Minneapolis to Clare MI

Sunday  6/27 - St. Paul

Stayed close to the Amtrak station in St. Paul at the Intercontinental

Had a wonderful dinner at Meritage, a French restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.

I'll have the Duck Breast, please!

Landmark Center

View towards Minneapolis from my hotel room

Monday  6/28 - Madison, WI

Amtrak's Empire Builder was over 90 min late.  Finally arrived in Columbus, WI around 2:45 PM.  Rode to Carl's (my freshman roomate from Oberlin)  house just west of Madison.  It was great to see him, his wife, Mary Ann and granddaughters Joycelyn (age 5) and Tessy (age 3).   Bright and energetic girls!  

Tuesday  6/29 - Milwaukee, WI

Rained on and off for most of  the day, so I took the "Badger Bus" from U/W to Milwaukee.  After settling in, I made a quick run to Leon's Frozen Custard for an appetizer of the world's best Butter Pecan.

Leon's - It's the best!

Went back to Bacchus, a high end restaurant, for a 3-course prix fixe dinner:  Pasta = Fettuccini w. pork Bolognese,  Main:  Seared Scallops, Dessert:  German Chocolate (kind of like a parfait).

Wed 6/30 - Michigan

5:30 AM Sun Rise on the way to the Ferry

Woke up @ 4:30 to get the 6:00 AM ferry across Lake Michigan to Muskegon.  

Biked to Big Rapids, a town that's about 65 miles NE of Muskegon.  Unremarkable town with a lot of 4 big grocery stores for some reason.

Thur 7/1 - Clare, MI

Breakfast club at at Van Brocklin's Bakery in Big rapids. 
Note the Trump / MAGA hat on the guy in the middle.

On arriving to Cops & Donuts in Clare around 3PM, I was interviewed for their facebook post  by "Bubba" (Joe) and Kevin, both owner/Managers of this fine establishment.  

Delivery van.  Its catalytic converter was stolen a couple of months ago.

They comped my new T-shirt... since the one I've been wearing was from 2013... the first time I visited the store.