Last week in Michigan was hotter than the surface of the sun. It was like someone took a kiln, made it mate with the sun and then set its child on fire. Then added humidity. So, I guess more like the flaming love child of the sun and a kiln had an affair with a pot of boiling water. I got first degree burns from my steering wheel it was so freaking hot. My glasses melted onto my face. I can't take them off anymore. Thank you very much, Michigan.
If ever there was a good time to hit up a famously delicious ice cream store, it was on the hellish day that was July 6th. So, on my way home from work, as I vainly tried to will my car air conditioner to work better, I decided it was time to stop at the MSU Dairy Store and see if its actually as good as everybody says it is. See, there are certain things that Ann Arbor is famous for. Zingerman's. UofM. The Art Fair. Dirty hippies. Similarly, MSU has things it is famous for. It is a renowned agricultural school. The Spartan basketball team puts UofM to shame (sorry, truth hurts kids). And then there's the Dairy Store.
Having heard people talk it up since I got out here for work, I assumed it was something epic and amazing. I thought I'd be walking into a joyful lactose palace of some kind. Maybe an ice cream sundae shaped entrance to a room kept at just the right temperature. Soft whiffs of sugary goodness would linger in the air, inviting customers to breath in the decadence that is freshly iced cream.
Or its a classroom.
So, you know the old axiom holding that the best restaurants are usually inconspicuous holes in the wall? Where the food is more important than the decor? That's what the Dairy Store is. So there wasn't a palatial entrance or ornate dairy-themed decorations. That whole 'whiffs of sugary goodness' thing? Oh it was there. Don't get me wrong - there was ambiance. It just wasn't oppressive like I expected. It was a great stop on the tour of new things for me because it was one of the first times I was completely blown away, but not by how something looked. The things that have been life changing have been so from a mile away. Quite frankly, as I walked up to the Dairy Store, I began to expect disappointment.
Though I will grant it the appropriate level of kitsch.
The ice cream was, without a doubt, the best I've ever tasted. It was fresh, creamy, flavorful and, of course, creatively named, which is super important. As I sat out on a bench outside the Dairy Store, eating my ice cream and watching a surprisingly fit squirrel scrounge for wrappers, the day stopped seeming so mind-numbingly hot and actually became pleasant for a while.
Even frozen towels couldn't recapture the joy of that moment.
Of course, the highlight of the day was the realization that, of all the amazing new things I've done in the last six months, this one was the one that got on the news. I've swam in a waterfall, jumped in frozen water, frozen in public, learned new sports and new instruments. Did those make the news? No... but my lazy butt buying some ice cream? Headline material. Awesome.
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