One thing that Michiganders seem to do in the summer is head to the beach, which made me laugh because the ocean isn't close at all. However, the Great Lakes are so great that they have their own sandy beaches. And they aren't half bad! We headed up to Bay City, and after a detour to the outlet malls, found ourselves rather peckish. Being up by the lake in an old sleepy town, I made a joke that the restaurant by the roadside wouldn't accept cards. Turned out that it was prophecy, not a joke. So back in the car we went (since we live in 2015 and don't carry cash). We got on google maps and realized that we'd have to head back towards the main town. All we saw on the map was a few local places and Hooters. Would we be bad parents if we took Emre to Hooters? We figured not. So we headed that way, only to change our mind as soon as we passed an old looking cafe on a Main Street that looked like it had seen better days. Bay City itself was a bit of a dive, lots of bars that looked like they should be closed down. If there were no cars there you'd have thought it was abandoned, since everything looked old and in need of painting. But that was what was cool about it. And it was easy to find parking.
We went into the River RockCafe and were blown away. High ceilings with record sleeves and posters all over the walls. It was really colorful, just the right amount of dirty, and overflowing with character. And the food... Wow. By far it was the best thing I've had in Michigan so far. My burger and fries were on point. Honestly, I'd drive back up there from Ann Arbor just for the River Rock Cafe. After our dinner we sat on a smaller beach on the shores of Lake Huron and hung out for a while. It was a lovely Saturday!
