Getting away from it all...

Hubby and I took off for a couple of days up to Traverse City.

Lessons learned -

a) go on trip in week. At the weekend the hotel costs $150 a night. During the week this drops to $59 a night. OUCH!
b) don't trust the internet that a place is still open. Picked out a gun/hunting shop for hubby to go to (I wanted to go to craft store so it seemed like a fair trade lol) only to find it was closed.
c) take sandwiches/a picnic to eat. It's quite a trip and snacks on the road are expensive!

Anyway - we did have fun. We splurged as hubby's workload is getting big and overtime will be a norm. He actually went to work today but at least he had Friday and Saturday off and we got away.

It seemed a lot busier than the last time we went. Also they have started charging for all parking spots. Sigh. We haven't been for a couple of years. It seems like others have 'discovered' this gem on the lake which might explain why the cost of the hotel had gone up.

We travelled up along one side of the peninsula to Mission Pointe Lighthouse which was under renovation.

 It was a beautiful day on Friday. The sun was shining brightly. We were really surprised when we got to the lighthouse that the lake was up so much further than the last time we had ventured there. There was barely any beach at all compared to the last time we were there.

We went out to eat that night at a restaurant. It was okay. Food was okay. Not great. Not sure it was worth the money we spent, but the food wasn't terrible. Next time we'll just eat somewhere else.

Saturday was a lot duller and cooler. Brrr. I actually wore my jumper and my zip up sweatshirt over the top. I even donned my fingerless gloves while I was taking pictures. Autumn is definitely in the air BUT the trees haven't turned colours yet. That was slightly disappointing but oh well.  Saturday we went up the other side of the bay up to Grand Traverse Lighthouse. We checked out the campsite while we were there as the lighthouse is in Leelanau State Park. The campground looks nice so we decided we might go there to camp next year.

The beach was fairly deserted. There were a few people still camping and a few couples walking about, but it was nice to have the place to ourselves. It was chilly though which could explain the lack of people about!

All in all it was a nice couple of days - relaxing. I have some plant/flower pictures to share tomorrow.