Michigan In Winter

Well, it does take a hearty soul to last through Michigan winters. It really, really helps if you force yourself to do more than run from the house to the car to the office to the car, to the . . . You get the idea.

'Up North' (around Gaylord - or the 45th parallel) is snowmobile heaven. Plenty of public trails, towns that cater to the winter recreation, and of course skiing of both alpine and nordic types.

Let's not forget the northern climate pasttime of ice (or 'hard water') fishing. Drive or drag your equipment out into the lake, cut holes in the ice, and catch some fish. Shanties, as they're called, can be simple home made shacks, the new collapsable types, or even very deluxe units with every convenience short of cable TV (satellite TV in some wouldn't surprise me!).

Here in southern Michigan we can still do a lot of these activities, but you need a good base of snow to effectively snowmobile. Here in Livingston County you can downhill ski at Mt. Brighton, or make a short trip to Alpine Valley or Pine Knob. Huron Clinton Metroparks have a lot of cross country skiing options open, and there are plentiful lakes from which you can fish.

If nothing else, you can make a snowman, have a snowball fight, or visit on of the many 'ice festivals' that are around. It's all winter fun, as my friend Linda says, "It's all good".

And here's something you can only do in a cold location - The Ice House Detroit Project. Labeled as, "Ice House Detroit is an architectural installation and social change project currently taking place in Detroit" is an unusual and eye-catching project. The exact east side Detroit location will be made public on February 7th, but it has garnered national attention already.

And speaking of Detroit, don't forget the 'Motown Winter Blast' that will be centered around Campus Martius Park (Woodward and Michigan Aves) in downtown on February 12-14th. Plenty of fun from bands, food, drinks, winter activities, ice sculptures - all within walking distance of some great hotels and Greektown. I understand the sled dogs and huge snowboard hill won't be there this year due to budget reasons, but it still sounds like a lot of fun. I've been to a couple of them, and it's a great way to spend a day.

Signs Of A Down Economy?

I've been keeping my eyes open as I get around Livingston County. As bad as things are supposed to be, I do see signs of growth and potential.

There seem to be new restaurants popping up all over the place. Pi's asian cuisine in Brighton (on Cross and 2nd), a new asian restaurant coming to Main Street in Brighton, new owners taking over the old Fire Rock on M-59 and Old US-23 (now called Grille 23), India Gate at Grand River and Chilson in Howell, the New Century Buffet on Grand River just east of Latson (in the strip mall by Los Tres Amigos), and even the old Prairie House is living a new life as TJ's River BBQ (in front of Walmart in Howell).

It's been a great winter for outdoor sports, too. I've seen tons of snowmobile tracks on the rural roads, there are always a lot of ice fisherman on the local lakes, and everytime I've driven past Mt. Brighton in the evening, the slopes are full of skiiers and snow boarders. After so many disappointing winters, it's great to see them doing well.

Speaking of Mt. Brighton, they've entered into an agreement to lease space for a new charity poker room. The Shark Club in Howell has been doing this for quite a while, but it looks like the market is still open for more of this type of recreation. I know, some will say that it's not recreation, it's gambling. And yes, there is always a gamble when you play cards.

Not-for-profit groups can apply for a four day State Millionaire's Party License under their Charitable Gaming Regulations. Tournaments are conducted with approximately 80% of the money being paid back to the top tournament finishers. The rest is split between the charity and the group running the poker room. They provide professionally trained dealers, all of the equipment (tables, chips, cards, etc.) and have consistent rules of play.

The group that oversees the poker room at Mt. Brighton is Premier Poker Lounge (http://www.premierpokerlounge.com/PPL/). They just finished their first 4-day set of tournaments at Mt. Brighton and they did have enough players to make for a competitive set of games. Tournaments are popular with players because you pay a flat amount, usually $25 or $30, to enter. The winnings are based on the number of total players and dollars in the 'pool', but if you've watched poker on television and wondered how you might stack up this is a cheap way to find out.

My article word count just clicked over 400 words, and I'm trying to keep blog posts around that limit, so I'll wrap this one up now.