Frankenmuth

Clearly making an effort.













You know it's Bavaria by the awnings, of course.













I bet Jesus liked confetti cake best.









As any native Michigander might've guessed, the three pictures above (all I remembered to take) represent a glorious day spent traversing Michigan's "Little Bavaria!" (c) --- a sojourn that was expensive and tiring a worth every penny. So nice to create some time for good friends, enjoy the kitsch of a town as bizarre as Frankenmuth, and drop hard-earned bucks on haughty comestibles. No homework, no errands, no workplace hoo-hah. Highlights of our insular day:

Mickey D's, old-timey-Bavarian style.

Poking around in the Bronners' advent calendars, trying to decide if we'd be able to construct our own particle board model, and, if so, whether we'd actually have the time.

Chateau Leelanau wine tasting.

Cheese Haus 8 year Cheddar, Havarti, and delicious spreads.

Shuffling along toward the sausage shop in the rain, cramped under one umbrella, moving at the speed of incapacitated zombies, in the dark, at the edge of the bridge, while I spoke to Kasey on the phone.

Zehnders!

Gas pump tour out in Jon's dad's building.

Miraculously, the tiny dog did NOT have an accident during the fourteen hours he was left alone in my room. Boo yah. My puppy is clearly the best ever constructed, despite his poorly manufactured surface coating.