Order your gift basket today and we will hold it for shipment on December 18th

That's right. We have a new feature in our online store this year that gives you the option to place your Christmas orders early and have us make sure they get to their destinations just before Christmas! After you have placed a basket (or two) in your shopping cart and you are ready to checkout, your screen will contain an image similar to the image below:

The portion circled in red is where you will choose to have your gift basket(s) "Shipped Now" or on "December 18th."

You will be billed when your order is placed, not when it is shipped. For orders that are held for shipment until December 18th you will receive an email on the 18th with your gift basket tracking information and shipment confirmation.

We look forward to help you this Christmas with all of your gift giving needs.

Get ready to buy a piece of Tiger Stadium

This spring the city of Detroit hopes to have an online auction for seats, signs, and any other salvageable items from the historic Tiger Stadium. The hope is that the auction will be structured in such a way that a few buyers will not be able to purchase the bulk of the items and then resell them at a huge markup. I wouldn't mind a couple of seats from the stadium. Perhaps the sign to the visitors locker room that says, "No Visitors Allowed." I kid you not, it actually said that.

For more info check out the Detroit Free Press article.

Ten things I am thankful for this year

With Thanksgiving merely a couple of days away (man did that ever sneak up on me this year!) my thoughts have turned to what I am most thankful for. There are numerous things for which I am thankful, but I will only include ten for space purposes here. Feel free to add some of the things that you are thankful for in the comments to this post.

• My wife and son
• Our family's health
• Our extended family - in-laws, outlaws and other assorted hangers-on ;)
• Plenty of food in the pantry
• A home that is nice and warm and snug from the cold outside
• How our son's laughter makes me feel more rich than money or possessions ever will
• Excellent health care coverage - a lot of folks here in Michigan don't even have coverage
• Good friends
• Good books - one of my (if not THE) favorite things to do - read!
• The many freedoms we still have here in America - lets keep the government from taking any more away

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Holy Wah! Da Yoopers Tourist Trap was robbed!

If you have ever heard "Rusty Chevrolet" or "The Second Week of Deer Camp" then you are familiar with Michigan's Upper Peninsula's own - Da Yoopers music and comedy group. Well, Da Yoopers also have a store in Ishpeming called "Da Yooper's Tourist Trap & Museum" which was burglarized over the weekend. Someone drove their vehicle through a back wall. It is unclear at this time what was taken from the store. I've been by their store on U.S. 41 before and that is why this article caught my attention.

I don't know, if you have seen the eclectic inventory at the store you might be like me and shake your head at what the robber(s) thought they could get. If you have ever stopped at any of the tourist destinations in northern lower Michigan and the U.P. you will know what I mean. Strange stuff.

Via The Mining Journal.

Michigan gas prices are holding steady leading up to Thanksgiving weekend

Michigan gas prices are basically averaging the same as last week with an average price of $2.273 this week compared to last Monday's average of $2.279. For current gas prices across the state check out www.MichiganGasPrices.com. You might want to give it a glance before making your Thanksgiving weekend trip. High and low gas prices across Michigan according to MichiganGasPrices.com -

• The highest reported price is $2.44 at the Citgo in Parma off I-94 at exit 130.
• The lowest price is $2.12 at the Marathon, Shell, and Louie's Freshmarket in St. Helen

Gas price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

Don't forget about Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Lost in the shuffle and national audience of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The 80 year tradition of floats, bands, and balloons traveling down Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit will be seen via television by an estimated 100 million people. A funny thing I just learned through this article in the Detroit News is that Macy's is one of the Detroit parade's 200 sponsors. So not only are they the headline sponsor of their historic New York City parade, but they also help to sponsor the Detroit parade. I am not sure if this has always been the case or if it is because they bought out Marshall Fields which bought out Hudson's which used to be based in downtown Detroit.

The parade will begin at 9:20 on Thanksgiving morning and will begin at Mack and Woodward.