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
First impressions are hard to break from me – too bright, poor service – and that’s just while we’re waiting to be seated when they weren’t even busy! Its decorating has potential if they would just dim it down.
You all know I’m cheap - so I thought the prices were a bit steep. The food was good, but nothing to brag about. D had the “Big Hawg” pulled pork sandwich (it comes with NOTHING) and Pig Tails (curly fries). The flavoring of the meat was wonderful without any sauce – they cook in true Memphis barbecue style – dry rub. I didn’t like either of their liquid barbecue sauces – see what I mean about being a “barbecue snob”.
My “Brunswick Stew” was excellent! I’d never had it made with pulled pork before (chicken in my recipe), but it was a good blend of tasty flavors that worked well together.
Happy Eating! ~~K 