Bunker Hill

Sounds like a Civil War battleground, doesn't it?  Wait . . . was it?  Or did a skirmish take place on a similarly named hill in another war?  I wasn't the kid sitting all wide-eyed in history class so . . .

At any rate - we were hungry and decided to check this place out.

 This restaurant has been there for 30 years and we've probably driven by it at least 1,000 times.  That might be a slight exaggeration but you get the idea.  Well they recently redid the place and added on so we decided to give it a shot.


Easy to find.  Due north of Allegan, on A-37 or as we locals call it - The Monterey Road.   Keep driving for 14 miles; it's a pretty trip and when you've reached the one and only stop sign you'll encounter - you're there!

Warning - some of the interior shots are pretty awful.  Still finding my way around the new cell phone.

  


This is the original section.

  Very retro.

The new sports bar section.

Very lively.  Everyone was having a good time.

   

 This is another addition to Bunker Hill.  We chose to sit "outdoors."  We arrived 3 seconds before the storm hit.  Those glass garage doors came down quickly and saved us all.  The rain did its thing and left so the doors went back up.  Pretty cool.

Petey and I both selected our meals from the Mexican section of the menu.

Quesadilla for me.

Burrito for him.  You'll notice both dishes had already been attacked.  You know how excited I get when the food hits the table.  I never remember to take pics before we dive in.

To round things out and bring an end to our evening.  We ordered pie ala mode.

Cherry for me.

Apple for Petey.

      It was fun.  We'll go back.  Who doesn't want to hang out at a place called Bunker Hill.  Next time I'll take my musket loader.  I'm kidding - I don't even know what that is.  It's a musical instrument, isn't it????????????????        

A River Runs Through Us

Allegan made friends with the Kalamazoo River a long, long time ago.  We've had some yucky, stinky years but a while back things started to get better.  People/businesses stopped dumping crap into it.  Now if you happen to step into its waters you'll come back out with all of your toes.

People walk along the river, sit and contemplate life near it, and get into a canoe/kayak/boat and check it out.  

The dam near Baker Studio

Jan and Bill Morgan's backyard

Morgan's

Where Thomas St. and Jackson meet

Same intersection, different angle

Grand St. "save the riverbank" construction

John and Doreen Wilson's backyard

The bridge @ Jaycee Park

From the bridge

Opposite direction from the bridge

Behind Jim and Becky's house.  I had to walk down and up 1,000 steps!

From Moe's deck

Trowbridge dam

Behind Ace Hardware

Other side of the bridge @ Trowbridge dam

 I hope people appreciate our river.  I didn't pay it too much attention when I was a kid and living on its banks.  Probably because our sprinkling system used its water and if we played outside while that water was being sprinkled we had to come in and shower immediately afterward.  Gives a kid pause, ya know?

Like I said before, thankfully, someone decided that dumping crud into the Kazoo was a bad idea and now we feature its beauty when we advertise Allegan.

"Make friends and use 'em."  That's what Tom Richmond always says.  Wise choice, Allegan.

Summer's End

How do you feel about the summer season coming to an end?  The evenings are cooler which I love because then we can open the windows.  I really love that.  I love listening to the night sounds just before I shove the ear plugs in.

When we were beach people and I was still working for the school system, this is the time when I started getting all mopey.  I hated to see those sunny afternoons under an umbrella watching all the people walk along the beach come to an end.

Since selling the family cottage in South Haven, our beach days no longer exist and I retired in 2006 so the "return to school blues" are a thing of the past.

I'm kind of done with the whole yard thing, too.  Don't get me wrong - there's nothing I like better than sitting in my yard under the shade of "Jerry."  That's our maple tree named after Jerry Peterson who sold it to us and planted it for us.  But the watering, weed pulling part of yard work has run its course.

As much as I love summer, I am not a fan of the really hot, sticky stuff so I'm looking forward to fall.  Living in southwest Michigan we get all four seasons full blast.

