I lied.

So...I lied. I'm not in fact waiting until I get back to DC to start blogging again because I realized that if I waited until I returned I would have an insurmountable amount of things to post about. So just consider this a massive general update.

Mackinac Island
My family and I drop northward from Bloomfield Hills up to Mackinac City and took a ferry across to the island. We were there for two nights and the island was gorgeous. I loved the picturesque streets with horse-drawn carriages, boutique shops, and seeing the Great Lakes stretched out before you. I was lucky enough to stay at the Grand Hotel, which was not too comfortable, but nonetheless a beautiful building. Every night, there was live jazz music that accompanied semi-formal dinners, and afterward, more live jazz music in a separate room with a dance floor (and no, I did not dance). During the one full day we were there, we went hiking around the island and were able to see the geological features like Archway Rock and Skull Rock. The weather was fantastic.

Frankenmuth
On the way to Mackinac Island, we took a lunch break detour to Frankenmuth, which is a small German town that serves great fried chicken at a place called Zehnders. The batter was really special because it was light and not as greasy, and the chicken was perfectly cooked. We weren't able to see the year-round Christmas store though, since we were running late.

Birch Run
Birch Run is a massive complex of strip malls that are all outlet stores, so the prices were amazingly low, on top of which also came discounts as high as 75% off. It doesn't take a large leap of your imagination to assume that we did a lot of shopping. Had lunch at Uno's, which was better than the one in Union Station.

Fishing
Went fishing for a few hours, but only caught 5 bluegill. Was also able to meet my step-brother's girlfriend, who came with us on that brief outing.

Sylvania, OH
AJ came to pick me up from my aunt and uncle's place in Bloomfield Hills yesterday. I'll be staying with AJ for the next four days before heading over to Massachusetts for the wedding. Had some good pizza last night at a small joint in "downtown" Sylvania and hoping to go bowling (I'm going to dominate...Lord willing) and play some golf later on (I'm going to fail). It's been pouring rain since yesterday though, so not sure when we'll be able to play golf.

Reading Update:

• I brought on my trip three books + Kindle...Setting the East Ablaze by Peter Hopkirk, Biblical Theology by Geerhardus Vos, and The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid McCulloch.
• Finished Setting the East Ablaze on the way to Michigan because I had a long layover in Atlanta and also some nice hour-long flights. Hopkirk's a good writer and gives a good story. It was very detailed, following specific individuals' lives as they worked against or for revolution in Central Asia and India. However, he didn't provide much in terms of big-picture or world politics, so not much was spent on USSR grand strategy at the time or British politics. Julia's recommended that I pick up Inside Central Asia by Dilip Hiro, so that's a next must-read. On top of which, I'm hoping to also get a cheap copy of Islam after Communism by Adeeb Khalid.