The North Point at Sunset
Wowzers!! What a trip!! Well, we finally made it back home from our annual trip to the cottage…and just like every other year – we cannot believe what a great time we had!! And since it worked fairly well last year, I decided to keep a short journal to remind me of what we did each day. That way I can get in as many details as possible without having to spend 3 weeks racking my brain trying to remember ‘what’ we did ‘when. What’s written below is not intended to win any literary awards…rather to explain just how much we were able to cram into our 16 day vacation. (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/location/etc. Hopefully this brings a little more enjoyment and information to this post). So…on with the show!!
DAY 1 (Saturday, July 12th)
Drove to Des Moines. Dinner @ Chips. Swimming and sleep!
DAY 2 (Sunday, July 13th)
Another day of driving…highlighted by getting fireworks in Indiana on the way to St. Joseph’s, MI. Dinner @ Texas Corral. The kids loved the hotel as I splurged and got them their own adjoining room! More swimming…more sleep!
DAY 3 (Monday, July 14th)
We slept in a bit, and made it to the cottage just after lunchtime. Spent the majority of the afternoon visiting with Cory and unpacking the car. Of course we had to get some food, etc., so we headed into Northport to pick up some supplies. And since neither I nor Jen was in the mood to cook, we headed in to the Blue Bird (bar) for dinner. Back at the cottage we relaxed while watching the sunset and playing “Jen Rummy”.
DAY 4 (Tuesday, July 15th)
Slept in late before having breakfast with Cory. We were able to spend a few hours on the beach before having lunch at the Happy Hour! Luckily we made it back to the cottage just before a huge rain storm hit (including the loudest lightning strike I have EVER heard!). Basically we just kind of lazed around the cottage before making burritos for dinner. We watched the sunset with the kids and then taught them how to play Flinch. Everyone stayed up late!
DAY 5 (Wednesday, July 16th)
Got an early start and headed into Leland to get some books from the library. When we got back we spent most of the day down on the beach. The clouds started rolling in so we packed up and headed into town for dinner. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Rick’s, and a little stroll around Fishtown afterwards. Back to the cottage for showers and an early bedtime for the kiddos. Jen and I enjoyed a quiet night and worked on a puzzle with a drink or two.
DAY 6 (Thursday, July 17th)
Spent the day in Sutton’s Bay with Uncle Cory. Got the kiddos some small gifts and had lunch at the Northern Grill. We got back to the cottage for some rest before Chinese take-out for dinner and a few games of cards. We also set off a few small fireworks before the kids went to bed. It was a great day altogether.
DAY 7 (Friday, July 18th)
This was by far our busiest (and best) day of the trip so far. We had a nice relaxing morning down at the beach…but since it was foggy and a little chilly, we decided not to get in the water. Around noon we headed to the Happy Hour for some chili and clam chowder (& raspberry pie for dessert!). After lunch the sun had finally broke through, so we spent the whole afternoon on the beach. We got cleaned up around 6 and headed into Leland for dinner at the Lodge. We had a great meal out on their porch. After dinner we headed back to the cottage for the night. It was a gorgeous evening so we decided to have a beach fire with the kiddos and Uncle Cory. The kids had a blast watching the fire, making s’mores, and lighting off fireworks. By the time we ended up kissing them goodnight, it was after 11:30!! Like I said before…a busy day indeed – but a great day as well!
DAY 8 (Saturday, July 19th)
Had a relaxing morning before loading into the car and heading to Glen Arbor for the day. Enjoyed a good lunch at Art’s before heading to Cherry Republic. Cherry Republic is a company that produces tons of products from (you guessed it) cherries! They have a wonderful cluster of buildings that are surrounded by gardens and trees. We ended up spending an hour or so walking around before heading back to the cottage. The rest of the afternoon was very relaxing, and since we had lots of leftovers in the fridge, we just stayed in and had a quiet, early night.
DAY 9 (Sunday, July 20th)
Spent a little time walking around Leland in the morning before going to the Happy Hour for lunch. After lunch we rushed back to the cottage to greet Grandpa and Granny Teen. The kiddos were so excited to finally have their grandparents arrive that they spent the rest of the day glued to their hips. We had dinner at the Blue Bird and played some Flinch before bed.
DAY 10 (Monday, July 21st)
Very quiet and relaxing day. G & G took Cameron and Ellie to the store and to grab lunch while Jen went into Leland to put the finishing touches on a paper she had been working on for school. That left the cottage to me and CJ. We read some stories and played with some toys before lunch and a nap. Everyone got back in the afternon and we just hung around the cottage and made a great BBQ dinner on the deck. We chatted until the wee hours of the morning before closing the book on the day.
