And We're Back

Wow. That's all I can say. We had an amazing vacation in northern Michigan. We got back VERY late Saturday night so Sunday was busy with grocery shopping, unpacking, etc. so I didn't get to posting until now, so enjoy. Also, click on the picture icon to go to the flickr account where the pictures from the week are up.

As I said in my last post, I was nervous about getting to our flights on time, but everything was perfect! We had NO traffic on the way to the airport (I was SHOCKED) and all flights were smooth and on time. The first two days of the trip (Thursday and Friday) we spent in Leland. Leland is a small fishing town on Lake Michigan about 20 miles outside of Traverse City. We stayed at The Riverside Inn which is also one of our favorite dinner spots in the area (check out the menu...I had the veal...yummy!). While in Leland we went on a sunset cruise along the Lake Michigan shoreline. We've done this before and really loved it, so we did it again. It was beautiful. We stayed there until Saturday which was a wonderfully cool day. It was also our worst weather day of the trip...we had clouds that day. The rest of the time was sunny and in the mid to upper 70s. It was heaven.

Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, we checked into the cottage. It was just as we left it last year. We both agreed that while we don't have the adventure of trying out a new place every year, we feel that vacationing in the same place leaves nothing unexpected. We know the bathroom there is small, but the views are HUGE and well worth cramming into the potty. Also, you can't put a price on waking up to the sound of the waves each morning.

We spent the week doing little more that shopping, eating and going to the beach and that was just fine with us. We even rented kayaks for an hour and took a slow drift up and down the Boardman River in downtown TC.

My parents were staying at my sister's cabin about 45 minutes away from us so we were able to see them for a lunch cruise day sail on a tall ship in Traverse City. Jon and I go on this sail almost every year and have gotten to know one of the captains pretty well, but this year, we went on his day off and the captain was a woman! Cool!

We also spent a few late nights at a local bar (shocker for us) so Jon could have a nightcap and I could watching the Olympics. It was such fun and we got to be friends with the bartender (another shocker)!

We had many yummy dinners but sadly by early in the week I had met my fish quota for the week (and then some) so I had to eliminate fish from my choices....but the food was great! Most restaurants up there take advantage of all of the wonderful local farms and create their menus according to what is fresh that day. My favorite meal was at our favorite restaurant, The Boathouse . Wild salmon on a beet risotto with yellow beets and a blood orange burre blanc. Oh my amazing. The best dessert award goes to the local peach and blueberry cobbler at Amical in downtown TC. And oh yeah, I had my fair share of the local ice cream...Moomers. Hey, I couldn't drink the wine, so I got my buzz off peanut butter vanilla swirl. Fine by me.

We got to see my sister and the girls on Friday for a quick lunch and swim in the bay. That was so much fun to play in the waves with them. They are growing up way too fast. Emily asked how we knew it was a girl in my belly so I explained that the doctor could use a camera to see inside me and that the doctor was able to see the baby's vagina. She's six so I thought I could use the proper term but she asked "what's that?" and I looked at my sister who had her head in her hands and was laughing. I guess she'd heard that word before, but wasn't totally sure. It was hilarious!

Saturday was the day we came home but our flight wasn't until 7 so we had most of the day to kick around, go to the beach, etc. It was a perfect vacation with perfect weather and we hated to come back. The best news is that all was well with baby. She did great on the flights, great in the water and was nice and active the whole trip. I feel like she grew while we were there...maybe all that good healthy ice cream??!!