My vacation's almost over. Didn't really do anything. Actually, that's not true, I did a lot, but I never actually spent the night anywhere other than my own bed. Drove places, but always drove home again. Never left Michigan. Drove to Lake Michigan several times, different spots along the coast. There's no real reason I couldn't do that on any normal week; heck, South Haven is only 60 miles or so away. Furthest away I got was Ludington State Park. Even got the wife and kid to come along for that one. We'd been having a pretty good stretch of warm weather, and the lake water was quite comfortable, close to 80 degrees. After the sun set, we went into Ludington proper, located a pizza joint, Luciano's, on recommendation of a gas station attendant, and ordered a pizza, which was excellent. Then drove home, stopping several times at rest stops to splash water in my face.
Probably the best thing I did was check out a couple of music festivals, which were on the weekends, so they're officially Things I Could Not Have Done Had I Not Been On Vacation, since I work on weekends. One was the Riverfolk Festival, in Manchester. The River Raisin flows through Manchester, which I think accounts for the designation "Riverfolk," though the festival itself was nowhere near the river. The music was great, though, as was the setting, in a park. There was some good Celtic music, as well as bluegrass and jazz. The "best known" and favorite band there, which I had never heard of, was called the "Glengarry Bhoys." Rousing, Kilt-raising fare.
The other festival I found was the River Raisin Jazz Festival, which actually was right next to the river, in Monroe, a bit further downstream from Manchester. This was a two-day affair in the city's municipal park, and was FREE. Not only that, but it attracted some top-notch musicians, like guitarist Earl Klugh, who I missed because he had played the night before, and guitarist Larry Carlton, whom I did see. I sat there in the park in my chair thinking how lucky I was to be able to see such artistry without paying a cent, except of course for the fuel to get me to Monroe. With gas prices now shooting into the stratosphere, that's not an inconsiderable expense, though tempered somewhat by my car, which gets 40 mpg on the highway.
So, I must have done something these past couple weeks; I put 2500 miles on my car in 10 days.
Probably the best thing I did was check out a couple of music festivals, which were on the weekends, so they're officially Things I Could Not Have Done Had I Not Been On Vacation, since I work on weekends. One was the Riverfolk Festival, in Manchester. The River Raisin flows through Manchester, which I think accounts for the designation "Riverfolk," though the festival itself was nowhere near the river. The music was great, though, as was the setting, in a park. There was some good Celtic music, as well as bluegrass and jazz. The "best known" and favorite band there, which I had never heard of, was called the "Glengarry Bhoys." Rousing, Kilt-raising fare.
The other festival I found was the River Raisin Jazz Festival, which actually was right next to the river, in Monroe, a bit further downstream from Manchester. This was a two-day affair in the city's municipal park, and was FREE. Not only that, but it attracted some top-notch musicians, like guitarist Earl Klugh, who I missed because he had played the night before, and guitarist Larry Carlton, whom I did see. I sat there in the park in my chair thinking how lucky I was to be able to see such artistry without paying a cent, except of course for the fuel to get me to Monroe. With gas prices now shooting into the stratosphere, that's not an inconsiderable expense, though tempered somewhat by my car, which gets 40 mpg on the highway.
So, I must have done something these past couple weeks; I put 2500 miles on my car in 10 days.
posted by Ron at 1:19 AM
