Monday, August 3, 2009

A Weekend Away, MI Way


By the time we were finished cleaning up a few odds and ends on Friday, it was after 2 PM when we hit the road. Undecided which direction to head, we elected to spend our hard earned dollars in our home state and took north bound I-75 out of town.

At 6 PM, we were up near the tip of the ring finger. We'd thought about going a little further north into da UP, eh, but given how little we packed temperature wise, we were north enough. We landed smack in the heart of cherry country in the middle of the 5th annual Traverse City Film Festival. Not so bright given that we had no hotel reservations.


No worries though, we stayed on the street side of Grand Traverse Bay and snagged a room at the Hampton Inn. It was pretty chilly for July, but after dinner, we bought a bottle of Cab, 2 wine glasses and a bottle opener and walked across the street to a park. It was a perfect night to be out of doors, out of town and out of the car.


Saturday was cold and dreary but we didn't let that stop us. We got back in the car and drove to that inlet above the deer's tail, Charlevoix. It felt like someone had snagged up the residents of Grosse Pointe and dropped them smack in the middle of this town. We had lunch in a little spot near the marina where we watched yachts go in and out in the rain. I'm amazed anyone still has enough money in this state to operate those monstrosities, but they must.

Sunday dawned with a few beautiful clouds, but mostly sun and blue skies. We hung out at the beach that's part of a state park that includes a campground and a small stretch of beach. It was beautiful. The birds are a little aggressive while looking for food. There are no trash bins in this park-strictly a carry in and carry out policy, but that didn't stop those birds from looking. Some people were feeding the birds despite the signs requesting they refrain. Feeding the birds increases the chance that the beach will become polluted by e-coli. Makes perfect sense to me.


Locals say it's the coldest summer they can recall up north. Even with the sun yesterday, it didn't get much higher than 70 degrees. The breeze off the bay was chilly and I was thankful I'd taken a bit of wool along with me. We didn't take in any of the movies since we didn't want to be indoors. The festival did have one late night outdoor venue with a giant inflatable movie screen that showed older movies. Situated in the park along the bay, it looked like it would have been fun to watch a movie there if we'd brought coats, blankets and a lot more wool. Maybe next year.


Back home and refreshed, I'm thinking it's not so healthy to wait so long to take a mental health break and play footsies on the beach.

Photos: Michigan map courtesy of State of Michigan and Google Images. All other photos from Rudee K and a Nikon D40 Digital Camera

15 comments:

Rose said...

Glad you had fun. It's always so nice to get away. I'm back and shooing the girls to their other parents' so Steve and I can have some "quality time" now. Four days with my mom, stepdaughter, and both daughters and I'm ready for a little testosterone :)

Gail said...

Beautiful pictures and sounds like you had fun.

Stephanie V said...

Sounds like a nice, relaxing time. You don't have to go very far from home to be away, do you?

Lisa L said...

rudee it sounded lovely! i especially liked the part about grabbing a bottle of cab and drinking it outside :)...always, always good to get away from the 'norm'...whatever that is

Renie Burghardt said...

The pictures are gorgeous, and it sounds like you had a great time, Rudee. All refreshed, you'll be ready to take on the daily grind again.

Anonymous said...

Rudee, glad to see you had a great getaway. I just learned a few years ago where UP is, when I was there.
Wonderful pictures.
QMM

Brenda said...

It looks like you had the perfect weekend! The area looks beautiful and now you know that you can not go so long before doing it all again. All work and no play is never a good thing.

Darci said...

Cool summer?! Everyone on the bottom of the east coast is complaining about the hot weather.. We've been having a super muggy one. (so you won't hear me whine) At least you had lovely sunshine for your holiday though!

Joanna said...

Good to hear you had a relaxing time. I love the photo of the cloud with the deep blue center.

Jane said...

Looks like a lovely weekend, hope it did the trick

SkippyMom said...

Glad you had a chance to get away. I think everyone needs it once in awhile.

The last pic' is my fav' - so cute :)

sandy said...

Enjoyed reading all about your get away. Lucky you finding a room with the crowds around. And cute footsie pic, ha.

laurie said...

excellent! so beautiful. a sandy beach with a chilly wind...reminds me of Park Point in duluth.

i have a friend who lives in northport. next time, go there and see her!

Anonymous said...

Oh it sounds like you had a wonderful trip! I'm so glad. It's amazing that in July, it's cool enough anywhere for a sweater. Actually, that's how it is in Tahoe right now. My daughter has warned me to pack warm clothes.. THAT sounds like a little bit of heaven right there.

JamaGenie said...

I've heard it's been uncommonly cold up your way. So sorry - be glad to send you some of the heat we're having in Kansas! At any rate, glad you were able to enjoy yourselves in spite of the nippy weather!