Detroit Moxie's Weekend Roundup

What's going on in and around Detroit this week? Here are a few options:

1. Ferndale Pub Crawl - Over 1,600 people are expected to take part in this event featuring 24 stops. $10 admission with proceeds going to charity. July 31.

2. St. Andrew's Society of Detroit presents the Highland Games - The 160th Highland Games will take place at Greenmead Historical Park in Livonia, MI. July 30-August 1st.

3. 15th Annual Vans Warped Tour - This "punk" event takes place in the Comerica Park parking lot. July 31.

4. The Buick Open in Grand Blanc, MI - Tiger Woods makes his ninth appearance at the Open. July 30-August 2nd.

5. Buy Michigan Now Festival - this event in downtown Northville continues through the weekend. My post, Actions Speak Louder Than Words, offers some tips on buying locally. Through August 2nd.

If you know of an event that's happening this weekend that isn't on the list, share it with us and leave the information in the comments.

Enjoy your weekend!

Update on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 6:56PM by Becks Davis

My friend on Twitter, @primesuspect, suggested Kuhnhenn Brewing's 10th Anniversary Party in Warren on Saturday. They'll have over 10 Meads to sample, as well as 6 Real Ales. Check here for more information about the party. August 1st.

Blood, Life, and Beer

As I mentioned in Actions Speak Louder Than Words, I gave blood this week. This isn’t the first time I’ve voluntarily let blood be taken out of my system. But this time, it mattered more. Here’s why.

Beer money.

When I was in college I sold my plasma for money. Well, specifically for beer money. If you have never given plasma or don't know the process, I’ll explain as much as I know. Which isn’t really much except they gave me $20 the first time and $12 for the next 2 times.

It goes like this; you sit with a needle in your arm for 2 hours. First, they take your blood and then you wait while your blood goes into the back room and they separate the plasma from the blood. When this process is done they put the blood back into your arm. Sounds fun, huh?

This particular plasma center wasn’t in the best area of town so it was kind of scary for an 18-year-old suburban girl. The building was run down and well, the whole experience just wasn’t very nice.

Oh, did I mention that sometimes veins exploded and blood spurted everywhere? Yep, but thankfully never mine. Once in awhile, the charming men around me would try and pick me up. Lovely.

One thing I can say is that in Milwaukee $20 bought a lot of beer, this was 20 years ago afterall. And Milwaukee was, and always will be, a city of beer. As an added bonus you didn't need much beer because you just gave your plasma. What can I say, I was 18.

Photo from Purpleslog via Flickr.

Things changed.

After those 3 times, I had to stop selling my plasma. Why? Well, I was scheduled to have major spinal surgery and I had to give blood for my own transfusions, in case I needed it. (I’ll tell you about my surgery sometime, honest.)

So, off I went to the American Red Cross in Milwaukee to give blood but it was in a much nicer area than the plasma center. And it was clean, and state-of-the-art, and they had Nutter Butters and Oreos.

“This is much better,” I thought. Except that I didn’t get paid, I was kind of bummed about that. I think I had to give 2 or 3 pints, I don’t remember, over a span of a few months.

The one thing I’ll always remember my doctor telling me is that my life expectancy without the surgery was 40. Now that I’m approaching that magic number it sits with me a bit heavier.

So what is my point?

The first time, I gave plasma for profit. For me.

The second time, I again gave blood for myself. It was important and may have saved my life, but it wasn’t very altruistic. It was still for me.

Saving lives.

On Monday, I gave blood for the Blood, Sweat and Gear campaign for Motor City Connect. And for the first time it didn’t benefit me in anyway. Apparently, I saved three lives. That’s a pretty cool feeling. What’s even cooler are the people who do it every 8 weeks, every chance they get. They save a lot of lives.

My brother asked me why I gave blood. I just had a simple answer, “because I could.” Now, will I give blood in 8 weeks time? Will I become one of the cool people who give blood every chance they get? I’m not sure, but I hope so.

