for adam stout...
my good friend adam has requested that i send him an email containing as many details as i can remember about a road trip we took on march 9, 2002. i thought i would post them on my blog, instead.
preface: it was either adam or his equally eccentric cousin timothy that had the very brilliant idea for us to take a road trip to the most random and crappy towns in west michigan. inspired by the LIVE song of the same name, we would call our adventure the "shit town" tour. participants included myself, sarah koeze, keri zylstra, travis west, tim scholton and adam stout. none of the six of us were dating at the time although there was present some mildly ambiguous romantic history.
it was tim's idea for all of us to wear coordinating outfits. the theme we chose was "earth tones." adam also drew a fake goatee on his chin with a marker. he does not take drugs.
we drove in sarah koeze's parents' merlot-colored minivan. we left grand rapids with a map, some snacks, and a lust for adventure. heading north...
our first stop was at my family's home in cascade, mi. cascade is not a shit town. and i have no idea what we did there. we stayed only briefly. i think, just because it was on our way. they politely waited 'til after we left to discuss why i was friends with a boy who had artificial facial hair.
our second stop was in lowell. the historic district. dollar general. adam bought sponge creatures. he threw one of the plastic pill-shaped toys in a large puddle in the parking lot. we all watched it grow into a green dinosaur. we decided we needed beer. and walked to the bar down the street. i think tim was the only one who drank.
as we piled back into the minivan it started snowing, as it is prone to do in the middle of march in michigan. we were all getting hungry. we noticed on the map that the next worthwhile town we would come to was ionia. we decided to stop there for a meal. the snow started coming down harder. we debated about eating at a chinese buffet. then tim spotted a sign for an irish pub. we pulled into a parking spot and got out. but we couldn't find the entrance. we peeked around. finally, tim decided to open a dodgy looking old door and at least ask for some assistance. and this is where the trip really got interesting.
picture this. the snow is coming down in a blizzard behind us. we're all six of us upper-middle class caucasian suburbanite twenty-somethings clad in various shades of army green and camel. adam has a fake goatee. we pound open the unmarked door which does, in fact, lead to the aforementioned irish pub. an entire bar full of regulars looks up at us from their mugs of miller lite. there is a brief pause. and then. every last person in the room welcomes us in with a hearty "HEY!" and a round of applause. it was as if they'd been expecting us all along.
the bartender promptly ushered us into a side room containing an old pinball machine and two large wooden tables for us to sit around. we were informed that the only food they had to offer was burgers and fries. ravenous, we immediately ordered six plates and a round of drinks. no sooner had we removed our jackets and taken our first frothy sips when another round was delivered to our table. they had been graciously purchased for us by one of the regulars at the bar. his name was gomer. he told racy jokes.
we couldn't have been more out of place, and yet, we couldn't have felt more welcome. by the end of the afternoon we had the entire bar posing for pictures with us. and when we left, they invited us to come back and visit again soon. i'm pretty sure they meant it, too. confident that nothing else we would see on our shit town tour could top what we had just experienced, we decided to head home.
unfortunately, adam, many of the details have since faded from my mind. and i still have no idea how you were able to remove that permanent marker from your face. but thank you for encouraging this delightful stroll down memory lane. i certainly hope you enjoyed it, too.
preface: it was either adam or his equally eccentric cousin timothy that had the very brilliant idea for us to take a road trip to the most random and crappy towns in west michigan. inspired by the LIVE song of the same name, we would call our adventure the "shit town" tour. participants included myself, sarah koeze, keri zylstra, travis west, tim scholton and adam stout. none of the six of us were dating at the time although there was present some mildly ambiguous romantic history.
it was tim's idea for all of us to wear coordinating outfits. the theme we chose was "earth tones." adam also drew a fake goatee on his chin with a marker. he does not take drugs.
we drove in sarah koeze's parents' merlot-colored minivan. we left grand rapids with a map, some snacks, and a lust for adventure. heading north...
our first stop was at my family's home in cascade, mi. cascade is not a shit town. and i have no idea what we did there. we stayed only briefly. i think, just because it was on our way. they politely waited 'til after we left to discuss why i was friends with a boy who had artificial facial hair.
our second stop was in lowell. the historic district. dollar general. adam bought sponge creatures. he threw one of the plastic pill-shaped toys in a large puddle in the parking lot. we all watched it grow into a green dinosaur. we decided we needed beer. and walked to the bar down the street. i think tim was the only one who drank.
as we piled back into the minivan it started snowing, as it is prone to do in the middle of march in michigan. we were all getting hungry. we noticed on the map that the next worthwhile town we would come to was ionia. we decided to stop there for a meal. the snow started coming down harder. we debated about eating at a chinese buffet. then tim spotted a sign for an irish pub. we pulled into a parking spot and got out. but we couldn't find the entrance. we peeked around. finally, tim decided to open a dodgy looking old door and at least ask for some assistance. and this is where the trip really got interesting.
picture this. the snow is coming down in a blizzard behind us. we're all six of us upper-middle class caucasian suburbanite twenty-somethings clad in various shades of army green and camel. adam has a fake goatee. we pound open the unmarked door which does, in fact, lead to the aforementioned irish pub. an entire bar full of regulars looks up at us from their mugs of miller lite. there is a brief pause. and then. every last person in the room welcomes us in with a hearty "HEY!" and a round of applause. it was as if they'd been expecting us all along.
the bartender promptly ushered us into a side room containing an old pinball machine and two large wooden tables for us to sit around. we were informed that the only food they had to offer was burgers and fries. ravenous, we immediately ordered six plates and a round of drinks. no sooner had we removed our jackets and taken our first frothy sips when another round was delivered to our table. they had been graciously purchased for us by one of the regulars at the bar. his name was gomer. he told racy jokes.
we couldn't have been more out of place, and yet, we couldn't have felt more welcome. by the end of the afternoon we had the entire bar posing for pictures with us. and when we left, they invited us to come back and visit again soon. i'm pretty sure they meant it, too. confident that nothing else we would see on our shit town tour could top what we had just experienced, we decided to head home.
unfortunately, adam, many of the details have since faded from my mind. and i still have no idea how you were able to remove that permanent marker from your face. but thank you for encouraging this delightful stroll down memory lane. i certainly hope you enjoyed it, too.
posted by sara at 2:22 PM
1 Comments:
hey sara- i found your blog through adam's xanga. that's a pretty hilarious story. i'm coming to GR in a few days. do you want to hang out? is carla going to be around? email me if you want: rvangroningen@elic.org.
ps- did you know jenn's oldest kid is starting kindergarten this fall? that makes me feel old.
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