Bojangles (Princeton)
701 Oakvale RoadYou thought we were going to get back to Southwest Michigan restaurants after that string of Northern Michigan blogs, didn’t you?
I was home for about a day and a half then it was back on the road. I had to drive to North Carolina for work. A colleague and I literally drove 14 hours, worked for about 3 hours in Wilmington, NC then turned around and drove 14 hours back to Michigan. We had too much gear and it was too last second to book a flight so the only way we were going to do the job was to drive it. So we did.
We left at a out 7:00 AM on Tuesday morning. We had to stop in Ann Arbor and finish a job my colleague had already started. We completed that then got back on the road around 11:30 to make the rest of the drive.
We did pretty good not stopping very often for bathroom breaks. Last time he and I went on a trip it felt like we stopped every hour. We were every two or three this time.
Around 6:00, we had just gotten out of the mountains in West Virginia and were heading in to Virginia around 6:00. I noticed a billboard for a Bojangles on the side of the road. My colleague asked if I wanted to stop. I’ve never been to a Bojangles so of course the answer was yes.
We stopped at the Bojangles in Princeton, West Virginia. It’s on Oakvale Boulevard right off of WV460/Big Laurel Highway. The fast food chicken shop isn’t too far off I-77 but I still needed to quickly put it in my GPS to find the right turn once I got off the highway.
Read more…The Filling Station Microbrewery
642 Railroad PlaceThe best thing about figure skating competitions isn’t always the skating. Yes, I love watching my kids compete and seeing their successes but a lot of memories that will stick with them forever aren’t made on the ice. They’re made with friends off the ice.
The Traverse City Cherry Classic is a pretty short competition. It’s only Friday, Saturday, Sunday instead of the usual Thursday-Sunday that is common at a lot of the competitions.
We got to town Thursday evening and both kids skated on both Friday and Saturday. We realized right away that a lof of the kids’ friends also came to this competition. Some were staying in the hotel next door to ours and they ended up playing in the lake and making those memories that will last forever.
Before that happened, we met some of the other families for dinner. Our original plan had been to go out to Hoplot but a couple of the families didn’t want to make the 30 minute drive after being at the rink all day.
So we came up with another idea.
The decision was made to hang out at The Filling Station Microbrewery instead.
The Filling Station Microbrewery is on Railroad Place near Station Street in an old railroad depot that dates back to the 1920’s. The depot only operated for about 40 years closing in 1966. It then became home to a number of businesses with The Filling Station eventually opening up in 2012.
J & S Hamburg South Airport
1083 W South Airport RoadFrom Mackinaw City to Traverse City. I didn’t even get a chance to sleep in my own bed.
The kids had a figure skating competition at the Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City. It’s one of our favorite competitions of the year because we also treat it like a vacation. This year, we stayed at the Sugar Beach Resort and hung out with friends when we had downtown.
There are long breaks in figure skating competitions. It’s not unusual to get to the rink at 7 AM for practice, have one event at 9 AM and the next event at 6 PM. That was kind of how our weekend played out.
Both of L’s events were actually pretty early on Friday but B had a evening event. When L was done, we left the rink for a while, got lunch, swam at the hotel, then went back for B’s event.
Getting our kids to eat lunch has gotten really difficult. They won’t eat anything and complain about every restaurant. J and I get tired of fighting and wasting money but we don’t want to eat Chick-Fil-A and Tropical Smoothie for every meal when we’re at these competitions.
The one thing the kids will always eat with very little complaint is breakfast…so that’s what I’ve started looking for when we go to lunch.
I found J & S Hamburg South Airport not too far from the rink and they do all day breakfast.
The airport themed diner is near the Cherry Capitol Airport on West South Airport Road near Garfield Avenue. The small restaurant is part of the larger Colonial Square Shopping Mall. It takes up the two storefronts on the west end of the building. We had a hard time turning in to the shopping center from South Airport Road so I went to the next business to turn back around and make a right hand turn but we noticed there was a pretty worn out path between the two businesses so we were likely not the only ones that gave up on trying to make a left hand turn and just parked at the pet food store next door.
