Brocation '21, Pt. I

Loading up Mitch's smoker.

What's up, America.

As I've said before, our friend group somewhat regularly has 'weekends away,' where all the moms - or all the dads - will leave their spouses at home with the kids for a few days while they're off having fun.  The mom weekends tend to happen two or three times a year, and are cheaper, more low-key affairs by comparison: they rent an Airbnb and proceed to sit around all day, doing their nails, drinking wine, maybe doing some sorta craft or some shit, and otherwise not doing anything noteworthy.

The Dads?  Well, we get one weekend out of the entire year, but we rock the holy hell out of it.

Last year's Brocation - up into the Marquette neck of the woods, if you'll recall - was a four-day/three-night adventure of epic proportions.  Mountain hiking, bridge trespassing, rock climbing, waterfall frolicking, bar hopping, and food gorging.  The six of us that went last year had such a blast that we began planning for the 2021 Edition the day we returned from our trip.

Which brings us to today.

The caravan, around 10:30am, in formation out front of my house.

We had decided to stick closer to home this year, and had settled on Gaylord as a destination so that the guys could play some golf up at Treetops - definitely not my thing, but so long as I could ride around in a golf kart and have a few drinks, I didn't really care.  Over the course of the last year, we researched the various breweries, wineries, tourist traps, restaurants, and other points of interest in the greater Gaylord/Traverse City vicinity, and meticulously planned out our battle strategy.  A rental house right on the shores of Lake Otsego was acquired, seven dads were assembled, and once our vehicles were loaded up with all kinds of adventuring gear, our caravan departed for Northern Michigan and glory.

I will leave you now, dear readers, with the first installment of Brocation 2021.

Behold. . . 

On the road.  Ryan, Tom and I rode together in Ryan's vehicle, hauling Mitch's smoker, some cornhole boards, three coolers, and a ton of other large gear for the weekend.  Morgan and Erik followed in Morgan's pickup, which held all our golf clubs and firewood.  Mitch and Omkar would be joining up with us later on in the evening, having to drive separate because they both had to work.

Only nine miles down the road, we had to make a quick pit stop in Sanford to better tie down the cover of the smoker.

A couple hours later, we arrived in Gaylord.  Unfortunately, we were still a little early for checking in to our rental, so we decided to kill some time by grabbing some lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Waiting for grub.

Still in killing-time mode, we stopped off at this fence that marked the edge of a game reserve (or something), where elk roamed around.  At this time of day, we didn't see any, but we made a point of it to check back later when they might be around. 

Stopping off at nearby Jay's Sporting Goods.  Not the real one, of course (that's in Clare), but here's another one.

Hanging out in the toy aisle.

Nobody bought anything, but these are pretty fun to play with, not gonna lie.

Wassamatta U?

Around 2pm, we decided to try our luck with the rental house, which had a check-in time of 3pm.  Fortunately, we were able to get in a wee bit prematurely, and found everything clean and set up for us.

The 'landlord' (for lack of better term) left us a bottle of red wine and a single serving of campfire popcorn.  An odd combination for a party of seven grown-ass men, but whatever.  We downed the wine and left the popcorn for the next guests.

I'll walk you through the house so you can get a feel of the layout.  Starting off, here's the living room.

Dining room.

From the living room, you can see the dining room there to the right, looking out towards the lake.

These windows face the front yard.  The hallway leads past the front door to a garage door (on the right), the kitchen (on the left) and me and Morgan's room (at the end of the hall.)

Front patio (that we never once used.)

Hauling firewood to the back yard.

The garage (where we stored coolers and Ryan's trailer.)

A little drummer statue that sat atop my room's dresser.  I thought it very fitting, indeed.

Me and Morgan's room (I took the top bunk.)

Nerdish Command Center, established.

Looking back down the hallway, from the vantage of my room.  Kitchen off to the right, garage off to the left, and straight ahead you can see the living room.

The kitchen.

From the vantage of the kitchen, you can see the dining room in the forefront, and the living room beyond.

Checking out the scenic backyard.

One of the two bathrooms, located around the corner from the kitchen on the backyard-side of the house.  A second bedroom - shared by Tom and Omkar - was just beyond.

Lake Otsego

This chicken was inexplicably placed here in the backyard.  No idea why.

Morgan, Yours Truly, Ryan and Erik having some beers after settling in to the house.

(Ryan stole my camera while I was checking out the lake.)

Morgan

Tom

Ryan and Erik

Tom had zero qualms with jumping into the lake right away.

Nap time.

Ryan attempts to drain the paddle boat in order to take it for a spin.

Ryan and Erik set sail. . .

Meanwhile, Morgan teaches himself how to operate the TV. . .

The Master Suite - there was a second bathroom off of this room, which we let Mitch use.

A care package from the wives.  They know us too well.

Ryan gets in on the floatie scene.

Morgan and Erik check out a poster/map of Gaylord in the dining room.

Lunchables, for adults.

A Kirkland-brand IPA from Costco.  I was not a fan.

Back on the porch. . .

Heading into dinner time, we lit up the grill that came with the house (Mitch's smoker we were saving for tomorrow.)

The remote to the heating/cooling system in this house is a f***ing relic.

Jaws.  A classic.

Breaking out the Frisbee while meat was cooking. . .

Erik wipes out.

Rescuing the Frisbee from the lake.

Slicing up some chicken in the kitchen.

Putting a bear statue to good use.  I'm clever like that.

This is my traditional go-to move while people are grilling.  It's how I contribute.

Sunset over Lake Otsego.

Omkar showed up in the evening, and brought along some hooka tobacco from India for us. . . it was ridiculously good.

Torching the hooka

We sat around and did this for about an hour, as the sun set.

A very smooth smoke, much smoother than a pipe or cigar.  The milk that's held in the bottom chamber cools the smoke down, too.  I could definitely get used to something like this.

There was a Jaws marathon on one of the channels, so after the first one ended we rolled right into Jaws 2.  None of us could bring ourselves to watch the third one, though - we just called it a night at that point, since we have an early, early morning ahead of us tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

- Brian