We drove 6 hours to get away this past week:
Saugatuck, MI is a gorgeous little town, it is Lake Michigan’s answer to Provincetown, MA. It is nestled in the tall dunes of the lake and offer tons of very scenic views. Saugatuck is also very gay friendly, many shops and restaurants proudly display the rainbow flag.
Across the Kalamazoo Lake, over the dunes of Old Saugatuck, you’ll find Oval Beach which was voted as one of the best 25 beaches in the world by Conde Nast travellers. It is definitely worth a visit and I’d suggest you do as we did: arrive early and leave early, you’ll avoid the hordes of loud families who have forgotten about how to have a good time without screaming, fighting and crying.
(courtesy of The Wickwood Inn Notebook)
For our second Labour Day Weekend visit to the area, we decided to arrive mid-week and use the time to visit some cities in the area. We spend Thursday in Grand Rapids, which sells itself as a “big city feel with a small town charm”. I guess it’s true, we did have a nice visit and only paid $3 in parking for the day… downtown! One of the highlights for both of us was definitely The Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, where we burnt a good 4 hours walking around the beautifully and flowery landscaped park. It is full of very interesting, colourful and gorgeous sculptures by artists from around the world. It fun to see Rodin mixed in with Moore, Miro and Keith Haring, just to name a few.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We also had a downtown afternoon meal at Johnny’s Lunch, our new favourite 50′s style diner:
On Friday, we visited Kalamazoo. Cute little place with not much to do, but we did have an interesting breakfast at an Irish smoky restaurant and a free visit at the Kalamzoo Valley Museum with its real Egyptian mummy on display
The rest of the time was well spent visiting with Evil Panda and Thor, who cooked us some amazing meals and offered great company. Always nice to spend time with, and funny to boot. We also had an outing at The Dunes, a local gay resort with an extra large multi-level indoor-outdoor bar. Quickly after arriving, Richard, a natural mixer from upstate, introduced himself, then his two good-looking friends, and then departed to continue his mission to meet everyone present in the club. Interesting guy indeed, no taboo, no secrets, no shame.
As is the rules for road trip, we spent a lot of time in the car. We listened to XM Satellite Radio, where we found The Virus station with Ron & Fez and Opie & Anthony shows to be quite entertaining on those long drives. Fred station had a countdown of their essentials that kept us truly entertained, especially good if you grew up in the 80′s.
One day, sitting by the pool, we all noticed this hottish looking guy, sort of a Colt porn star throwback from the 70′s, standing chatting with friends, he was sporting a removable cast on his left leg. Someone near us said: “yep, he’s hot but he’s definitely strange” and didn’t elaborate. Later on that day, after using the facilities and while washing my hands, I noticed someone coming in and he started barking at me:
Strange Hot Guy: Woof!
Me: Huh? Oh, hey man, how’re you doing?
Strange Hot Guy: How do you fix a broken foot?
Me: I imagine with a trip to the hospital (I then noticed he was holding the removable cast in his hands)
Strange Hot Guy: Yeah I went
Me: Are you sure it’s broken?
Strange Hot Guy: That’s what they said
Me: And you’re able to walk on it?
Strange Hot Guy: Yeah, they gave me this weird booty
Me: But you’re not wearing it and you’re able to walk on it? Maybe it’s not broken
Strange Hot Guy: Yeah, it’s broken, I’ve seen the x-rays
Me: Hum… I’d think you’d be in a permanent cast if it was broken, but I guess your doctor knows what he’s doing. Are you sure it’s not just your toes that are broken?
Strange Hot Guy: No, it’s the foot, but I can walk on my heel.
Me: Well… good luck man, hope you can still have a good weekend
Strange Hot Guy: Thanks. Woof!
Me (to myself): That’s right, short bus!
We then noticed for the rest of the weekend how this guy barked at a lot of people and when worked off, he’d suddenly start howling… charming.