Gallivanting with the Nadgaudas

Meeting up at the Bos' at 4pm, where we gave Omkar a going-away gift.

Hey friends.

Our tribe had the sad duty to send off and bid adieu to yet another family this weekend - the Nadgaudas.

Omkar recently accepted a lucrative career with another battery company (he's like a battery consultant or something) down in Indiana, and he'll be moving down in a couple weeks. This was welcome news to his wife, Deanna, who has a ton of family in the greater Indianapolis area (where they'll be moving to), and now she no longer has to work. So they're in good spirits about the whole move thing, but still bummed they'll be leaving all of us assholes behind.

We loaded up in Kelli's van and headed out to Auburn for some dinner. . . 

Now, initially, all of us couples were going to go out to a fancy dinner somewhere in Bay City, then hit up a couple bars over there or something, for their send-off - kind of a scaled down version of when we said farewell to the Shepherds back in 2018. Some of the wives didn't feel like going to Bay City, however, and wanted to do the same ol' boring shit they do all the time - Three Bridges in downtown Midland. Us dads has zero interest in that, and therefore stuck to the original plan of hanging out in Bay City for the evening. The ultimate goal, at the end of the night, was to rendezvous with the wives somewhere in Midland once we were done with our gallivanting. 

So here you go, gang - one last hurrah with the Nadgaudas. Behold. . .

O's in Auburn (some small-ass, Farwell-sized town 5 or ten miles west of Midland) that some of the guys wanted to hit up for dinner.

Collier, Mitch and Omkar tear into their dinner.

I had eaten a late lunch, so I wasn't that hungry just yet - stuck to a couple beers for the time being.

Arriving in downtown Bay City, after dinner, we set off for our first stop of the evening. . . 

The Drift

This riverside bar was a must on this bar-hopping tour of ours - the weather was perfect for drinking outdoors this evening.

They have a series of docks built right on the backside of the bar so you can pull your boat right up to it, which is beyond convenient, really.

That's quack-tastic.

Erick, Lonnie and Omkar, checking out the river from the bar's pier.

Ry-Guy.

(To be honest, I forget the name of this river.)

Looking back from the pier/boat docks/whatever towards the bar and it's back patio deck area.

Having a round of beers in the blazing sun.

The Kings of the Hill (minus Morgan, who would be meeting up with us later on in the evening, and Tom, who's in Florida.)

Heading out past some huge, block-sized antique mall on our to another bar downtown.

Watch out for speed. . . humps. . . 

We were gonna hit up Beaver's Pub on the corner here (which we drank at once a year or two ago), but just as we were about to head in we decided to keep walking.

Retro Rocks Pub. Classic Rock and Beer, can't go wrong.

We were able to snag this private seating area with leather couches and a marble-top coffee table, flanked by TVs. The plan was to only hang out at this place for one beer, but the setup and vibe was so awesome that we ended up staying for a few.

Lonnie and Erik check out the bar's century-old interior decor.

Landshark, an old Florida favorite.

Slainte.

Some shots of the inside of the the bar, which was pretty empty for being a Saturday evening on an absolutely gorgeous evening.

They had music videos from the 70s and 80s playing non-stop on these projectors and TVs throughout the bar. Definitely my scene.

Planning our next move.

On the way back to the van, we passed by. . . whatever the hell this is.

Some of the guys needed to hit the restroom real quick before we headed off to our next stop, so we stopped off at whatever this giant 'O' thing is because there was a restroom pavilion nearby.

We figured we'd get another group pic since we were there, the lighting was pretty awesome.

In order to do so, we had to prop my phone up against my shoe (if you closely, you'll see I'm missing my right one) and set it on a selfie timer. That's why I've got my mouth open in this pic, I was counting down but had it off by a second.

Meanwhile, back in Midland, the moms were drinking on the Commons.

After our group pic, on the block walk back to the Bos' van, we got distracted and popped into this place.

Round of Crown Apples.

After our quick round of shots, it was back on the road, this time down to Bay City's southside, the old Polish district, for the annual St. Stan's Polish Festival. On the way, we spotted one of the city's self-propelled drinking trolleys (I've always wanted to do one of those.)

Erik, Tom and I checked this out last year, if you'll remember. . .

On our way into the festival, Erik and Mitch stopped off to buy raffle tickets - they can't help themselves.

Heading for the beer tent.

We don't hit up any of these carnival rides and what-not on our way in, this part of the festival is just your usual county fair sorta nonsense, and that's not what we came here for.

Once we paid to get into the beer tent, which is the size of a frickin' circus tent in order to accommodate multiple polka bands (as seen here), we bought our drink tickets and settled in for hours and hours of Polish-ness. . .

Slainte (or whatever the Polish equivalent of that is, I'm not Googling it.)

The Polish aspect of St. Stan's is really limited to the beer tent area. Outside, you have your usual carnival nonsense - elephant ears, cotton candy, hotdogs on sticks, whatever the hell else white trash, carnival attendees eat - while inside the beer tent you have sausages and all that other Polish-styled food.

Meanwhile, back in Midland, Kris attempts to get a group selfie (not sure what's up with Kelli's face, though - that woman has a hard time with pictures.)

Ping pong with Stephanie, Mees, and Courtney.

We tried getting a group selfie of us once the wives sent us theirs, but, as you can see, we had difficulty squeezing everyone in. . .

. . . . so some lady passing by offered to get one for us. Way easier, folks.

Cornhole on astro turf. Honestly, I wish I could just put this shit down in my backyard and call it good - it's always green and healthy.

Danielle and Kris

After using up our beer tickets, we left the beer tent and headed back to the parking lot.

The moms were wrapping up downtown as well, getting group pics wherever they could.

Some random shots of the carnival/fair/whatever on our way out. . .

This is embarrassing. 

Recreating the SNL Superstar pose.

Driving back to Midland. Not sure what's happening here.

We had texted the wives and told them to meet us over at Frick's, on the westside of town. Not a place we usually go to, maybe once a year or every other year - it's usually filled with college kids.

Erik, Mitch, Morgan (who had just arrived, tardy to the pary), and Omkar.

The wives showed up about twenty minutes after we did, and we were able to all hang out together for about an hour or so before the bar closed.

Heading to the cars at the end of the night.

The Tribe (minus the Sheahans, of course, and Kelli, who had to go home early because she had another headache - surprise surprise.) Farewell, Nadgaudas - best of luck in Indiana.

- Brian