I just  saw  that The Owl,  a coffee joint  on Main  Street  in  Milan, was listed  as a “coming  soon” trivia  spot. The time/day listed  was 7 pm Wednesdays.

Coffee shop/taphouse businesses are becoming a bit more popular. Why, oh why can you not find a laundromat/bar combo in Michigan (LOL)? What better way to pass time while your clothes are washing than by having a cold beer #youmsaysaythati’madreamerbuti’mnottheonlyone

It’s  good  to  see some  trivia  “expansion” in  this rather  lonely  area of the trivia “universe!” Years ago, the Milan Grill was a Sporcle  trivia  spot (a trivia  “comrade” of mine tried to  get  me  to  bring a team out there, but it just  wasn’t  a good night  for it). Fenders dished  up MTL trivia for a few years, but  that wound up folding in 2018. A bar owned by the same guy, Powell’s Pub in Ypsilanti, has had MTL  trivia  on Monday  nights  for quite  some time. Applebee’s in  nearby  Dundee  used  to  have a MTL show on Thursday, until folding in 2016.

Tecumseh  and  Saline  seem  to  be  the  closest  towns  for trivia  nights  these  days if you  live in Milan (besides Milan, of course).

This  “new” trivia  spot  is a coffee joint  that, per their  Web  site, began  serving  craft  beer  and  cider in 2017. There  is a similar business  in  Ypsilanti called Cultivate (also a coffee/taphouse).  It seems  to  be doing  quite  well. Though  it’s  not  really “my” scene, I did  stop in recently  for  hot chocolate  after  taking  a winter  walk  with  my husband. It always  seems  to  be  busy.

The beer garden in back of Cultivate Coffee and Tap House in Ypsilanti. In addition to being a beer garden, it also provides space for an actual garden – with space set set aside for growing various vegetables.

In March 2018, I tried  out Cultivate’s Sporcle  trivia night, which  was  behind  the building  in  a heated  tent. I am unsure  if  the  trivia  still  occurs  in  the tent (the recent polar vortex  would  make that  a challenge). When  I played, one of the heaters  malfunctioned, and the  trivia  host  had some  technical  difficulties  toward the end of the show.

I jokingly referred to this enclosed tent behind Cultivate as being akin to a “Christian Revival Trivia Night.” Strangely, this wasn’t the first time I’d played a trivia game in a tent! The first time I’d done so was in 2017, when Mike, Kim and I played in the beer tent at the Canton Liberty Fest (boy was THAT a windy day).

Will this coffee shop/taphouse  business model  do well in Milan? I have no idea. Milan is more of a “bedroom community” compared to Ypsilanti, which is a predominately blue-collar town with a bit of a “college” vibe from its proximity to Eastern Michigan University. The “hipster/millennial”  contingent  in Ypsilanti  seems  to love Cultivate. I think  the  outdoor  beer garden at Cultivate  is nice, even  if  I think  the  beers  are  too pricey!

My husband, Mike, playing a video game at Original Gravity Brewing Co. in Milan, MI which has trivia on Thursday nights. Our team began playing here when trivia started being offered in March, 2016, and we’ve been “semi regulars” ever since, qualifying for two regional tournaments by playing here.

I sincerely  hope  this  new  trivia  spot  in  Milan  does  well, though I seriously doubt I’ll ever make it out to check one of them out (I kind of prefer “true” bars as opposed to hybrid coffee shop/bar combos). Curiosity might kill the cat, however! I might just stop in to check out the trivia here sometime, possibly when weather gets warmer.

The  trivia  nights at Original  Gravity Brewing Co.  a short  distance away from The Owl have  been  thriving  Thursdays  since  2016. Only  time  will tell if the  trivia  nights  will  be a “hoot” at The Owl!