More Midland

I already raved about our wonderful stay at the H Hotel this past weekend, now I'll share a little about our time outside the hotel. Although we didn't do much, Midland is a really cute town and we had fun walking around and exploring just a little bit.

As I mentioned in my last post, after dinner Friday night Chris and I walked around a little and found a place to enjoy some live jazz music. There was live music at at least one other bar, and many people were out walking around and enjoying the beautiful night. I would love to live somewhere like that, where you can walk around town on a Friday night, eat dinner outside, have a drink, listen to music, get a coffee or an ice cream cone, do some window shopping.

Since we slept in Saturday morning and missed breakfast, we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch after checking out of the H. We randomly decided on Diamond Jim's, partly because there were outdoor tables and it was another gorgeous day. Although my salad was honestly not very good, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and assume this was a fluke. Chris's lunch was good, and the manager took my salad off our bill with no argument. She did make me feel like I was a teeny bit in the wrong for complaining about my food, but even to Chris it was obvious that the lettuce was soaking wet, wilting, and brown. Complaining about food at restaurants is a rarity for me, but I really didn't feel that it was edible. Nonetheless, I would give Diamond Jim's another chance. Luckily the mozzarella wedges we had for an appetizer filled me up enough to get me by until dinner.

Midland has a summer sculpture series, and this year the theme is snowmen. So after lunch we walked around so I could be a dorky tourist and snap pictures of some of the sculptures. At the end of the season, the sculptures are auctioned off for some kind of fundraiser. This year's auction will be September 20 at the H Hotel.

Snowmen Summer Sculpture Series 2012 - Midland, MI

Our next stop was the Tridge park, where we strolled around and soaked in the sunshine of one of the last days of summer break. The park was buzzing with people riding bikes, going for walks, having parties, and the like. It was really nice seeing so many people outside enjoying the sunny day.

The Tridge - Midland, MI

The Pere Marquette Rails to Trails path begins at the Tridge park and continues all the way to Clare. Unfortunately I didn't have any good walking shoes with me because I would have loved to go for a good, long walk. I don't know if Chris would have liked that, but I would have. It was a nice paved trail and many others were using it. There is also a four mile trail to the Chippewa Nature Center, but I'm not sure we saw that one. It may have veered off of the Rail Trail. I thought it was pretty cool to have a paved trail that went so far, although I can't actually tell you how many miles it is from Midland to Clare.

trail at Tridge park - Midland, MI

We did walk a little ways on a dirt path that went alongside the river. It was really pretty though, and several teens passed us, both walking and on bicycles, so I'm thinking it must have led to someplace. It was pretty well maintained, yet narrow, and we had to watch our step to make sure we didn't trip on any of the exposed tree roots. One of these days I'm going to learn to be more prepared. I try not to over pack, and then I end up with no gym clothes, no good walking shoes, and no picnic blanket. All things we wished we had thought to bring along. 




I feel like my blog could be a public service announcement for Midland lately, for all I've written about it. We'll be back too, so I'm sure you haven't heard the last from me about the wonders of Midland, Michigan! We haven't yet visited Dow Gardens, I'd like to see a live performance at the Midland Center for the Arts, and next time I'm bringing good shoes so that I can take a longer walk.

Have you visited Midland? Do you have any tips about great places to eat, things to do, or anything else?