Howell Hunting (geocaching)

… more “Friday Fun”

With three geocaches under out belt in Brighton, we wanted to tackle five more challenges we knew were in the Howell area.

Hager Hill Cemetery was especially interesting to D as we approached and observed a German flag on a younger man’s grave.

Parking was a bit tricky, but the coordinates were right on target. Notice the snow!

Kid’s Cache took us to a car pool parking lot where a cache was hidden on the slope going down to I-96. This was one of the largest containers we’ve encountered, but pretty junky! It would have taken a crew of 5 all day to properly clean this trashy, muddy area – CITO made no dent! NOTE: CITO is the eco-minded geocaching slogan – Cache In, Trash Out – like a good Girl Scout, you should leave an area better than you found it.
We continued north to the very small Mount Olive Cemetery on Thompson Lake. We thought a woman walking 2 dogs was not very respectful of the location – we named her “Poop Lady”. We had to broaden our search and use our geosenses to find the micro-cache hidden here.
We then went to another edge of the lake to Lakeview Cemetery (I do mean the “edge”).

This was a multi-stage small cache called SQ Howell Remembers. It took a while before the “force” decided to help us find the “chambers” yielding the cache. We enjoyed the beautiful setting and the challenge of this hunt.

Closer to the outlets was Pioneer Cemetery, which was a quaint, small cemetery with a few unique grave markers.

As our swag we took a Euro “penny”.
It was a most successful, informative, and entertaining day of geocaching. ~~K

Shopping

…more “Friday Fun”

We left home about 9 am Friday for a fun day in the Howell/Brighton, Michigan area. Of course I had to stop at Speedway in Pburg to get English toffee coffee for the road – unfortunately, mine was not up to par since it tasted more like flavored milk than any type of coffee drink.

After an uneventful drive (the best kind) we arrived at Tanger Outlets in Howell, MI about 11:15. We were surprised by the amount of snow still showing in the area, including the outlet parking lot.
We split our shopping into two segments. The first lasted until 1:15. We then “broke” for a trip to Brighton for lunch and sightseeing. Our outlet shopping resumed about 5:15, but only took about an hour to conclude.

Fossil is probably D’s favorite outlet in both Tanger and Birch Run, so it was the first store of the day for us. It was not a disappointment – he had wanted a passport case and found one he liked. As a “list-maker” you know how much I like notebooks, and found one that I “had to have” that holds a small legal size pad.
Nike+ Structure Triax 11 was the buy of the day! I paid $95 for this comfortable running shoe in October at Dave’s in Pburg. I bought a duplicate pair at the Nike outlet for $59. I couldn’t resist!

Other purchases (I don’t feel we splurged too much) included a Bass shirt for D for $5 (normally $44), an Aeropostle sweater for me for $4.50 (also normally $44), a Children’s Place shirt for Z, several slotted serving spoons and a bottle opener at Kitchen Collection, Bath & Body Works lotion for me and soaps I’ll use only when we have company, and a glasses case at Rue 21 (I love looking at all the “youthful” clothing and accessories – all for “tiny” bodies).

Whole Foods proved irresistible as we approached I-94 in Ann Arbor. I had never been there and was very reluctant to buy much due to the high cost of most anything “green” “or organic”. The concept is great, but it just doesn’t fit in my budget. I’m glad we went and had a great time browsing.
The thought of going on down the road to Trader Joe’s crossed our minds but we were just “shopped out” and tired at that point. At least we have been to TJ’s and can leave that for another day.

As we neared Dundee, D suggested we do a quick stop at Cabelas. On our last visit to R & B’s I had found a pair of shoes I wanted at Cabelas but they didn’t have them in my size and I was unwilling to pay a shipping fee to get them sent to me. Yea – they had them - just what I wanted and they are so comfortable! And thank goodness it was just a quick 10-minute stop since we were quite tired. Thank you, D.
As we continued home we saw many deer in fields – at one point a small herd of seven.

It was about 9:30 as we pulled into the driveway to conclude our fun Friday. ~~K

Brighton, Michigan

…more “Friday Fun”

Our plans for “Fun Friday” included lunch at an Irish pub and geocaching. I originally thought there was a third Irish pub in Howell (one we had not yet visited), but I realized it was actually in Brighton. See note at end of post about two wonderful Irish pubs in Howell.
On our way to Brighton we took advantage of a geocache called "A Short Walk in the Woods” located at an eastbound rest stop on I-96. It was a nice secluded location for such a busy area. Our swag exchange yielded a Molson can cover.
Brighton’s beautiful downtown city park with an elaborate play area and pond was our parking location. It also held a geocache called “Crazy Quackers”. On this day I would have called it “messy honkers” due to the geese rather than ducks. There were too many muggles in the park as we arrived, so we walked over to the pub, ate, and came back; then we enjoyed observing other geocachers before logging our “find”.
As we walked to Stout Irish Pub (http://www.greatplaces4goodtimes.com/index.php?page=stout-irish-pub) we were quite impressed with this ski resort town. It reminded us a bit of Worthington, Ohio. Sometime we’d like to spend more time exploring – especially on a bit warmer day. If cars are any indication, Brighton reeks of wealth! How many Lexus and Infinities can you see on any one-block stretch?
OK, back to our primary Brighton objective – Stout Irish Pub. It was well worth traveling a few extra miles from Howell. Great service, décor, and food was as expected, and then some.
The décor included straw on some of the walls, a nice bar, and an intriguing mural of a lion and girl from the Berlin Zoo dated 1863 - check out the story and history of this http://www.intimateforest.com/lady_lion/l_l.html.
A nice selection of beer on tap (in addition to Guinness) led us to choose two English brews – Tennant for D and Botington’s for me. It would have been all too easy to have another pint, but we successfully resisted this early in the day.
Traditional “fish and chips” were enjoyed by D. I devoured a delicious bowl of the House Special soup that included champ, Irish bacon, cheddar, and scallions; I also ordered three Irish Sliders thinking they would be much smaller Reubens than they actually were – one served as my “snack” after we arrived home. Their menu is included on the web site link.
Obviously, we highly recommend this Irish pub.
After returning to the city park and finding the cache, we proceeded to St Patrick’s Cemetery in town. Another geocache was waiting to be found there. In addition to quickly finding the cache we enjoyed looking at tombstones including one of a man from Ireland buried nearby.

Pub Note: Cleary’s in downtown Howell is traditional both inside and out. Chris McGurrin’s on old US 23 at Route 59 has a modern exterior but an authentic Irish bar replicated inside (there’s even a map of County Cavan inside since the owner’s grandmother came from Cavan) – I highly recommend the liver and onions in a whiskey sauce.

Looking forward to another day in Brighton in the future. ~~K