South Haven

After a driving tour of South Haven after our Jellystone trip this year, Billy and I put South Haven at the top of our return to list.  So, when my mom offered us an overnight getaway, we knew exactly where we wanted to go.

It was a little chilly that weekend (compared to the days surrounding it) but not yet cold.  Our first destination was Admiral Jack's.  Sadly, they were not open, Google had lied.  So, we decided to go to the restaurant that brought us to South Haven early (we were saving them for dinner): Captain Lou's.  Disappointment of disappointments, they were closed for a private event the entire day. = ( 

We ended up at another fun restaurant instead, which was slightly sad, but turned out to be okay.  They had boat seating, but with the rain, we opted for inside.

As usual, we found lots of corporate art.

Billy found a new all-time favorite mac and cheese.

At one of our stops, they had the Chiefs vs. Cardinals football came on.  Of course, I root for KS, since Patrick Mahomes is a Tech Alum.  But then, calamity, they showed the Arizona coach, and guess who it was? Kliff Kingsbury!!!  All of a sudden, my loyalties were split in half.  Who should I root for? Win or lose, I still lose.  The Chiefs ultimately were victorious, but I hope the rest of Arizona's season went well for them and Kliff.  

Our inn had a very pleasant view of the harbor.  By going after Labor Day, there were very few people, so it felt, at times, like we were the only ones around.

We went to a wonderful breakfast place where Billy was able to get lunch, and I tried out an apple cider mimosa.  It was so good that I ordered a second.

Before leaving, we tried to go to Admiral Jack's one more time, without success.  And, knowing that Captain Lou's didn't open til 4, we peeked across the river, just to be sure, and much to our delight, they were open!  Google had lied again, but this time in our favor!!!

It was cold, but the small inside was full, so we sat as close to the building as possible.  I was thrilled to be there!!!

Once a table had been cleared off, we asked to move inside.  It was much more comfortable.  They have dollar bills stapled everywhere, and a big bucket of sharpies so that you can color one of your own, to leave your mark. = )

It was such a fun trip, and we are both torn between going back at our next opportunity, and going somewhere new, because it was such fun!

later days

Edit: posted closer to the date of the trip, for the sake of continuity.

Date in Kalamazoo

My mom has continued her gift of a monthly overnight get away for us, and this month was Kalamazoo. We had been to Kalamazoo before, by train, but did not have an opportunity to spend the night, so we went back and explored a different area this time (and visited places we couldn't last time.)

We stayed at a local renown bed an breakfast, called the Kalamazoo House.  We arrived before the 3pm check-in, but we were able to park our car and explore a bit.

Billy in line with the statues.

 

We were right next to an art museum, but did not take the time to go in.  We did appreciate the art installments out of doors though. 

We decided to give Hop Cat a 4th chance.  It was a decent walk, and when we arrived, wouldn't you know the doors were locked!  (Disappointed again)  Luckily, they opened at 3, and it was 2:58.  So, not being wimps, we stood out in the sun, on the step (we passed many a running car, with passengers waiting in the the air-conditioning in the parking lot) and as such, were the first ones in the door!

As for the meal, well, I was pleasantly surprised.  They had everything we ordered, and all of it was good!

We stopped by a place called Shakespeare's Pub.  They had dozens of beers on tap, and thousands of handles (including Shiner!) on the ceiling.  Sadly, they didn't have any "themed" menus or drinks, which is was I was wanting, so we only stayed for a drink or two, then headed back to the B&B.

A fountain that wasn't on, when we visited that November, was being visited by 2 ducks on this trip!

We went back to our home base and checked in.

Then we headed to the main event: an outdoor concert at the State Theater!

They did have themed drinks, and a free donut to to with them!

We stayed there for a couple of hours, the harmonica sealed the deal.  It was just like being out in New Orleans.  In fact, downtown Kalamazoo has an open container policy within a certain boundary!

We had an 8pm reservation at the steakhouse that we had missed out on, during our previous trip.  It was good food, and very good service, but Webster's' a very upscale hotel restaurant, not an independent find dining establishment.  

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The next morning, we enjoyed our breakfast on the porch of the B&B.  The weather was so humid and warm, it was like visiting Brennans's!

After eavesdropping on our neighboring table's discussion, we headed to the Kalamazoo farmer's market.  It was a little smaller (and less permanent) than the Toledo market, but we spent all the cash we had!

I had spied a Sonic cup the night before, and so we sought out the local sonic that was not too far away.

We wound our way back home on the backroads.  When we spotted another "village" we had to go check it out. It had a railroad instead of our lovely river, and not much in the way of shopping.  We agreed that Dimondale is much better. ; )

We were almost directly north of Battle Creek when Billy suggested we go back to the lake restaurant we'd seen driving into town (also on the backroads.)   We were about 30 minutes out of the way, but we made our way back to Gull Lake.

The food was good, the drinks were better, the company was the best. ; )

The pink drink was a pontoon punch, and the green one is a riptide (it was the best of what I tried, though I expected it to be blue.)

We enjoyed seeing all the sights and the beautiful countryside.  Michigan sure is green in the summer, almost green enough to make you forget about the horribleness that is winter, almost.

Grace's friend Zoey had given her a sloth in a package that she brought by, and it was waiting to say hi on my window sill when we arrived home.

