From Ohio we hit the road for a short visit with family and friends in Kalamazoo. We met up with a lot of friends at a mostly impromptu "we're going to be there tonight" get-together at Bell's.
After a couple of changes of plans, we had a wonderful breakfast with our son Jason on Saturday before hitting the road again. The last minute plan changes meant we didn't get to see some people we'd hoped to see. We are truly sorry about that.
One of those last minute changes was instead of heading to the UP driving north through Michigan, we headed around Lake Michigan through Chicago, Milwaukee and on up through Wisconsin.
I don't think I've ever seen the sky over Chicago so clear.
The main reason for the trip around the lake was so we could stop in Milwaukee at the Mots Kite Festival. For years we performed flying kite ballets in the sky at this festival. Because of the economy we haven't been able to get back for a few years. This trip was just to say visit with many of our kiting friends, not to perform. But we did spend a lovely afternoon with some fabulous people.
Thank you all for the warm warm welcome. We love you guys! (Scott, how were you not in this picture?)
A sidebar to our stop in Milwaukee was LEON's!
I've written about Leon's before: purveyors of the the world's best frozen custard, inspiration for the drive-in in the TV show Happy Days.
When we performed at the festivals in Milwaukee. Leon's was always our last stop headed south out of town. This time, it was our first stop going in since we would head north out of town when we left. Strawberry sundae with buttered pecan custard topped with extra buttered pecans. Oh my... GOODNESS!
From Milwaukee it was north on I-43 along the western coast of Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Green Bay is more than a storied NFL franchise, more than a city of that name. There really is a bay named Green Bay. It is a long "sub-basin" at the top of Lake Michigan.
We stopped for dinner in Green Bay at a little place called Plae Bistro. It has great reviews and recommendations, all of which say "don't be put of by the location." That is absolutely true. It's a great little restaurant that apparently has been there for several years. But...it is the only business open in a strip mall that faces the back of a Holiday Inn. The ambiance inside and the food more than make up for the weird location. Even the little patio area (the "plae pen") is nicer than the setting would indicate.
After dinner we headed up the west shore of Green Bay and crossed into the Michigan UP at Menominee. We spent the night in a motel right on the bay shore. When we woke up, we were ready to start our Upper Peninsula adventure.
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