So you know what's even better than getting an email that says "Your Mustang will be waiting for you at the Ritz"?
Actually handing over the valet ticket (after raiding the very nice Ritz-Carlton Dearborn hospitality suite for the 4th time in less than 12 hours) and being handed the keys to a candy apple red 2010 Ford Mustang. With bigass Pirelli tires, black leather seats and a banging stereo system. Plus a place to charge up my iPhone.
It's even more fun to drive than you're imagining right now.
When you rev the V8 and hear that growling /purring monster under the hood, you know this baby can go fast. Some people might even have been tempted to peel out of the Ritz parking lot.
Oh, not us! Stefania and I are much classier than that, we waited until we were at a rest stop in rural Michigan, where there was some gravel we could spray.
Speaking of classy, I have to show you the back seat of the Mustang, where we kept one of our giant BlogHer suitcases. Note the tape. Good looking and practical! It turned out that we could fit that suitcase in the trunk, the luggage helping guy at the hotel was just being conservative.
Even though we had those giant suitcases filled with cute shoes and stylish clothes, we still succumbed almost immediately to the siren song of Meijer. It's big box store that's apparently open 24 hours, is staffed by women who look like Donatella Versace/Janice the Muppet/Tori Spelling and has awesome accessories like the yellow circles bag that I made Stefania buy. Also, the one we stopped at is right next to a White Castle.
Yes, just like Howard & Kumar, except without (awesome) Neil Patrick Harris or being terrorists.
My first White Castle burger definitely lived up to the hype, and they also make a delicious unsweetened iced tea. Who knew?
The Meijer was on the way to Fennville, where we had a delicious lunch with the delightful Danielle Wiley and her wonderful family at their summer cottage. After lunch Danielle and her two kids took us to the beach, where we saw Lake Michigan for the first time.
As a native East Coaster, who now lives on the West Coast, I didn't know what to expect when we got to the "Third Coast." Even with all of the advance warning, it was still surprising to see this ocean in the middle of the country. It was a little bit windy and wild and gorgeous!
We could have stayed at the beach all day, taking pictures and watching waves, but the lure of getting our sweet ride back on the open road was strong. Plus we had a ferry to catch! So around 3pm, Stefania and I hopped in the car and zoomed off to Mackinac Island.
Possibly we sprayed a bit of gravel as we pulled out of the driveway. Because we could.
to be continued...
- Cat/BadKitty
Cat, I was also blown away the first time I saw Lake Michigan. Disbelief at the throngs of volleyball players in bikinis who seemed to be having just as much fun as the ones in Santa Monica. How could this be? In the Midwest?
-- An LA->NY->SF girl
Posted by: RookieMom Whitney | 07/22/2009 at 01:38 PM
Did the irascible Harvey Keitel character, Hal turn up in the parking lot or just in your rear view mirror?! Ha!
Hmmm White Castle, is it like In and Out for us West Coasters?
Posted by: Sharon | 07/22/2009 at 04:04 PM
I had my first White Castle experience last summer, in Indiana. Pretty tasty.
Definitely no In and Out, though!!!!
The Great Lakes are awesome!
Posted by: Al_Pal | 08/01/2009 at 03:35 AM
I was raised in northern New Jersey. White Castle fueled many a Saturday night party when I was in high school.
Posted by: Gunfighter | 09/04/2009 at 10:07 AM