Mom and Lindsey come to visit!

We were so looking forward to my mom and Lindsey coming to visit and us getting to give them a tour of the area. They arrived Thursday night (July 23rd) and we had some of mom's favorite Benito's pizza for dinner :) We had it when she and the Segars helped us move in and everyone loved it. On Friday John had to work, so I went to lunch with mom and Lindsey at Cafe Via - it was delish and we sat on the outdoor back patio, very swanky. We drove around and I gave them a tour of Royal Oak and Birmingham and then I took them to Somerset, a huge, high-end mall and we walked around and window shopped. After John got off work we went to a Tigers game, Detroit's professional baseball team, versus the Chicago White Sox.

It was great - Detroit won - and since it was a Friday night they had a fireworks show afterward!

On Saturday we drove up to Frankenmuth, Michigan's "Little Bavaria", and walked around and looked at the shops.

After lunch at the Bavarian Inn, we drove to Orchard Park for a large art fair there. It was nice to walk around and enjoy the day - art fairs are really popular in Michigan and my mom and I had always enjoyed them back in South Carolina too.

After the fair we headed home and I cooked dinner. That night mom and I went to a movie (the new Harry Potter - yes, we're dorks) because Lindsey was tired and John wasn't feeling well, so we got to enjoy some mother-daughter time. On Sunday we went to church and then to lunch at the Black Lotus, which is a great local micro-brewery about 5 minutes from our apartment. After lunch we went over to Pat & Nancy's so mom and Lindsey could visit with them and the Frees. It was a lot of fun and we spent the day at the pool and had a great dinner there. Mom and Lindsey left on Monday and it was sad to see them go, but we'll hopefully see them in October when we go to visit for a Clemson game!

Kid Rock Concert in Detroit!

Pat and Nancy got us tickets to see Kid Rock in Detroit at Comerica Park (where the Tigers play), which was probably not a concert we would have bought tickets to ourselves, but we were really glad we had the opportunity to go because Kid Rock is so huge in Detroit so it was quite an experience.  Nancy's ex-husband Jimmy is the piano player in Kid Rock's band and he hooked us up by letting us hang out on the tour bus before the show and with backstage passes after the show which actually was an after-party in the "Tiger Den" with the whole band.

On the tour bus before the show

Lots of pyro

 

July in Michigan

After we got back from Leland, John and I had about a week before he had to start working.  It was great to just get to lounge around and enjoy our time together.  Once he started working I was busy looking for a job and spent some time visiting Nancy and laying out at her pool.  Nancy and Pat have been so generous and accommodating to us since we moved here and they invited me to go with them to Darien Lake (Six Flags) in Buffalo, NY for the amusement park and a Kid Rock Concert - it was so much fun!  Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for them and I LOVED it.  Nancy and Pat also got tickets for John and I to see Kid Rock here in Detroit later in July, so this was my first of two Kid Rock Concerts in one month!  

  Jimmy got us in through the band entrance - these were the trucks that carried all the equipment for the tour

 

Me and Nancy before the show started - we had GREAT seats thanks to Jimmy!

Fourth of July in beautiful Leland!

After our parents left we had about two weeks to ourselves organizing the apartment and exploring the area.  We discovered that a local movie theater has a special where you can get a ticket to a movie anytime on Mon-Thurs for $4.75!  If you go on Fri-Sun it's like $9.00.  We've taken advantage of that a few times, as well as the $9.99 steak special at Outback and the 2 for $20 at Applebees :) Trying to save $$$!

Before moving to Michigan we had talked to our good friends Reed and Meredith Cole about spending the fourth of July together in upstate Michigan (Leland) because Reed has family up there and they often all get together for the 4th, as they were this year.  We were so excited that we had the opportunity to celebrate with our friends!  Reed and Meredith arrived on the 1st and stayed the night with us - we went to Dick O'Dows, an Irish pub in Birmingham, for dinner.  We arrived in Traverse City, MI on Thursday the 2nd around dinner time and we met up with some of Reed's family for dinner.  The Traverse City and Leland area are famous for their cherries - they are everywhere up there!   After dinner we drove the rest of the way to Leland and checked into our hotel - the Leland Lodge.  It was such a quaint place - it had a mountain lodge feel to it.

 

On Friday the 3rd we explored Leland and were lucky to have a beautiful day - it was a bit chilly and windy at times but still very sunny.  We went down to the fishing village called Fishtown in Leland and ate lunch at a precious little deli that is famous for their pretzel bread - it was delicious.

After lunch we walked along Main Street and checked out some of the shops and the Mercantile general store.  We went to dinner with all of Reed's family - all 20 or so of them - and after dinner went to another of Reed's family members houses in Leland.  She lived on farm land and owned several horses, which we loved seeing!  

In Leland they do the fireworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th, so that night after dinner we joined a huge crowd to watch them - they were fabulous!

Me and Mer back at the lodge :)

On the 4th we were excited to see the Leland 4th of July parade that we had heard so much about - it was so much fun!  Leland and other small surrounding towns put on a parade made up mostly of local organizations and it was very nostalgic and wholesome.  

After the parade we headed to Reed's great Aunt and Uncle's house - it was right off of the beach and had a beautiful big lawn with a tent and badminton and yard games set up.  We played games and enjoyed a cookout for dinner - we also went down to the beach and watched the sunset - it was a great day!

Lake Michigan

After the sunset we headed back to the Lodge and a few of us lit some of the sparklers I brought (leftover from the wedding!)  It was such a great vacation and we hated to leave.  Hopefully we can spend another 4th there someday!