To Hell and Back

Yesterday was an eventful day. I did a couple of things I haven't done before and a couple which I have done. It keeps the adventure alive, right?

In the morning, we headed right to Barnes & Noble and bought a few school supplies and books. There's no place quite like BN for getting books. I realize that Borders is a Michigan company, but they don't compete with Barnes & Noble. After book shopping, we ate lunch at Chipotle — if you haven't eaten there, you must. It's incredible.

Sorry, Borders. Blaming Amazon.com for your business failure doesn't add up. Barnes & Nobles sign outside its Lansing store states its hours, then "BN.com is open 24 hours." Embrace the future. 

First of all, I met with a group of folks from a law firm, construction firm, architectural firm, and treasury department. We are looking at a building project at Buckley Community Schools, so as the superintendent, I had to go "before treasury" to get permission to propose the project to our community. The meeting went well. The many groups who are working with Buckley on the project ensured that all the I's were dotted and T's were crossed — and things went smoothly. Thanks to Granger, AAI, and Thrun for making things go well. Coming soon … the "Yes! Committee."

Next, we stopped off in Webberville, Michigan, to see about buying a couple of new "Made in Detroit" shirts. We were having a great conversation with one of the employees, when he said, "I think they're bottling Bad Ass today. Do you want a tour?"

That started a great impromptu field trip. We were able to see the whole process of creating Bad Ass American Lager. As a longtime Kid Rock fan, it was cool. But, even if it weren't a celebrity beer, it was worth the time. We talked to the brewmaster, a man they call Junior. His Grandpa and Dad had previously worked there. He would help out in the backroom from time to time, then got offered a job. And moved up to brewmaster. He's a Webberville kid.

He said they're struggling to keep up with the demand for Bad Ass. It hasn't gone nationwide yet, but he said if it does … look out. They'll  have to expand or possibly move because they're trying to keep up with Michigan's demand. You can't get cans anywhere, but if you're going to the NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway in August, you'll be able to; they're working on the cans right now.

Future beer. 

Caps. 

This is the final line for the bottles, before they're put into cases. Any that are not full, the employees get to take them home. 

You will have a hard time finding cans. I know where you can find a couple, though. 

After the tour of the beer plant, we finished out drive to Hell. A couple years back, we visited Hell and Lori bought some Bloody Mary mix that she absolutely loved. We went back to the general store there and picked some up. Then, we ran into Smitty, the guy who produces the mix. It was pretty cool talking to him about it. I was surprised, though, that he didn't even comment that we bought a case of the stuff …

We stopped in Lansing on our way back for a quick bite to eat and then headed back to Buckley. It was a long day in the truck, but we got a lot done! We really can say that we've been to Hell and back! 

 Funny, couldn't even really find a deal at the clearance sale.