Wine and Spirits Travel

My friend Lisa and I started our morning with a room service breakfast at the Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton . I had the Michigan Cherry Bread French and she chose the Eggs Benedict. Both were excellent. After breakfast, we headed to Founders Brewing Co. for a tour and tasting. It was pouring rain so we decided to take an Uber. I didn’t know too much about this place before we arrived, but left with a lot of knowledge and a very positive experience. From the outside, the building could blend into the neighborhood. Inside, Founders Brewing was massive, new, and modern, even though they are working on yet another expansion. The history of Founders Brewery only goes back a few decades, but it’s rise in its industry came swiftly and has continued to flourish. The tour is definitely worth it to learn more about it. I have never seen such a clean and detail oriented brewery. It has been set up so that everything could be done to make quality...

I had been to Grand Rapids only once, for a short trip. I was happy to return with my friend Lisa to explore the city and attend my first LaughFest. The annual event is in honor of Gilda Radner, a former comedian best known for her role on Saturday Night Live. Radner, who was married to fellow actor Gene Wilder, died in 1989 of ovarian cancer. The Michigan native is the namesake of Gilda’s Club, which helps those affected by cancer. LaughFest raises money each year for this worthy cause. Lisa and I checked into the largest hotel in the city, the Amway Grand Plaza, Curio Collection by Hilton . The hotel is quite opulent and the service was great from the start. Our room had a great view of the river. We quickly got settled in and headed downtown to the Grand Rapids Art Museum. As we walked the few blocks to the museum we could see that the entire city was ready for LaughFest . Signs and logo products were everywhere, especially the art museum where the...

It was time to head home after another adventure with my friend Lisa, but I wanted to squeeze a bit more into the Michigan experience. We had an early breakfast with J. Michael DeAgostino, Public Relations Manager for Grand Traverse Resort . I wanted to hear about the seasonal activities available here that I might be able to check out on future visits.   He told me about the exciting winter he was looking forward to at the resort, with snowmobiling, snow shoeing, ice skating, cross country skiing and even dog sledding. All of these winter sports operate out of the golf pro shop, which is a busy spot in the spring, summer and fall as they have three award-winning courses and a golf school here. We bid J. Michael farewell and made a stop at the Dylan’s Candy Store in the hotel’s lobby. I had never been to this outlet and I definitely felt like a “kid in a candy store” with all these options. I was overwhelmed , and had a long drive ahead of me, so I decided...