Beer Church Brewing Company
24 S. Whittaker StreetIt finally hit the point of the summer that we get to go on vacation as a family . The kids had been at my parents for six days already. J and I had to work until Wednesday and as soon as I got off work Wednesday evening, we loaded up the car for an extended weekend and headed to Iroquois County, IL to pick up the kids.
We were anxious to see the kids but first, we wanted to get dinner. Dinners with nobody whining or fighting are rare so we wanted to take advantage of it just being J and I one more time.
We got on the road and started heading west on I-94. There are two breweries in New Buffalo now and we were determined to eat at one of them on this drive.
I let J pick since I picked Paw Paw Brewing the night before. She just wanted to sit on a patio with a big drink and she wasn’t able to do either at Paw Paw. The patio was being used for a private event and they didn’t have any ciders or sweeter drinks on draft.
I thought the drink menu looked better for her at Ghost Isle but the only thing on the menu she was really interested in was the pulled pork…the same meal she had the night before.
She ended up picking the one I was really hoping she would pick. Beer Church Brewing Company.
Beer Church Brewing Company likes to point out they were New Buffalo’s first brewery. They’re located on Whittaker Street near downtown. If you come in to New Buffalo from Exit 1 on I-94, you can’t miss the old Water’s Edge United Methodist church just to the south of Buffalo Street. Read more…
Paw Paw Brewing Company
780 S. Gremps StreetJ and I had a few nights without the kids and we wanted to take advantage of eating out without having to entertain them. Monday night we just weren’t feeling it and I had an UberEats coupon so we just ordered in. We didn’t want to repeat that Tuesday night though.
J texted me about an hour before we got off work and said she wanted to go out. I had been wanting to go to the new Paw Paw Brewing Company and asked if that was OK. She was on board.
I got off work a little early then we headed to Van Buren County. I have already written two blog posts about Paw Paw Brewing (2012 and 2018) but a few months ago they moved from their small building on East Michigan Avenue to their production facility on S. Gremps Street on the southwest side of town. The new taproom is in the back of the building. There’s a great outdoor patio right as you walk in but there was some kind of event happening in that space so we had to go inside.
Arclight Brewing Company
544 N. Main Street- Watervliet, MI 49098
- (269) 332-0718
- Website
There are more and more breweries popping up and it’s getting really hard for me to keep up. We try to get to all the ones that do food but the ones that don’t are usually reserved for when I’m by myself.
I dropped the kids off at my parents last weekend for an extended visit. On my way home, I stopped in New Buffalo for dinner but wanted to try out one of the breweries along I-94 that I haven’t been to yet. There are a couple of options but I chose to wait until I got back as far as Watervliet.
I picked Arclight Brewing Company. The brewery has actually been open about six years on the north side of Watervliet’s downtown. The building on North Main Street (M-140) just north of the Paw Paw River is the former Brookfield Chrysler Jeep Dodge Dealership. They kept the large garage doors but replaced the actual door with glass doors that lead out to a patio along the busy street
New Buffalo Bills Wood Fired BBQ
603 E. Buffalo StreetThe kids get to spend a few days with Grandma and Papa without Mom and Dad. My parents have babysitted overnight a few times but they’ve never stayed this long. We wanted a break from daycare costs and we get one week a year we can take. I wanted to go to my parents anyway this weekend because J was going with some friends up north so we thought this would be a good week to leave them there.
I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning with them. I haven’t been to back to my hometown in a quite a while so it was nice to walk around the small village and see what’s changed. I had to be back at work Monday morning though so around noon, I made sure everyone had what they needed them I started heading back towards Michigan.
I had a couple of places I wanted to stop and since I was by myself. I could have went in to the city and gotten an Italian beef but I decided to hit a few Michigan places that I’ve never had time to get to.
I picked New Buffalo Bills Wood Fired BBQ in New Buffalo as my choice for lunch. The restaurant is on the east side of New Buffalo right across the street from Redamak’s on US-12/E. Buffalo Street. The parking lot and main entrance are actually the backside of the building accessible from Bronson Street.
Classic Cinemas Paramount Theatre
213 N. Schuyler Avenue- Kankakee, IL 60901
- (815) 936-6843
- Website
Did anyone notice how hot it was this weekend? I mean, I can handle heat but it was oppressive.
J went on a girls weekend trip with some friends to Newaygo so I was home with the kids. I decided to take Friday off and drive to my parents house in Illinois. We had planned on leaving the kids there for a week at some point this summer anyway so this week worked out perfectly.
My mom had asked if she could take the kids to see the new Lion King movie sometime this week. I don’t know why she felt like she needed to ask but I’m glad she did. I asked if we could go Saturday since it was going to be so hot. We had to “run to town” anyway to go grocery shopping so we got moving with the idea of making it to the 11 AM show.
I was really excited to be going back to the theatre I saw so many movies at growing up in the area. I saw Star Wars Episode One, Toy Story, The Blair Witch Project and so many other movies at a classic movie palace that somehow survived.
Classic Cinemas Paramount Theatre is a five screen theater in downtown Kankakee. The theater is on a block of Schuyler Avenue between Oak and Chestnut. The original theater dates back to 1931 and it still has the classic marquee hanging over the sidewalk at the entrance.
Landmark Taphouse & Grill
21 N. Main StreetWe dropped the kids off to spend the night at Nana and Grandpa’s, then J and I headed back home for an evening of quiet. We hung out at their place for a while and watched the kids as they went swimming in the lake but just before dinner time, J and I headed back to Kalamazoo by ourselves.