Photo by Mary Thompson via Flickr.

Oh, and apparently I have teeny tiny veins. So, I‘ve got that going for me.

Do you give blood? If not, you should try it sometime. It’s a pretty neat feeling to save 3 lives in twenty minutes.

A Burger of Epic Proportions & A Burp

It’s that damn agonizing question that never gets answered, “What do you want for dinner?” In our house it just goes around in circles until we’re both dying of starvation. So, I made a decision. This decision was based on economics and trying to find something different, a place that we hadn’t been before, that might just be fun. When we walked into The Lodge in Keego Harbor we both knew we had found it.

The Lodge in Keego Harbor.The Lodge has it all: cheap beer, huge portions, an arcade, daily specials and different promotions such as a trivia quiz and vodka luge. And about a gazillion TV screens. We had the cheap beer, and what I mean by that is Molson Canadian in a huge boomba mug for $3.75. This thing was 22 ounces. They also have 16 Michigan beers but I’ll get to that later. (Don't forget, it's Buy Michigan Week.)

What’s for dinner?

The only thing that the husband didn’t want for dinner was a burger. And I made sure there were plenty of other options on the menu. But the burger got him. This was no ordinary burger. This was the Iditarod Challenge Burger. The husband couldn’t even pronounce it, seriously, he’d never heard of the Iditarod Race before.

The Iditarod Challenge Burger was 1 pound of beefy manliness. It wasn’t enough that it came with fries and coleslaw; you also had a choice of soup or salad. Sheesh, like the burger isn’t enough to fill you up! Oh, and yes, the husband had to add cheese. I think it was Cheddar-Jack.

Me, I just ordered the heart-attack-on-a-plate that is the Monte Cristo. I’m dainty like that.

A burger of epic proportions.

Now, I knew this burger was going to be huge but I wasn’t prepared for how huge. Look at it:

The Iditarod Burger at The Lodge in Keego Harbor.Not only did the husband finish the burger, but his plate was clean! He ate the burger. And the fries. And the coleslaw. He then finished off my Monte Cristo and then went back to his salad.

And then it happened.

If that wasn’t bad enough, if he didn’t already prove to our lovely server Sarah what pig he was, he burped. This was not your run of the mill burp that happens and you catch yourself and feel embarrassed. No. This was a buuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrppppp that seemed to go on for minutes, it was low and gravelly and the husband had that proud, accomplished look on his face. He might not have been embarrassed but I sure was.

So, back to those Michigan beers.

They have a beer club that is set up in 3 stages. When you drink 16 of the Michigan brewed beers you get a Lodge t-shirt. After you drink 30 of the domestic beers you get a $20 gift certificate. And once you quaff all 55 of their imports you get a hoodie. If you drink all 101 beers your name gets engraved on a wall so you can impress your friends. We didn’t attempt the beer club at this sitting because we had both already sucked down 2 of those monster-sized Molson Canadians.

It always comes down to economics.

Our bill for the food and 3 of those massive beers was $30. (I did have a coupon that saved us $7. See, I told you that being from Birmingham doesn’t make you snobby.) That is pretty cheap considering how much food and beer we consumed.

When you’re with each other as much as we are it’s nice to talk to other people. Our server, the bartenders, and the people we met at the bar were all super friendly. We’ll definitely be going back to The Lodge. I just hope the husband doesn’t try and impress me again with his mad burping skills. Because, really, it’s not a pretty picture.

(Please note that the beer club is meant to be done slowly over the course of months. Drink responsibly and have a designated driver.)

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

When I first had the idea for this blog I didn’t want to just talk about how great Metro Detroit and Michigan are. I mean, I can talk about it all I want but after awhile I would start to feel a bit inauthentic if I didn’t actually DO something to help the community.

So, I’m getting my hands dirty and getting involved.

