The time of our lives…

Posted by Matthew on Aug 14, 2007 in Blog, Family, Vacations | 7 comments

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WHEW!!! Well, we’re back home…and we just can’t believe what an amazing vacation we had!! In an effort to get in as much of the details of our trip, I kept a short journal to remind me of what we did each day. It’s not intended to be the most thrilling read ever, but rather to explain just how much we were able to cram into our trip. (Also, in an effort to make it more interesting, and to help those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, I have included numerous hyper-links throughout the journal that will take you to a website devoted to that specific restaurant/winery/location/etc. Hopefully this brings a little more enjoyment and information to this post). So…without further ado…

Our Trip:
DAY 1
Nebraska. Rain. 670 miles. Stayed in Des Moines. This day ranks right up there with the time I got my butt kicked in Middle School.

DAY 2
Today was a vast improvement over yesterday. Short trip, and rolled into our hotel in Manitowac, WI around 3:30pm. Had a nice swim at the hotel and a nice dinner in town.

DAY 3
Today was ‘Boat Day’…and suffice it to say, I think it will be the last time we take the Car Ferry from Wisconsin to Michigan. Don’t get me wrong…I’m glad we did it, but it just wasn’t exactly what Jen and I were expecting. We were on the ship for over 5 1/2 hours, and the only thing worse than the 100% humidity in the cabin, was the 98 degree temperature to go along with it. Their website states it’s ‘The Best Way to Cross the Lake’…apparently they forgot to add ‘While Sweating Through 3 Shirts’ on the end. Also – exactly HOW MANY ways are there to cross the lake anyway!?! I was a grump all afternoon After the boat, we made pretty good time up to the cottage but still missed the sunset. We arrived at 9:30pm and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Dad and Tina and friends. It was so nice to arrive safe and sound!

DAY 4
Cameron and I dropped Cory off at work in the morning and then we all spent the majority of the afternoon on the beach. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner of shrimp, corn on the cob and salad on the deck. After numerous drinks with Cory and Holly, Jen and I decided to finish the night off with some ‘night-swimming’ at around 12:30am…what a blast (and a little spooky too)!!

DAY 5
Ran into the hardware store with Dad in the morning and then visited the Happy Hour! Ahhhhh…nothing beats the Happy Hour for lunch (except maybe the Happy Hour for dinner – or the Happy Hour for both lunch and dinner!). After a short trip into town with Jen to pick up some groceries, we headed down to the beach for the afternoon. For dinner, we cleaned up and went into Leland for dinner at the Lodge. It was a great meal and we ended the night with a rousing game of Flinch!

DAY 6
Loafed around the cottage in the morning and then headed in to the library to pick up some books for the kiddos. It rained briefly in the afternoon, but that wasn’t enough to stop the kids from getting in the water. Everyone but me took a walk to the point to play around in the frog stream and on the sand bar…(I intended to ‘rest my eyes’, but woke up 2 hours later which is why I missed the walk). We had another WONDERFUL dinner on the BBQ of salmon/brats/corn/etc. After some drinks on the deck, it was time to call it a day.

DAY 7
Got an early start on the day and had breakfast at Kejara’s in Lake Leelanau. Jen and I took the kids into Leland after breakfast for some shopping around Fishtown. The highlight of that trip was that we bumped into Mario Batali who is one of the chefs on Food Network!! Jen, CJ and I took Dad out for a bowl of Chili (Clam Chowder for Jen) at the Happy Hour in the afternoon and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day swimming. Pizzas from the Blue Bird for dinner…and a few games of ‘Jen’ Rummy brought a great day to a close.

DAY 8
Calm lake all day. Numerous canoe trips with Jen and the kiddos. Jen actually tried her hand at fishing, but was only able to catch seaweed The kids were on the beach from around 7:45 until 3:30 today! Cameron helped me polish a petoskey (or ‘batashkeey as Ellie would say it) that he brought home as a souvenir. Had a great pasta dinner at the cottage and a relaxing night with the fam.

