Ann Arbor Ice Cube
2121 Oak Valley DriveI have to guess by now you’ve figured out my kids are figure skaters. L is in her second full year of individual competitions and B will be starting to compete at the end of July.
Like a lot of parents, we spend a lot of our free time and weekends at our kids’ sporting events.
Unlike a lot of parents, we’re not at soccer fields or baseball/softball diamonds.
We’re at ice rinks.
Since March, J and L have already been to East Lansing and Flossmor, IL to compete. She has at least six competitions this year before the end of July…maybe 7…and hopefully a spot at a national competition in Chicago is September.
I don’t spend as much time at the rink as J does. Her job is a little more flexible and I’m not trusted to get hair, make up and costume right after a….mishap last year in Traverse City when J couldn’t go. Wasn’t a big deal. I got the hair right. L just put one of her dresses on backwards and neither I, L, or her coaches could figure it out.
I got thinking when we were in Ann Arbor. Why don’t I ever blog about the ice rinks we go to for competitions….especially when they have food. I blog about sports venues a lot..whether I eat at said venues or not. So, I decided I’ll start including the ice rinks we spend many of our weekends at as part of the blog.
First up, the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
The Ann Arbor Ice Cube is on Oak Valley Road near Scio Church Road on the southwest side of Ann Arbor. It’s near the I-94 exit at Ann Arbor-Saline Road but you have to back track a little bit to get there. The ice arena is actully located in Pittsfield Charter Township just outside of the Ann Arbor city limits.
Nonla Burger (Grand Rapids)
449 Bridge Street NW, Suite 102I didn’t expect to work in Grand Rapids last week, but I did.
My Kalamazoo colleague called in sick. There was more of a need for me in Grand Rapids than there was to send someone to Kalamazoo. I had a fairly spread out day that afforded me a lunch break where I could actually lead the office.
I used to work in Grand Rapids every night but that’s not the case anymore. I still see a lot of new places opening and I have a hard time filing away all the restaurants I want to get to.
I was hanging out on the Southeast Side of Grand Rapids racking my brain trying to think of something. Then I remembered one of my favorite Kalamazoo restaurants opened a Grand Rapids location a while back.
Nonla Burger’s Grand Rapids location is on Bridge Street on the Northwest side of the City. The restaurant is part of a mixed use commercial building near the corner of Bridge and Broadway. The restaurant is on the main floor next to a Condado Taco. There is some street parking in the area which is going to be your best bet if you’re just popping in for a sandwich.
Read more…Los Amigos Restaurant (Portage North)
5036 S. Westnedge AvenueI just wanted tacos.
Co-worker and I were in Bronson last week for an assignment. I know there’s a great pizza place in Bronson but I was in the mood for tacos. When I was looking around to see what was in the small village, I saw a Mexican place….and they had online ordering!
I put the order in, paid for it, then went to pick it up….and it was closed. Not a big deal. I got my money back…but I still wanted tacos.
Co-worker and I needed to go to Coldwater before heading back to Kalamazoo. I passed a taco truck but I was getting worried about time. We had to get back.
I finished my shift then had to go to Wings West. B had Learn to Skate and I wanted to get there to watch him.
I still wanted tacos though.
I knew I was going to pass a Los Amigos….and they have online ordering…so I thought there was a way.
Los Amigos has four restaurants in the Kalamazoo area including two in Portage. I was heading to I-94 so I picked the northernmost one on Westnedge close to Kilgore Road. The restaurant used to be Riviera Maya. J and I ate there way back in 2013. That restaurant closed a while ago and Los Amigos moved in.
Read more…Charlotte Brewing Company
214 S. Cochran AvenueI’ve mentioned before, my kids are in to musical theater. J and I always have been and we’ve gotten both kids in to it as well.
We started L with seeing Hamilton a few years ago at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids. We got B in to it by seeing Six at DeVos as well. Six is more of a concert than traditional musical theater though…but we did take him to see Beetlejuice The Musical at the Detroit Opera House.
There are a number of musical’s L wants to see and we’re starting to line them up between East Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo. The next available one was Wicked at the Wharton Center in East Lansing.