First of all, this is Buy Michigan Week and there is a Buy Michigan Now Festival going on in Northville all week. The message of buying local has been going around for a while, but do you make an effort to support your local businesses, products, and services? If not, this is a great time to start. I try, but not hard enough.

What can we do?

• Go to your local farmers market and buy locally grown fruit and vegetables.
• Instead of stopping at Starbucks for your daily caffeine fix try an independent coffee shop in your neighborhood (Or Biggby’s, which is a Michigan company).
• Hiller's Market is doing a great job labeling local products with a 'Made in Michigan' tag, look for it.

Secondly, I’m participating in the Blood, Sweat, & Gear campaign, which is being initiated by Motor City Connect. Motor City Connect is the fastest growing networking group in Detroit and they’re bringing people together to create a positive change.

So what is Blood, Sweat, & Gear? It’s a weeklong campaign supporting 3 charities.

Blood (Supporting the Red Cross of Southeastern Michigan)

Did you know that someone needs blood every two seconds? Yep. And one pint of blood can save up to 3 lives. Motor City Connect is sponsoring a blood drive today in Northville at Buy Michigan Week. So, I’m donating blood today.

Unfortunately, they won’t take the husbands blood (because he lived in England during the time of Mad Cow) so I’m doing this on my own. I can tell you I’m not really thrilled about getting poked by needles. What thrills me, though, is saving lives. You can do this too! Just contact your local Red Cross and give blood this week. What is your reward? Saving lives and free juice and cookies.

Sweat (Supporting Motor City Blightbusters)

They will be spending July 29, July 31, and August 1st fixing up houses in the Redford area. The husband and I will be doing this on Wednesday and hopefully later in the week, as well. The husband is a builder, carpenter, and tradesman, and it hasn’t been easy for him to find work here in the U.S. We’re going to put his skills to use, swing some sledgehammers, get sweaty, and try to give a bit of a lift to the area.

Gear (Suppporting Operation: Kid Equip)

When I was in school I loved going shopping for new school supplies. There was something about those new notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, and empty folders that meant new adventures were on the horizon. Those school supplies got me excited to go back to school, to learn. Seriously, I remember swooning over a Trapper Keeper.

Not all kids are as lucky as I was, some families can’t afford new school supplies for their children. And face it, in today’s economy many families won’t be able to afford shiny new notebooks.

The mission of Operation: Kid Equip is to serve the educational needs of children by providing free school supply kits to students from low-income families.

How can you help?

• Donate school supplies. Here is a list of the supplies needed and these are the drop off points.
• Give up that latte for one day and donate what you can afford to the cause.
• Me? I can't wait to go and buy some school supplies for these kids!

I know many of you have your own causes that you support. And I know times are difficult for everyone. People are busy.

But, if any of you were looking for a way to contribute, like I was, I thought I’d put this out there. I’m excited to contribute positively to my community and make a difference. I hope you’re doing the same in your community, wherever you are, in your own way.

Detroit Moxie's Weekend Roundup

Ok, so here are my top picks of events this weekend in Metro Detroit (and elsewhere).

1. Michigan Brewers Guild 12th Annual Beer Festival – Did someone say beer? The festival features over 200 beers from more than 30 Michigan breweries. July 24-25.
2. Corktown Music Festival – The festival takes place at Roosevelt Park, which is the “front lawn” for Michigan Central Station (the old train station). What an awesome backdrop! July 25.
3. MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit) is closing from July 26 until September. So grab your Museum Adventure Pass and check it out for free. Just get over there quick.
4. Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race – Family Night is tonight. Enjoy Boat Night in Port Huron on Friday before the race begins or watch the beginning of the race from the shore. July 23-25.
5. Orchard Lake Fine Art Show on the St. Mary’s campus – I told in this post about Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Polish Country Fair that the arts and crafts portion had been split into a separate event. And here it is! July 24-26.

If you know of an event that's happening this weekend that isn't on the list, share it with us and leave the information in the comments.