If you haven't heard about the klaineroadtrip2015, check out the Tumblr! The earlier stops are all posted there, and the subsequent stops will be up in time.
"Tell me again why we aren't crossing here?" Kurt asked, watching as the Detroit exit labeled "Bridge to Canada" flew past them.
"It's a shorter drive from the other bridge!" Blaine said cheerfully, more focus on the road than on Kurt. "We'll shave about half an hour from our travel time if we cross from Port Huron instead of Detroit."
"Even when you factor in the hour of drive time between Detroit and Port Huron?"
The silence from the driver's seat made Kurt turn and look at Blaine's comically dismayed expression.
"Apparently not," Kurt sighed. "Oh well. It's probably better to stop in some podunk town than in the middle of Detroit for the night anyways."
"For sure!" Blaine agreed, much peppier than Kurt expected. "I mean, God only knows what goes on here, right?"
"I was just looking for the bright side of this, B, not seriously opposed to staying in Detroit," Kurt said, bemused. "Are you afraid of the city or something? Because we live in one of the biggest urban centers in the world."
"No, it's not - I thought you were - I may have had more than just travel time in mind when I was Googling routes to Canada on my phone the other day," Blaine said, thunking his hand against the steering wheel from where he'd been gesturing vaguely.
"Go on…."
"There's apparently some kind of festival happening in Port Huron this weekend," Blaine said, looking cautiously excited. "I guess there's an annual boat race or something, and the city hosts this event downtown as a celebration. The site said there's a carnival and fireworks and a bunch of live music, so I thought, you know, it'd be a fun time."
"And you couldn't just tell me?" Kurt asked. "Since when have I ever been opposed to carnival food and watching fireworks?"
"Well, it is more out of our way," Blaine said. "And there's got to be some kind of show we could see in Detroit instead of hitting up some random street fair."
"We can see plenty of shows back home," Kurt said. "This road trip is about exploring!"
"I was hoping you'd say that," Blaine said, a tiny, joyful smile on his face. "Plus, we can always come back through Detroit if we really feel the need to stop there."
"We'll see how it goes. Maybe this Port Huron will be so wildly entertaining that we'll want to come back through when we return," Kurt said, a matching grin appearing. "For now, let's just focus on getting the hell out of here before rush hour starts."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Blaine said, passing a slow-moving car. "I am kind of afraid of being stuck near 8 Mile."
Kurt just snorted and leaned over the center console to kiss his ridiculous husband on the cheek.
The rest of the drive went uneventfully, though it was somewhat slowed by constant bouts of road construction, and soon enough they reached the freeway's end, driving parallel to the bridge they'd be taking across the river to Canada in the morning.
"So...where to?" Kurt asked, glancing around the unimpressive landscape. No signs had been put up directing traffic to the festival, and Blaine hadn't managed to find an actual address he could put into his GPS app, either.
"Um, maybe we can follow the bridge?" Blaine said, driving straight through at the light. "It's got to intersect at the river eventually, right?"
"That would make sense," Kurt said, still trying to be vigilant of their surroundings. "Hey, a hotel! Oh, and it's right on the river!"
Blaine blinked a couple times, turning into the parking lot smoothly and saying, "That's surprisingly convenient. Score one for Port Huron."
"It'll only be a score if we can actually get a room here," Kurt pointed out. "You said there's some kind of race? That's got to draw in some crowds."
"Still, you'd think they could at least give us directions to another hotel," Blaine said. He turned off the engine, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to Kurt. "Ready?"
"Let's go," Kurt said, following suit. When he got out, he stretched and moaned, "Oh God, my legs."
"Mine too," Blaine said, a slight grimace on his face.
They got their bags and walked slowly across the parking lot, stiff after hours of sitting. Thankfully, they didn't have to go far to find the check-in desk.
"Hello and welcome to the Hilton DoubleTree," a perky girl - Katie, according to her nametag - said as they approached. "Did you have a reservation?"
"No, is that a problem?" Kurt asked.
"Nope! We've got a few rooms left this weekend, luckily," she replied, clicking away at her computer. "Is the third floor okay?"
"Sounds perfect," Blaine said, pulling out his wallet. "Hey, do you happen to know how to get to the Blue Water Fest from here? We heard about it online and thought it sounded fun."
"Of course," Katie said, taking Blaine's credit card and handing over a couple of room keys in return. As she input his payment, she told them, "Honestly, I'd walk from here if I were you guys. It's a bit of a hike, but you'd just be fighting for parking downtown anyways, and it's probably filling up already."
