Part 2 - Michigan – Stop 2 on the 2006 BTExpress Blogger Tour

Note: If you haven't read Part 1 of this story, scroll down a tad, and read part 1 before reading this.


Sunday afternoon I drove from Ann Arbor to Dearborn to visit my mother and sister. I haven’t seen them in years so it was good to see then. Since neither of them drive, they couldn’t give me specific direction to their apartment. All I got was “Michigan Ave to Mason and then Beech. When you get close, you’ll see the buildings because they are both 12 stories.”

Believe me that didn’t help very much. I found my way to Dearborn and then Michigan Ave. Then I drove around looking for Mason. I had no idea where I was going so I wandered aimlessly for about ½ hour. I know what you’re going to say “Why didn’t you stop at that Police station you passed and ask for directions?"

That really is a silly question if you think about it. I’m a man and with me being a man, you know asking for directions were not going to happen, so I just wandered some more.

I finally got tired of wandering around and called my mother.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“I’m at the corner of Michigan and Wyoming.” I replied.

“That’s our old neighborhood. Your miles from where we are now.” She said as if surprised I had no fucking idea where I was.

“Mom, which direction do I head on Michigan?” I asked patiently. I understand she is over 85 years old, forgetful, has never driven a car in her life and either walks or takes a bus where ever she has needed to go for many, many years.

“Where are you?” I was asked again.

Now to make this part of the story short, this conversation went round and round for at least five more minutes. My sister chimed in occasionally from the background with things like, “Tell him to look for the dry cleaners on the corner.” in addition, to other equally useless helpful hints. My sister has also never driven before. She was disabled by brain surgery about 45 years ago when she was six years old and has lived with, or near my mother her entire life.

“Thanks, I think I can find it now. I’ll call when I get there.” I said out of sheer frustration.

Now I’m thinking. I guess I’ll go back west, because I’ve been heading in this direction for so long, I must be nearing Detroit by now. I also figured maybe stopping at the Police station I passed earlier and asking directions, may be a good idea, so a U-turn I made and head down Michigan Avenue back the way I came.

I finally got to the Police station, but decided I’d give my quest one last chance before I buckled and asked directions and passed it by. Low and behold, there were those two tall building my mom told me to look for. I knew I was getting close. Then there it was the street sign for Mason! (See men don’t need to ask for no stinking directions!)

I parked my car and then called my mom to let her know I found the place. My sister answered and told me my mom was waiting downstairs for me. You need to have a key to get in, or be buzzed through.

My mom let me in and gave me a big hug. It had been at least 10 years since I’ve seen her and the hug or my mom felt pretty good. We went up to her apartment where my sister was waiting. We spent the day chatting and catching up. I went back to the hotel and went to the bar for a few beers before falling asleep at about 10:30. Here’s a picture of my mom and sister.



The next morning I got back to the airport early. So early that I had to wait two hours at the gate before flight time. The plane loaded and left the gate exactly on time, but pulled right back up to the gate and we waited. It seems they had a small problem with a damaged runway in Chicago so we were going to have to wait until it was repaired before we could take off. We waited for 50 minutes before we pulled out from the gate again. We also had a long wait before we could take off. I could hear people complaining about missing their connecting flights, but I was scheduled for a 1½-hour wait in Chicago, so I made my connection in plenty of time.

The fight left Chicago right on time. We had a celebrity on our fight. If you are a fan of professional wrestling, you’ll recognize Mick Foley, aka Cactus Jack. He was in Chicago for Wrestle Mania 22 the day before and he’s from Long Island so it wasn’t a surprise to see him on this flight.

The plane wasn’t full so I managed to get a row to myself. The best part, was the snacks and the gin and tonics I consumed on the flight hit the spot.



Here are some more pictures I took on the flight.



We arrived on Long Island right on time at 5:30, which was good, but …………. they lost my suitcase, which was not good. They also lost the suitcases of about 8 or 10 others, so the Chicago baggage handlers screwed up big time. It was not that big a deal to me, because I really didn’t need anything in it because I was going home, but there was one couple that packed their car and house keys in the luggage. They had no way to drive home or get in their house even if they could get there. Actually, the husband packed the keys in the luggage and he caught quite a bit of shit from his wife for that. It seems she told him to carry the keys, but without her knowing, he packed them anyway.

The lost and found people told us that if we were lucky, our missing luggage would be here on the next flight from Chicago, which was scheduled to arrive at about 7:30. If not then, maybe on the fight at 11:00, or maybe not until the next day. They would call us to let us know. If I came and picked up my suit case, I would get a credit voucher for my troubles. The couple without the keys decided to wait at the airport until their luggage arrived. I have no idea when that was, but I didn’t get the telephone call until the morning that they had my bag. When I picked my bag up, they gave me a $30.00 credit voucher.

I had a great time this weekend and enjoyed myself tremendously. I am really looking forward to my next scheduled stop on the blogger tour. That one is the “1st Annual Half-Nekkid Thursday Blogger Party” in Chicago at the end of July. Let me know if you want to attend and I’ll hook you up with a link to the web site where you can sign up.