Press Release – Maple Syrup Day at Hartwick Pines State Park
From an MDNR Press Release…
Savor Maple Syrup Day at Hartwick Pines State Park on March 27
Hartwick Pines State Park, the Michigan Forest Visitor Center and the Logging Museum in Grayling will present Maple Syrup Day on Saturday, March 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn about North America’s oldest agricultural product — maple sugar. Visitors are invited to:
– Walk into the sugarbush to help tap a maple tree
– Observe the boil-down process which converts maple sap to maple syrup
– Learn about the history of maple sugar making in North America
– View videos titled “Maple Sugar Farmer,” “Maple Sugaring” and “The Maple Sugaring Story”
– Ask an expert about how to start making maple syrup and tap trees in your own backyard
– Taste maple sap and the finished maple syrup
– Purchase genuine maple sugar candy and syrupChildren can participate in tapping a maple tree and will learn how to build their own mokuk. A mokuk is a birch bark bucket that native peoples used to transport maple sugar. Making a paper mokuk replica provides a history lesson and discussion about how European settlers learned of the Native Americans’ sugaring culture.
Tree tapping demonstrations take place at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in the sugarbush. Some visitors will have a chance to help staff tap the maple trees and all visitors can taste maple syrup and sap, smell the aroma around an outside evaporator pan and welcome spring at this educational and fun event. Maple recipes will be available for those wishing to savor the sweetness of the day.
Along with the annual Maple Syrup Day on March 27, schoolchildren will have a chance to visit the sugarbush and learn about the science and history of maple syrup making during the week of March 22-26. Interested teachers should call (989) 348-2537 to arrange a visit. Each hour-long presentation can accommodate up to three classes.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Friends of Hartwick Pines State Park cosponsor this special event. There is no fee for this event, however a Motor Vehicle Permit is required for park entry. Permits are available at the park’s entrance for $24 for a resident annual permit, $6 for a resident daily permit, $29 for a non-resident annual permit and $8 for a non-resident daily permit.
Hartwick Pines State Park is located at 4216 Ranger Rd. in Grayling.The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is committed to the conservation, protection, management and accessible use and enjoyment of the state’s environment, natural resources and related economic interests for current and future generations.
New Holland Brewing Company
66 E. 8th StreetAfter some shopping it was time to head to dinner. J actually got a suggestion for a restaurant and it happened to be the same place I picked out.
The New Holland Brewing Company is in downtown Holland on the corner of 8th Street and College Avenue. It looks like they just expanded to take up about three storefronts along the busy stretch of road.
The new entrance brings you into an area between the original bar/dining room and a new dining room. There is a hostess station right as you enter and right away we were taken to our table. The route to that table just happened to be right through a gift shop-like area even though it didn’t have to be.
The space is deceivingly huge. There are two large ground floor dining rooms, but we were taken to an upstairs dining area that overlooks the bar area. The whole space has an industrial brew pub feel to it. The floors are aged hard wood and the booths in the upstairs dining area are straight plywood. There’s no finish or covering. Right in the middle of the space is a large, non-functioning beer still and there are TV’s all over the place where I could watch UNI whoop top-seeded Kansas.
J and I are both fighting a pretty nasty cold and we both took some cold medicine before we went to eat, so alcohol was out of the question. I’m not a beer lover like some, but when we go to these brewpub’s, I’d at least like to try one. Instead, I got a Coke and J got a Diet. Read more…
Hog Wild BBQ
154 W. Lakewood BoulevardI love it when I’m just driving around town, killing time, and find BBQ. That happened today in Holland.
J got up bright and early this morning to judge a speech contest at Holland High School. She had a ride there, but I decided to go pick her up. We could do a little shopping at the GAP Outlet and find someplace to eat. She has been to Holland before for work, but I never had, so it gave me some time to explore.
I got in town much earlier than I needed to so I headed to the mall, did a little shopping then just drove around. I don’t know how I ended up on River Avenue on the north side of town, but I did. I was really just driving aimlessly. I was thinking about stopping for lunch, but kept putting it off because I was going to pick J up in an hour or two and we would head to lunch. When I saw the sign for BBQ, I changed my mind.
Hog Wild BBQ is on the corner of Lakewood Boulevard and River Avenue just north of the Holland city limits. The building is on a weird corner and it shares a building with a liquor store. There is no way you can miss it though. There’s a huge sign on the building and a crooked sign on a pole near the intersection. Plus, there are a couple HHR’s that have been decked out with Hog Wild’s logos parked out front.
