It’s not often that I get the chance to revisit a destination, but there’s certain places I’ve been that I wouldn’t pass up seeing again.  Grand Rapids, MI is one of these places.  I know, it’s strange that out of all of the places I’ve been, Grand Rapids always sticks in my mind as one of my favorites. Maybe it’s how much fun we had last time, or maybe I just like the pace of things there, whatever the case may be, we’re heading back there this weekend.

Mike got me tickets to see Aretha Franklin at the Devos Performance Hall to make up for the cancelled Aretha concert in Chicago last November.  She’s my favorite and Grand Rapids is one of my favorites, so making a trip out of it seemed like a no-brainer.  The best part of revisiting a city you’ve been to before is you can skip all of the touristy things and jump ahead to the deeper cuts.

One of the best things about Grand Rapids is that it is chock-full of my two favorite things: breweries and antique stores.  Last time we were there, we tried Brewery Vivant, Founders, Grand Rapids Brewing Co and the BOB for the breweries and checked out Warehouse One, Lost + Found, Century Antiques and Eastown Antiques for the antique stores.  We may hit up some of the same places again, but I would like to check out some new spots too.  Here are some of the shops and restaurants we’re hoping to try:

• Captain’s Bizzaro’s Treasure World – to be honest I didn’t look any further into this than the name but… do I need to??
• Bluedoor Antiques – their website makes everything in their store look dainty and Instagram-worthy and I’m dying to check it out in person.
• Stella’s Lounge – a fun arcade bar with delicious burgers? Sign me up.
• The Pyramid Scheme – a dive bar with a music venue in the back. They do have a show on Friday that we may check out, but either way this is a must-see on my list.
• HopCat – a beer joint with lots of local brews and a casual menu that we’re both wanting to try.
• Elk Brewing – a new brewery to try. Grand Rapids has a Brewsader Passport to try and get to all the breweries in the city and I really wish we would have known about this last time.
• Anna’s House – this place is supposed to be super cute and we plan on checking it out for a filling breakfast before we head back to Chicago.

That’s all I’m planning for now.  I’m really looking forward to this trip and I don’t want to over-plan too much.  I hope we can raise a freshly brewed beer at the end of this trip and cheers to a nice relaxing vacation.  And of course I’ll let you know how it goes!

Have you ever been to Grand Rapids?  What was your favorite thing to do there?