We had a lovely, lovely time.  Billy is ready to go back, I still have too much of Michigan left to explore, but I'm sure we'll be back someday!

later days

14th Anniversary: Ann Arbor

For our 14th Anniversary, my mother generously offered us a night away from home to celebrate.  We settled on Ann Arbor.  Billy's grandfather went to college at U of M, but Billy had never been.  Since WGJ all see the dentist on campus, I'd been many times (including earlier this same week!)

We left home around noon, which was too early to check in to our hotel, so we decided to tour the area nearby.  The first place we found was a German restaurant, so we stopped in for lunch.  The bartender told us that they serve beer in boots in the basement, but they don't open the basement until 6.  So, we made plans to return.

It was still not quite time to check in, so we walked around and found some corporate art! (it was the only one we found during this trip.)

I took the "secret" pat between sidewalks.

It was finally time to check in, so we went back to the hotel and got settled, before heading to our axe throwing appointment!

The first building we saw with U of M identification. 

We were early, so we checked out a nearby "arcade" just like the ones we remembered from Leeds.  Then we spent some time in the HopCat.  They are doing a good job of social distancing and limited seating everywhere.

The axe throwing was a cool experience.  We actually had the owner as our "guide" and he taught us how to throw and gave us tips on how to improve. He even took over my stall when my arm got tired, so that Billy wouldn't have to throw alone. = )

Next, we went to a recommendation from our guide, one of his local favorites, Ashley's. I could see campus from my seat.  They had march madness on every screen.  Tech won, which helped make the day even more enjoyable. 

Our next stop was a bookshop.  I found several titles that we were missing in our Geronimo Stilton series, and even one of our school books for next year!  We went kind of late, and the shop owner had to come through and kick everyone out, so we closed down the book shop!

Our final stop of the evening was the keller of the Heidelberg.  We each got a boot and had a good time.  Then, it got really really busy.  Like pre-covid busy.  It cleared out pretty quickly, but it's definitely the most "dangerous" place we've been since this pandemic started.

On our way to the Heidelberg, we saw a Mexican restaurant with swings at the bar!  They had a line out the door, and we were heading somewhere else anyhow, but I knew exactly where I wanted to go for lunch on Saturday!

A spiced pineapple drink, with very pretty toppings!  We didn't have enough time to eat, since we started chatting with the owner, but the queso was so good.

We left Ann Arbor from there.  It was such fun trip!  We headed to Kroger to pick up our order, and then went to a restaurant that surprised me when I did a google map search!  I'd driven by the sign dozens of times, and had no idea there was a restaurant in the middle of the sports complex!  

The food was quite good, and we were both hungry after missing out on the Tejanas Fajitas.  

Once we finished our meal, it was finally time to go home and see our dear ones!  It was such a great trip, and we couldn't help but think that a couple of our children might be students there in just a few short years!

It's wild to think that we've been married 14 years, because the time truly has flown.  We don't have any thing in particular planned for next year just yet, but as long as we spend it together, I know it will be awesome!

later days

You can see our anniversary celebrations here:

13th Anniversary- The trip that wasn't

12th Anniversary - Toledo
11th Anniversary - St. Louis
10th Anniversary - Fish Grille, Waxahachie
9th Anniversary - Ft. Worth
8th Anniversary - Arby's
7th Anniversary - Hookah bar
6th Anniversary - Thai Chili
5th Anniversary - Carino's - Waxahachie
4th Anniversary - Flemming's Steakhouse @ City Centre
3rd Anniversary - Dinner Movie Theater
2nd Anniversary - Le Mistral
1st Anniversary - Paris
Recap of 1st-5th

East Lansing for a Valentine's Day Celebration

My mom offered to watch our crew so that we could go overnight again.  We decided that the bed and breakfast we'd seen at the Jazz festival would be a good time.   Despite booking a month out, the room we wanted was occupied for Valentine's weekend proper, so we waited an extra week to get the room we wanted.

We arrived a little before check in, so we walked down to a very neat bookstore, that we'd visited on the BATYOT a few years ago, so that I could look for books for next year.  I found one, and several titles that I've already purchased, or that we used this year.  = )

When we went to check in, there were letters with guest names and instructions sitting on the table.  It had a very murder mystery feel, with no host. ; )

Our room was the safari room, and it was lovely.

Hallway.

Our room & bathroom.

Even a cute little balcony that would be perfect for morning coffee, if it weren't 10 below freezing and covered in snow.

We started the night at HopCat, because they had a nice beer menu that Billy was looking forward to, but we failed at selecting the correct location and looked at the Ann Arbor menu instead. = (  After trying one or two of the ones at this location, we moved to the Jolly Pumpkin.  It is definitely somewhere I want to go back to, though this trip didn't leave me with the best impression.  I think knowing what type of place they are now, I would go back and try something new. = )  We next went to a very typical college bar, the music was so loud we were shouting, and half of the playlist was from our own college days (20 years ago.)  We only lasted one drink, and then decided to go to "No Thai," a place that we saw on our walk to the bookstore, to settle whether or not they served Thai food.  They do and it is so good.  These two old people then called it a night and went back to our room.

The next morning I was up and waiting for breakfast to start (what?)  The breakfast was so good.  We then had time to kill in our room, and actually checked out before the end time!  Our next stop was a local coffee shop, but they were busy, and we had groceries to collect from two places!  

On the return trip to the car, we found some corporate art, and I just couldn't help myself!

Impressive icicles on a house across from the b&b.

It was a lovely trip, and my mom has generously offered another outing for our Anniversary next month, so we will go explore Ann Arbor in March!

later days