Weekend in Review – Coast Guard Festival – Grand Haven, MI

Last weekend was my annual guys trip to Spring Lake and Lake Michigan for the weekend. I skipped out on the stop in Chicago this year. I hear it was a blast though. They went to Wrigleyville and the Cubs were playing the Brew Crew. There were some pretty crazy stories. Instead, Mike, Troy, and I drove up Thursday afternoon and got in late that night. We tried to meet our friends at a beer tent but it was shutting down right when we got there so we went to Tip-a-Few. It was the only late night bar and it was the first time I have been there. They had cheap $2 beers so it was fun.

The trip was also different from the last two year because we could not go (nor did we really want to) go fishing on Lake Michigan because the waves were really high. The major benefit was that we got a lot more sleep. Normally we don’t get a lot of sleep the Chicago night or the pre fishing night so we always start the trip pretty tired. This benefit made a world of difference because I was able to stay strong all day Friday. We went to “the beach” finally on Friday.  This is a big deal because we have only talked about it the previous 3 other times I have gone but have never even attempted it. Needless to say it was awesome. The beach was packed and full of activities like sand volleyball and football. The only bad part was that the water was cold but we were told it was actually pretty warm for Lake Michigan. Once we got back, we grilled one of the many hamburgers I ate on the trip. I probably ate about 5 pounds of hamburger in 3 days. Not complaining because it was delicious but probably not good for me. We went out to Kirby’s that night. It was probably the best time I have ever had there. The band was awesome and I wasn’t super tired so danced a ton. The only problem was getting a cab back but that is always horrible to do. We hung around at a food stand an hour or two before we finally got a cab.

Saturday is the day to be at the Hanky Pank. After devising a plan to get around a boat issue, we finally made the cove around 1 to 2. The weather was perfect and the water was warm, unlike last year. We got an awesome spot in line where we had boats on 3 sides of us. It was a ton of fun hanging out with the guys. We went back to the clubhouse around 6 to grill some more. I was cashed out so decided not to go out with the group (two other guys felt the same way). Instead, I watched the fireworks pool side and enjoy a relaxing evening (without humidity).

We went back to the cove  on Sunday. There was only 5 boat out there at 2PM. We decided to anchor and listen to tunes and relax. There was a line about 10 boats by the time we left but we never joined in. That night we went to Grand Rapids like we unusually do. We stayed in a very swank JW Marriott that was right next to The BOB. We pregamed to a little Hall of Fame Game which was fun to see NFL again. We then went to Crush in the BOB. It was empty when we got there so we went to the rooftop to enjoy a drink. We  went back down to find it insanely packed. It was too much for some of us so we went to other bars only to find them completely empty so we made our way back. No matter what, I had fun this night too which is a first for our annual trip. Normally I am so tired but my strategy really helped. We did have a weird experience where the new hotel tested its back up generators at 2AM. Power was out for 2 hours so no AC. We complained enough so they gave us 4 passes for breakfast. You would think they would have tested it around checkout time.