Spontaneous Lake House Weekend

I am not a spontaneous person. I like a plan. I like to know what to expect and I like to look forward to things. So when we were offered a weekend at a lake house on Wednesday G was all in and I hesitated. We have a few vacay days left so we decided to take full advantage and leave Thursday after work and take Friday off. How spontaneous of us! 

It all worked out seamlessly. We could take Manny to our friends house while at work and pick him up afterwards. I'm glad I married a spontaneous person because I would have missed out on a great weekend! Manny probably would have liked to stay home, but more on that later.

So Thursday after work we picked up Manny. He got to meet our friends dog, Gambit, and they ran around the yard and chased each other. So cute! It makes me want another dog. And a fenced in backyard.

We grabbed dinner on the way and got to the lake house around ten. We unpacked, watched The Wedding Ringer (some funny parts, but a little too crude for my liking) and then crashed. 

Friday we woke up around 9:30 and made coffee and went to the dock to enjoy the view. I love coffee on the lake. It just tastes better. It was supposed to be in the 70s, but it was in the 50s and pretty cold to hang out on the lake so we decided to head to Traverse City for some wine tasting. It was a short 45 minute drive down a country road with pretty scenery.

We decided to wine taste on Old Mission and our first stop was Black Star Farms. Their Be Dazzled was so light, crisp and bubbly we had to buy a bottle. There was a tour bus here so the place was packed. The smart couple next to us asked where the bus was going next so we wouldn't get stuck in the crowds again. After they left the wine tasting was peaceful and relaxing and the couple next to us had just got engaged. So fun!

We headed to Hawthorne Vineyards next. We had a girl that was on day 2 of working there and she was trying really hard. Bless her heart. I felt bad because we asked a lot of questions, but I guess we were helping train her? She was from Traverse City so she had lots of fun food recommendations and she did great.

We went to Brys next. This was our second time there since they built on a beautiful deck/lookout and it was cold and rainy AGAIN so we couldn't sit outside. Bummer!

The views were still pretty gorgeous. And we had a hilarious wine guy (I'm sure that's the technical name) do our tasting and he had us cracking up the whole time. 

We went to Chanteau Chantal afterwards. I had to take my obligatory picture in front of the barrel because tradition. 

After our wine tasting we tried brandy. It was TERRIBLE. Tasted just like a shot and I hate taking shots. The glasses were really cool though so we bought a few. For the bar, of course.

Next up we went to 2 Lads Winery. Fun fact: The 2 lads are two guys who both worked at wineries in Traverse City. One was from South Africa and one was from Grand Rapids. They both realized  they had the same dream to make wine and open their own vineyard so they joined forces and got funded by their father in law and opened this place. They even named wine after their father in law and mother in law. Cool, huh?

We ended with a beer tasting at Jolly Pumpkin. We lucked out because it wasn't crowded anywhere we went. We had great people serving us wine who knew a lot about it and who seemed to really enjoy their jobs. We could take our time. Enjoy the views. It was so much fun. This North Peak Raspberry Wheat is a new favorite of mine!

 We ate at Jolly Pumpkin afterwards. We were starved. We ordered truffle fries as an appetizer and they were EVERYTHING. So good! I'm not even a dip person, but that dip was to die.

G and I shared the Prosciutto Pizza and it was delicious. 

We drove back to the lake house, took Manny for a walk and then made tea and sat on the pontoon and relaxed.

We caught a gorgeous sunset. Gosh, I love lake life. And summertime. After the sun set we popped in Penguins of Madagascar. It was so cute. I loved it, but I'm biased. 

Saturday was a perfect day! We woke up to sunshine and warm weather so we made coffee and sat in the pontoon and read The Meaning of Marriage. It was so perfect. So relaxing. Manny was on the tie out exploring and we spent a good 1.5 hours out there.

We were coming up to the house to change into our bathing suits and poor Manny had an allergic reaction. His face was so swollen he could barely open his eyes. He looked like another breed of dog. Poor guy! I called our vet and they advised giving him Benadryl twice a day and after he took his first dose the swelling disappeared. 

We quarantined Manny to his cage for a few hours to rest and get away from whatever caused that allergic reaction. G and I spent the day on the boat reading and relaxing. It was perfection. 

We went inside and made tacos and checked on Manny and then headed back outside to read on the boat and listen to music. Around 4:00 it was so warm we grabbed the tubes and floated on the water. The water was surprisingly refreshing and we floated around the lake for a good hour or so. AMAZING.

G tried to take Manny out on the water but he wasn't having it. How angry does he look right there? He was just not having a good time on this trip. 

He may not be a water dog, but he is a boat dog!

We went in and ate leftover tacos and then enjoyed another gorgeous sunset. We watched Black Sea and I found it pretty boring. I think I fell asleep an hour in. It was so peaceful and quiet up north so I did a lot of great sleeping.

Sunday we slept in until 9:30 again. That is so rare for us! We are both usually up around 8/8:30. We drank our coffee on the dock one last time. Cleaned the house. Packed up the car and headed home. I wanted to stay for the day but it was raining and the forecast showed rain the rest of the day. Booo!  

While G drove I read The Meaning of Marriage out loud. We finished the first chapter, prepared for the study and had great conversation. I love this book so much already! Before we knew it we were home. We unpacked. Did laundry. G mowed. I grocery shopped for the week and G went downstairs to watch soccer and I caught up on some Parenthood. 

Manny hates driving in the car. He just stands the entire time looking uncomfortable. He will not relax as much as we try to get him to lay down. Or tire him out before. But he didn't get sick and that is a first! So with the allergic reaction. Lots of car time. Forced into the lake. I'm telling ya, this was not his weekend. How happy does he look to be home? He curled up in his chair. sighed deeply and passed out. 

It went way too fast, but it was a really fun weekend!