Three Kids and a Dog: Vacation Time! (Part 1)

I took a little vacation last week from the blog. Like most summers now we took a week's vacation in Michigan and we were busy! We left after Austen's soccer camp late on Saturday evening so we'd have the whole week up there - Sunday through Sunday.

Sunday was a day of work - having a summer home is lots of fun but lots of work too! We had laundry and grocery shopping to do as well as finding some donuts and wood fired pizza at Isabel's in Saugatuck. We then returned home to clean (yes, we still have to do that too). We decided the kids deserved a break from all that working so we headed out early to Admiral Jack's for dinner and to watch the boats go in and out of the harbor.

The top of Mt. Baldhead

Monday was still a bit cooler so no beach but we did climb Mt. Baldhead in Saugatuck to climb 303 wooden steps. I didn't think the climb up was too bad but man did I feel that for three days afterwards! Going down steps was especially painful! To reward the kids, we were going to stop at the Root Beer Barrel but they only accepted cash (who uses cash during COVID?) so we had to settle for Dairy Queen. Tom and I had to get back because we were trying out a new winery - Modales in Fennville. We were meeting some friends who are our neighbors back home. We each ordered up a flight and some crackers and cheese and were pleasantly surprised with some of their wines and just the whole atmosphere inside and out. I was only disappointed we didn't have more time during the week to go back. We ended Monday with a dinner at Plank's Tavern in St. Joe.

Tom and I also made it up to Mt. Baldhead

Tuesday found us heading off to Detroit to explore this city rich in history but lacking in people. Maybe it was because of COVID or maybe the city is just in the beginning of making its comeback as a cool city but we can check visiting Detroit off the list. We walked the riverfront and the highlight of our day was attending the Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox baseball game. Unfortunately, the Red Sox lost but the stadium - Comerica Park was pretty cool with all of its Tiger statues. We stayed overnight at one of their hotels and had breakfast the next morning and then shut the door on Detroit after we drove up to explore some of their nicer neighborhoods like Grosse Pointe.

Sadie was being boarded at a kennel that was recommended by a friend who lives in Saugatuck and we didn't have to pick her up until the next morning so decided to travel a bit further to St. Joe and take a Surrey bike ride around downtown St. Joe. That was pretty fun as the five of us could fit in one bike. We laughed going down a big hill and watching Tom and Peyton who were in the front working very hard to pedal all of us! Needless to say it was a good workout before heading to The Strand on the Sister Lakes. We had always wanted to go because a friend of ours is a part owner but we hadn't found the time. Now we had the time and we were hungry. And, it didn't disappoint. We enjoyed a sunset-facing table and a Michigan Mojito and other fun drinks while we waited for our food.

Thursday we needed to pick up Sadie so everyone was up early. Stay tuned to hear how Sadie did at the kennel and also how we filled up the rest of the really long weekend!