Ray Fisher Stadium

11 04 2009
  • 1114 S. State Street
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 647-2583
  • Website
The entrance to Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan

The entrance to Ray Fisher Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan

Being a former college baseball player, I’ve always been jealous of the guys who get to play in the Big Ten.  When I was a Senior in high school, I went down to Champaign to pitch my case to “Itch” Jones.  I wanted to play Big Ten baseball.  Coach Jones told me in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t good enough to play in the Big Ten.  He suggested junior college and see if I got better. 

I didn’t take his advice.  I went to a NAIA Division I school, played a year and a half and got cut halfway through my sophomore season.  I could have went back to juco, but I gave up on a baseball and focused on my education and getting out of college as fast as possible. 

Even though we were one of the top NAIA teams in the country, we shared our field with one of the local high schools.  It was our field, but it was on their property.  The field was ok, but it doesn’t compare to the minor league ballpark the team plays in now. 

I tell you all this because I get chills every time I walk on the grass at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor.  The field is part of the Wilpon Baseball/Softball complex.  It sits in the middle of the athletic complex on State Street.  The field is surrounded by Yost, Schembechler Hall, the track and field complex and Alumni Field.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Big Ten Tour, Entertainment Venues, Live Entertainment, Michigan, Reviews

Wake Up To Jazz

8 04 2009

From www.eljazzfest.com/…

Wake Up to Jazz and Support the 2009 SSJF

Join us for a Louisiana-style brunch fundraiser catered by East Lansing’s Gumbo & Jazz Restaurant on Sunday, April 19 from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at MSU Federal Credit Union New Headquarters. A musical performance by MSU Jazz Orchestra I with Rodney Whitaker will be part of the fundraiser celebration. Tickets are $50 for individual, $90 a couple, $325 for a table of eight or $40 for Friends of East Lansing Jazz. Download a reservation form.


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Categories : East Lansing, Food News, Michigan

Lugnuts Opener and a Coffee Coupon

8 04 2009

I saw the following on Paramount Coffee’s Twitter Page.

Lansing Lugnuts season opener tomorrow! Come park at Paramount (right across the street!) and get an online coupon ^_^

If you’re going anyway, why not get something out of the deal?


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Categories : Food News, Lansing, Michigan

A Change At Pizza Hut..

8 04 2009

..at the south Lansing location anyway.  I was driving by yesterday and saw a crane taking signs down.  I thought the worst and figured they were going out of business.  When I drove by tonight, I found out that I was wrong.  They didn’t close.  They just changed the branding.

They’ve dropped the “Italian Bistro” concept and turned it into a WingStreet. 

J’s been saying for a while we needed to stop in one day.  Growing up, I was the only one in my family that preferred Pizza Hut.  Really, I just loved the breadsticks.  It’s been so long since I’ve actually had a pizza from there that I don’t really remember if I liked it or not. 

The Italian Bistro concept was a little more upscale than a typical Pizza Hut.  They had more of a “bistro” menu and offered a lot of dishes that are now common due to the “Pasta Hut” campaign.

WingStret is the Yum! Brand’s wing store.  Pairing Pizza Hut and WingStreet is pretty common, but not in a location like the south Lansing spot.  Usually, they’re paired together in take out restaurants.

I’ve never had WingStreet wings, so maybe we’ll give them a shot one night.  We’re running out of new places to eat on the southside anyway.


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Categories : Chains, Food News, Lansing, Michigan, Pizza

Hooters of Lansing

8 04 2009
  • 172 E. Edgewood Blvd.
  • Lansing, MI 48911
  • (517) 393-7997
  • Website
  • Menu
Hooters of Lansing on E. Edgewood Blvd.

Hooters of Lansing on E. Edgewood Blvd.

I’m going to be honest.  I’ve never been a fan of Hooters.  Even as a horny teenager, I thought their gimmick was ridiculous.  The only Hooters close to where I grew was over an hour away and every time my friends and I were close to it, we’d have to stop.  They would all cover by saying, “but the food is so good.”  I disagreed.  I always thought it was overpriced for what it was.  It was fine, but it seemed like you were paying for something other than the food.  The only redeeming quality to Hooters for me was the hot wings.  At the time, Hooters was about the only place serving up chicken like that.  This was long before Buffalo Wild Wings and long before chicken wings became staples on sports bar menus. 

So, even though there’s a Hooters just around the corner from where we live now, it’s one place we haven’t really been itching to get to.  That is, until I saw a commercial for 10 boneless wings and fries for $5.99 on Wednesday’s.  I figured if nothing else, it was a cheap meal and it would give us an excuse to check out the Lansing store.

Hooters of Lansing is on Edgewood Boulevard in South Lansing.  It’s got the same design as every other store and the same decor and layout as every other Hooters.  They use wood paneling and bright orange colors to accent their waitress uniforms.  J called it an outdoorsy field.  It is a very vibrant atmosphere and one of the original sports bars.  The unique thing that I’ve always liked about Hooters is how they send orders to the kitchen.  Sure, they may use POS systems now, but they still put a piece of paper on a clip and send it along a zip wire to the kitchen.  When something is ready, the kitchen sends it back. Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Chains, Chicken, Lansing, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Wings

Quality Dairy – Pennsylvania & Kalamazoo

7 04 2009
  • 400 S. Pennsylvania Avenue
  • Lansing, MI 48912
  • (517) 319-4102
  • Website
The Quality Dairy on Pennsylvania and Kalamazoo

The Quality Dairy on Pennsylvania and Kalamazoo

The QD tour continued today.  I was on my way downtown to pick something up when I drove by a Quality Dairy I hadn’t stopped at yet.  I was thirsty and was already contemplating a Speedway stop for a Pepsi.  Yeah, I could have got the Speedy Rewards points had I went to Speedway, but I would have had to go out of my way a little bit. 

