We spent our first night at my grandpa's house in Grand Haven. A little pier fishing at sunset was awesome.
The next day we ate breakfast at Morning Star Café which I know from experience is a place to arrive before the crowds. It did not disappoint- stuffed French toast with raspberry sauce and a Southwest burrito (we split both). I dig their décor too.
Later that day we drove to Grand Rapids for my cousin's wedding. Any time our big family gets together we have a ton of fun. The hotel- the Amway Grand Plaza- did not suck either.
Classy bar, classy girl. Ha.
The next morning we headed out of town for northwest Michigan- a tiny town called Empire, right on the lakeshore.
We made a pit stop at the Cherry Hut (PUN INTENDED) in Beulah. I'd been there before as a kid. As much as I love lemons, I also LOVE CHERRIES. I'm normally not a pie girl, but when at the Cherry Hut, you split pie with your husband and you get ice cream on that pie just 'cause.
After settling into our cute little motel, we drove a few minutes to the Dunes trail of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Totally burned off that pie and thensome with climbing the massive dunes. The views were amazing, and if you're never had the experience of running/tumbling down a giant soft sand dune, you are missing out.
The last full day of our trip was spent at Mackinac Island, in between the lower and upper peninsulas. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island- it's either biking, hoofing it by foot, or hoofing it by horse. Such a cute old timey main street.
We toured Fort Mackinac. SEE I LEARNED STUFF while on vacation. From the fort we walked to Arch Rock, and then down below to check out the waterfront. The water is Caribbean clear and beautiful.
We walked around to the other side of the island and paid $10 admission to walk the grounds of the Grand Hotel. Yes, they charge $10 to even be on the property, but honestly it was totally worth it. This hotel is insane. Partly in a fancy pants way, partly in a the-view-alone-is-worth it. And partly in a they-have-super-posh-bathrooms-and-we-hadn't-gone-in-hours way.
We swung by the ice cream shop inside the hotel and got a scoop of Mackinac Island Fudge, natch, totes, obvs. and parked it on rockers on the massive front porch overlooking the bridge.
Picturesque moment. Ahhhhhh.
Took the 20 minute ferry back to our car and headed up to our final night's stay in Manistique. We swung by a surprisingly high end grocery store just a few yards from our motel and bought a traditional beef, rutabaga, and potato pasty to split, along with some pre-made salads. A pasty is a traditional upper peninsula food. Pronounce it PAH-stee, not pay-stee.
Oh yeah, and we tapped into some of the fudge we had bought earlier.
We ate a basic diner breakfast at Big Boy the next morning and hit the road for the long drive home.
Five days flew by and we packed in so much fun- family time, outdoor time, and time with each other.
(Awwwww)
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