waiting for magic...

Day 1
We arrive in MI around 4:30. After dropping our luggage off at Rhonda’s fiancé’s, we head to vine2wine to bottle wine. Rhonda had selected wine months ago, which has been fermenting, waiting for her. She also brought along a few bottles of sparking cranberry juice so she could put custom labels on them. Surprise, surprise, I managed to drop one of the bottles of juice right when we got out of the car. We learned a little about tasting wine, swirling it, eating the right crackers to clean your palate, and of course, bottling.

After this fun evening we were too tipsy (hmmm, funny how that works) to drive anywhere, so we walked down the street to a bar called the Wagon Wheel. It was dark and smoky. We drank light beer. I ate a tasty burger. I spilled at least two glasses of beer (I was definitely having a clumsy day, not helped by the fact that I was exhausted from getting up early and not really making up for the lack of sleep in the car…lots of dozing but no real sleeping). I also sang a little karoke, which I haven’t done in a while and had a grand time.

After we got home, we relaxed in the hot tub for a while before I finally managed to pass out in a bed.

Day 2
I wake up at a lazy 10:30 (this is less impressive if I consider my body is still on Iowa time and sleeping until 9:30 does not at all sound like catching up on sleep). After helping Rhonda with invitation things (stamp placing, envelop licking, direction writing), she, Steph, and I head out for a greasy lunch (Kerby’s Coney Island…mmm, chili cheese fries) and errand running.

In the evening we drive into Detroit with a couple of Rhonda’s friends. We have dinner at Union Station and words can’t quite do justice to this meal. Although the thought of my Salmon Tortellini (Salmon on a bed of tortellini, shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts, capers and a mustard crème sauce) still makes my mouth water, the orgasmic moment of the evening came with the dessert. I don’t usually order desert in restaurants (I’m a poor graduate student after all), but being on vacation, Saj and I felt dinner was appropriate. We each ordered coffee (I’m not a big coffee drinker, but it sounded so wonderful at that moment) and split the alpine chocolate torte (a soft chocolate torte layered with a light white cream and topped with white chocolate). The coffee had a faint cinnamon taste and the combination was so good I almost cried. Even though we were admonished for taking so long to eat our desert, I just couldn’t help but savor it (my personal favorite moment was when a sip of coffee melted the white chocolate still lingering in my mouth).

Day 3 and 4
I don’t have much to report about the rest of the trip. I graded a few papers. We drove home. I had dinner with Rob for the first time in about 5 months (this went well, by the way. Yes, it was a little weird, but…I think we are actually on the way to being friends).

Check out my Michigan Trip album for more pictures.

Posted by Dana on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 2:39 PM | Permalink