Several moments during my visit to Grand Rapids I was offered to smoke pot by random passers who I had just met. I was flattered by the gesture but politely turned down smoking and was surprised by the abundance of reefers in Grand Rapids.
A FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS concert is what brought me to Grand Rapids and my first stop while in town was at HopCat, a local brewery and bar in the city. Since I had time to kill I decided to have a beer while my good friend Jordan, whom I was meeting, was still at work.
I sat at the bar in between a middle-aged carpenter named Dave and a young German electrical engineer named Stephan, who was in town visiting his girlfriend. Dave was a few beers deep, judging by the raspy inflection in his voice, and Stephan said he had to take it easy because he got a little too happy during happy hour the day before!
We reminisced for over an hour, shooting the shit and sipping craft beer. Dave said he built the wooden bar we were sitting at and later ranted about the legalization of marijuana. He said, he wishes he could smoke the ganja but his wife forbids it because it makes him lazy.
Stephan was what I like to call European friendly, and easy to carry on a conversation with. I told him a few years ago I went on a vacation with my family to Italy, and we discussed our favorite parts about Rome, Venice, Florence and Lake Garda. He is a big fan of Italy, even more than his home country of Germany.
I was eager for a snack and since HopCat has delicious French fries called crack fries, I ordered some to share with my new friends, Dave and Stephan. They politely turned me down but after I insisted they chow down on some crack fries. I said to Dave, “Eat, you need to sober up if you plan on driving anywhere!”
After HopCat, I walked to my car and drove to Jordan’s house, which is located less than a mile outside of the city. Once there, we got our crap together and grabbed dinner at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company before heading to the concert at a small bar/venue called The Intersection.
The show was great but what caught me off guard was when I stepped outside for fresh air. While I was sitting on a short brick wall ,at the edge of the patio, I saw a short chubby guy getting turned down by a girl. It was funny to witness first hand and he sat down next to me with his head down and said, “I don’t get girls man, I’m just going to give up.”
I said, “Hi, my name is Trevor, you can’t give up man, you just haven’t met the right girl yet”
While taking a drag from his cigarette he said, “I’m Brian, do you think so man?”
“Yea, that girl isn’t the one for you, you lost the battle not the war”
“Thanks man, do you smoke tree?”
After I said no thanks, Brian walked away to smoke with his friends and when I turned to my left there was a girl next to me wearing all black, like she was rocking out at a Goth show. She said her name was Sarah, so I introduced myself.
“Hi, I’m Trevor”
“Are you from Grand Rapids?”
“Nope, I’m from the east side of the state in Clarkston. About 30 minutes north of Detroit.”
“Do you want to smoke weed, Trevor?”
I told her, no thanks, and then moved back into the concert to meet up with Jordan.
The FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS concert was good times and they put on a groovy show, but what I’ll remember most is going outside to the patio and getting offered to smoke pot by 2 random people!
After the show Jordan and I stopped for a nightcap at Stella’s, which is a whiskey bar in the city. I later crashed on Jordan’s couch and he was off to work before I woke up in the morning. I let myself out and grabbed breakfast at a local spot before venturing through the city, eventually making my way to the DownTown Market.
The DownTown Market is a hot spot and I was able to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy the local culture and knock out Mothers’ Day shopping at the same time. While standing in line to make a purchase, an older lady hanging out with her blue hairs got all up in my business and caught me off guard from the side. I said whoa, yah scared me!
“I’m sorry I thought you were a friend”she said, while walking away to join her posse.
“What are you saying, I’m not your friend?”
The flock of blue hairs erupted in laughter and it was a perfect way to finish my trip to Grand Rapids!
LifeOfRev 