Lake Michigan cure, The Grove and all kinds of other stuff

If you sit on the beach and watch the sunset, like this one on my uncle's Lake Michigan beach near Saugatuck, it will fix whatever ails you.

A great time up north. Thanks to my long-time buddy David Wilkins and family, Susan helped me write an "emergency vacation" column Monday morning. Enjoyed playing The Meadows at Grand Valley State University, tough track and thank goodness I left a few bullets so it can remember me ...

Camped at Orchard Beach State Park near Manistee. Reminded me of Hoffmaster a bit. My cousin Roland and family were across the road and we are thinking of doing Ludington State Park next summer.

The beach was glorious, the water 75 and clear, and the lemonade was great.

On Thursday night I was sitting in my campground when an older guy named Doug came by with an acoustic guitar. He's 70 and from Indiana, up to do some fishing by himself for a few days. This is where music breaks boundaries, because Doug and I played songs for more than two hours. He used to be a country music drummer and I've never had so much fun strumming along to Jimmy Reaves and Peter, Paul and Mary songs. Plus he writes his own tunes, it was just a blast trading stories and songs. He had open heart surgery not long ago and is vowing to put a song about the experience on YouTube, we'll be looking for it!

At 11 the park ranger informed us we had to stop playing, even though it wasn't that loud ... rules is rules, I guess. Do I get a merit badge for being told to stop playing?

Drove nine hours home yesterday to check out Rusty Wright at Blues In The Park. The storm at 5 p.m. undoubtedly kept some people away, but all it did was delay things a few minutes and cool it down, perfect night in the park. This guy and his band blew everybody away and John Hodge and I about fell off our chairs when he nailed a Robin Trower song near the end. I'm sure the K of C kept the crowd down too, but to me there was no question what was the better time last night.

BTW, you can either brave the masses (and that's not a bad thing) or you can come to The Grove tonight for the new Cheeseburgers first Quincy show since revamping the lineup. Come on out and we'll hoot and holler too!

And wish me luck as I recover from vacation ....