Press Release – Be A Tourist In Your Own Town

22 05 2009

As two people who were new to Lansing last year, the “Be A Tourist In Your Own Town” event was a great way to explore our new home.  We only got to maybe twenty of the stops, but we hit the big ones including the Potter Park Zoo, RE Olds Museum, Impressions 5, and a few of the other museums.  This year, we’ll hit the zoo again, but we also plan on finding some of the other things and skip a few of the bigger stops.  Either way, it’s an event that we’ve been looking forward to and plan on getting our passports next for weekend. 

From a Greater Lansing Convention and Visitor’s Bureau press release….

Discover A World of Possibilities In Your Own Backyard During
Be A Tourist In Your Own Town On Saturday, May 30th

LANSING, Mich. – What would you say if someone asked, “What is there to do in Greater Lansing?” If you had to think about it, get ready to discover (or rediscover) your own backyard during the 15th Annual Be A Tourist In Your Own Town celebration. The Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau will host the event on Saturday, May 30th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

While a dollar sure doesn’t buy much these days, it’s STILL enough to purchase a Greater Lansing passport, allowing event participants to visit more than 60 local partnering establishments. Old favorites include: Impression 5 Science Center, Potter Park Zoo and the Michigan Historical Museum. Be sure to visit one of the many new stops including, FRAG Center, MSU’s Breslin Center, WKAR Studios and taste the new “Capital City Sundae” ice cream flavor at the MSU Dairy Store. Some attractions will offer a discount on services through June with the passport.

“The tourism industry is a key component of the Greater Lansing economy,” said Tracy Padot, Vice President, Marketing Communications. “Based on a study conducted by Michigan State University, more than 5 million out-of-town guests visit Greater Lansing each year, generating $431 million in direct spending and supporting 7,500 jobs in the tourism sector. We want residents to not only enjoy the leisure options Lansing offers, but also recognize the importance of creating a hospitable environment for our guests by serving as community ambassadors.”

Here’s how the event works:
1. Participants need to purchase a $1 passport from the Celebration Cinema or Meridian Mall customer service desks, the AAA Michigan–Grand River Avenue location, Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing Art Gallery, CATA C.T.C or the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau in Old Town. Passports will also be available on May 30th at information stations throughout the city.

3.Throughout the month of June, “tourists” can have their passport stamped at participating attractions, and once they receive 10 stamps, they are eligible to enter a prize drawing. Participants that get 15 or more stamps, are entered in for the grand prize – a night in a suite at Oldsmobile park and 10 tickets.

2.Passport holders can park at the Breslin Student Events Center on the campus of MSU, in Old Town, at the Lansing Community College parking ramp on N. Grand Avenue or at the lot adjacent to the Michigan Historical Museum and hop aboard one of four CATA Be A Tourist public bus routes. Round trip fares are only 50 cents per person.





Smoking Ban Moves Out of Committee

20 05 2009

Well, it’s a start, but it’s set up the same as last year and they couldn’t come to an agreement then….

A House committee approved today a ban on smoking in all bars, restaurants and all other workplaces – except for Detroit’s casinos and smoke shops statewide – reigniting a debate that has smoldered for years.

[snip]

House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township said he had spoken with Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and said, “I would bet it gets done this year.”

However, Dillon said he supports a smoking ban exemption for the gambling floors of casinos only, but not the restaurants or anywhere else in the facility. Bishop said his Republican caucus supports a total ban with no exemptions.

No exemptions.  How sad is it they want to exempt casino floors that are covered with old guys in oxygen masks?  Why should casinos get exemptions but not bars and restaurants near those casinos?  Detroit’s competition is Windsor…and Windsor is smoke free.  They know that people would cross the border to gamble if the two are actually on an even playing field…hell, I’m going to Windsor this weekend…but it has more to do with smoke free than anything.





Press Release – Festival of The Sun 10th Anniversary

19 05 2009

From an Old Town Commercial Association press release…..

OLD TOWN FESTIVAL CELEBRATES TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY­­­­­­­­­­­
The Festival of the Sun celebrates ten years in Old Town

OLD TOWN, LANSING, Mich.. – As the days grow longer and the weather warms, the count down to the Festival of the Moon and Sun is getting shorter! Celebrating a decade of fun, these festivals welcome the summer solstice in a unique and exciting way.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Old Town Commercial Association (OTCA) Festival of the Sun. For the past decade, Festival of the Sun and, more recently Festival of the Moon, has brought together friends, families, and neighbors from all over Michigan to the heart of Old Town. Celebrating the beginning of the summer season, revelers take part in Mid-Michigan’s premier wine, beer, and food sampling event and enjoy live music throughout the weekend.

