Vacation Recap: Part 2

Friday morning we slept in and then drank coffee and enjoyed snuggle time with Ella. I taught her how to do the fish face and she kept trying to do it. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

Our day was pretty low key. We had a leisurely morning drinking coffee. We swam with Ella at the hotel pool for a while. Then we got ready for the day and walked over to eat lunch at Pierson's Grille and Spirits.

I got the gyro and it was probably the best gyro I ever ate. SO GOOD. The cucumber dill sauce was out of this world. And bonus: We got to eat outside on the patio. My fave!

After lunch my parents went to watch Ella while Eric and Jess went to the rehearsal dinner. G, Brad and I sat on the balcony for a few hours drinking tea then switched to a glass of wine, talked and watched the zip liners. This little girl got stuck right over the pond so one of the girls working had to attach herself to the line, and pull herself over to the girl and then the guy she was working with pulled them in. It happened again before they finally fixed the line. Great entertainment!

We walked over to the Michigan store around 4:00 and did a wine tasting. We ended the tasting with Ugly Dog vodka and it was UGLY. Ew. It was so gross. Afterwards we met my parents in the lobby to head to dinner. We ran into the bride and groom and talked to them for a while.

We ate dinner at Weathervane in downtown Charlevoix. A few people had recommended it and it was amazing. We had beautiful views of boats passing. The bridge would have to come up for the big boats and it was very entertaining.  

But the real star of the evening was the food. It was fun because everyone got something different so it was neat to try everything. It was all incredible. My parents got this cherry rum soup and it was out of this world. And so pretty I had to take a picture.

G got the lamb chops and fries and they were spicy, but good. My SIL got these friend risotto balls that were delicious.

But my favorite was my lobster mac and cheese. I was debating between this and the Mediterranean chicken. The waiter told me to chose the lobster mac and cheese and I'M SO GLAD I DID. There were big chunks of lobster. Creamy, crunchy, savory cheese. It was incredible. Also, I chose my wine for dinner based on the pure fact that it was from South Africa and the waiter said "good choice." I felt very sophisticated, ha!

After that most amazing (and probably best meal of the whole trip) dinner we walked around downtown Charlevoix. It is such a cute town! We explored some of the cute shops. The setting was so perfect. Cute shops on one side. The harbor and boats on the other side.

We even stumbled upon a concert right on the water. The band was really good. There was also a car show going on. It was just so much fun. So much to see. The perfect evening!

That's pure Michigan right there!

Check out the bridge opening up for this huge boat. So cool!

Afterwards Eric and Jess went home to put Ella to bed. G, Brad, my parents, and I headed to Petoskey for sunset. We walked around the city and showed my parents around. We walked out on the pier and took in the pretty views and big boats.

Then we went to Palette Bistro for drinks and to watch the sunset. We really lucked out. We didn't have reservations so we didn't think we would get a table right by the window but we did! I ordered a peach martini and it so delicious. It was seriously such a fun night! We had gorgeous views and great conversation and we got to explore two of my favorite beach towns.

Not to brag, but we were quite the party animals. We got back to the hotel around 10:30 and went to Pierson's Grille to meet up with the groom, some of his groomsmen and the father of the groom. There was live music and good beer and good conversation. It was fun, but by 11:30 I was ready for BED. It was a great day!

Saturday morning was low key. We slept in. Well, I tried to sleep in. I seem to not be able to sleep in past 8:00 on this trip. But that's okay. We drank coffee on the balcony. My dad and I went to the gym and worked out for a while since it was down pouring. Then we swam with Ella for a few hours. She loves to swim so much! It's the cutest.

Then we took the chair lift (which was super scary, by the way) to the top of the "mountain" and enjoyed the gorgeous views. It was definitely worth it! The views were amazing.

We ate at the top of the mountain at the Eagle's Nest. The view was spectacular. Our waiter was super friendly. The beer and brat were pretty darn delicious. It was a fun lunch!

After lunch we took the chair lift down. I think that was even scarier which I am not sure why. I'm not even scared of heights. Maybe it's just the dangling with a bar as my only protection. It didn't help matters that the girl in front of us lost a shoe and jumped off and they had to stop the whole chair lift and her husband was yelling at her. Ahhh stressful. But we made it down safely and walked around a bit. We stopped in to Kilwin's for a tasting and each came out with a cone. It was so good! G and I shared s'more in a waffle. YUM! First ice cream of the summer! We sat on the Adirondack chairs at the pond and watched the fish jump.

The boys played some Corn Hole and Ladder Golf while my mom and I went up to start getting ready for the wedding. But this is getting really long so I'll talk about the wedding tomorrow!