Grey Goose........dirty

After leaving Calumet Fisheries, Nate and I continued our Harley ride via Route 12 into Indiana. Route 12 takes you through Hammond, Gary, Calumet City, Michigan City and the Indiana Dunes before you reach Michigan.

After crossing the border into Indiana, I looked forward to arriving in Michigan soon. I dropped my expectations on our timeline when we lost Route 12 and got lost in Gary. After 45 minutes we were back on track and I started to relax. My respite from frayed nerves was short-lived when, at least an hour from Michigan, night fell on us. The moon brought worries of deer and possums lurking in the fields of the Dunes just waiting to run out in front of our bike. Nate suggested I help him keep an eye out and I believe I didn't blink for the next hour or so.

Finally, gratefully, I cheered as we crossed the Michigan border at 10:30. Just a few miles up the road, in Union Pier, we found a restaurant named Frankie's Place that was still open for dinner. After dinner we would have an hour's drive yet to our final destination. I could tell that Nate was glad to be off the bike and considered it a treat to have a seat on the patio on such a nice night so I withdrew my decision to have a beer and opted for indulgence, a dirty Grey Goose martini.

I was served the ultimate martini. It was severly cold, with little ice chips the bartender had created while shaking the mixer. The vodka was mellow, the olive juice was subtle, and the combination of the two was soothing. Two plump bleu cheese olives were speared with a toothpick and proudly tempting me from the middle of my martini glass.

Forgetting about the dark, the deer, and the fact that we still had to drive further on the bike, I simply enjoyed this fantastic martini. I was very happy to be in Michigan and was enjoying myself. In retrospect, I think that it was a very good thing that I hadn't checked the weather forecast for the next day. I couldn't have relaxed as much if I had known about the rain that was to come!