Dinner Train Ending Run

31 12 2008

This is something else I thought was outdated.  I had no idea these dinner trains still ran yet this is the second one I’ve heard of in Michigan.  When we moved here, I found info on the Murder Mystery Dinner Train and tonight, J saw a story in the Detroit News about the Michigan Star Clipper making it’s last run.

After 24 years, the Michigan Star Clipper dinner train is making its last passenger run on New Year’s Eve before it embarks on plans to relocate to the East Coast in 2009.

Plans are also under way to sell the nine-mile-long rail line and eventually transfer the land to local communities, possibly for use in a trail network.

The Monday announcement by parent company Railmark Holdings Inc. has nothing to do with the dinner train’s derailment Friday because of icy roads and tracks, President and CEO B. Allen Brown said.

Anyone ever gone on one of these?  They sound cheesy to me, but I’m still a little curious.  Everytime I see these now I think of the King of the Hill episode when they went on a murder mystery for Peggy’s birthday and Luanne ruins it.  J loves King of the Hill 😉

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Quality Dairy – Cavanaugh Ave

31 12 2008
  • 917 E. Cavanaugh Ave.
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 272-1509
  • Website
Quality Dairy on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

Quality Dairy on South Pennsylvania in Lansing.

For some odd reason, J and I have started a tradition of making ice cream sandwiches and playing games on New Year’s Eve.  Last year, we played Trivial Pursuit.  This year, it will probably be Rock Band 2, but the thing that will be the same is the ice cream sandwiches. 

As we left Corey’s, J suggested stopping at Meijer to get some ice cream so we could keep this odd tradition going.  I wasn’t really in the mood to go into Meijer.  Just getting something simple seems to take 20 minutes.  When we left Corey’s, we headed back towards Pennsylvania.  I knew somewhere along there their was a Quality Dairy. The store sits on the corner of Pennyslvania and Cavanaugh, but apparently, the address is on Cavanaugh.  The store faces Pennsylvania though…weird

Quality Dairy is one of those things that is foreign to me, but for people that grew up here, it’s something they have a hard time living without once moving away.  I see it as just another convenience store, but with ice cream and it was the ice cream that drew us in. Read the rest of this entry »





Corey’s Restaurant & Lounge

31 12 2008
  • 1513 S. Cedar St.
  • Lansing, MI 4891
  • (517) 484-7060
  • No Known Website
  • Menu
Coreys Restaurat & Lounge on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Corey's Restaurat & Lounge on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Since we found out our bar of choice wasn’t going to be open past 10:00 on New Year’s Eve, we decided to go out for dinner.  We had driven by a very uninviting building on Cedar Street with a old sign hanging off the building that simply said “Corey’s Coktails.”  We never gave the place much thought until a co-worker of J’s recommended it during a discussion of local eateries.   J e-mailed me and asked if I just wanted to go out for dinner and I said, yes and suggested Corey’s, so that’s where we ended up for dinner on New Year’s Eve. 

Corey’s Restaurant & Lounge sits on Cedar Street not too far from downtown.  From the outside, you’d never guess what was inside.  We pulled up to the building around 7:30 to find a packed parking lot.  We entered the lot off of Cedar Street and found a place to park, but we had no idea where the door was.  It definitely wasn’t on the Cedar Street side, so I assumed it was around back.  As we were walking towards the building, we saw someone walk out solving the mystery of the front door.

When you walk in, you take a step down and enter in the lounge part of the space.  There were no signs about seating or a hostess.  I noticed a pub table along the wall not too far from the entrance so that’s where we went.  There are two rooms  to the space.  Had we kept going, we would have found a more traditional dining room separated from the bar.  We climbed up the chairs and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited for a waitress to see us.  After a five to ten minute wait, we were finally noticed and a waitress came over for drink orders and left a couple menus.  Read the rest of this entry »





More on New Year’s Eve….

31 12 2008

One station does a story on how places are struggling and another does a story on how everything’s ok.  Last night, WLAJ did this story on how places are targeting a little older for New Year’s.

Some local entertainment venues are finding success this New Year’s Eve… but often only with a certain audience.

Local hot spots have found the audience that is willing to spend for entertainment, even in this recession. The age sweet spot is somewhere between 25 and 45. 

“Occasionally we’ll see some older clientele come in, but the bulk of what we’re marketing for is that younger group… who seems to come out, not really afraid of what the current economy situation looks like,” says Patrick Wisema, manager at Club X-Cel in Lansing.

Eh.  Who cares.  Found out I’m not going out at all.  Barley’s is closing at 10 PM tonight.  10 PM!  On New Year’s!  Things must really be bad if bars are closing early.  So, J and I will spend New Year’s watching Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve in the right time zone for the first time ever.  In the Central time zone, they play it live so the ball drops at 11:00 and then we’d turn to a Chicago station for a countdown to Midnight….this year, midnight in New York will actually be our Midnight…yay!