Happy Birthday Lou!

Feliz Cumpleanos a todos!  (Kindly put the tilde where it belongs.  I don't know how to put it above the n.)

Buenas Noches a todos!

Yesterday was a great day!  It was Lou's birthday, so we had to do it up right.  We got to a late start, because the kids were sleepy.  That was okay, because Lou had been doing laundry late into the night the previous night while I was blogging.  

When we finally got going, we went to an authentic Lebanese restaurant called, "Beruit," that was just around the corner from our hotel.  The food was delicious!  Lou actually started crying because it reminded her of her grandparents.  We had stuffed grape leaves, hummus, tabouleh, lamb, chicken kabobs, rice, some form of middle eastern flat bread (Lou's grandpa called "the original tortilla"), salad, and two different kinds of baklava for only $48!  

A funny side note to me...about five minutes after we first sat down, there were four big, room- rattling, booms that occured about 30 seconds apart from each other.  I made the following comment, "Man.  I thought this was authentic enough.  I didn't think they were going to make it this authentic!"  Needless to say, Lou gave me a "look" and punched me in the arm.

After leaving the restaurant, we headed for Ann Arbor.  Now, I had always loved the University of Michigan.  Their football field and stadium were tremendous.  thier colors were strong and manly. Their helmets???  Cool.  Their fight song?  Are you kidding me?  Next to Notre Dame's, it is The.  Best.  EVER.  So I was excited to get on campus, check out their bookstore, and buy some great stuff.

Their campus was horrid.  Is "disgusting" too strong of a word here?  I know I made no transition from the previous paragraph, but I couldn't wait to formulate a transition sentence.  The campus was that bad.  There were a few buildings in one location,  then there were a couple of residential streets.  Then a few more campus buildings, then more houses.  A building, some retail stores, a warehouse, some more campus buildings.  When we finally found the student services and activities building, we parked and went in (assuming the bookstore would be in there, or at least nearby).  As we got out of the car, we were overpowered by the stench of  fetid water or limburger cheese, one or the other.  Of course, the bookstore was nowhere to be found.  There was not even an information desk.  We got back in the van and drove around the dump, er, town for about 30 more minutes and ended up leaving in frustration.  Not only am I no longer a fan (although I still love their fight song), I am actually happier than ever that they lost to Appalachian State last year.

One more thing about Ann Arbor...the town sounds beautiful, but it was overgrown, crowded, and had more than it's share of run down houses (obviously used by students).  We were not impressed, and I was bummed out.

We left Ann Arbor, and headed to East Lansing, a place that I had always figured was ugly.  (I know you can see what is coming next.)  The town was beautiful.  It looked like the nice suburbs from Dallas.  We made it to Michigan State University.  The campus was easy to navigate, the buildings were clearly labeled, and the people were super nice.  Lest you think I am going overboard, let me tell you that the buildings were ugly.  They looked like they were built in the 60's.  And when we went into the student union, I felt like I was going into some building in LA Unified.  It even smelled the same!

We left MSU and headed for Potterville.  Potterville?  Of course! The home of "Joe's Gizzard City!"  They bill themselves as the only gizzard city in the world.  We saw this gem on the show, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Knowing Lou's birthday wouldn't be complete without a heaping helping of fried gizzards, were went in and ordered. 

  This place was not a diner nor a drive-in.  It was also a bar (really, mainly a bar).  Interestingly enough, the kids, especially Alison, had some trouble breathing in there because of all of the cigarette smoke.  Since smoking in restaurants in CA is a thing of the past, the kids kind of freaked out.  Alison had to wait outside, so we got some outside shots of the Gizzard City. Breathtaking!  We took the food and jammed into Detroit to catch a Tigers game. 

   Oops, I forgot to let you know about the food...

If you are in Potterville and have a hankerin' for some gizzards, order the "small."  We ordered a large order of fried gizzards (original recipe), a large order of onion rings (always), and the "Triple D Burger."  The onion rings were good but too bready.  The gizzards were actually very good, but as Jim Gaffigan says, "A rubber hose would taste good if you deep fry it."  We were all surprised at the good taste.  The kids scarfed them down (and felt gross later).  The Triple D Burger was beyond belief.  The menu read that it was "a 1/3 pound beef patty, tomatoes, pickles, and cheese."  The menu also said that the burger was fried.  

  Now, I thought that meant that the patty was fried.  When we opened the to go container about three miles down the road, we all started laughing uncontrollably.  The entire burger, bun and all, was fried!!!  It looked like a giant fried...(I can't even describe it) blonde hockey puck?  Lou says it looked like a deep fried tall stack of pancakes.  Well, it was delicious!  We all had stomach aches later on in the evening.

That night we went to the Tigers game.  They got beaten by the St. Louis Cardinals (Lou and Alison were happy).  The stadium was pretty, and the location offered a nice view of downtown Detroit, but the affect of the game and crowd was flat soda.  There was not a whole lot of excitement.  We'll take the rally monkey and the "Big A" any day over Comerica Park (Tiger stadium).

Good night everybody.

-Dave