas for a figure skating competition but being home alone means I have some opportunities to eat out at places my family wouldn’t really be interested in going to.
I got off work Thursday night after a long day. I was up at 4:15 AM to get my family to the airport in Grand Rapids. I then worked a full day, most of it outside and without a lunch break. By the time I clocked out, I was hungry and kind of wanted a beer.
I headed north of Kalamazoo to Dave’s Bar in Alamo Township. The restaurant is attached to the former Club Car Grille on D Avenue east of Owen Drive. That restaurant closed in early 2024 but Dave’s Bar lives on at the back end of the property. You can’t see it from the road but there is a Dave’s Bar sign covering the old Club Car Grilled sign along D Avenue and there’s a large sign next to the drive that leads you to the parking lot in the back where the bar is.
Read more…Clippers Cafe
1566 10th StreetWe’re doing a little bit more traveling for figure skating this year than we have in the past.
J, L, and B headed to Dallas for the Dallas Classic in Plano. I still have to work and plane tickets are expensive so I had to stay home.
The cheapest flights we could find that would get them there when they needed to get there and get them home when they needed to get home were out of Gerald R Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.
It worked out that I could take them to the airport and pick them up so they didn’t have to leave a car there for five days. The unfortunate part of that was their flight was at 7 AM.
We got up early on Thursday and headed to Grand Rapids. I dropped them off at the terminal a little before 6 AM. I didn’t have to be at work until 9:30 so I wasn’t in a big rush to get back to Kalamazoo.
I could have went for breakfast somewhere in Grand Rapids but I decided to start heading home. There are some breakfast joints along the way that I’ve never been to and this was an opportunity to stop at one.
My pick for an early morning breakfast was Clippers Cafe in Martin.
This small town diner, named after the town’s high school mascot, is just south of the main intersection in town on 10th Street not too far from Templeton Street which leads to Martin High School. The building actually looks like a barn because at one point not too long ago, it was known as the Red Barn Family Restaurant. It was B & B Family Diner for a while before becoming Clippers Cafe in 2017.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 