J and I saw Wicked on one of our first dates close to 16 years ago in Chicago. I only vaguely remember what happened so I thought it’d be good to see it again. The kids got their first taste of The Wizard of Oz last summer at the Kindleberger Arts Festival in Parchment so it was time to see the “real” story of the witches.
It was going to be a long day. We needed to go on this particular Saturday night due to schedules and the only way to get decently priced tickets was to go to the 8:00 PM show. J and I both had to get up well before dawn to work at different races.
I got home from Grand Rapids around noon. I had some things I really needed to do so I didn’t take a nap. I was getting hungry and knew trying to go out to eat on a Saturday night in East Lansing at dinner time probably wasn’t going to work to well.
The last few times I’ve driven home from Lansing I’ve seen a billboard on I-69 for a brewery in Charlotte. I like breweries and the menu looked good. I asked J if she wanted to grab something eat before going to the show.
We stopped at Charlotte Brewing Company in downtown Charlotte. At least I think that’s the name of the restaurant. The billboard, the website, and the menu all say Charlotte Brewing Company but the restaurant still says Eaton Pub & Grille…and Google lists it as Eaton Pub & Grille and Charlottte Brewing Company. Their Facebook page just calls it Eaton Pub & Grille but the branding is all Charlotte Brewing Company…and there’s no story anywhere about why that is. My assumption is Charlotte Brewing operates of of a restaurant called Eaton Pub & Grille (which has been there for a long time) and just kind of took over. Anyway, the restaurant, whatever you want to call it, is on Cochran Avenue just south of Lovette Avenue. The restaurant takes up the bottom floors of two probably turn of the century two story brick buildings on the busy Cochran Avenue that serves as the small town’s main street. The buildings are tied together with an entry way that was clearly added long after the buildings were built.
Read more…Water Street Coffee Joint (Downtown)
315 E. Water StreetIt’s kind of crazy I’ve worked in downtown Kalamazoo and never been to Water Street Coffee Joint downtown, right?
I’m not a coffee drinker so there’s actually a few places downtown I’ve never been to. I drive by Water Street almost daily but I do just that. Drive by it.
My co-worker needed to pick up some gift cards for his mom last week. He was trying to do it online but they don’t have digital gift cards. They only do order online then they send physical gift cards which wasn’t going to work. I suggested we just drive over there when we had time.
The downtown Water Street Coffee Joint location is the original. The really small, odd shaped building sits on a triangle piece of land on the corner of Water Street (hence the name) and Kalamazoo Avenue right next to the railroad tracks and across the street from Bell’s Eccentric Cafe. The parking lot is really small and really tight. There’s additional parking on Water Street if you can’t get in to the lot.
Read more…Big Time Burgers + Brew
2454 Promenade WayLiving so far away from where I grew up, we don’t get to see my nieces very often. The kids, of course, want to see their cousins but it’s hard to get together. We’re only about three hours away (before the time change) but life gets in the way. My kids are really in to ice skating. My brother’s girls are really in to travel softball.
I went to a White Sox game with my brother a couple of weeks ago. At one point he said his youngest daughter was playing a tournament that weekend in Portage, IN. We didn’t have plans on Saturday so I asked J if she wanted to go. I have never gotten to watch that niece play softball so I was excited that J said it was a good idea.
The trip to Portage, IN is only about an hour and a half. The team played at the Portage Jr. Miss Softball fields. They won their first game which meant they got to play a second a little later that day.
We stuck around for both games. The second game was done around 4:30 CT. We hung out in the parking lot and said our goodbyes. The niece we were there to watch was shocked we showed up. No one told her it was a possibility so when she looked over and saw us, it was a nice surprise.
We left the softball fields and started heading home. We had gotten snacks at the concession stand but hadn’t really eaten. I asked if anyone was hungry. J said yes. The kids grumbled…but that’s what they do when we eat out.
I found a place not too far away that was right up our alley.
Big Time Burgers + Brew is on Founders Square near Central Avenue in Portage, IN. The restaurant is part of a newer looking mixed used residential building with businesses on the ground floor. Founders Square is a park in Portage, IN (yes, I’m going to write “,IN” every time I write Portage (,IN) so there’s no confusion) with a large playground, a splash pad and a lot of open space. We found a spot right in front of the building to park which is across the street from the park.
Read more…Luke’s Italian Beef
215 W. Jackson BoulevardOne of my favorite days of the year. I meet my dad, my brother, and one my friends from my childhood every year for a White Sox game.
