Breakfast Marauders

Today was a great treat for my dad and I.  We invited my mom and Troy to join us on our breakfast endeavors.  I have had lunch many times at the Mulberry Cafe with my work, but have wanted to come for breakfast for a long time.  And I knew I couldn't come to this restaurant without bringing my mom.  This place is right up her alley.  We even got an extra treat when Philena decided last minute she was going to join us. The Herrick House & Mulberry Cafe is located in Downtown Clare, right across 5th Street from the Doherty Hotel.  It is a quaint building.  A house that has been converted into a restaurant and gift shop. The one thing I love about this restaurant, aside from how good the food has always been, every single time I have eaten there, is that they have a lot of gluten free options.  I can get many of their lunch sandwich options with gluten free bread, so I was quite excited at what my breakfast options would be. We walked in and were...

Our second excursion was new to me.  It is a place I have wanted to check out for quite some time as the parking lot to this restaurant is always packed.  That is always a very good sign. Located on North Mission, just north of Mt Pleasant is a little gem called "The Diner".  We arrived to the location and struggled to find a place to park.  People were standing outside on the porch of the diner, waiting their turn to get in. We went inside and got our name on the waiting list.  We waited about 10 minutes and our name was called.  There was not an empty space in the restaurant once we were seated.  Our waitress was pleasant and very attentive to our needs.  After we ordered our food, I was able to surprise my dad with another attendee to our quest, my brother, Donovan.     We enjoyed our time together catching up and learning about my brother's new job.  Our food arrived and we were pleasantly surprised.  Everything was s...

On our first excursion I chose a Central Michigan staple.  Located on M-46 to the east of the US-127 on/off ramp, Petticoat Junctiion is well known to anyone who has lived in this area for any length of time.   During my teen years, it was a location that we could go to late at night after shutting down the restaurant we worked at.  It has also been a meeting location for my family.  Especially when my great grandmother was staying at a nursing home just down the road in St. Louis.  I have to say that the decor inside the restaurant was what I remembered of it back in the mid 80s and 90s. My dad and I arrived there and were quickly seated.  The restaurant was fairly busy for the time of day.  Our waitress arrived and was pleasant.  We placed our orders and our food arrived fairly quickly.  My dad and I both ordered a lighter fare breakfast which included scrambled eggs, bacon, american fries and toast.  My toast was slightly differe...

 Life is short.  Life is busy.  As a wife and mother of 3, I am no stranger to the pulls of our lifestyle on quality time spent with those we love. My oldest daughter is married, off at college with her husband.  We don't see her often, and greatly cherish the moments we have with her as the time she was with us growing up flew by.  Her sister, the middle child, is also in college, but she chose to stay home and be a commuter and we only see her when her schedule allows.  When these two were in high school and middle school together, they both participated in sports and school events that kept us in bleachers sometimes 4 nights a week, and standing in the cold, rain and snow on Saturdays for cross country and track meets.   Our youngest is in 8th grade.  She is not into sports, but loves dancing.  So while we take her to dance classes 3 nights a week, our schedule is not as crazy as it was. My husband and I sit back and look at the void ...