Scalawags Whitefish Chips
226 E. Central AvenueMy last day of work in Mackinaw City was supposed to be one where I could get off the Island early and get on the road. Of course, that didn’t happen.
We were just about to hit the 5:00 ferry back to Mackinaw City when we got a call from our boss. We needed to stick around until probably the 6:30 and pick up an extra assignment. It was a bummer but we did what we needed to do then got on the 6:30 ferry back to the city.
My co-worker typically stays Thursday night in Mackinaw City then heads home Friday morning. I’m more of a let’s get out of here type of guy so I come Monday night and leave Thursday night.
I was actually heading over to Traverse City from Mackinaw City. The kids had a figure skating competition Friday and Saturday and it made no sense for me to go home. J drove the kids up Thursday afternoon and I met them there.
I had already checked out of my hotel so it was just grabbing my car and getting on the road.
But I needed something to eat first.
I didn’t want “fast food” but I wanted something quick.
I picked Scalawags Whitefish & Chips in downtown Mackinaw City. The restaurant is on Central Avenue near Henry Street..but it’s a little hard to spot at first. That’s because it’s actually behind the Kilwin’s. If you walk on either side of Kilwin’s, you’ll come to a little courtyard with some tables and a few storefronts. This is where Scalawags is located.
El Zarape
103 S. Nicolet StreetI know it’s not my money when I’m on Mackinac Island for work but it still kind of feels wasteful to eat dinner on the Island before heading back to my hotel in the City. There’s nothing that really jumps out as someplace I have to try and it all just seems a little expensive for a meal that’s not always filling.
My third night on this trip, I headed back on the 6:00 ferry and got back to my hotel around 6:45. It was still pretty early and there was a taco place I saw while driving around when I got to town Monday night. I like tacos…like, a lot…so Wednesday night was going to be taco night.
The new taco place is El Zarape. It’s on Nicolet Street south of Central Avenue near downtown Mackinaw City. This new Mexican joint took over the building that had been built for and occupied by a Burger King. The restaurant is pretty new. It wasn’t there when I was in Mackinaw City this time last year. Just going back through their Facebook photos it looks like it opened in October of 2023. There’s not much signage on the building itself, but there is a large sign near the road so you know you’re at the right place.
Bob’s Place
7515 US-31I told you in my last blog post that my plan was to drive to Mackinaw City (via Petoskey) and just find a place to eat along the way. When I got to Petoskey, I kind of panicked though. I assumed I’d find some little hole in the wall or gas station with food along the way but that didn’t happen.
I should have just kept going.
I was bout a half hour from Mackinaw City when I drove through the small town of Alanson. There were actually three places I passed between Alanson and Mackinaw City that I thought, “damn. I wish I would have waited.”
I already had my pizza from Corktown Pizza & Pub in Petoskey so I couldn’t justify stopping. That didn’t stop me from going back the next night after my work on Mackinac Island finished for the day.
My travels led me back to Bob’s Place in Alanson. The restaurant is on US-31 near East Street in the small Emmet County village. The thing that caught my attention was the somewhat retro sign on the exterior of the building that initially led me to believe this place was more of a family diner kind of restaurant than a pub.
Corktown Pizza & Pub
1965 WaaBizhish DriveSorry, ya’ll. The next month is going to be a lot of me on the road.
My June is super busy with travel. I’ll probably be in hotel beds more than I’ll be in my own bed most of this month starting with the final week in May.
Memorial Day started my annual work trip to Mackinac Island. I decided to take a kind of roundabout way to get to Mackinaw City because I wanted to check out some things along the way.
I decided to go up through Bellaire, Charlevoix, and Petoskey. A lot of times I’ll go as far as Kalkaska and kind of cut through the country so this really wasn’t too far out of my way.
I told myself I wasn’t going to plan a meal break. I was just going to drive and stop when I saw something that piqued my interest.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I got to Petoskey and started to panic. I was getting hungry so I pulled off the road and started looking for pizza.
I found a place that looked good and had online ordering so that’s what I ended up ordering.