The one that comes after fall is not my fav but I'll suffer through it like everyone else because when we get a kick-ass spring - yowza - that's the absolute best!

Another food adventure

When Petey and I were trying to figure out where we wanted to celebrate our anniversary, I posted my restaurant query on Facebook.  There were several great suggestions.  As you know (if you've been reading along), we wound up at Clearbrook in Saugatuck which we loved, loved, loved.

Meanwhile, I kept a mental list (which is scary right there) of the other places.

One in particular was mentioned and one I've wanted to try for quite a while.  Well, last night we decided was finally the time to visit . . . 

 It's in Mattawan which we've only driven through on our way to Chicago - once.  Secondly, it's in a tiny strip mall and easy to miss.  
Thirdly (that's a word, I'm sure) it's small.  Fourthly (again - a word), if you think you're going to beat the crowd by going on a Tuesday night instead of the weekend - forget it!  

I'm not a fan of waiting more than 10 minutes to be seated but the rave reviews kept us standing around.  If the weather had been horrid, we could have walked a few steps to the Main Street Grill to wait in their bar but Mother Nature favored us with another beautiful evening so we hung out in the parking lot.

Just when I thought I was going to pass out from hunger we got lucky.  There was a "communal" table open and we hooked up with 3 people from St.Joe, 1 from Plainwell and 1 from the Detroit area.  We had a blast!  Great conversation with our 5 new BFFs.

Oh and the food.  OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Out of this world.  Wanna see?

Jim (we used to work together, ironically, in the red shirt.  His soon-to-be-wife, Jessica on the left.  John, his wife, Tammy and the back of Debbie's head were the folks from St.Joe.  Because we all agreed to sit at the "communal" table we got a little extra cold noodle dish.  Tasty, baby!

These crunchy goodies were waiting for us when we sat down.  I wanted to drink that dipping sauce.

Next, each group was served this delicious tomato salad with yet another yummy sauce.

Tammy ordered this appetizer and caved when Peter gave her that "puppy dog" look.  She shared.  I was impressed.

I was all set to order the Pad Thai but after the surprise cold noodle thing I changed my mind and went with a hibachi dish.  Those are crunchy onions on the side.  I like crunchy things.  I'm clueless as to the 4 grapes, though.  Maybe they ran out of cantaloupe. 

 Will we return?  Oh, hell yes.  Next time, however, maybe we'll plan to arrive at 5p.

I wiped a tear from my eye as we parted ways with our table buddies.  We plan to do it again - same time next year. hehe

The Anniversary Dinner.

The evening could not have been more perfect.  Mother Nature was very generous; light breeze, clear skies, and butterflies.  Ok, we only saw one but still . . .

After many wonderful suggestions (I made a list so we can visit all of them in the future) we settled on . . .

Clearbrook in Saugatuck.

We took some advice and arrived a little earlier than usual, for us, and snagged one of the only two tables available outside.

Interior shots were a bit dicey (it was dark in there); here's the wine room.

When a bathroom is this pretty, it cries out for a picture.

We rarely order an appetizer but this was a special occasion, right?  Ginger Thai Shrimp patties.  Yum!

Lovely salad with a perfect dressing.

Scott took extra special care of us.

Petey had fish from Hawaii.

I had the walleye.  We were both extremely pleased.  Petey was so happy with his Hawaiian fish he was looking for a grass skirt and a ukelele.  He does a nice job with Tiny Bubbles.

And then they brought around the dessert tray.

I selected the bread pudding which I shared (grudgingly) with my husband.  After 45 years I should, doncha think?

We were minding our own business, enjoying the tranquil setting and then these two showed up.

I was looking through an album of antique pictures and found one of this darling couple on their wedding day.  Aren't they cute?  She looks like she's 15 years old, doesn't she? He's looking all military college - snappy and responsible.

 The evening couldn't have been more perfect if we'd spent weeks planning it (except for those interlopers).  It was the whole enchilada!