As we get older and all have kids more involved with sports, it gets hard to find an open Saturday. When the Sox schedule came out this year we went through every Saturday home game and couldn’t find one where all four of us were free.
We had to turn our attention to Thursday afternoon games.
We usually go pretty early in the year just to avoid families vacation and travel sports. Otherwise, we have to wait until August or September and by then, the Sox are usually out of the race and it’s just not as fun.
We picked a Thursday a couple of weeks ago. My brother works from home, my friend runs his own business and my dad is retired. So really, they just have to worry about me being able to take the day off.
I had a little bit of a problem this year. My truck was in the shop getting a new fuel pump so I didn’t have a car. I thought about taking the Amtrak but we usually go out for pizza after the game and I wouldn’t be able to do that. I ended up just renting a car for the day and driving in.
I got my car pretty early and headed towards Chicago. I always like to find an Italian beef before we get to the park. In the past, we’ve tailgated most years. Some years we walk down to Morrie O’Malley’s Hot Dogs but most years, we order wings from somewhere but this year, since the game was at 1:10 CT, we didn’t have any plans. We just met in the parking lot and drank a few beers before going in.
I got to Chicago around 10:00. That gave me plenty of time to find a sandwich shop. I had a couple I had bookmarked in Google maps so it was just picking the one I wanted to go to.
I ended up picking Luke’s Italian Beef on Jackson Boulevard near South Wells Street in Chicago’s Loop downtown. The restaurant is on the ground floor of 209 West Jackson. It has it’s own entrance street side.
Useless Creatures Brewing Company
41 N. Main StreetL had a birthday party at a friend’s house in Texas Township a couple of Saturday’s ago. The rest of us didn’t have plans. I did some yard work and cleaned up around the house but that was about it. J was just going to drop L off and come home.
I asked if she’d want to go to dinner. She was driving south anyway and there’s a brewery in Three Rivers we haven’t been to yet. The menu looked solid so why not.
J had to get something from her mom who lives near Centreville. I suggested just seeing if they wanted to join us for dinner. I don’t think they had been to this brewery yet either so I assumed they’d be interested.
Useless Creatures Brewing Company is on Main Street in downtown Three Rivers. We had been to this building before when Kelsey Block Brewing Company occupied the space. The building is a large three story brick building claimed to be the oldest in Three Rivers. The street level space is divided in to three storefronts. Kelsey Block only took up the middle but Useless Creatures makes use of on of the spaces as well.
Read more…BC Pizza (Plainwell)
396 Oaks CrossingFriday night is pizza night. You’ve heard that from me before, right?
I was working in Grand Rapids and J had the kids at the ice rink. Normally, she would text me to order from Cottage Inn for delivery. The kids like and I’ve usually got points for free stuff.
J and I are kind of tired of the same thing every week.
We switched it up last week and got Pizza Hut.
I was in Grand Rapids so J asked me to bring something home with me. I didn’t really want to order pizza in Grand Rapids and bring home cold pizza so I thought of something halfway.
BC Pizza has one of it’s 35 locations in Plainwell in the Oaks Crossing shopping plaza off M-89. The restaurant is kind of tucked in to the building between the M-89 Cinema and walkway between the buildings. The spot used to be a Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery but not it’s a pretty large BC Pizza.
Read more…Black Napkin
966 Fulton Street EastLike I said, I spent a few days in Grand Rapids while my Kalamazoo colleague was on vacation.
I had a pretty easy day on Friday. I didn’t really leave the office. Since I was stuck inside all day, I wanted to get out for lunch. I did my usual Google searching to see what’s new and instantly found something right up my alley.
Burgers.
I had just had a pretty amazing burger the previous day when I was in Muskegon. I finally got to try Hamburger Mikey which has been on my list for years. I can never have to many burgers though, so Friday was going to be a burger day.
My lunch pick was Black Napkin.
The takeout restaurant is on the corner of Fulton and Diamond in Grand Rapid’s East Hills Neighborhood. The building used to be a very unassuming pizza joint called Rinaldi’s Pizza & Subs. Black Napkin upped the art game on the outside to make it stand out on this fairly busy corner.
Read more…
SW Michigan Dining 