Grand Haven, MI (Day 1)

Happy Fourth.

We started the day by dressing in our red white and blue outfits and heading to the old family summer cottage. Our entry was perfectly timed, we arrived just as the Nathan's hot dog eating contest started. The midwest is truly a different place. I never thought I would be in a room full of people cheering and hollering as a man in New York swallowed seventy-six hot dogs in ten minutes. I much less thought that I would be cheering alongside them. But, there I was. California boy learns how to enjoy a grand American tradition. After Joey Chestnut claimed his title, we made our way to the lake. We spent the morning lounging on the shores of Lake Michigan. I relaxed in the sun while others played spike ball, swam, or rode boatercycles.

Back to the main house for a bit where we rested before the evening's show. Daniel and his cousin Mikey killed time my putting drain holes in coke cans with a Beretta (happy fourth). We assembled roast beef sandwiches and carried them back to the old cottage for dinner. The Colonel supplied a mass of his greatest fried chicken and the group enjoyed a feeding frenzy. Mine was cut short when I discovered a hitchhiking tic on my leg trying to enjoy his dinner. This lit up a frenzy of activity as every noxious chemical in the house was thrust in my direction. Daniel and I managed to escape to the big house where he had a pair of tweezers. That's how doctor Google said to do it. The parasite came out easy and a scrip for antibiotics came easier still.

The sun began to make its way down and we too went down. Down to the beach with three years' worth of fireworks. The family bought for 2019 but the show was cut short when someone got hit in the eye. 2020 didn't happen for obvious reasons. Getting in to 2021 it was decided that more should be purchased in the event that the leftovers might be duds. They were, after all, lovingly stored in a damp basement. Luckily, this was an unneeded (but thankful) precaution. We sat (with eye protection) at the side of the lake as M80s, bottle rockets, half-sticks, roman candles, and cakes sailed into the sky. At eleven we called things off with plenty left over for next year.