"We don't mind the exercise. It'll feel nice after being in the car all day," Kurt said, seeing Blaine nod in agreement to his left.
"Okay, then walk along the river until you hit the park, then cross the park to walk down the main drag. You'll pass a few office buildings, then you'll see the radio station and the first of the blockades. Just keep going down the street - the sidewalks are all still open. You'll see where the action is pretty quick," she explained rapidly. "I'm sorry, was that too fast?"
"I think we got it," Blaine said. "Any recommendations on where to have dinner?"
"Well, there's a restaurant called Freighters attached to this hotel, so I've gotta say there, but if you want to hold out until you get downtown, I'd recommend Casey's. They've got great pizza," Katie said, putting a hand to her stomach as emphasis. "Anything else?"
"No, that was great, thanks," Blaine said, smiling warmly at her.
"Have a great day!" she chirped, handing back Blaine's card.
"You too," Kurt replied, taking Blaine's free hand in his as they walked toward the elevators. "She was nice."
"Yeah, and helpful," Blaine said. "Does that pizza place sound good to you?"
"As long as we can have some kind of deep-fried carnival monstrosity for dessert."
"It's like you read my mind."
After stopping outside the hotel to take cheesy, touristy selfies with the Blue Water Bridge in the background, Kurt and Blaine started their trek downtown. The walk was about as long as Katie had made it sound, but the weather was nice and the view was gorgeous, making it feel worthwhile. As they saw the blockades come into sight, they started looking for the pizza place she'd mentioned, both ready for dinner after a long day in the car.
"Oh hey, it's right here," Blaine said, pointing at a pastel yellow building to their left. "Oooh, and they've got a covered patio!"
"You wanna see if we can get a table out there?" Kurt asked, opening the door for Blaine and taking a look around. The inside of the place was nothing special, in his opinion, so he was hoping they'd be able to find a space for themselves outside. At Blaine's nod, they wandered outside, managing to find an empty four-top near the back.
"Gross," Blaine said, gazing at the chalkboard wall that spanned the back of the building.
"What?" Kurt asked, trying to see where Blaine was looking.
"It says 'Go Blue' over there," Blaine said, wrinkling his nose. "I'd forgotten that being in Michigan meant I'd have to deal with Wolverine fans."
"I really wish I cared enough to sympathize," Kurt said, laughing. "Maybe if my father were here…."
"Can we at least go erase it once we're done eating?" Blaine asked, widening his eyes in a show of mock-pleading.
"You could probably persuade me into some light vandalism," Kurt teased. "Now c'mon, let's figure out what we want. Ever since Katie said 'pizza,' I've been having cravings."
"You're craving pizza and I'm mad about sports teams. Between us, we make a stereotypical straight teenage boy," Blaine said, laughing. "Should we get beer to complete the picture?"
"Ugh, no, I'm having one proper cocktail before I'm undoubtedly forced to drink overpriced crap later tonight," Kurt said, pulling a disgusted face.
Just then, their waitress came up to them, taking their drink orders before asking if they knew what they might want to eat. After a brief moment of deliberation, they decided on the house special and received assurance that it should be out in about twenty minutes.
They passed the time with small talk and checks of their various social media accounts, remembering to text their parents and tell them of their latest adventures as they pulled out their phones. The pizza came out in what felt like no time at all, and Kurt eagerly dug into his first slice, ignoring the sizzling temperature.
"Mmuhgah," he mumbled around a bite. "This is good."
Blaine let out a similar moan of appreciation across the table from him. "We have got to tip Katie so well later."
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
They demolished the pizza quickly, having ordered just enough for the two of them. Once they finished and paid the bill, Blaine excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Kurt to hustle over to the chalk wall and leave a little graffiti of his own.
"Blaine!" Kurt called when he saw his husband come back onto the patio, waving his arms once to attract his attention.
"Hey," Blaine said with a smile. "Did you deface the wall without me?"
"Not quite," Kurt said, stepping aside to reveal the red heart with 'K + B' in the middle that he'd doodled off to one side.
"You're such a sap," Blaine teased. "Let me take a photo of it."
"Do you even hear yourself talk?" Kurt replied, smirking as Blaine snapped the picture.
"Shhh," Blaine said. "It's time to go explore the festival."
"Your avoidance tactics need some work," Kurt said, but he let Blaine take his hand and start to walk them out of the restaurant all the same.
