The Sausage Pad Rides Again...

Welcome back, fellas.

Yours Truly and Zack, ca. 1998

It had been quite awhile since the Sausage Pad - America's Greatest Band of Heroes - had last assembled, so Zack and I decided to muster up the troops and have ourselves a much-deserved hang-out weekend.  Like usual, Yours Truly opted to drive down to Kalamazoo - my old college stomping ground - opposed to other folks coming up here, seeing how there's way more to do downstate.

Leaving directly from work around noon-ish (gotta love half-days), I got in to K-Zoo around 3pm and stopped off at a local Meijer in order to pick up some booze ('cause whenever the 'Pad gets together, we tend to do a bit of that.)  After that, I drove a couple minutes down the road to Zack's, dropped off my car and all my crap, and then we headed out to watch his step-daughter's high school basketball game at some local school down there.

From that point forward, well. . . we did the usual.

So here you have it, folks - another go-round with the infamous Sausage Pad.

Let's do this. . .

After I had chowed down on some meat and cheese platter Zack had bought for the weekend (for sandwiches and what-not), we drove over to a local pizzeria to grab a few beers and kill some time before his daughter's grade started. 

At the basketball game, about an hour or so later.  It was arguably the ugliest game of basketball I've ever seen - both teams were straight-up garbage.  It was a looooooong hour-and-a-half. . .

The arrival of the legendary Damon Loftis.  He showed up about an hour into the game.  Lucky bastard.

After the game, we decided to go out and grab some dinner, so we ended up at Shakespeare's Pub (I was still full from my gigantor meat-and-cheese sandwich I had eaten at Zack's before the game, but I still had room for fries. .  . and three or four beers.)

Waiting for food and beers - the place was packed with hipsters and obnoxious college kids, which was surreal since this used to be one of our hang-out spots about, oh, fifteen years ago.  We ended up staying there for over an hour or two before ultimately making our way back over to Zack's.

We wanted to keep it chill on the first night, as we knew we'd be going out late on Saturday night, so we just hung around his living room and drank a few more beers while watching TV.  One thing we had all agreed to do this time around was kick off a Star Wars marathon, going in chronological order.  This meant, of course, that on this first night of us hanging out, we had to sit through the abysmal Episodes I and II - two of the worst movies in the entirety of the franchise.

I had picked up a sampler pack from Saugatuck Brewery (however the hell you spell that.)  Pretty good winter mix, with a couple 'meh' beers thrown in there.

The next morning, with Damon gone to do Christmas tree-hunting with his family - and Zack's family heading out of town as well - Zack and I decided to whip up some Bloody Marys for breakfast.  Smith makes a damn fine bloody mary, folks.

During 'breakfast,' we soldiered on through our Star Wars marathon, wrapping up Episode III (still horrible, but easily the best of the Prequels.)

They go all out for Christmas in the Smith residence. . .

The meat and cheese platter I had devoured the night before.  Also served as lunch.  I need to seriously keep one of these in my fridge at home at all times.

After we had showered and gotten some lunch in our systems, Zack wanted to kill some time while Damon was still out and about looking for a Christmas tree with his wife and kids.  His idea:  check out some enormous Arts & Crafts show held at the local hockey arena - the Wings Event Center.  I was down for whatever, so I agreed to it.  We packed our flasks, just in case. . .

Primed and ready for battle. 

There were four arenas this size, with vendors lining the hallways and waiting areas interconnecting all of them.  Thousands upon thousands of people, and lots of over-priced, worthless shit to be found.

. . . but hell, you could buy yourself a Two Hearted while you were there, so there wasn't too much to complain about.  While we were walking around this craft show, Kris called me to inform me that both girls had gotten head lice.  Abby had one or two eggs, nothing serious, but Alayna was grossly infested with buys and eggs, and Kris had to schedule an appointment with a specialty clinic to get rid of them.  I've never been more grateful to be away from my home and family than I was this afternoon. . . hooooooly shit.

After a couple hours at the craft show - the only thing purchased being about $30 worth of jerky and beef sticks Zack bought - we drove into downtown Kalamazoo in order to meet Damon at Bell's.

Bell's Brewery.  Arguably the best beer in Michigan (definitely in my personal Top Three, though I fancy myself more a Short's Brewing gentleman. . .)

Coordinating a rendezvous spot with Loftis.

Starting our afternoon occupation of Bell's. . .

We had this whole side room to ourselves, for the most part; there had been some young hipsters in there, but after I got on the piano and tried playing a few numbers, the group quickly left.  Serves 'em right.  Young whipper-snappers.

