General Events
What a fun time James had at VIP camp today as they went to the old putt putt on Van Born and got to ride go carts and (of course) take out their frustrations on the bumper cars.
This has really been a spectacular summer with plenty of activities for James and very little rainouts or foul weather. It has been hot, but the max has been 90’s and in the past I remember much hotter days hanging around the upper 90’s and even 100’s. So far so good as we hit the halfway point of summer.
Its been a while (over 5 years) since we last enjoyed a visit to Joe’s Crab Shack but that changed today as we were in Warren shopping and decided to visit the famous restaurant. James has developed a bit of a taste for crab legs so we thought we would treat him to a place that specializes in crab legs. We all bought our own crab leg tool to take home as a kind of souvenir and also in case we ever decide to try to make these at home.
Of course Dad enjoys this place because of the big shark hanging from the ceiling but admitted the crab legs were good.
After James visited Cedar Point with his class, we felt it would be a good time to take him with his family. Security was at the park with metal detectors which was a reminder of the world we live in, but once inside it was simply a perfect day for a visit. Mom and James both enjoyed riding the “spider ride” or whatever you call the thing, but Dad stays away from spinning rides since the Boblo days. James enjoyed an old time Western show with cowboys and showgirls, and a rag tyme street band was playing Rock and Roll songs including Steppenwolf and Kiss. This caused Mom and Dad to do a doubletake as we never heard songs from our generation played that way. Dinner was Chinese at the Panda restaurant and a great time was had by all.
James and Mom on the spider ride below
This event has a special place in our hearts because we remember selling here for a couple years. This is why we bought our tables that we use at the Halloween Party and garage sales and also where the “pop up” shelter came from (to keep us out of the sun’s path on these hot June days. However this day we were buyers and shopped around. Everyone came away with something, Mary got two pictures to hang up, James got two hats and a few small items, and Dad got 4 Halloween lightups and 1 big Easter bunny blowmold. Our total cost was only about $12 or $13 dollars so we were very happy with the haul. The sun was so bright this day we could not tell how good or bad the pictures were that we took so please excuse the several that have a finger or thumb in them.
After about 18 years the fence to the backyard was taken down and for the first time we saw the neighbors back their instead of just hearing their voices. We estimate the fence was put up in the mid nineties around 96-98 by James’ Grandma (on the Kleiber side). The neighbors behind us have lived their 17 years and have never seen our side of the fence so we know the fence is at least 18 years old, probably older. Speaking with our neighbors on this side of the “wall” we were all amazed that it has been almost two decades since seeing that side of the block.
James was rewarded for good attendance with a trip to Cedar Point. This would be his second field trip in as many days, the other being Greenfield Village yesterday. We had to drive James to school so that he would be on the bus at 7:15am, then we picked him back up at school at about 10:00pm that night so the kids really got their money’s worth out of the event. The weather could not have been more perfect and James said he enjoyed the roller coasters the most which continues a great tradition of roller coaster riders in the family. In addition to his Mom and Dad both enjoying roller coasters, his Aunt Criss and Cousin Ron are also big time roller coaster fans. Big thanks to his teacher Mr Jernigan for the pictures toward the end of the gallery, the beginning of the gallery are general Cedar Point pics that day taken by Dad who was working in Cleveland that day.
Each year on the first Saturday in June Dearborn has its historical district garage sale. The main area is Edison street and surrounding blocks. These blocks are located between Beech, Nowlin, Military, and Monroe so for those familiar with our area drive down Monroe past Outer Drive toward Michigan Ave and turn left on Gregory or Edison which are a few blocks past Outer Drive (although you probably won’t be able to park on either street).
James and I went last year as well, Mom was working our own garage sale that weekend so this year was the first year we went together as a family and while we did not buy much, we saw some interesting sights and had a great time. Plus all the walking had to be good for us.
This week the roads were kind to us. After last weeks construction everywhere we hit very little traffic all day this beautiful Memorial day Saturday. Our first stop was Canterbury Village in Orion Michigan, just a stones throw (about 3 miles) from the Palace. We stopped in at the cider mill, the gift shops, the Christmas shops, and the Department 56 store (which had some pretty good sales going on). The Merry go round store was open as well and its always interesting visiting a store with a huge merry go round in the center of it. We did make a few purchases at the Dept 56 store as they had two bins of items half off. A great start for the Memorial Day weekend.
Our next stop was three miles down the road to Michigan’s larges outlet shop, Great Lakes Crossing. Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is the market’s dominant retail outlet and entertainment destination, attracting customers throughout the Midwest and Canada. With 185 manufacturer’s outlets and traditional retail stores, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is Michigan’s only enclosed value-regional mall. With all that going for it I don’t think I have ever bought anything here, however James bought a hat and Mom bought some things at Victoria Secrets so it was a worthwhile trip.
The place is truly gigantic (we walked from the aquarium entrance to the Saks fifth avenue entrance and back again) and despite it’s huge size, it was still packed with people.
The new thing this year is the Aquarium which we will have to visit soon. The picture out front with the giraffe (James is beneath the giraffe to give you a perspective of the size) is actually made completely of Lego’s.
What started out as a simple trip to the post office ended being a great time in Frankenmuth. After dropping of some packages at the Post Office James wanted to know where 1 mile is. He thought it was Ford road so we set the trip odometer to zero at Ford road and found out Ford road is actually zero mile road and Warren is 1 mile road. We kept clocking the mile roads till we got to Pontiac, then decided to head to Frankenmuth since we were already half way there. 75 North was closed so we picked up 75 in Waterford and had a great time. James bought several books at a book sale at the River Place Shops, Dad got a haunted train engine at Bronners, and Mom got to do some antique shopping. Afterward we at lunch at the Bavarian Inn (where James actually bought lunch for a horse). On the way home traffic on 75 in Pontiac again slowed us down but it hardly put a damper on a great day with great weather in a great little tourist town.