This Quality Dairy is on the corner of Pennsylvania and Kalamazoo Street.  The address is Pennsylvania, but the front of the store faces Kalamazoo.  It’s a small corner lot that is made even smaller with the gas pumps.  There are a couple pumps which today, actually had gas almost 20 cents cheaper than any place else I passed.  I should have topped off my tank, but that’s not me.

The inside of the store is small and kind of crowded.  It’s not one of the bigger, nicer stores. I found the fountain soda machine and grabbed a cup to get my Pepsi.  Right behind me wa the roller grill items.  How come those never look good to me?  Anyway, I topped off my Pepsi and went to pay.  The price wa $1.05.  Not as good as a Circle K Polar Pop, but on par with everyone else.

This shop is pretty typical of the Quality Dairy’s in the older neighborhoods.  It has all the QD favorites, but the store is small and not nearly as nice as some of the newer ones.  Who cares though?  You can still get donuts, ice cream and an Arctic Freeze.


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Categories : Grocery, Lansing, Michigan, Reviews

Cereal Fest Back On

6 04 2009

Last month, I put a post up about Cereal Fest being cancelled.  Things have changed and Cereal Fest is back on.

Two days after learning that organizers had scrubbed the annual event, known for its World’s Longest Breakfast Table, local restaurateur Bill Morris said Saturday he was organizing volunteers to go ahead and put on the festival after all.

“We’re going to have it,” Morris said. “We’ll have just as good an event as we’ve had every year.”


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Categories : Festivals, Food News

Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival

6 04 2009

The festival season is starting.  From vermontvillemaplesyrupfestival.org

We would like to see you at our 69th Maple Syrup Festival. Vermontville is the “granddaddy” of them all! We are the home of the original Maple Syrup Festival in Michigan.

Our festival starts Friday evening, continues through Saturday and Sunday and is always the last full weekend in April. We have something for everyone—Mid-America rides, talent show, arts and crafts, flea market, two parades, petting zoo, princess pageant, various displays, games, free entertainment and arm wrestling. Our syrup producers are located throughout the village selling syrup, candies, crème and the ever popular maple syrup cotton candy.

We invite you to join us and enjoy pancakes with real maple syrup offered by the Maple Valley Band Boosters and the American Legion.

Hope to see you there!

For a schedule of events, click HERE


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Categories : Festivals, Food News, Michigan, Vermontville

Whole Foods Market – Ann Arbor (Cranbrook)

5 04 2009
  • 990 W. Eisenhower Parkway
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48103
  • (734) 997-7500
  • Website
The Whole Foods Market on Eisenhower in Ann Arbor

The Whole Foods Market on Eisenhower in Ann Arbor

A trip to Ann Arbor is not a trip to Ann Arbor unless you go to Whole Foods.  There are bloggers in Lansing (*cough*amy*cough*) who make special trips to Ann Arbor just to go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.  Until J and I went to the Ann Arbor store on Washtenaw last fall, I had never been to one.  J used to shop at the store in Willowbrook, IL and would buy most of her meals there.  She actually went to the Washtenaw store on Saturday while I was working, but didn’t want to buy anything cold, so we made plans to go back on Sunday.  Since I needed to do some shopping, we went to the new store near Briarwood Mall.

This Whole Foods is on Eisenhower Street in the Cranbrook Village shopping center.  It’s in a strip mall so the exterior is pretty bland.  When we were driving by, I didn’t even realize it was a Whole Foods.  It could have passed for any random grocery store.

The inside of the store was also unexpected.  At first, J said she didn’t like it because it wasn’t like every other Whole Foods Market she had been to.  She was turned around and departments were laid out differently.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, Grocery, Michigan, Reviews

Conor O’Neill’s Traditional Irish Pub & Restaurant

5 04 2009
  • 318 S. Main Street
  • Ann Arbor, MI 48104
  • (734) 665-2968
  • Website
  • Menu
Conor ONeills Traditional Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor

Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor

One more day in Ann Arbor.  I was actually supposed to work another day, but the softball game I was supposed to work was moved to Saturday because of the threat of nasty weather.  J and I got a hotel to stay in Ann Arbor Saturday night.  Our plan was to go shopping on Sunday but before we could do that, we needed to find lunch.

We headed downtown to find the Prickly Pear after Amy suggested it to us.  When we got there, we found a menu outside and realized we weren’t really in the mood for Southwestern so we walked down Main Street until we found someplace to get sandwiches.

Conor O’Neill’s is on South Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor.  There are a lot of restaurants in the area and a lot of fancy restaurant in the area.  Conor O’Neill’s offers a more price friendly alternative. 

The outside of the building is painted in bright colors and really, it looks like a lot of other Irish pubs.  Inside, they have the typical decor.  There’s a lot of dark woods, old furniture, and Guinness signs.  The walls and ceilings are hand painted with words of wisdom.  We were shown to a table where one side was a padded bench an the other side had chairs that I thought I was going to break when I sat down.  It creaked pretty loud when I sat down, but the furniture really added to the overall look and feel of the bar.

The ambiance includes a lot of TV’s playing soccer games.  If watching soccer isn’t enough, the volume was up loud that it could have been heard over a live band.  It was obnoxiously loud for the one guy who was drinking at 11:30 on a Sunday morning and watching a Manchester United game because he probably doesn’t get the channel in his dorm room.  Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Ann Arbor, BBQ, Big Ten Tour, Burgers, Downtown, Michigan, Restaurant, Reviews, Sandwiches

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