Awhile later, we headed over to the merch store to do some shopping.  I was convinced I was going to drop some serious bank in there, but I ended up only walking out with a bunch of the 'free' stuff they set out by the register - stickers, pins, etc.  I grabbed a handful of patches on my way out, too, but the other guys were convinced that those weren't free and I had, in fact, just shoplifted.  Also, in the parking lot, Zack made a friend with some random guy (shown here.)  Gotta love it when that happens.

We then headed across the street to Hopcat, right in the middle of downtown, which we all agreed would be a solid place to eat dinner.  And have a few more beers, too.

These two got meals, but I was fine with grabbing some fries:  the fries at this place are my all-time favorite, I wasn't about to tour Kalamazoo and NOT get myself some Hopcat fries. . .

After an hour or so, Smitty finally rolled in.  By then, I had back across the street to Bell's merch store again to double-check their wares - still walking away with nothing - and Zack and Damon had finished their meals.  We ordered a few more rounds before paying our tabs and setting off once again.

Next up on our agenda was our regular game of Risk.  Zack already has, like, seven sets of the game already, but wanted to buy a wooden one that they sell at the store he manages, so we stopped off at Meijer on our way to his house.

Can't forget the lotto tickets. . .

Mixing up some drinks and grabbing some food before hitting the game table.

Some of Smith's jerky haul from the afternoon craft show.

Settin' up Risk 2019

This was a pretty solid IPA.

Zack, burrowing into his beer fridge

This porter was so-so - I'm more of a 'stout' guy myself.

Meanwhile, in our ongoing Star Wars saga, we were on Solo, which takes place about twenty years after Episode III.

A little while later, working our way through world domination and Rogue One (which leads right up to Ep. IV - A New Hope.)

Shortly after this, we started Ep. IV, and then Yours Truly fell asleep and Damon went home.  The other guys managed to get all the way through it, then started Ep. V - The Empire Strikes Back, but that's about as far as they got.  Smitty went home at some point in time during the night, and in the morning, Zack and I watched Ep. VI - Return of the Jedi before I ultimately started my long drive back to Midland. . . and a devastating outbreak of head lice.

- Brian

The Siege of Kalamazoo

What's up, players.

It had been over a year since The Sausage Pad had last rattled its sabers, so we deemed that it was far past time to do so once again.  Our ranks had discussed spending the day hitting up multiple breweries around Kalamazoo, revisiting old stomping grounds from our Glory Days, and otherwise not hanging around our wives and kids for a couple days.

Zack jumps on the Instapot bandwagon. . .

I drove down to Zack's place on Friday, straight from work, in order to establish headquarters, catch up with him over a few beers, and save myself the trouble of leaving Midland at the butt-crack of dawn Saturday morning in order to get there for our pre-established, morning kick-off.  Zack's family had left to visit relatives or something, so we had the joint to ourselves for the entirety of the weekend.  After a relatively low-key Friday night, the next morning saw an early-morning run to Meijer for obligatory Bloody Mary supplies, a standard waiting-around-for-Damon hour or two, and a formal kick-off at Kalamazoo's most prolific brewery, Bell's.

From that moment on, the rest of Saturday was just what you would come to expect from the Sausage Pad.

All said and done, one of the best weekends I've spent in a long, long time.

Behold. . .

Friday night was chill - we just had a few beers, caught up, and crashed.

This was a pretty interesting beer.  Sour ales are always hit or miss with me.

The next morning, after we had showered and gotten around for the day, we decided we needed to start the morning off with some Bloody Marys (ies?)  Following a quick supply run to Meijer (conveniently located about 2 minutes from his house), Zack whipped up which is most likely the BEST Bloody Mary I've ever had.

Smithers brings the Hogwarts to his drinkcraft. . .

Frying up some bacon for breakfast (bacon, Bloody Marys, and toast - that's breakfast on a dude's weekend, kids.)  At this point, we were waiting around for Damon to show up so we could kick off our Kalamazoo Brewery Tour, but he was still at his place, some twenty minutes away, waiting for his wife to return from grocery shopping.

Breakfast of champions.

Around 11am or so, Damon finally showed up to Zack's.  By that point in time, Zack and I had each had a couple Bloody Marys and a beer apiece, so we were itching to start our epic adventure through our old stomping ground. 

Our first stop on the day's brewery tour was Kalamazoo's most prolific institution:  Bell's Brewery.

This way to wackiness. . .

Old guy selfies at Bell's.  We only ordered one round at this joint, because we had a long, long road ahead of us.  I wanted to go to their merch store afterwards, where I scored a badass trucker hat, a few stickers and some pins (the stickers and pins were each one free per customer,  but I pocketed one of everything they had.)

