I'm BACK!

What a wonderful, relaxing, exciting, beautiful, awesome vacation!

The best part of the vacation is we got to do EVERYTHING we wanted to do, the weather was perfect, and we didn't blow our budget. :)

Traverse City, MI, was even more beautiful than I had imagined! Hills, lush forests, quaint villages, pristine waters, and art galleries of all types too!

Though some areas were geared towards tourists, we still managed to find tucked-away areas that were just our speed. In fact, one of my favorite spots was an unexpected find. On our way to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, we spied a little sign that read, "scenic drive." So we decided to take the scenic drive! The pictures above are from that drive. It took about an hour to complete the trip, but it was worth every second!

The photo on the left is of a carving in an old tree. Evidently Connie and Roger were in love in 1991! :) I hope they still are today too. The photo on the right is of an island perched in Lake Michigan. The aboriginals referred to this island as Alligator Island because is resembles an alligator lying in the waters.

I could go on and on about the shops, landscape, beaches and restaurants...but I will list a few of my personal favorites:

Moomers - homemade ice cream! This little ice cream stand is literally in the middle of nowhere...however, we had to stand in line for 20 minutes before we reached the counter...a little out-of-the-way, but well worth the drive! :) Yum! (try the orange-pineapple flavor!)

Murdick's Fudge - fudge! Need I say more?! Cute little shop in the heart of Downtown Traverse City offering over a dozen different flavors of homemade fudge. On the day we visited, we could watch the workers making the fudge on a marble slabbed table (very cool to watch!), sample a few bites of fudge, and were hypnotized by the fragrant mounds of fudge cooling in the display cases. We purchased a few slabs of fudge (peanut butter, chocolate cherry, double chocolate double nut, and rocky road).

Cherry Republic - a homage to all things CHERRY. Upper Michigan is known for its cherry orchards. In fact, it's pretty hard to go anywhere in this area and not see/smell/taste something cherry! I knew I had to partake in the world of cherry, and Cherry Republic suited the bill just fine. In their shop they has tasting stations for most of their products, the staff was friendly and they even offered shipping and a package holding area for customers. We purchased Hot Cherry Salsa....sweet with a touch of heat. Yum.

OK, I know it seems like all we did was eat in Traverse City! HaHaHa! But we did some non-eating activities too! :)

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm obsessed with handmade cold-processed soap. I also happened upon Cave Girl Soaps in the teenie town of Alden, MI. This tiny town hosts an "Evening Stroll" nite on Thursdays to entice tourists and the like for extended shopping hours. The town has a number of independently owned specialty shops, a restaurant, ice cream shop, live music, and street performers. Perfect for families (leave the stroller at home, many of the shops are too small to comfortably accommodate strollers), couples or a girl's nite-out!

Kayaking - Crystal River Outfitters - here we rented a couple of double-kayaks and took a leisurely paddle down the Crystal River. The scenery was spectacular and the waters were indeed crystal clear! I could see every fish, blade of grass and pebble on the riverbed! The staff was nice and helpful.

Wow! There's more too! I haven't even talked about the art! I'll save that for another post. :)