Glen Arbor Getaway

We headed to Glen Arbor for a four day weekend in mid-March. It was much needed! G and I needed some time away to relax and rejuvenate after a crazy few months. We jammed to 90s on 9 on the way there, obviously.

We took the scenic route and stopped in Frankfort to check out Stormcloud Brewery. My parents had said how good it was and it was only about 20 minutes out of the way so we had to check it out.

It did not disappoint. The beer was delicious! i had the Ale and loved it. I kinda wish I got a growler of it!

We shared a few apps. The brat bites, tater tots and smoked bacon and gouda dip. Everything was ahhhhh-mazing. But the dip was my absolute favorite. 

The drive to our hotel was so pretty. We drove by Glen Lake and it is just so gorgeous. It is on my bucket list to rent a house on this lake someday. So pretty!

We drove by the M22 Store and saw a "Free Wine Tasting" sign so we pulled in. We found out it's a Black Star Winery Satellite and I love that wine. Yum!

We checked into The Homestead Little Belle Suite. Fun fact: We stayed at Little Belle for our first anniversary 7 years ago. It was fun to be back celebrating 8 years of marriage.

The room was pretty much the same, but we had a Kruig which was so fun! Great coffee at a hotel? Win!

We unpacked and then walked to the beach. Champs on the beach must mean vacay.

The Homestead has such a pretty beach and a cute little bridge over the river to get to the beach. It was a cloudy day so we weren't going to get a sunset this night. We still had a nice time listening to the waves, drinking champs, and talking.

Then we went back to our room to clean up for dinner. We walked the 500 feet to dinner. Gotta love that, right?!

Compliments of the chef! This has only happened once before in my entire life so I was so excited! It was some kind of pastrami, pickle sandwich on french bread and it was bomb. Not something I would ever order, but so fun to try something new and it surprised me that I liked it.

G had a French 75 and I had a glass of white.

I made an excellent choice for dinner. It was the best pasta I ever had. Pesta basil gnocchi and I could eat that again and again.

G had the shrimp and lobster pasta and he liked it. He loved my meal more so we shared my meal because it really was the star of the show...er...dinner.

Friday we wine tasted. We started at Leelanau Cellars because they are a favorite. Always  friendly service and free tastings. But they also have amazing wine and we always leave with a bottle or two.

And the views are pretty insane. Lake Michigan never gets old.

After our first wine tasting we went to 9 Bean Rows for lunch in Suttons Bay. G and I shared the Parmesan truffle fries with garlic aioli and the spinach gnocchi. I was on quite the gnocchi kick this vacation and it was incredible. So delicious!!

Our next stop on our wine tasting adventure was 45 North. We had never been here before and it was so cute inside. The owner remodeled a working barn and it looked so nice. The wine was pretty amazing. I don't usually try red wines, but their reds had won awards so I tried them and they were the best I ever had. They also had the price to prove it. I'm sorry, but as good as the wine was I cannot justify a $50 bottle of wine. 

Next up was Aurora Cellars which is another place we have never been. It felt like a little slice of Italy which I loved. We were the only ones there and the lady serving us was just the sweetest. 

The wine was very good. This place also had amazing reds and it was cool to see all the wine being made.

And I was obsessed with this table. This is the kind of table I would love if G made for me someday. 

Next up was Northern Latitudes Distillery.  I was interested in the croissants from next door, but we decided to stop in and I'm glad we did. Our server served me a mini Bloody Mary and it was delicious. We also tried a mini Gin and Tonic and Lemoncello. So fun! 

We went to Boathouse Vineyards afterwards. Another place we had never been and our favorite stop of the whole day. We stayed here a long time. The owner was serving us and it was fun to hear his life story (after he retired they moved to Leland to buy a vineyard because of their love of wine) and why he decided to buy a winery (it was cheaper than just owning vineyards and more fun). The wine was so good.

The winery is on the river and the owner was showing us photos of all the concerts and parties they host in the summer. He talked about all the kayaks, canoes and jet skis that come by for some wine and we lamented all the party buses that now populate all these wineries. 

Last but certainly not least was Laurentide Winery. Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite wine and Laurentide had award winning Sauvignon Blanc so I was excited to try it. It did not disappoint. So good! And we really lucked out everywhere we went we had knowledgeable and passionate servers who loved talking about wine. Such a fun day!

When we were in Glen Arbor 8 years ago we had fried zucchini for the very first time at Boonedocks and have loved it ever since. So of course we had to eat fried zucchini where it all started after a day of wine tasting. INCREDIBLE. Just as amazing as it was 8 years ago!

We ended the perfect day with the perfect sunset. Perfection!

Saturday morning we ate our Leelanau Pie and Pastry croissants we had picked up yesterday. YUM!

It was a gorgeous day so we drove into town and walked from town to the beach. 

Then we stopped at Western Avenue Bar and Grill for lunch. I had a delectable Cosmo.

G and I shared a few apps. The sweet waitress talked us into ordering the fried green beans and they were incredible. I'm so glad we tried them. We also had the coconut shrimp which was also ahhhh-mazing. The food did not disappoint on this trip!

We drove back to the hotel after lunch and took a nice long hike in the woods. Did I mention how gorgeous the day was?

Every place we went we asked where we should eat and everyone told us this fancy French restaurant so we were going to go there... But it was getting close to sunset so we grabbed a pizza from Riverfront Pizza and ate on the beach. Much more our style and great pizza.

Another end to another perfect day. 

Sunday we lost an hour, but luckily we got extra late check out time so we could sleep in late. We checked out and then grabbed lunch at Art's Tavern. Glen Arbor had a big storm in August that we still saw debris from. The whole city didn't have power for weeks, but Art's ran a generator and stayed open during all this. I can support a place like that. It's a popular dive bar that everyone raves out. The food was good, a little expensive but the tater tots were out of this world. 

We drove the 4.5 hours it took to get home. We were still about 45 minutes from Manny's boarding place opening so we went to our favorite place for a martini. Riverhouse Inn has THE best martinis. I had the pom-pomtini and G had the cucumber gin martini. Both were amazing. They also have the best lobster artichoke and spinach dip. So good! A perfect way to end a perfect vacation.

We picked up Manny and came home. Can you tell how happy he was to be home? Ha! Such a fun weekend and much needed. Sorry it took a month to finally post about it, but life has been crazy.