I say “just before dinner” but it was “just before dinner” for even the earliest of dinner eaters. Yeah..it was 3:00, but we didn’t eat lunch after eating a late breakfast and we wanted to hit a new place in downtown Three Rivers.
Landmark Taphouse & Grill is on North Main Street which is also BL US-131 through downtown Three Rivers. It’s one of the old brick buildings connected to the buildings on either side of it with the restaurant at street level and space for commercial or residential above it. Part of the building used to be Pub 21 with the other half being a totally separate space. Landmark has brought the two spaces together. Read more…
Royal Cafe
701 E. Main StreetDaycare is expensive. We got out of it for so many years because J worked 3 AM to noon and I worked 3 PM to midnight. We rarely overlapped at work so there was always someone home to take care of the kids.
That all changed a couple of years ago when I moved to a shift that was 9:30 to 6:30. We started hiring a nanny for three hours in the morning until J got home at noon.
Then it changed again earlier this year when J changed jobs and now works a more traditional 8:00 to 5:00. Now we need someone all day so we put the kids in a center. It’s expensive enough during the school year but summer…..dayum.
We’re trying to cut down on some of that expense with the help of J’s mom. She agreed to take L every so often on a Monday or a Friday so we could save a little bit of money.
This past Monday was one of the days L was going to Nana’s. B was really jealous and since the kids are going to my parents next week and then on vacation, J’s parents aren’t going to see the kids for a couple of weeks so she agreed to take both of them.
They got me up around 9:00 Sunday morning and asked if we could go to Nana’s and Grandpa’s early. I said I didn’t care as long as I could stop for breakfast somewhere. I wanted breakfast food.
I picked the Royal Cafe because it’s pretty close to my in-laws place and it wouldn’t be that far out of the way on our way to their house.
Royal Cafe is on the eastside of Centreville just inside the village limits on East Main Street or M-86. The parking lot is kind of shared with Firm Foundation Ministries so it looked like there were a lot of cars in the lot when we pulled in but they were all still in church. Read more…
Grand Coney (Michigan Street)
809 Michigan Street NEIt’s been a while since I worked a Saturday night shift and let me tell you, I don’t miss it. Long, hard hours with minimal breaks because staffing is bare bones on weekends.
I put in a 12 hour day without a lunch break and when I got off work at 12:30, I was hungry. I really didn’t want fast food or pizza nor did I want to go to a bar. Luckily, Grand Rapids actually has a 24 hour diner.
Grand Coney now has three locations in Kent County but only the original on Michigan Street and Eastern Avenue is open all the time.
I pulled in to the parking lot just before 12:45 AM. There were a few other cars in the small parking space in front of the long, multi-tenant building but it wasn’t packed as the bars wouldn’t let out for another hour or so.
Viva!
225 W. Main StreetJ and I both got the 4th of July off but we both had to go back to work on the 5th. The kids’ daycare was closed so we needed J’s parents to watch the kids. We were at their house in St. Joseph County anyway for the 4th so J and I spent the night, got up early, and drove back to Kalamazoo to go to work.
She got out early and I, of course, had to work late. She waited for me to go back to her parents house for the weekend. We figured we’d stop for dinner somewhere along the way since it was just the two of us.
I was thinking of a couple places in Three Rivers that have opened recently but J came up with a better idea. There’s a Mexican place in Mendon we pass every time we go to her parents and we always say, “we should stop there sometime.”
That place is Viva! It’s on Main Street in Mendon just on the edge of downtown across the street from the Farmer’s Market. The building looks like it used to be a house right on the St. Joseph River but it has been used for as a restaurant for several years now. I believe Hornets Bar & Grill was the business in there before Viva! took over. Read more…
Li’l Louie’s Pizza & Subs
120 E. Main StreetYay to long weekends. J and I both had July 4th off which is something that is not always guaranteed. We did have to work the 5th but then had the weekend off.
We decided to spend the weekend at her parents house on the lake near Sturgis. We left as soon as I got home from work on Wednesday and even though J and I had to come back on Friday for work, the kids spent five days swimming in the lake and hanging out with Nana and Grandpa.
I hadn’t had a chance to eat pretty much all day on Wednesday after getting called in to work early. J picked up McDonalds for the kids when she picked them up from daycare but didn’t want McDonalds herself. We got to St. Joe County pretty late but J told me to order a pizza…my choice.
We have a lot of pizza places in Sturgis, Centreville, etc that we need to try so we kind find our new carry-out place in that area. The only ones we’ve really tried are Jaspare’s in Mendon and the Sand Lake Party Store.
I picked Li’l Louie’s Pizza & Subs in Centreville. Like so many places in this area, it is really, really hard to find a menu online. I did finally find one on Facebook but it took so much longer than it should have.
I put in the order for a 14″ half cheese and half pepperoni pizza and an order of cheezy sticks. The lady on the phone told me it would be about 35 minutes. It worked out well because it gave me time to make a stop at Sand Lake Party store to pick up ice and an order of their cheese bread, which J loves and was kind of craving, before heading in to Centreville to pick up our pizza.
Li’l Louie’s Pizza & Subs is on the E. Main Street (M-86) east of downtown Centreville. The restaurant is right on the corner of Main and Nottawa Streets. The blue and yellow building (Centreville High School’s colors) looks like it used to be a mechanic garage or gas station many, many years ago. There’s a small parking lot alongside the building and there’s even an outdoor dining area if you want to dine al fresco in Centreville.
SW Michigan Dining 