DAY 9
Today was one of my favorite days of the trip…WINE TASTING!!! After hanging out on the lower deck in the morning, Jen and I headed out around noon and spent the rest of the day hitting 7 different wineries, having an absolutely fantastic time in the process. Our favorite, as always, was Chateau Chantal, however we also enjoyed Blackstar Farms and Brys Estates. We ended up buying over 3 cases of wine!! It was such a fun trip! We got back to the cottage just in time to head to the Happy Hour for dinner! What a great day

DAY 10
Happy Birthday Dad! After sleeping in, Jen and I took the kids into town to walk around a bit, and then met Dad and Tina for Lunch at Rick’s (on the dock). We had a great lunch and then headed back for a little ‘beach-time’. And since D & T didn’t get enough of the kids yesterday, Jen and I left ‘em with them again and headed out for dinner at the Riverside to celebrate our 8th Anniversary (a bit late). In short, it was the best dinner we’ve had in years (Jen claims it was her favorite EVER!)…we sat ouside by the river and enjoyed appetizers, 2 bottles of wine, and some of the most amazing Tenderloin ever. Stopped by the Tavern to say hello to Cory on the way back to the cottage. A truly special evening!

DAY 11
A mellow day complete with relaxing in the cottage…and – surprise, surprise – plenty of time on the beach and in the lake. I helped Dad finish up the new counter top for the kitchen and then we all proceeded to clean up for the annual trip to the Blue Bird for dinner to celebrate Dad’s birthday. We had the best table in the restaurant, and had a truly memorable meal. After dinner, we walked along the docks and watched the sunset. Drinks, Flinch!, and yet more ‘Jen’ Rummy put the cherry on top of a great day.

DAY 12
Had to say goodbye to Dad and Tina in the morning, as they headed back home. It was sad to see them go, and the cottage felt empty without ‘em. Jen and I took the kids down to Glen Arbor for the afternoon. We had a good lunch at Art’s, and then spent a while hanging out at the Cherry Republic – which has over 150 cherry products!! After a great time in town, we headed back to the cottage for some time on the beach. Cory got home from work and we skipped into the Happy Hour for dinner. Everyone was kinda pooped so we called it a night early (11:45!).

DAY 13
Laaaazzzzzyyyy morning spent in the cottage. We went into Fishtown for some last minute shopping and met Cory for lunch at the Cheese Shop. We headed back to the cottage and spent the rest of the day on the beach and in the water trying to ‘soak’ up as much of it as we could since it was our last day. Interesting tid-bit…Cameron and Ellie got in the water EVERY DAY of our trip!! I cannot remember a time when Cory and I were able to pull that off as kids…it seems as if there was always at least one really crappy/rainy day…but alas, the kids did it!! We got dressed and headed into the Happy Hour for the 5th and final time (thankfully, as the numerous bowls of chili were starting to take their toll!). Jen and I got the kids to bed and finished packing in time to sit on the lower deck, enjoy a bottle of champagne, and watch the stars until after midnight. What a perfect ending to our stay at the cottage.

DAY 14
Headed out early and rolled into Decatur, IL around 3:30. First stop was a visit to my Uncle Chris and Aunt Janet’s house. It was a great visit and they made us feel soooo special by having planned a little birthday celebration for the kids. We had a nice talk over cake and ice cream while the kids opened their presents. The highlight of our visit had to be when Chris proceeded to give CJ his first solid food by letting him lick icing off his finger!! After saying our goodbyes, we visited my Grandma and Grandpas gravesite in Decatur. It was 100 times harder than I thought it would be, but I’m glad we did it. Next on the list, was a dinner with My Uncle Charles and Aunt Cathy. After checking into our hotel, they met us in our room and we introduced them to Ellie and CJ. The kids absolutely LOVED their Great-Uncle and Aunt. We had a fun dinner at Bennigan’s (eating more than I thought humanly possible!) and headed back to the hotel to say our good-byes. Considering we were only in town for a few hours…it was one of the best times we’ve had in a long time and it was great to be able to see our family. Feeling fat, exhausted, and fat – we hit the sack around 11:00.

DAY 15
550 miles of blah. The bright spot was picking up $200 worth of fireworks in Missouri Swimming @ the hotel followed by pizza and a movie in our room at night.

DAY 16
Home Sweet Home!

So…as you can see, it was one of the most amazing…tiring…perfect…fattening…busy…fun…memorable trips we’ve ever taken. I can’t believe it’s over, and I find myself already longing for next year! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the slideshow of some of the 200+ pictures we took on our trip!

Take care,
Love,
MJCE&CJ