A quick trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan!
This past weekend Dave decided that Grand Rapids needed to be included in a quick visit due to the fact that biking season is just about over and he felt we needed to get a good ride in. On Sunday we left pretty early (8:30 am) and drove straight to the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. We love this hotel so much that we now have a favorite suite that we request each time we visit. We call it the DAK suite! I have no pictures of the suite, you will have to take my word for it- it is lovely.
We decided to ride to Cedar Rapids for the Cedar Springs Brewing Company. We biked there on the White Pine Trail as we soaked in the beautiful fall colors.
We split a lunch of Blackened Salmon wrap, brussel sprouts with German potato salad. Dave ordered a Kusterer Salzburger Marzen style of beer 6.7% ABV and I ordered their award winning Kusterer Weizenbock at 8.1% ABV. Both were sehr gut! This has become one of our absolute prized breweries in Michigan- we love the German food, the unique brewing method they use, and the special memories we have created while sitting at the bar!
As we rode back to Grand Rapids we made a special stop at one of my favorite stores (Sage and Roses) in Rockford. I picked up a little dish for Xmas, can’t wait to display it.
We rode our bikes back quickly to GR so we could see Art Prize before the art show closed. We saw some beautifully creative pieces and we agree with the voting- the Abe Lincoln Penny Art was spectacular. It was also the grand prize winner and the artist earned $200,000!
Other art works:  Made only of cardboard, it was truly amazing.  A beautiful mural of 911, breathtaking.  Sculptures were placed throughout downtown GR.  This picture does not do the art justice, it was very delicate and took such a long time to create. We loved the artwork! Next year, we vowed to spend an entire two days going through all of the exhibits! When we were done looking at art we decided to quench our thirst once more and head over to Founders Brewing Company- you can’t visit GR and not go to Founders! WE both enjoyed a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout (KBS) 2017, good, but not as good as the 2016 version, although we happily drank it down. Dinner was at the hotel (JW). Dave has a platinum status with Marriott and so we get concierge level dinning and drinks. It’s free and usually healthy. In the evening we headed to a concert Theory of a Deadman, it was interesting to say the least. We were not the oldest in the crowd, but we felt like it. We stayed and listened to the warm-up band then only listened to a few songs from TOAD…just too loud and we were too tired. Woke up Monday refreshed, ate breakfast in the concierge lounge, ran 3 miles, swam in the JW’s pool and sweated in the eucalyptus steam room. So nice. We ate a late lunch at HopCat in Downtown Grand Rapids, another one of our favorites! Then it was time to head home. We got back home around 7pm. That’s it. 24 hours in GR and we biked 40 miles, ran 3, swam a little, drank four delicious craft beers each, saw a concert and experienced some crazy, wonderful art, and ate at two of our favorite brew pubs…I would say that was a day well spent! More Art:  The artist paid homeless people throughout the US for their signs for one year and displayed them at Art Prize. It was interesting reading all of the signs. The display had hundreds of signs. It’s actually a sad commentary on where we are in the United States.  The artist here actually put canvas in the water to tell a story.  Musicians on one of the bridges for entertainment!  Cheers! How would you spend a day in Grand Rapids? |
You can read about the Art Prize winner here!
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