Dan and I took off to Traverse City, MI for the weekend to go on the wine tour and get out of Lafayette for a couple of days. The trip started off as a disaster on Friday. We drove up there in the pouring down rain, 6 hours to the Northern coast of MI. My allergies were driving me nuts! We got up there, and Dan headed to the hotel hot tub/pool, while I ran across the street to the Walgreen's. I got over there, and realized that the power was out at Walgreen's. It didn't take me long to realize that the power was out in the whole TOWN. Dan was locked in the pool, because the electronic swipe keys didn't work without power. Hey, at least he had his BlackBerry with him, he could text, email and take pictures of himself to pass the time! Ha! He finally got out of the pool, and although the power was out for 3 hours, it did eventually come back on, and we were able to go to eat and have a few drinks before it got too late.
In the midst of all this, my sister called to tell me that my mom was in the hospital. She had fallen in the back porch of their house in Twelve Mile, and broken her leg. Dad was in Puerto Rico traveling for work, and Elizabeth was 1.5 hours away with two babies. My brother-in-law ended up going to pick her up, and brought her back to my sister's house in Lafayette. What a mess!
Had dinner Friday night at the North Peak Brewing Company, where we indulged in some amazing bleu cheese, dried cherries and pecan dip, and reuben sandwiches. It was delicious. Dan indulged in some dark, seasonal beer from this brewery, but as I'm not much for brewery beer, I stuck to iced tea.
We got up the next morning and headed out for a drive, up the Northeastern shore, to see some beautiful scenery and a lighthouse. Then, off to the wineries for some wine tasting. We tried lots of different kinds of wine, and ended up bringing home about 10 bottles of different kinds. We're anxious to break into some of them and share!
Below are some pictures from our trip:
The lighthouse. Not exactly what we pictured, but it was really neat to go up in it and see. The lighthouse was actually built INTO the house.
As you can see, it's a REALLY tight squeeze to get up there. Very narrow ladder, and not much room up at the top.
The view from the top.
There were definitely some unique tree formations up there, too.
This one was right outside the lighthouse. Really neat branches all the way up the tree, they were curved upwards, with leaves only on the ends of them.
This was at the Black Star Farms winery. They were the only winery that had their vineyard draped with mesh cloths. We're guessing to protect the grapes from either bugs, or frost, or both. ?? No one really gave us a clear answer on that. It was a pretty sight, though!
This was taken at the Ciccione winery, where Madonna's father is the vinter. MUAH!
If you've ever been to a store (Meijer sells it) and seen wine bottled with Madonna's picture on the label, it is made in Leelanau, MI. It's a beautiful winery, and although a little expensive, the ambiance there is great! Wine wasn't of my liking (they only make dry wine), but Dan indulged in some. In case you didn't gather, the guy drinks pretty much anything. :)
This was also at the Ciccione winery, he was having a flight at the bar there.
This was at the Shady Creek winery. Beautiful scenery in the background, you can see Lake Michigan pretty clearly in the background.
The trees were all changing, and the fall colors were absolutely gorgeous! :)
At another winery (I don't remember the name.....we went to about 8 different ones!). They had a patio out back that you could sample a flight of wines, complete with your choice of cheeses and crackers. Probably some of my favorite wine. We bought a couple bottles there. "Serenity" was the name of my choice.
Another view from the car.
We went bar-hopping downtown Traverse City that evening. The table that we chose to sit at had a hanging bat (in honor or Halloween) hanging right by Dan's head. He got the pleasure of staring this guy in the face all night long. We parked the car in a parking garage that night, and took a cab home. Dan graciously offered to jog to the car the following morning to retrieve it. He got about 3 miles into his run, realized it was further than he thought, and decided that perhaps a 5+ mile run the morning after doing a wine tour probably wasn't something he wanted to do again.
First hole....Rick and Rhona
Dan and I
And as you can see, dark, too. This was near the end. Good thing, b/c I think that was the last beer in my cooler! :) 
Dan and Nannaw. Yep, she's 93, and will be 94 January 2. Doesn't she look amazing?
I picked up Olivia from daycare on Wednesday. I walked into the room, and she was standing in front of a refrigerator with her face pressed up against the side of it. I looked at her, and she had a soaking wet face, and had tears STREAMING down her cheeks. She had swollen eyes and her face was all flushed and pink. The daycare ladies said that she had been crying most of the day. She ran right over to me and lifted her arms. She wanted me to pick her up. I did, and she wrapped those little arms around my neck and squeezed as hard as she could, laid her head on my shoulder and just sobbed...... It broke my heart. I finally got her calmed down and said, "Guess who is waiting in the car?" She got a huge smile on her face, her eyes lit up really big, and she said, "DAN!!! Let's go see Dan! I want Dan!" It was soooo cute! She loves and adores him, and is always excited to see him! 