Oh Michigan, The Superglued Fingers of the U.S.

My favorite things about Michigan, and my friends. (Note: many of my favorite Michigan things may involve drinking, drinking with others, drinking alone, drinking for cheap, etc. But seriously what else are you going to do when you don't have a job and live outside Detroit? Oh yeah, cheer for the Lions.)

1) Crossing the border from Ohio. Every time I cross the border in winter coming from somewhere like Toledo, the Michigan sky looms bigger than any sky I know of. A huge grayness sits on the horizon, like a guard to the Upper Peninsula, and I just feel like I'm north, in a place separate from the U.S. where it takes more than living just to live. Part depression and part overwhelm, it feels like you have to dig in, bundle up, and just grind it out. That or find a good bar stool, which isn't hard considering there will be a dive called Rick's or something about 50 feet from wherever you're standing at any given moment.

2) The frozen waves on Lake Michigan. Sometime in the dead of winter (i.e. from September to June on the Lake), places all along Lake Michigan start to resemble the Ice Planet Hoth. Due to the tide of the Lake coming in and freezing small wave by small wave, the ice and snow pile up until there's 15 foot mini-mountains of ice, with corresponding valleys and ridges that extend up the shoreline, resembling waves frozen in place. Standing on top of one feels like you're somewhere at the beginning or end of the earth and that you endured it all, similar to the ocean at the end of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." Or that you're going to slip and fall down and crash through the ice and die. (The picture on the left if from Grand Haven. I found the picture online, but was actually at the exact same place in February).


3) Founders and Bell's Breweries: Grand Rapids has two of the best breweries in the midwest, maybe the country. The Founders Centennial IPA and Bell's Two Hearted Ale are especially delicious.

4) The people. Michiganers (that's the technical name, right?) are probably the best people I know. They go out en masse on any night and will hang anywhere, any time. Our friends in Michigan make it feel like home again, and will go out of their way for us in any situation, whether it's finding a floor for us to sleep on, a show to play, or a $2 PBR pitcher to drink. It's almost an attitude of "life sucks, it's cold out, but let's forget about today and have fun tonight." And when all those things come together in a little place called Rack and Roll in Downriver (outside Detroit), it's a party. Example:




Thanks Michigan.