Christmas Comes Early

Last weekend was the first weekend this year with an away game, so you will be spared photos of people in maize t-shirts and a recap of the game. However, I do just want to mention that it was a totally crazy day in college football, with many of the top teams being upset by non-ranked ones. So I don't feel as bad that Michigan was beaten by Appalachian State. :-)

Anyway, most of my weekend was spent doing homework so that I could take a little day trip with John on Sunday up north. Friday was a girl's night in with Shannon, then Saturday night John and I went to a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Red Hawk. It was delicious! Then on Sunday we went to brunch at a local breakfast place called Afternoon Delight. There are 4 brunch/breakfast places in AA -- Angelo's (very popular and was our original destination, but we decided to forego the long wait), the Broken Egg (haven't been yet, but have heard mixed reviews), Gandy Dancer (been there for dinner, but not brunch), and Afternoon Delight.

The only time I have been to Angelo's, I thought that the food was very dry, but most other people I know love it, so I had decided to give it another go figuring that maybe they just had an off day. But like I said above, the wait was too long, so we went to Afternoon Delight. And boy were we glad we did! The food was AMAZING. I had a huge blueberry pancake that had been pan-grilled, eggs, and their signature cinnamon raisin toast, which is to die for. John had a bagel with lox and cream cheese and eggs Benedict, which he said were delicious. So the next time any of you are in AA for breakfast/brunch, you must go there.

After that, we made our way an hour north to Frankenmuth and the Birch Run outlet mall. Frankenmuth is "Michigan's Little Bavaria" and according to the brochure, Michigan's most visited city, with 3 million (yes million) tourists coming every year. It was founded sometime in the 1800's by a small group of German Lutheran missionaries and has retained its German feel. It's not very big, but there are a few family style German restaurants, shops, and a bunch of hotels. It was very cute. But the main attraction is Bronner's -- the world's largest Christmas store! With an area of 5 1/2 football fields, it is quite sizable. John and I had a few good laughs, but it actually wasn't quite as tacky as I had imagined.

There were several sections for various Christmas things, like tree skirts, lights, fake trees, toys, nativities, Department 56 things, etc. But the largest section was for ornaments, categorized by type. I think the tackiest ornament I saw was one of a big glazed donut. Not even a donut with icing! Just a plain, glazed donut! Anyway, we had a good time walking around and of course, I took a few pictures. :-)

This is the entrance to the store.




This was hilarious -- at the front of the store, all the men were sitting in front of the TV watching football as their wives/mothers/girlfriends shopped. :-)

Inside one part of the ornaments section -- you can see the "Cats" sign for cat ornaments.

This is a singing reindeer that can mount on your wall. Not only can he sing Christmas songs, but also country classics!

Some scenes from the main street of Frankenmuth.

The outside of Bronner's from the road.

Then we went to the outlet mall and John bought a bunch of stuff, but I only bought a cute sweatshirt from JCrew. And that was my weekend!