Corktown Pizza & Pub is south of Petoskey in Bear Creek Township. The address is on WaaBizish Drive but you’ll see it from US 131 near the intersection with Lears Road right across the street from Odawa Casino. The restaurant shares a building with the Buffalo Wild Wings and, as I’d soon find out, a kitchen.
Strand Theater (Sturgis)
219 W. Chicago RoadI love old movie houses. I grew up going to the Paramount Theater in Kankakee, IL. That one dates back to the 1930’s and while they’ve added on several screens they still use the original auditorium and it’s gorgeous.
Michigan has it’s own series of classic movie houses from the vaudeville days. Some of them are now live event venues. Some have remained movie theaters.
Memorial Day weekend was kind of wacky for us. We went to J’s parents near Sturgis on Friday, stayed until Sunday morning then headed back to Kalamazoo for figure skating lessons. We then took two cars back to Sturgis for the remainder of the weekend. I actually had to drive to Mackinaw City on Monday so I was heading home Sunday night to sleep in my own bed and get a fairly early start on my drive.
I went back to Sturgis with the family for one reason. To go see a movie.
B wanted to see the new Garfield movie and so did I. I grew up on Garfield comics….there are stacks of Garfield books at my parents house. Usually, we go to Three Rivers 6 to see movies when we’re in that area but there’s a theater in Sturgis I’ve been wanting to go to for a really long time.
The Strand Theater is a classic vaudeville theater turned street front movie house on Chicago Drive /US-12 near Pleasant Street in downtown Sturgis. The theater has been an anchor of downtown for well over 100 years. It was a live performance vaudeville theater then became a movie theater when the transition was made around 1950. At one point, the theater was owned by W.S. Butterfield Theaters, Inc which owned theaters all over Michigan including the State Theatre in Kalamazoo and the Riviera Theater in Three Rivers. The theater was originally known as a Crystal Theater when it was built around 1910 and it became a Strand Theater sometime around 1925. The family that owns the theater has owned since 1963.
Dessert First
220 Eleanor StreetSome days are long and I don’t have time to even stop at a gas station for a cheap sandwich. Other days, I feel like I don’t do any work and have time to actually go somewhere to get something to eat.
Last Friday was the latter.
I had worked a couple of hours overtime on Thursday night and I think my bosses forgot about me for a while on Friday. I had a pretty relaxed morning to catch up on some things around the office.
I haven’t been eating out as much lately while I’m at work but there are some new places opening around me downtown. I figured I should clock out for my lunch and go for a walk.
Dessert First recently opened a brick and mortar shop on Eleanor Street just to the west of Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo. The bake shop is on the first floor the building the Hilton Garden Inn occupies. The small shop is on the Eleanor Street side of the building closer to the entrance to the Home 2 Suites. This is the first business to go in on the ground floor of this new addition to the building in what used to be a parking lot.
Leo’s Coney Island (Ann Arbor)
160 S. Zeeb RoadAre you tired of reading about my kids figure skating yet?
Buckle up….it’s a pretty busy month and there will be lots of travel.
We finished up the Margaret Faulkner Springtime Invitational at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube in Ann Arbor on Sunday. We thought both kids were going to skate but B’s event was moved to Friday night so it was just L on Sunday.
L’s event was pretty early on Sunday morning so we could have left by 10:00 but she wanted to stay and cheer on her friends. That’s most of the fun for the weekend…hanging with and cheering for friends, so we stuck around until about 1:00.
J had asked about lunch as we were walking out but I didn’t really have any place in particular that I wanted to go. I told her we’d see what was along the way.
We got on I-94 and started to head back west to Kalamazoo. Not too long after getting on the highway, I saw a sign for a coney island. I asked J if that worked knowing they’d have breakfast still for L and a burger for me.
We got off of I-94 at Zeeb Road and headed south to Leo’s Coney Island. The restaurant is in a highly commercialized area of Scio Township. There are several other chain restaurants in front of the Meijer that sits on Zeeb Road just south of Jackson Road. Leo’s Coney Island is a pretty large regional chain with over 70 locations…mostly in the Detroit area but there are locations in Lansing, Flint, and Grand Rapids
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SW Michigan Dining 