After storing my Bell's plunder in Damon's car (definitely didn't want to walk around Kalamazoo with all that crap), we crossed the street to hit up a taproom/restaurant called Hopcat.)

These fries were voted Top Ten IN THE UNITED STATES.  And I will tell you this, folks:  they were easily the BEST french fries I've ever eaten - I can see why they made the Top Ten list.

After fries and a couple beers at Hopcat, we set off once again for our next stop. . .

. . . Arcadia Ales, located on the banks of the Kalamazoo River.   Probably Kalamazoo's second-most famous brewery.

We stuck around for a beer or two at this place, which was good as always (though lately the Lochdown has tasted all weird - not sure if it was a bad batch or what.)

Nothing good can come of this.   This is surely the Crossroads of Hell.

To reach our next stop on our brewery tour, we had to hike by foot about six or seven blocks through the ghetto side of Kalamazoo.  This isn't the best spot for three white guys pushing 40 to stroll through, but we were on a quest.

A jet ski behind a building.  Just 'cause.

Boatyard Brewing.  The nautical theme of the place pretty out of place, smack in the middle of the landlocked, ghetto north side of K-Zoo. . .

Checking scores.  These guys and their sports. . .

The arrival of Smitty.  We had to give him a 'sec, but he showed up.

Hotdogs, popcorn and beer - a late afternoon luncheon, Sausage Pad style.

From this point on in our adventures, Smitty would be driving us around.  Damon and I occupied ourselves playing around with all the cool construction stuff Smitty keeps in his backseat.

We opted to take a brief respite from our brewery tour to revisit some of our old haunts from our college days, and since we were in the North Side anyway, started off by swinging over to Jefferson Street. . .

Zack, Damon and I lived in this complete and total shithole with Jon Kimmel for my senior year of college (2001 - 2002), in the middle of the ghetto.  We were the only white people on the block, right across the street from a graveyard and a playground, and saw our fair share of crime during our stay in this once-condemned craphole.  My windshield was hit with a bat, our dog scared away a guy trying to break in through a side window, we had our front picture window shot out with gun, etc.  Good times. 

Following this stop-off, we swung south towards the affectionately-named 'student ghetto,' where we came upon the infamous house at 1214 Oak Street.

I shared this much-nicer joint with Adam Voigt and Zack Learman - my guitarist and bassist (respectively) and co-bandmates of Virgil Q's Dixieland Kazoo Revue - along with Dave 'Maven' Chessman.

This was the house I lived in during my super-senior year at Western Michigan University, ca. 2002 - 2003.

The last stop in our old stomping ground detour of the day was Knollwood Apartments (now they're called something else, though.)  The place was remodeled, but it was easy enough to find our old courtyard. . .

The M Building. . .

Apartment M-11:  my first off-campus place, which I shared with Damon, Zack, and Supergay Matt DeMay during my Junior Year (2000 - 2001.)  This was a townhouse with two bedrooms upstairs, which we doubled up on (though that summer when DeMay moved back to Royal Oak, I had the place to myself, which was awesome.)

When we were here, the '11' was bolted to the door, but when we moved out of here during the summer of 2001, we made sure to take the numbers with us.  Damon and I were tempted to take this '11,' too, but being a couple old dudes loitering outside someone's apartment - trying to remove part of a building, without tools, etc. - we decided against it.

So we settled for a selfie on the boarded ledge next to the porch.  Pretty sure there were people home in either apartment facing where we were, so hopefully we didn't scare anyone while hanging out on their property.

One last shot of our old porch.

View from the porch (the stairs up ahead were the ones I used to take to class everyday.)

The M/L Building Courtyard.

After a brief trip down Memory Lane, we decided to get back to bar business.  Smitty wanted to hit up a certain bar where there was Polish and German bar food - I forget the name of the place - so we had a couple rounds here while they chowed down (my gut was acting up, so I didn't eat much.)

We swung back to Zack's place afterwards in order to charge up our phones, use the restrooms, and chug a couple energy drinks.  Once we had gotten ourselves revitalized, we were once again ready to set out.

Before heading to our final destination for the night - the Main Street Pub - Zack wanted to head over to his Meijer again to pick up a game of Risk (his was destroyed when the basement of his old house flooded, and he wanted to play later on in the night once we were done with bars.)  I decided to wear Smitty's work helmet into the store.  Just 'cause.

Risky business.

OSHA inspection, courtesy of Broam K.

We ended the night with a few beers at Main Street, a sports bar that we hung out at until about 2am.

By the time we got back to Zack's, everyone was too exhausted to play Risk, so we all watched TV, enjoyed a nightcap or two, and fell asleep.  Hands down, one of the best weekends I've had in a long, long time.

- Brian