Yup, you heard that right.
MICHIGAN.
Now, when I say that to most people, their response is usually, "Hmmmm, Michigan? Why would you want to go there? In NOVEMBER?". So I end up explaining that I grew up just outside of Detroit, and that Erika, a good friend of the family - someone I actually consider to be family - got married and it was our good fortune that the wedding was taking place right near our old family stomping grounds. I spent the first thirteen years of my life in Michigan, and believe it or not, I LOVED growing up there as you will probably be able to tell by the ridiculously large amount of pictures to follow. Having the opportunity to go back there after all these years was amazing and at the risk of sounding like a complete sap, it was quite possibly one of the best family trips I've ever taken.
Okay, prepare yourself for a pictorial essay on my childhood!
Are you ready?
Well, to start with, here is how we officially knew we had entered the Midwest - below was the sign outside the door of our hotel's lobby:
You won't see that in California!
Below is the West Bloomfield Jewish Community Center (otherwise known as the JCC) which was where we spent the majority of our childhood. My mom worked here for years, and this enormous building was essentially our playground. Growing up in this place was the reason why I went to college and got a degree in Recreation Administration and Business. It was always my dream to come back and work here someday (but alas, Michigan is kind of a far commute from California!):
This is the first house I ever lived in on Tammerlane Drive in a subdivision called Old Farm. Boy, it seemed so much bigger when I was little!
Here I am in front of where I went to kindergarten at Ealy Elementary School:
This is the house on Strathdale Lane that we moved to when I was in third grade. We lovingly refer to it as "The Sinking House" because the foundation was actually sinking, something that we didn't realize until we spent several years having to trim our vertical blinds like hair because they kept "growing" and hitting the floor. Ah, good times!
We lived right down the street from a park that was located on Moon Lake. I used to ride my bike to the park, walk down the path to the dock, and catch tad poles for hours. I never realized how breathtakingly beautiful it was down at the lake!:
The next place we went was our old elementary school, Pine Lake, that had an awesome wooded path that we used to walk through everyday on our way to school. It looked exactly like it did when we were kids:
And not only did the path and the school look the same, but we were amazed to find that they even still had the same playground equipment that had been there when we were kids twenty something years ago! Unbelievable! Of course, I had to take pictures to prove it:
After freezing our butts off playing on old school yard equipment, we headed out to one of our favorite childhood restaurants, Olga's.
The last time we were at this particular Olga's, about 25 years ago, our whole family got a nasty case of food poisoning. We figured that by now they probably got that worked out and we wolfed down some deliscious food that tasted better than I remembered it. But in an odd (and somewhat amusing) twist of fate, Jer ended up getting food poisoning AGAIN later that night. Okay, well, maybe it wasn't that funny to Jer (sorry, Bro!), but I figured we could all laugh a bit at his expense.
After lunch, we decided that we couldn't truly experience fall in Michigan without stopping by the old Franklin Cider Mill, the site of countless school field trips and autumn weekends during my childhood. The Cider Mill uses an old fashioned water wheel to power the apple presses that are used to make the cider.
They have the BEST apple cider and homemade old fashioned donuts I've ever tasted - it is AMAZING. Of course, we had to take some to go!
Later that night, we got dressed up and headed to the wedding, which was beautiful:
Here's a picture of the happy couple - Erika and Ron, who, as I write this, are probably having drinks on a beach in Buenos Aires! Congrats, you two!:
The entire weekend I walked around with a big sappy smile on my face. What was so darn great about a weekend near Detroit? Well, I got the chance to see old friends that mean the world to me:
Amy Jablin with Baby Mia and "The Kids" together again, Jer, Amy, Erika and Me
My dad and his best buddy, Alan Jablin, and my mom with her old friend Margery Jablin
But more importantly, I had the opportunity to spend some quality time walking down memory lane with my brother Jeremy and my parents (Rory and Hoby sat this trip out and stayed home.) I don't think the four of us have been alone together on a trip in years and it was bittersweet considering all that we've been going through this year since my dad's cancer diagnosis. I think that we were able to wrap ourselves up in a warm, fuzzy blanket of nostalgia and take our minds off the harshness of reality, even if it was only for a little while.
So, yes, I spent the weekend in Michigan - cold, run down, middle of no where Michigan. And you know what, I wouldn't have missed it for the world...
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