“Old Town and the Festival of the Sun have both grown tremendously over the past ten years. A couple years ago the OTCA launched the Festival of the Moon and just last year, the Festival of the Sun expanded – almost doubling in size – to accommodate the large crowds. It’s so exciting to see these festivals continue to grow, attracting more people to Old Town and raising money to continue the revitalization efforts,” said past Festival Director Shannon Rolley.

Festival of the Moon will be held on Friday, June 26th from 6-11 p.m. This year’s festival continues the tradition of offering Bell’s Beer on tap and will include music by Thriving Ivory, Suburban Euphoria, and Alco. Attendees will receive a keep sake beer tumbler to use while sipping on select Bell’s Beers.

Festival of the Sun will be held on Saturday, June 27th from 2-10 p.m. Vistitors will be able to taste wine and food from all over Michigan and dance the day away to music provided by Ritmo, The Dewaynes, The Lash, and Hot Club of Lansing on the main stage or relax with a drink by the acoustic stage with music by The Pantones, Nervous but Excited, and Daughters of New Grass. Tickets include a complimentary “throw back” wine glass with designs from the past ten years.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.festivalofthesun.com or www.festivalofthemoon.com or stop by the OTCA office on Turner St. and Grand River.





Subway – Cedar & Jolly

15 05 2009
  • 5025 S. Cedar St #2
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 393-7370
  • Website
  • Menu
The Subway at Cedar & Jolly in Lansing.

The Subway at Cedar & Jolly in Lansing.

OK, so when you think “celebratory lunch,” Subway isn’t the first thing you think of, but we just didn’t have time to go out for something fancy.  We were both starving and J still had to get ready for work, so I suggested Subway.  Jokingly, I said we should go to the store at Cedar & Jolly.  I had never been there, but J went a few weeks ago and came back with a doozy of a story about the layout of the building.  Normally, we’d just go to the Subway in Holt, but J said I needed to see this store to understand what she was talking about. 

The Subway at Jolly & Cedar looks like most other Subway’s from outside.  It’s situated in a small strip mall near the busy intersection.  Heck, even when you first walk in, it looks like any other Subway.  There are a few tables, but, for the most part, it’s a carry-out business.  The counter is the back right side of the space.  There was only one other person in front of us when we got there just before one o’clock. 

J eats at Subway quite often when I’m working, so she knew what she wanted right away.  I usually get the same everytime as well, so there was no waiting on us when it came our turn to order.

J got a footlong veggie on whole wheat.  When her sandwich was finished, it had pepper jack, lettuce, cucumbers, banana peppers, green peppers, and Chipotle Southwest mayo.  She tried the Chipotle mayo last time she was at a Subway and really liked it.  Read the rest of this entry »





Press Release – Menna’s Joint Grand Opening

12 05 2009

It’s not a new one…it’s a grand opening for the downtown Lansing location that opened in October (and I reviewed in November.)  From a Lansing Principal Shopping District press release….

Grand Opening of Menna’s Joint in Downtown Lansing

(LANSING) –Mayor Virg Bernero will join Lansing’s Principal Shopping District (PSD) for a
Grand Opening celebration of Menna’s Joint, 208 S. Washington Sq. at 11:00 a.m. on
Wednesday, May 13 in downtown Lansing.

Menna’s Joint is a chain of fun, classic food joints steeped in youthful irreverence that are
managed by students for students and the young at heart, presenting an exciting new spin on fast
food.

Hank Andries, owner, opened his first Lansing location on October 10, 2008. The new S.
Washington Square quick service restaurant is his fifth. Other store locations include two in East
Lansing, one in Kalamazoo and one in Mt. Pleasant.





Marcos Pizza – South Cedar

9 05 2009
  • 4320 S. Cedar Street
  • Lansing, MI 48910
  • (517) 394-4444
  • Website
  • Menu
Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

Marcos Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.

How lucky am I?   I finally get a Saturday off and there’s a Saturday night NASCAR race.  What’s really sad is J has seen more NASCAR than I have this year and I actually had to ask her this morning where the race was at.  Since we both wanted to hang out on the couch and watch TV (the White Sox game was on WGN America, so we could flip back an forth), we decided to find a pizza place we hadn’t tried yet. 

I drive by the Marcos Pizza on South Cedar quite a bit and we’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately, so I pulled up a menu online to see what they had to offer.  It looked like standard pizza fare to me, so I called in an order for a large cheese pizza.