I pulled in at an odd time, but there were a few people in the store that has seating for about thirty. I headed to the counter to place my order. Read more…
Marble Slab Creamery
669 Romence RoadAfter we left Buffalo Wild Wings, I asked J if she wanted to buy me ice cream. She didn’t argue.
We decided to try Marble Slab Creamery. Even though it is a national chain, neither of us had ever heard of it. We’ve had the other, more popular marble slab ice cream shop and even thought about going there, but might as well try something new.
The Marble Slab Creamery store in the Kalamazoo area is in Portage on Romence Road near Village Shops Boulevard. It’s in a building that also houses a CiCi’s Pizza. The Marble Slab Creamery takes up the back portion of that building and can be really hard to see from Romence.
The store is set up like most ice cream stores. There are a handful of tables around the perimeter and a big ice cream display case in the middle. There was only ice cream in half of the case, but the girl working told us they had everything…they just had a problem the cooler, so they couldn’t keep it all out on display.
There is a menu behind the counter that has some of their creation combinations that J and I both focused our attention on. I really had no clue what I wanted, but I was so happy I didn’t have to order in sizes “Like it,” “Love it,” etc. That’s the huge reason I don’t go to Cold Stone. I feel like a dipwad ordering with their cheesy order sizes. The sizes at Marble Slab are “Original” and “Big Dipper.” Much better options. Read more…
Buffalo Wild Wings
3209 Stadium DriveThe commercials sucked me in. For two days, I’ve watched nothing but basketball and a big sponsor of the NCAA Tournament on CBS is Buffalo Wild Wings. J has been saying for a while now that we needed to go to B-Dubs sometime soon and I didn’t disagree.
We had planned to go for lunch, but J got home from work late and has been battling a cold, so she wanted to relax a little bit. By the time she got hungry, it was close to dinner. Going to dinner at a chain restaurant on a Friday night is never a fun experience and going to a Buffalo Wild Wings during March Madness just adds to the craziness.
Earlier this week, Buffalo Wild Wings opened their new location in the 3200 block of Stadium Drive just 300 feet or so from the old location. The new building has an updated look and feel from the other building which had been in use for fifteen years.
Like I figured, the restaurant was packed. It just so happened that the hostesses were cleaning off a table right next to the door as we walked in. We were the only people waiting, so the hostess finished and showed us to the seats.
I’ve eaten in B-Dubs many times, but only once or twice in the actual restaurant. When I was a regular of the “new” store in Peoria, we always went to the bar, but fighting for a table in that area would have been a little harder.
The new space is like most B-Dub locations. There are TV’s everywhere in a pretty wide open dining room. It’s so wide open that it is incredibly loud. Almost deafening. Noise is definitely a factor. Read more…
Wendy’s – S. Westnedge, Portage
5830 S. Westnedge AvenueThursday and Friday for the next couple weeks are going to be throwaway days for me. There is no better sporting event than the NCAA Tournament. The games already today have proven that.
That said, I’m probably going to be lazy when it comes to food.
J came home from work today not feeling all that great and wanting soup. She suggested going to Panera for lunch. I really wasn’t in the mood for Panera, but I really wasn’t in the mood for any place that was going to have soup like she wanted.
Eventually, I decided just to take her to Panera and started thinking about what was around there for me to eat. As we drove to Panera, I saw Wendy’s and thought about their new Bacon & Bleu Burger.
Wendy’s was the fast-food of choice when I was growing up. It wasn’t my choice, but my dad and brother loved it. I used to tolerate it because I liked their salad bar. I know that sounds odd coming from a carnivore, but I was never super wild about their burgers. My tastes have changed in recent years and I don’t mind stopping in now and then for a burger. I don’t do fast food often anyway, so trips to any one fast food joint are usually pretty far apart.
There are two Wendy’s locations in Portage. One is on Centre Avenue near the airport the other is on South Westnedge just south of I-94 (there are also several Kalamazoo locations). It worked out pretty good with J wanting to go to Panera. You can get to Wendy’s from Panera without ever having to get back on Westnedge if you go through the parking lots in the area. Read more…
Just a reminder, if you have a food related even that you want to get the word out about, e-mail swmichdining@charter.net
From Saugatuck Brewing Company….
