By now my tummy is growling and all I can think of is food. Nom, nom, nom. I decide an essential stop in Grand Rapids is necessary to visit the marvelous HopCat. I deviate the blue bubble to 131N, arriving downtown in about an hour. After a chuckle at the fact they actually have scooter parking, we park the Yaris and wander over to the brewery. To my suprise it wasn't busy at all. We pick a table relatively close to the door and are quickly waited on by a very nice waiter. I order a Hard Apple Cider beer, brewed by Vandermill Winery Spring Lake in Michigan. It was a tasty treat that danced on my taste buds! We ordered an appetizer, Pita chips and their secret cheese dip. I chomped down half of my meal, Rosemary Chicken Salad Wrap, and was completely stuffed. Five out of Five HopCat, hats off to you. If you don't visit HopCat for the assortment of brews or the enticing food, it is worth the trip to just people watch.
Now with a full tummy, some 80's tunes and a tired body we continue our trip up 131N. About 40 miles outside of Cadillac I find it impossible to keep my eyes open. I pull out the TomTom and find the closest Motel. So let me fill you in, since old school travelers stayed in Mom&Pop style motels, so will I. The first one we come to, Paris Motel, was a bit...well...creepy. There were people staring out the windows at us, I was overcast with an eerie feeling. When nobody answered the door we decide to take off to the next place. About 10 miles down the road was Reed City Motel. We arrive to find a 5lb. dog barking at us, a table of "hillbillies" drinking in the yard and 3 drunk 18 year olds checking us in. Let me correct myself, 3 very drunk 18 year olds. They tell us about their tattoos, traveling adventures and finally hand over a key. The door to our room was open, no working air conditioning, no toilet paper and half the blinds were broken. We shall now refer to this as the Motel from Hell. But I was exhausted from being on the run all day, so I plopped on the bed without a second thought. About a half hour later the cops show up looking for someone across the yard. Quite an adventurous motel, to say the least. We wake up in the morning, relieved to still be alive. Cadillac here we come.
Cadillac is quite the quaint little town. Between the gorgeous old structures and the pink strip club, we find ourselves shopping in the antique store(where I picked up an adorable penguin.)
A quick trot by the lake, check out some cool looking bars, and take our pics with the city sign. We head back south, on the long drive home. 131S to 10W to 31S. We stop for lunch at Rays in Grand Haven, an old-school burger shack that has been standing since 1960. I had a two thumbs up Double BeefBurger and fries. Following that we hit up a classic car show in downtown Grand Haven. That made Mandy a very happy girl. 31S to 94W to Red Arrow Highway. I take a quick jump into Lake Michigan outside Lakeside, MI(I forgot my swimsuit, so clothes and all) and hit up Oinks! in New Buffalo for Ice Cream. The blue moon gave me a wicked blue mouth, but was well worth it. I drop Jerry off about 6pm, head home and relax after a whirlwind 24 hour road trip. Total miles: 551. Not too shabby for a starter if you ask me :) Stay Tuned for trip #2.
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