It’s a Date
Three Fresh Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day By Jillian Manning With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Northern Express set out to find some creative new ways to observe the holiday. Say so long to flowers and dinner — from breaking glass to getting sweaty with your partner to catching the performance of the season, here are our top three recommendations for Valentine’s 2022. GALENTINE’S DAY AT SMASH CLUB Planning to spend the holiday with your besties? Rage rooms have been popping up around the country, offering patrons the opportunity to take out their frustration in a controlled environment … or just laugh and break stuff. Smash Club in Alanson offers everything you could ever want to break, bust, or shatter, from champagne towers to dishware to old office equipment. They even let you bring in your own smash-able goods from home — a great choice if you want to say farewell to a gift from an ex. According to Smash Club manager Victoria Van Hooser, the experience is both energizing and cathartic. “We can really see the change in people [from] before they go into their session [and] after they come out,” she says. “It really is a great tool … and you don’t have to do the cleanup.” The first rule of Smash Club: proper gear, which means long sleeves, pants, and closed-
toed shoes. The space includes two smash rooms and a party room for groups of up to six, where customers can bring in snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. A 20-minute BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakables) session starts at $20, and you can even get a recording of your session to watch later with your friends. Or send to your ex, mwah hah hah. Pro Tip What does Van Hooser recommend to make the experience extra fun? First: great music. “You can set up your own music,” she says. “If you want to listen to the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift, or Metallica, we’ve heard it all.” Second: a little bit of screaming. “Honestly, I’ve started just yelling things,” she says with a laugh. “Screaming is encouraged.” Make a Day of It While alcohol isn’t allowed at Smash Club (for obvious reasons), after your session, head over to Mammoth Brewing in Petoskey for a celebratory cocktail followed by dinner at Pour Kitchen & Bar. (Just don’t break anything while you’re there!) A RED HOT WINTER ADVENTURE AT MI SAUNA If you’ve driven along Traverse City’s US 31 on East Bay this winter, you’ve probably seen MI Sauna camped out in the Keith J. Charters State Park parking lot on Saturday
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afternoons. Stop by this weekend, and you and your special someone can take a cozy steam in the 200-degree sauna followed by a dip in East Bay, where a hole in the ice, called an avanto, is precut. (For those not
looking for a polar plunge, just step outside for a few minutes to cool down throughout the session.) “People love it. They’re embracing it,” says owner Daniel Sarya. “You get in touch
