We're Back.

And we're ready for another vacation. No, not really, but you know how it is when you get back from a vacation? You have laundry to do, stuff to unpack, and the re-entry into the real world. The world where you have to do real-world stuff like make your own dinner, pay bills, make your bed, etc. Oh yeah, and eat right and exercise. But let's not get too depressed this Monday morning...

The time up north was great. The weather, however, wasn't so great. I had visions of our group exploring Petoskey and the towns nearby wearing shorts, sitting in the sun with ice cream dripping down our arms, and having drinks and munchies on the patio of the house. Instead, we huddled in doorways of stores buying fleece sweatshirts and raincoats and hot coffee. It was drizzling rain most days, with a high temperature of 60 degrees.

You know what? It didn't matter. I should've known that my family didn't care. Give us a table with enough chairs, drinks, chocolate, and a card game, and we're just fine for hours. We were able to explore Petoskey, and Charlevoix, and Harbor Springs. The weather was good for sleeping too. We took long naps in the afternoons and slept like babies at night. The sun peeked out a couple times to offer some hope. And it never really poured rain so we were able to dash in and out of the car when we reached our destinations. Here's one place where we were able to enjoy a brief bit of sun:

This beautiful garden was in the back of a local furniture store. You can kind of see the bay behind us. Here's a better shot:

A picture of Mickey, my Mom and I:
We laughed a lot, ate a lot and drank a little (ahem). My Mom was also sure to remind us that we needed ice cream after dinner each night. Bless her.

The thing that became comical for us was the restaurants and their hours. We tried to go to one restaurant the first night, and when we pulled up the sign read, "We're closed." Closed? On a Tuesday night? Apparently it was only temporary. When we got back to our cars after eating somewhere else, it was open again. We began to take the whole closing thing personally when our favorite breakfast place was closed the next morning. We made the 25 minute drive to Charlevoix just for the french toast at Jullierette's. The sign on the door read, "Closed Wednesdays". What restaurants are closed on Wednesdays? We thought. We had to settle for a regular breakfast at a nearby diner. Then, that night, we got smart and called the restaurant where we wanted to go to for dinner. Our plans included going late enough to watch the sunset from this restaurant up on a bluff overlooking the bay. The sun was going to set at 9:30. The restaurant was closing at 8:00. It wasn't going to work. It didn't matter. We jumped into our cars, headed up to the restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful polish dinner. It didn't matter that we couldn't see the bay through the drizzling rain and fog. We had kielbasa, pierogi, and potatoes on our plates. All was good. We had to settle for a group photo inside:
We did end up seeing a good sunset on the last night we were there. I was sure to take a lot of pictures of the momentous event. Here are a few:

On Friday, Mike and Mickey went home, and Stein, my Mom, Rich, and I drove over to the west side of the state. Stein wanted us to see one of the golf courses he loves. We all saw why he loves it so much. While we ate a delicious lunch, we took in this view:

That night, we stayed in St. Joseph. It was a great night to sit outside and eat. And of course we had ice cream after dinner.

Like most vacations spent with family, it was another one that entailed food, family, and fun. Just what we all needed.