VACATION (FINALLY!)

VACATION TIME! (That means its fruity drink time!)

Well I am on the tail end of a much much much much much much needed vacation/birthday/GF's birthday/Valentine's Day celebration. Its been a crazy week so far. Wednesday I worked a 1st shift so I could get out earlier and Mitty, Gabriel and I saw 4 bands perform at the Loft in Lansing. It was a night of ska music and I got to relive my 90s a bit. First was this Grand Rapids band called CASHED OUT, which put on a pretty good show. Then this California band called THE MAXIES, who had one of the best stage presences I've ever seen at a show. Fun and offensive. Just like I like it.

Then two old shool ska bands came on. SUBURBAN LEGENDS and REEL BIG FISH.

Suburban Legends. Put on a great, great show. Highly impressive. And Mitty had a crush on the Trombone player.

REEL BIG FISH

REEL BIG FISH - They played all the hits and then some. It was a great fucking show!

We finally got home at 1am on Thursday and passed out. We slept in til 11 and then did some errands around town. We got back in at 2pm and took a nap from 2-6. I was nursing a shoulder injury that I did to myself the night before. Heating pad and a nap later, I'm much better. We record the 400th episode of the  MORNING SHOW PODCAST and start drinking heavily. We're chatting all day and just enjoying each other's company. We finally pass out around midnight.

Friday around 10:30 (yikes! I normally don't sleep that late), we head to Ann Arbor and check into our hotel. I've mapped out locations I wanted to visit for the first time and so we hit them one by one.

First up was Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, as featured on MAN VS FOOD (one of my favorite shows). I have been itching for years to try the place, and now the moment has arrived!

The inside is smaller than their old location that was near campus. Luckily we hit it at a slow period, post lunchtime.

and here it is, my first Blimpy Burger. To be honest, it was good, but not the best burger I've ever had. But I still recommend checking the place out. I'd gladly go again.

In the same neighborhood is TIOS, also from the same episode of MAN VS FOOD, where Adam Richman tried the mountain of nachos challenge. We didn't go in and try it ourselves, but it was neat to see the place in person.

They were bragging their MAN VS. FOOD Tv appearance on the signs outside!

We took a walk around the downtown area, hitting antique stores, thrift stores and of course every comic and record shop we came across. There were a couple of places I was sort of interested in checking out, but the weather wasn't the best. It would snow and then get sunny repeatedly. But we hit Wazoo Records, Encore Records, Underground Sounds and Vault of Midnight. All of them were great to finally check out. 

There's the exterior of Vault of Midnight. I could spend a lot of time in there but I had no list or itinerary with me. But I did pick up an Adriane Tomine book and the next expansion of CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY.

This is the interior of WAZOO. A little out of the way but a great place to crate dig if you are into that sort of thing.

At Encore records, they got a nice DVD/BluRay section. I got the Brian Wilson SMILE DVD and a Troma flick.

Encore Records was huge and impressive as hell. I'd love to go back with a list and start digging someday. Well worth the drive to come and see it!

Here I am digging around at Underground Sounds. Mostly newer stuff but that ain't bad either.

To avoid the snow and wait for our dinner reservations, we hit this little wine bar whose name escapes me. I let Mitty sample the beverages while I chugged a water and relaxed a bit. 3 miles worth of walking is a lot for a fat fucker like me!

At 5:30 we met our dinner reservations at an Italian Restaurant called GRATZI.  It was as authentic and ritzy as you can get. I was quite lost when it came to what to order, but Mitty helped me out.

Naked people on the mural in Gratzi. Them Italians know how to party!

Meat/Cheese sampler plate. It was good.

I got a special Ribeye with Asparagus and Potatoes. The Asparagus was thick and yummy! I had been craving it lately, as its sort of out of season. All the food at Gratzi was good. I have zero complaints about it.

We stayed the night in a hotel and bascially vegged out. We were gonna hit the pool but it was filled with extremely loud kids. I was more into just soaking in some quiet time. We slept A LOT!

We woke up late and had to extend our time in the hotel, but we made it out and back home. I opted to get my kids a day early to enjoy some of my vacation with them too. They are coming to the house later.

All in all, its just what I needed. Some adventure, some relaxing. I slept A LOT over the last couple days. Way more than I normally do. And you know, I feel quite rested. I'm calmer and more chill. I think it was a nice treat of a vacation. Nothing too glamorous or not a huge travel itinerary, but just what the doctor ordered. I enjoyed it.


Anyway, I'm back home and its time to start getting some artworking done. I gotta clean this house up too. I'm gonna go spark some incense and make it happen. Cheers my friends!

T