A special night of great music featuring (Thursday, March 25):
Juleah Scott
Emerging Nashville Recording Artist and
former American Idol contestantUnion Guns – Grand Rapids based Pop-Country band
Sweet Japonic – Grand Rapids based Americana Roots bandTickets: $20 Doors open at 7:30
tickets available at: The Saugatuck Brewing Co. or/
online @ http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/104417Bier Hall – 2948 Blue Star Highway
Douglas, MI 49406
The Best Thing I Ever Ate (Michigan Edition)
I love The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network, but there’s a couple problem. Most of the restaurants are out of reach of the common person. Not every one, but anything picked by High Society’s Alexandra Guarnaschelli or Aaron Sanchez. I’d like to take one of them to a dive bar somewhere and watch them squirm. The other annoying thing is most of the restaurants are in New York which makes sense because Food Network HQ is in NYC. I always thought the show would be a little more interesting if they added some food bloggers from around the country….and there’s enough to choose from.
So, just in the interest of sparking discussions, here’s my list of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Michigan Edition.
Totally Fried – French Fries at Dagwood’s Tavern and Grill in Lansing. I’m totally a fry snob and only happy when I get fresh cut fries. Dagwood’s does that. The fries are easily the best fries in Lansing and until we found Penn Station in Kalamazoo, no one had even come close. The fries are fresh cut, skin on, and actually fried right. Instead of being soggy from a single fry, they’re golden brown and crispy as if they took a second dip.
Bar-B-Que – Pulled Pork at Slow’s Bar-B-Q in Detroit. Since moving to Michigan, I have complained frequently about the lack of BBQ places. I’ve found a couple and they’ve been ok, but there’s just not many that knocks my socks off. There is one, however, and that’s place sits in the shadow of old Tiger Stadium. The pulled pork at Slow’s Bar-B-Q is southern style BBQ at it’s best. J and I stopped in after a day at the auto show and at 3:00, had to wait twenty minutes. The pulled pork is served Carolina style with a vinegar sauce, but they have all their sauces on the table. I added the spicy sauce to the Carolina sauce which made for an interesting combination. The meat is really tender and has great burnt ends. This is the BBQ we were looking for in Michigan. It makes me wish we lived closer to Detroit. Read more…
Acapulco Mexican Restaurant
510 S. Paw Paw Street- Lawrence, MI 49064
- (269) 674-3159
- No Known Website
- Menu
Our long weekend was finally over and J and I headed back to southwest Michigan. Around Benton Harbor, J said she wanted to stop and eat on the way so we didn’t have to cook when we got home. I told her to tell me when to pull off and I would.
Just outside of Lawrence, she said she wanted Mexican. I asked real Mexican or Taco Bell Mexican. I had a feeling there weren’t going to be a lot of Mexican places before we got back to Kalamazoo.
J turned on her GPS to see what was around and actually found a Mexican place three miles from where we were at. We seem to be hit or miss with the GPS. Most of time, the restaurant we go looking for is long gone, but since it was close to the highway, we decided to give it a shot.
We got off I-94 at the Lawrence exit and headed towards town. Just after we got inside the Village limits, I was somewhat amazed to see a for the restaurant we were looking for.
Acapulco Mexican Restaurant is just on the south side of town at the corner of Paw Paw Street and County Road 215. The building sits on kind of an angle as the two roads make a “v.” There are a few parking spots right in front, but most of the parking is along the side of the building. To our surprise, there were a number of cars in the parking lot on this Monday night. Read more…
Giordano’s of Orland Park (IL)
14325 S. LaGrange RoadAh, the Chicago pizza war. So many passionate people. So many pizzas. On a large-scale, it comes down to three major players. Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, and Geno’s East.
I always get asked which I think is better and I always dance around the question. To me, it’s like comparing apples. Sure, a Red Delicious and a Jonathan are both red apples, but they don’t taste the same. Each has unique qualities that make them both delicious and that’s how I feel about Chicago pizza.
J and I had an extended weekend home and she made plans to get together with some girls from high school on Saturday afternoon. It was a no husband deal, so I was on my own to do what I wanted. When I told my brother I was going to have some free time, he suggested meeting in Orland Park for lunch. J was on her way to New Lenox, so she could drop me off then the plan was to go to my parents, so I could just go home with my family and she could drive down after her girls day.
I assumed my brother would say, “Let’s meet at Portillo’s.” Instead, he mentioned Giordano’s, but the first one he thought of was the Giordano’s near Midway airport which is a pretty good drive from where he lives. I told him there was a Giordano’s in Orland Park so that’s where we planned on eating.
J dropped me off at Orland Square Mall and headed on her way. I killed time in the Apple Store until my brother called. They picked me up and we headed down the road to (almost) the corner of LaGrange and 143rd Street. Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 