I Heart Michigan

The last few years, I've discovered a new love: Michigan.

We've traveled there to visit my husband's family since we got married, but the last couple of years we've been going there for ourselves, and I've realized I am far more comfortable there than I am in Illinois. Maybe part of it is the landscape of the Western Shore and the central part of the state; the farms are smaller and hillier like in Connecticut, and the beach towns are typical New England as well. Illinois is just...so flat. Twenty-two years and counting, and it still doesn't look right to my eye.

But Michigan is also the Midwest, especially around Detroit and its suburbs. Much more urban, like Chicago, and full of history and neighborhoods and ethnic traditions. Even the broken down buildings have stories and character. That's the part of living in the Midwest/Chicago that I love the best, and I find it here too.

Michigan contains both worlds I know of as "home". Is it any wonder I would fall in love with it?

Our first stop once we crossed the border from Indiana was the Sawyer Garden Center in Sawyer. When we went last summer, it was a feast of local grown produce, fancy foodstuffs, and rooms and rooms of fun gifts and even a Christmas section. I wanted to pick up some specific items for Christmas gifts, but I also wanted to just see what they did for the holiday season.

They did not disappoint.



This was the space where all the fresh produce was this summer, now full of fresh wreaths and greens. It smelled wonderful.



My husband loved these wreaths, and I was kicking myself for buying a fake one from Target this year. I never see wreaths like this around our town, and certainly not for $25.



Poinsettias in every color. Just a glorious display.



They were crazy cheap too: the jumbo pot was $15, the medium was $8, and we bought my mother-in-law a small pink one for $4.

Inside, it was just as decorated, this time with the fake stuff. Everything was already 50% off.









Soon we were overstuffed with Christmas cheer, so we headed across the gravel parking lot to the local brewery/restaurant. (Sawyer's adorable, but pretty small.)







This, my friends, is the single best sandwich I have ever had. Country Ham and Swiss on a pretzel roll. I like ham, quite a lot -- being a Polish girl I've had it many times in my life. I've mostly had imported, that pink jiggly square sliced up at the deli or served at Easter. My mother-in-law gets that honey-baked spiral ham so we have that during the holidays, and on rare occasions I have had country ham but I usually find that too tough and grizzly to enjoy.

This ham, however, had to come from Drier's Meat Market, which we also discovered this summer, over in Three Oaks. It was melt-in-your-mouth amazing, with a great smoky ham flavor that the pink stuff just doesn't have. The swiss was used sparingly and was completely melted and melded in with the meat. The pretzel roll was toasted so it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and held the sandwich together perfectly. A splash of sharp mustard was all that was needed to finish it off.

I wish I had another one right now. LOL!

From there we headed to Detroit, back to our favorite hotel, the MGM Grand. It was booked up so my husband had to get us a room on the concierge floor. Extra fancy!



A TV in the bathroom. With a rain shower too.



The concierge lounge. You have to use the hotel key in the elevator, and it opens right up to this.



The seating area. There was continental breakfast in the morning, and all afternoon and evening there was cheese, antipasto, meats, and a few trays of desserts. We spent the evening up here after the christening with my nieces and brother and sister-in-law, opening gifts and just hanging out and talking. It made the extra expense worth it.



The view from our floor. That tall building is the old train station and the neighborhood in front of it is one that is coming back with gentrification.



The flag in the middle is the one still standing from where Tiger Stadium used to be.



Boy, doesn't that make you want to stop and grab a bite? "Let's go to the burger place with the giant ASS on top! I'm sure it's really good." (The name of the restaurant is Brayz. If the giant ass wasn't enough to entice you.)



What is is about hanging stuff on restaurant ceilings in this state? Hmm, my love for you can only go so far, Michigan! Better watch yourself.



The woman wearing these was not a hooker. I know! I was surprised too!



The art in the front foyer of the hotel.



The festive wreath in the foyer.

See why I love visiting there?