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The kids gave Kevin a chartered fishing trip on Lake Michigan for Christmas and we were able to take advantage of it last weekend with Joe and Christin. Kevin flew directly to Lansing from the AMA and I joined them Thursday night. We drove to Traverse City that night from the airport and rewarded ourselves with a beer at Right Brain Brewery (good choice Christin!)
We started our "It's Christin's Birthday!" Friday with breakfast at The Omelette Shoppe-- we all agreed it was in the top 5 of breakfasts of all time--I didn't expect a variety of Eggs Benedict (from lump crab with boursin to creamed spinach and mushroom) with a side of fresh squeezed orange juice. Again, way to go on doing your homework, Christin!
Stoked up on great eats, we hit the road to the peninsula and headed to the lighthouse with stops at the wineries there and back. The peninsula is narrow and much of the time you can see water on each side.
The vineyards and views were awesome and went head-to-head with Oregon that is for sure! We started at 2 Lads where you can see below, the view was stunning!
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| Birthday girl :D |
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| 2 Lads start us off in style |
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| Chateau Chantal |
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I had no idea what I was in for exploring this beautiful peninsula all day
(I was focused on getting the best hotwire deals for hotels and hadn't looked past my glasses to the map!) |
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| Can't beat the view or the company |
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| Its pretty amazing how I've relied on my Columbia gear this year! |
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| It doesn't get any cuter :D We loved the oak barrel tasting room. |
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| Learning about barrel time from a great young vintner at Brys |
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| Brys patio |
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| We made it to the Lighthouse and walked the beach a little as the sky cleared |
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| Sand swept shores |
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| The sun was shining and we had a blast exploring all day with Joe and Christin :D |
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| Joe stopped at the Coast Guard Maritime Museum so we could get to the beach again later that day |
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| Love this ! |
On to Sleeping Bear Dunes-what a natural wonder!
Sleeping Bear Dunes
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| We started upward on the sand mountain and were fooled by the never-ending crests--"just one more hill" to see Lake Michigan on one side and Crystal Lake on the other side. Admittedly, we didn't go very far but we did get the fabulous view |
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| 35 miles of sandy shore formed by wind and water |
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| Enjoying sand and sun today! |
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Never ending sand dunes….really amazing!
As if this weren't enough we made a bee line for a pub serving great food, great beer and televising Women's World Cup….
We landed at Sportsmen's Irish Pub in Luddington and convinced them to turn one of (twelve?) TV's to the US Women's soccer match. We loved our food and cheered them on :D Christin had played with one of the players on the US team.
We settled into Grand Haven, said goodnight and set our alarms for 5 am--Joe promised our Captain we'd be at the dock by 5:45 to fish tomorrow! (Right, that's why we came….I must have been drinking today!)
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Our Captain for the day was Dennis and his charter service is called Old Grin's
Dennis is a friend of Bill (Joe's department chair) and has a seat on the Great Lakes Commission -which is a presidential appointment More importantly he's a great guy!
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| Up before the sun |
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| I wonder if we have enough rods? |
James, the first mate, set up 13 rods off the back of the boat. The fish are biting at certain temperatures and it changes a bit with the day's conditions. We decided the "order" Christin, Kevin, myself and then Joel--and waited for a fish to bite!
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| Fish on! |
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| Joe checks it out |
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| Nice catch Kev! |
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| Christin's friend said this was a "Ralph Lauren" ad--I agree! I didn't look nearly as put together in my wool headband, and smart wool top and bottoms |
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| Really beautiful fish! |
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| Blood was shed--she needed to hold it long enough for me and for Dennis' picture cam above! |
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| Nine fish in all today! |
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| They generally go with the "color of the water" on any given day--whether its bluer or greener . At least thats what he said, but these are orange and lime :D |
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| Weigh -in-the moment of truth for Kevin and Christin |
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| We had a close call between Christin and Kevin's fish, but Christin got the "Old Grin" hat of the day for biggest fish! |
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| Captain Dennis does the honors |
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| Lake trout, steelhead and chinook |
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| Returning to harbor |
It was about 58 degrees at 5:45 but obviously out on the lake there is wind and on this day, clouds. Christin and I got chilled after 6 hours and were really really glad it hadn't been colder. We watched James, the first mate, fillet the fish on shore and then took a smaller bag of fresh salmon and lake trout to Old Boy's Brewhouse where they cooked our fish three ways…..amazing!! The restaurant was named after their favorite old dog and dedicated to all things "dog", in a very cute way. Diners are welcome to bring a pic to share on the walls and Leo was up there with the best of them!
After lunch (and warming up with coffee and tea…and beer) Christin said "well, if we have enough energy " we could go to the opening of the Japanese Garden in Grand Rapids. This is really taking on Portland now!
It truly was the opening day of a four year project and it is beautiful. We did what we could in an hour or so, and then dragged ourselves homeward. One more stop to a brewery in a church and all dropped into bed that night!
On Sunday, we slowed down at their house. Joe and Christin made us venison sausage, (Mike's secret recipe) so good! and french toast with Joe's maple syrup. How many people do you know that would tap the backyard tree? It was fabulous :D
Because it was raining so hard we went to the Jurassic Park movie and home to walk the dogs.
Suddenly we came upon this lovely group of doe with fawns.
Leaving is so hard-but we had three fun-filled days with Joe and Christin in "Pure Michigan". I can't believe how beautiful and diverse it is and so happy to have the chance to experience Lake Michigan and fishing five miles out in 225 foot of water!
I know Kevin had the experience of a lifetime, which was the kids' goal. Lastly, we filled another colorful page in the old memory book :D
Sending our thanks and love to Michigan--we'll be back!
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