We gave it about ten minutes then headed down Cedar to pick up the pizza.  The building only does carry-out.  It’s a stand alone building, but the kitchen takes up 3/4 of the space.  There are some cheap red chairs if you have to wait, but we timed it pretty well.  When I went in to get my pizza, everyone was pretty busy.  There were two people manning phones and two making pizzas.  One of the guys making the pizzas saw me standing there and came over to take care of me.  I paid the ten dollars and change, grabbed the box and headed home. Read the rest of this entry »





Chicken & Fish Express

6 05 2009
  • 601 W. Saginaw Street
  • Lansing, MI 48933
  • (517) 267-3813
  • No Known Website
  • No Online Menu
Chicken and Fish Express on Saginaw Street in Lansing.

Chicken and Fish Express on Saginaw Street in Lansing.

I had to work downtown early.  Well, early for me.  9:00 is still a couple hours before I usually get up, so getting my butt out of bed and downtown isn’t easy.  It was a short day with my job finishing up a little after 1:30.  I had a few Tim Horton’s doughnuts for breakfast,but that was it, so I was starving.  Chicken has been all the rage and a few months ago, someone told me about a chicken place in a Marathon Station.  Since it wasn’t too far from downtown, I decided to check it out.

This wasn’t the first time I had stopped in to the Chicken & Fish Express on Saginaw Street.  A few weeks ago, I decided to stop, but was really confused and ended up leaving.  The store is connected to the Marathon Station, but the businesses aren’t really connected.  Sure, there’s a door to move between the two businesses, but it’s blocked from both sides.  Chicken & Fish Express has a separate entrance on Pine Street side of the building.  When I stopped a couple weeks ago, it didn’t look like the place was open.  The door moved when I pushed it, but there was no one inside and I didn’t see anything behind the counter, so I left. Read the rest of this entry »





Press Release – See Disney’s “Earth” For Free

5 05 2009

From a Salvation Army press release…

The Salvation Army, WMMQ and Celebration Cinema are working together to collect canned goods for the needy.

On Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 11:00am-5:59pm, every adult or child who brings in a box or bag of canned goods or non-perishable food items to Celebration Cinema will get free admission to see The Disney movie, “EARTH” as well as an additional 1.50 off any STAR TREK matinee.





The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill

1 05 2009
  • 2005 E. Michigan Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 482-6376
  • Website
  • Menu
The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill on Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

Have I mentioned that I love when J e-mails me from work and says she’s hungry for greasy bar food?  Man, I love that!  I was not in the cooking mood again as we were packing up for a trip back to Chicago.  For J’s birthday, I got her and her family tickets to see comedian Joel McHale at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN.  We were going to see McHale in Detroit back in January, but I had to work.  Since Hammond is about 15 miles from her parents south suburban home, I made up for missing the January show with four tickets to this show.

I’m starting to run out of ideas for greasy bar food, so I started looking at menus on Allmenus.com.  One of the places that came up that I never really thought about was The Green Door.  I ran it by J and she thought we would have enough time on her dinner break.

The Green Door Blues Bar & Grill is on Michigan Avenue at Clemens Avenue.  If you can find street parking along Michigan Avenue, there is a front door, but there’s also a City of Lansing lot behind the building.  If you park in back, there’s a door that leads right in to the bar on the backside of the building.

We parked in back and trekked through the alley which, like most of the streets in Lansing, has seen better days.  When we got inside, we were faced with a choice.  The Green Door is set up for live music which is really the main draw.  There are some tables in front of the stage, but there are also some higher pub tables on the other side of the room.  Read the rest of this entry »





Mama Bear’s – A Conscious Cafe

30 04 2009
  • 1224 Turner Street
  • Lansing, MI 48906
  • (517) 485-6262
  • Website
  • Menu
Mama Bears - A Conscious Cafe in Old Town

Mama Bear's - A Conscious Cafe in Old Town

It’s the end of the month again which means J and I head to Delta Township to get her hair cut.  While she’s doing that, I drive around town, run errands, and of course, scout out new places to eat.  In City Pulse’s Top of the Town Awards, I noticed a cafe in Old Town that racked up a few awards.  I couldn’t find much other than a Myspace page on the place, but it sounded good to me.

Mama Bear’s Cafe is on Turner Street in Old Town half a block off of Grand River Avenue.  I drove by the building four times trying to find it.  It’s a big grey building with a black awning.  There is a logo on the awning, but it’s hard to see from the street.  I did finally find it and after I picked J up, headed back to Old Town for lunch.

We parked on the street a few doors down from the cafe and walked back.  The cafe is pretty small, but very cute.  The order counter is near the front.  The dining room are heavy wood tables which are scattered throughout the space.  Next to the counter on either side is a pastry case with all sorts of goodies including some that are vegan. 

We stopped in closer to 1:30 which would have been after the lunch rush.  The lady working told us they had a pretty busy lunch and they were out of a few things.  There was no turkey left and they didn’t have everything to make the creole wrap which I think is the menu item J was looking at.  Read the rest of this entry »