The walk to the festival proper took a few more minutes, but they were soon enveloped in the mishmash of live bands, food trucks, and carnival rides that was Blue Water Fest. The main street alone featured a stage, a Ferris wheel, a children's ride, and a few art vendors, with a large beer tent dominating the intersection at the end. Blaine veered toward that tent once they were close, ordering two Oberons and asking where everything was.
"Well, to the left you've got the carnival, and to the right you've got the food trucks and another stage," the vendor said, pointing in each direction. "If you plan on staying for the fireworks, you're gonna wanna cross the bridge and take a left immediately afterwards to get to the river walk, where you'll have the best view."
"Thanks," Blaine said, stuffing a couple of bills in the tip jar before taking the proffered beers. He handed one to Kurt before taking a sip, saying, "Huh, not bad."
"Why'd you get this kind?" Kurt asked, taking a cautious drink of his own. It was pretty decent, as beers went, light and vaguely citrus-y.
"The website says this brewery sponsors the race, so I figured it was only appropriate," Blaine said. He took another pull, getting a little foam mustache that made Kurt grin. "So, carnival first or food?"
"I'm still stuffed. Let's wander through the carnival first and see if anything looks safe enough to ride before finding something fried and delicious at the food trucks," Kurt decided.
They headed off to the left, passing another beer tent before seeing the bright lights of the carnival in a nearby parking lot. The rides looked more stable than Kurt was expecting from an operation so focused on alcohol, though the ticket prices posted in the window of the booth at the entrance gave him pause.
"Wow, those prices are ridiculous," he yelled to Blaine, needing to shout to be heard over the various game noises.
"Yeah, I don't know if there's anything here I want to ride that badly," Blaine said, looking around. "Maybe one of the games?"
"Those are all rigged," Kurt scoffed.
"Still, it's only fair that I win you a companion for Margaret Thatcher Dog," Blaine said, a soft smile on his face at the reference.
"I didn't even win-"
"Not the point," Blaine interrupted. "I want to at least give it a shot. One round won't hurt."
One round quickly turned into three, but after fifteen attempts, Blaine managed to pop a balloon with a dart and win Kurt a terribly shoddy-looking bunny rabbit.
"See? I did it," Blaine said, looking pleased with himself.
"They're still rigged," Kurt said, ruining any bite he may have had by hugging the bunny gently to his chest.
"Of course they are," Blaine agreed, tossing his empty beer cup into a trash can as they walked out of the carnival. "It kind of makes the victory sweeter that way."
Kurt just smiled and chucked his own empty glass into the trash.
The food trucks proved to be the best part of the night, in Kurt's opinion.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," he said, spotting a sign in the window of the one at the end of the parking lot they were set up in. "Blaine!"
"I know, who would want fried shark from a carnival vendor? You're just asking to get some kind of parasite with that," Blaine said, focused on a truck closer to them.
"No, not that one. Down there," Kurt said, barely able to contain his glee. "That far one says it has deep fried cheesecake!"
Kurt started dragging Blaine down the line of food trucks, almost mowing down a group of preteens in his haste to reach the promised land. He could hear Blaine apologizing behind him, but he was too focused on ordering to care about manners.
The dessert took only a few minutes to come up, but to Kurt, it felt like years.
"Careful, it's hot," the vendor informed him as he handed out the sugary treat.
Kurt didn't care. He took a mid-sized bite - enough to catch the flavor, but not so much that he'd burn off some taste buds.
He wasn't disappointed.
"Oh my God, I want to marry this dessert," he said once he swallowed.
"Uh, hi, remember me? Your husband?" Blaine said, pouting. "Also, share."
Kurt just managed to keep himself from hissing like an angry cat at the request, reluctantly offering Blaine a bite.
The porn star-esque moan Blaine let out when he tasted the dessert went a long way toward alleviating the distress Kurt felt at sharing.
Kurt shivered slightly as a cool night breeze blew past them, making the St. Clair river ripple even more in the moonlight.
"You cold?" Blaine asked.
"Nothing I can't handle," Kurt said. "Hey, the fireworks are starting!"
They'd managed to find a place at the very beginning of the river walk the beer vendor had mentioned, leaning against one of the metal railings that lined the river itself. As promised, it was a perfect place for viewing the show - if they'd stayed on the other side of the bridge, too many buildings would have been in their way.
Blaine cuddled into his side as they watched the show, a move that let Kurt steal some of his always abundant body heat. He bent down to press a kiss to Blaine's hair, whispering, "Blaine?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad we took this detour."
The fireworks around them may have outshone the kiss Blaine gave him in return, but Kurt knew the deep sense of contentment and rightness he felt with Blaine would last far longer.