The personal website of Grace and Jason Rhee

Visiting Family and Friends in Michigan

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Olivia and Lucas were bummed to spend so little time at their grandparents’ house during our Michigan visit. Grandma and Grandpa were very proud to show them their expanded garden this year and even protected a few vegetables from the local vermin just so the kids could pick them. I saw a tiny little snake and hesitated for just a second to catch him. It’s been over 20 years since the last one I caught. They even indulged in the simple pleasure of spraying the hose, which is something that is not quite permitted in California.

The kids were introduced to “Detroit Style” pizza at Buddy’s before we headed up north to camp. JP, YY, Jen and I went to AA on the way back from camp. On Monday, JP got in a round at U of M golf course. Jen got crushed by the big Delta outage and her flight was cancelled. The silver lining was that we were all able to have dinner together at Social Kitchen in Birmingham.

On Tuesday, I took my dad to lunch down in Detroit. Nick suggested Selden Standard, which did not disappoint. I need to spend more time downtown. My West Bloomfield buddies made time that evening and we caught up until late night.

On Wednesday, I explored the area on my own for a while. That evening, I had dinner with Melanie, Nick and the kids in Fashionable Ferndale. I needed my beard for that hipster outing.

On Thursday, Grace came to town and we went straight to Ann Arbor. I had my second Zingerman’s lunch of the week (there can never be too many). I unwittingly introduced Grace to Shinola and she walked out with a watch. Jon plugged me into Ann Arbor Man’s Meal, which was a very convenient way to catch up with Marty, Greg, Paul, Rob and Jon. Grace was able to hang out with Frances and we kept them up way past bedtime.

When we returned with the kids from camp on Saturday, my mom was happy to be able to cook for all of us and took special orders from the kids. Lucas even got ramen for breakfast as his choice. We met up with the Feleses one last time and had a nice lunch with my parents before heading home.

Already looking forward to returning next year!