DAY 11 (Tuesday, July 22nd)
Pretty relaxing day…Jen and I took Cameron and Ellie into Leland so I could pick up one of my favorite sandwiches from the Cheese Shop. Got back to the cottage for some lounge-around time on the beach before heading to the Happy Hour for dinner. Everyone was fairly whooped so we called it a night fairly early.
DAY 12 (Wednesday, July 23rd)
Woke up and took a walk up to the point…however CJ was a little cranky so I ended up heading back with him while the others trudged on. I had a nice talk with Cory on the beach while we waited for everyone to return. Once Jen got back, she and I headed out for our annual day of Wine Tasting!! It was a great time as always and we ended up visiting 8 different wineries before heading into Leland for an amazing dinner at one of our favorite restaurants…the Riverside Inn. After dinner we went back to the cottage where we enjoyed a nice sunset with the rest of the family. What a great day!
DAY 13 (Thursday, July 24th)
Got up and had breakfast before taking a walk up North to the point and frog stream. We spent a couple hours playing in the water and ‘re-routing’ the stream before starting the hike back to the cottage. Went into Leland and had a wonderful lunch at Rick’s with G & G. Once we got back to the cottage, the sun decided to come out…so we spent the entire afternoon down by the water. And for dinner, we kept a long-standing tradition going and had a wonderful meal in the dining room of the Blue Bird. We followed the meal with a sunset stroll on the docks. Back at the cottage I put on a fireworks display for the kiddos and then we played one last game of Flinch (Cameron won!). Another amazing day.
DAY 14 (Friday, July 25th)
Got up and going early so we could go eat at Kejara’s Bridge in Lake Leelanau. Cory is actually helping out the owners a day or two a week through the summer, so we were lucky enough to have him whip up our breakfast! It was a great meal and we headed back to the cottage with full bellies. Aside from hopping over to the Happy Hour for one last bowl of Chili/Clam Chowder, we spent the rest of the day on the beach. For dinner we had a Mexican fiesta and spent the night chit-chatting and playing games…dreading the fact we had to leave the next morning.
DAY 15 (Saturday, July 26th)
Got up at 6:00, headed out early and drove for about 11 hours before pulling into our hotel in Des Moines, IA. Ordered pizza and watched a movie before bedtime. Everyone was whooped, so we were all asleep before it was even dark out!
DAY 16 (Sunday, July 27th)
10 hours of driving until we finally made it home. Ahhhhhhh….Home Sweet Home!
I have sifted through the hundreds of pictures we took over the 2+ weeks of our vacation and created a short slide show. You can view the YouTube version below…or you can click here to view a higher quality version.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fftsHBbZ2wk]
We are a family of five, living happily in Colorado. And since we find ourselves running out of hours in the day, we built this little site to keep friends and family up to speed on what's going on in our lives.
Special pictures, special times. Great show.
Love, Mom
Just a few quick additions to Matt’s telling of our wonderful vacation (which he did an AWESOME job with…) )
“Jen Rummy” as Matt calls it is actually Gin rummy…only how I remember playing it (which apparently, is not the correct way). It is fun nonetheless.
Matt talked about the foggy days on the lake. It was amazing to wake up one morning and have it so foggy and grey that you couldn’t tell where the water ended and the sky started. It was all a blue/grey haze. I have never seen the lake that way before. It was surreal.
The night that we ate dinner at the lodge Cameron, Ellie & CJ made some new friends. Cameron & Ellie had the strolling guitarist playing songs like “Rubber Ducky” and “It’s Not Easy Being Green”. CJ was flirting with an elderly group that sat near us. He had them all wrapped around his little finger before we left for the night. It was one of my favorite dinners there.
Matt mentioned the paper that I had to finish up one morning…in case anyone was wondering, I got an A on the paper and an A in the class. Only two more elective classes to go, and I will have my masters. YIPPIE!!!
This vacation truly was a special one. I loved spending all of that family time together. It makes for wonderful memories.
I forgot to add a picture of the fog!! Thanks for reminding me!
Here’s a black and white version of one of my favorites:
The North Point – Fogged In
So wonderful to read, see, and hear all about the cottage time — thanks for not saying who got FLINCHED by his Grandson (and daughter-in-law and basically everyone else)… aghhh…
Give me another couple of years and I’ll get this game mastered; at least I can still stomp upstairs!!!!
Thanks for everything…. love… Dad, Grandpa
Wow, it looks like you guys had quite an awesome trip. It is so neat to get all of the details and see the great pictures. Wonderful job as usual.