2008 Road Trip - Entry 2

SATURDAY, JULY 19: The plan was to leave Springfield by 1 p.m. so I could be in Detroit by 5 p.m. or so. Unlike Day 1 of the trip, which was delayed by around 75 minutes, this leave-time actually worked. But before leaving Casa del Grindrod, Chris gave me a tour of his hometown, which included telling me how Springfield's two high schools are being merged into one - and all the political and emotional turmoil this has caused in the town - and stopping for a damn good Buckeye Blitz frozen beverage at a local coffee shop.

The first part of the drive north was through some of the "back country," where I had the chance to see several Amish individuals plying their trade (including the horse-and-carriage deal) and getting absolutely no cellular service. I also passed a small drive-in theatre and some of the most beautiful houses (which likely date back to the early 1900s). Around Findlay I joined up with I-75; after passing through Monroe, I connected with I-275 and missed the fun and joy of dealing with major construction by the Ambassador Bridge.

After arriving at my sister Miriam and Brian Halprin's house in Bloomfield Township, I changed and went to my mom's condo in West Bloomfield, where a casual dinner was scheduled involving immediate family and cousins that had come in from out of town - specifically San Francisco and Duluth. I went with Brian (Miriam had taken sons Joshua and Samuel separately). Mom ordered plenty of barbecue chicken and lemon chicken, salad, and (much) more. In general, a great time was had by all.

SUNDAY, JULY 20: The brunch for my stepfather Oscar's 90th birthday was slated for 11:30 a.m. at the Tam O'Shanter. It was huge - my guess is more than 200 people were there, including family and friends from both sides and from across the U.S. My brother Charles had asked me two weeks prior if I could handle the videotaping responsibilities, since his wife, Elisabeth, was out of town on business and he had to watch over his son, Lionel. No problem. I ran the video during much of the greeting line that made its way to talk with Oscar, as well as to circle around the room multiple times. I had the chance to see and talk with many familiar faces who I have not seen in years - definitely a wonderful reunion (of sorts).

Several wonderful speeches were made, and brunch was great. Mom did an absolutely amazing job of coordinating and putting together the tribute. She and I had talked about it months earlier when she and Oscar were in Boca, and she was initially torn on whether to have the birthday party in Florida closer to Oscar's actual April birthday or in Michigan after they had returned. I think she made the right move, for multiple reasons, and the proof was in the party itself.

After lunch, Miriam, Brian, Joshua, Samuel, and cousin Felicia came back to the Halprin household for a few hours, then strode back to mom's place for dinner ... and amazingly, the food was the same as the night before! (OK, so Saturday night dinner ended up being more food than needed. No biggie.)

After coming home, I ended up working for a few hours on a story for the Town-Crier that I had started on before leaving Florida, and emailed it to the paper.

MONDAY, JULY 21: It's never a good sign when one has to bring in their vehicle for service while on vacation. (Technically, it's never a good sign when one has to bring their vehicle in for service any time.) This was one of those moments; when at the Grindrod's, I had noticed a loud squeaking sound from under the hood when running the air conditioning, so I thought it best to have the situation reviewed. It turns out the A/C belt was loose, so the workers at Midas tightened up the belt, checked out the other belts, and changed the spark plugs (per my request). Better safe than sorry.

While my car was in the shop, I called Jodi Mills, who happened to be home (yay!). She picked me up at Olga's Kitchen, where I had ventured to get some lunch, with her two children in tow. We headed off to Trader Joe's for some shopping, then hung out at her new house for a while before I went to pick up my vehicle.

After stopping at Miriam's to change, I drive about an hour north to Linden, Michigan, and the new home of Jeff Falcon ... and his fiance, Kim ... and her son, Kyle. While they have been engaged for about seven months, they are holding off on setting a date until both sell their other houses. (Yes, Kim owns a house separately, as does Jeff, and they are waiting to resolve those "additional houses" issue before finalizing plans.) This was my first time meeting Kim and Kyle, and over dinner I got to know them a bit better. Kyle is an adventurous youth who is in the Cub Scouts and is an avid Star Wars fan, and even though he thinks The Phantom Menace is the best Star Wars movie, he's a pretty cool kid. Kim works for IBM out of a home office.

After enjoying dinner (barbecue chicken!) and dessert (rhubarb crisp!), Jeff and I took a tour of the backyard, where he's growing a garden ... something I never envisioned him doing. Jeff is truly happy and content, and I am so happy he has met someone who he can share his life with. Ironically, while he was showing off his new Detroit Red Wings basement, I received a phone call from Alexandra Sencer, officially filling me in on her engagement to Mike, with a September 2009 wedding. I'm equally happy for her :)

Before leaving, Jeff and I talked about seeing the Detroit Tigers on Friday. I said I'd call Mark Mosesso and a few other friends to see if they were available and interested.

TUESDAY, JULY 22: Troy, Michigan, is the home of Hockeytown Authentics, a store chock-full of Red Wings and Tigers paraphernalia. What better place to visit on the heels of a fourth Stanley Cup in 11 years? What better way to stock up even more stuff that I have no room for in my condo? Well, I shopped wisely - I only bought a 2007-08 Red Wings season DVD, Tigers button-up shirt, a red Wings car window flag, and an end-of-year program, which notes that the recently-retired Dallas Drake was originally drafted by Detroit in 1898. (No wonder he finally retired!) When I was telling Miriam what I bought, and mentioned the flag, her reaction was, "Like you need any more Red Wings stuff on your car!"

After leaving the store, I drive to the intersection of Square Lake and Telegraph roads, where I grew up, just to see how the place has changed. Man has it ever changed! Most of the businesses in the area have either been remodeled completely or torn down and rebuilt. The Burger King Miriam used to work at is gone (no big loss). The Showcase Cinemas are history (although I knew about this a while ago, it was a shock to see). My old Chi-Chi's restaurant stomping grounds no longer exist. An LA Fitness is next to Carl's Golfland. One-third of the mall formerly known as Miracle Mile (now Bloomfield Town Square) is history, and a Costco is going up where the rubble now stands. I also drove past my old house on Marcy Court; it's been revamped completely as well (new siding, shingles, paint color, the works).

The real excitement came around 3 p.m. I was driving south on Telegraph just north of Maple Road, when a man driving a Mercury Mountaineer rapidly (and unsafely) approached me as I came upon a traffic snarl (Bloomfield Township road crews had shut down the far-right lane, as they were doing some maintenance work). After stopping completely, Mr. Mountaineer decides to swerve two lanes to his right (just behind the work crew), then swerve back to his left one lane, nearly hitting several cars in the process. A few seconds later, I'm directly to his left, and Mr. Mountaineer is now out of his vehicle and yelling at the guy behind him (who he had cut off) something to the effect of, "You want a piece of me? I'll f*ck you up!" The aggressive one takes his glasses off and places them on the hood of the van driven by the man he is yelling at. Next thing I know, the second man has gotten out of his van and the two are exchanging fisticuffs. I quickly pull off to the side of the road (in front of the work crew) and dial 911, something several individuals also did. About 30 seconds later, the two get in their respective vehicles and drive away. About 10 minutes later Bloomfield Township police arrive, but they won't file a report since neither of the individuals involved are around.

Tomorrow's a big day - a trip to the Holocaust Museum, meeting up with a former Hebrew School and high school friend I haven't seen in years, and dinner with the 'rents!