Today my brother and I decided that we were going to take a trip to finish our little goal in life of finding and going to every Martin's Supermarkets in Michiana. These stores are only in this area and are a quintessential part of what it is to live in Michiana. They are what some would consider an upscale market place where you can find things you won't find at your local Wal-Mart. My brother an I live in a special place. On one hand we live in Indiana but on the other we share so much more in common with the people who live in Michigan. I find that many times people don't see us as a Hoosier but more of a Michiganer. One second you are on a road and you are across the border and next second you are back on your side. It is very special and a lot of fun for my brother and I.
Forty-eight miles northwest of Elkhart Indiana is a town called Stevensville Michiagan it was stop one on our trip to Michigan. This Martin's was the second to last one left for us. It was very interesting and looked very much like a warehouse on the inside with huge industrial style lights. It is always fun to see how the lay out changes from store to store. Each one is different some have huge delis while others have two story cafe areas. They are fun stores to see and they are a great place to hang out with especially if you want to stop for a coffee (they all have Starbucks inside them).
Our second Martin's was in St. Joseph Michigan. It was the last and final Martin's that we had left on our list. This Martin's had the very typical last glass window in the front. The inside of the store was very similar to many others that we had gone to, but it was still exciting to finally have seen every single Martin's that exist on the face of the planet. It seems like a silly goal but it is special to us to have seen and experienced something that only those who live in or visit Michiana will ever see!
Surprisingly this trip also accomplished one of the goals that I have always had in my life; to find and go to a small, one person, drive thru only coffee place. It was called Bearclaw Coffee Co. It was small and very reasonably priced. We found it about twenty minutes before it closed. The lady who was working there was very nice and gave me an Extra Large coffee for the price of the small. If you know me this is always a good thing! The coffee was excellent it had a nice smooth taste with a dark and smokey roasted after taste, and to top it all off it was 24 oz. for $1.86! It was a perfect end to a perfect trip.
Driving home was a chance to enjoy the beauty of Southern Michigan. The ground was covered in a thin layer of snow and the air was crisp. There was a beautful red sunset to the west. It was nice to just be on the road and spend some quality time with my brother. He is always fun to talk to and you just have to know how to talk to him. It was an excellent day filled with a ton of awesome things. I love where I am from and I love that I get to share it with others!
We arrived in Aurora and found the dealership. It was bigger than we expected, but we were actually glad because it looked like a reputable dealer. Tyler asked one of the salesmen about the jetta tdi there and said that he had talked to someone who said he could test drive it, and they led us inside. I immediately felt on guard - I am just mistrustful of car salesman. We sat at a desk and Tyler filled out some information about himself. Then the guy went and talked to his supervisor and came back with some more skepticism. He reminded Tyler that he didn't have any credit and said that his supervisor didn't even want to let him test drive the jetta, but he got him to let him. He also asked "Who he talked to on the phone". The whole thing just struck me as pretentious. Anyway.... we went outside to wait for the guy to bring the tdi around.
When we finally came into the city it was night. I love cities at night, so it was great. Chicago is the physically biggest city I have been to, and I couldn't forget it. As soon as we entered the city, As I looked left and right it was layers and layers of buildings. I am used to Louisville, where the blocks are well defined and easily seen through. But Chicago is dense. And TALL. Really tall. We found a parking garage and parked and started walking to look for a place to get pizza.
There were a lot of things I noticed about Chicago, walking downtown. There were a lot of young people, which made me feel good. There were also a lot of homeless people. I am not adept at dealing with homeless people. I feel bad. And I look at them. Basically everything you're not supposed to do in the situation. So I clung to Tyler and let him handle it with his 'Sorry I can't help you, man'. We walked around until we came to a big street. Across the street was this crazy looking parking garage way up in the air. It was a circular building and halfway up it turned into apartments. I can only imagine how expensive those apartments are. We finally spotted Giordano's and had pizza there.
On the way back it was dark. And a little creepy. Chicago was empty. I have this image of cities never being empty. Of always being packed full of people rushing around to places. But Tyler and I were basically alone, save for the homeless people who were more vocal than I was used to. By the time we reached the street that our parking garage was on, I was really scared and glad to have Tyler next to me.
