My Trip Up North

Ok, here I am, back at my trusty computer. I must admit I did suffer a couple of hours of withdrawal from it but did manage to survive!

Anyway, we arrived home yesterday from our trip to the Boonies. Or should I say Boynies since we went to Boyne Falls? We had a great time even though we never saw the sun from Sunday morning until Friday morning. And it was COLD!! In the 50's most days and down into the 40's at night. Also rain most days. Ugh! But, we still managed to do and see a lot.

We left here at about 8:30 AM Saturday morning. Our first stop--well, outside of a couple of rest areas--was in Standish, Michigan where I grew up. I wanted to have lunch at Wheeler's Restaurant. Now, you have to understand that when I was growing up, Wheelers was THE best restaurant in Standish. Ok, so there were only two restaurants, what can I say? But, I only remember eating there once because it was too expensive for us. Now, when I go in there, I kind of laugh at thinking it was so exclusive. Lunch for the two of us cost about $14 Saturday. I would imagine lunch for two 5o some years ago was a LOT cheaper than that. I guess it is all relative, huh. Anyway, one thing I do remember about Wheeler's is that some of us were hanging out at The Bakery (the other restaurant) and one of our friends came dashing in saying that she had just seen Charlton Heston at Wheeler's!! He had a cottage at Lake St. Helen farther up the road and had stopped there for a meal.

Here is the main street through Standish. Impressive, huh. Yeah, that's what I think too.

I actually stopped at Wheeler's because I wanted to pick up some Cinnamon Bread. This is the same recipe that they've used since I was a baby. I grew up on it. And it is sooooo good. Nowadays, Wheelers and The Bakery are owned by the same people so they both carry baked goods. Wheeler's didn't have the bread so I scooted around the corner to the Bakery and sure enough, there were lots of loaves and sweet rolls etc. OMG, did that bring back memories! I got a couple of loaves and some rolls and then we were on the road again. But not for very far. I wanted to stop at the cemetery. This is where my parents and my sister in law are all buried.


Then it was on up north. We got to Bob's about 2:30, unpacked, had a glass of adult beverage out on the porch, went into Boyne City for some groceries, then back to the cottage for a dinner of Bob's yummy meatballs and egg noodles--again on the porch. We then walked down to the lake. We should have enjoyed the view longer since we never got back down there again due to the weather.

These clouds were just a view of the weather to come!!

It did storm that night but Sunday morning was nice and sunny. Cool but sunny. The cottage is out in the middle of the woods and the birds were singing like crazy.

This is a view of 3 of the 5 cottages. All are alike. Very homey and in a beautiful area of northern Michigan.

On Sunday, we headed to Petoskey and then up to Cross Village. Petoskey is right on Little Traverse Bay and is known for it's "summer cottages". These are NOT cottages, folks. These are beautiful, big, Victorian houses loaded with "gingerbread". We drove through some of the streets where these houses are. They are beautiful! Apparently, since they are "only" summer cottages, the streets that they are on are blocked off in the winter. The weather was rapidly going down hill. We drove to Cross Village through the "Tunnel of Trees" which is a beautiful drive along Lake Michigan. By the time we got to Cross Village, it was raining. Since it was Father's Day and I was with two dads and we were all hungry, we stopped for lunch at Leg's Inn in Cross Village. This place is amazing. Do check out the link. It was started by a guy who had been born in Poland so much of the food is Polish. And yummy! He was also a carver and made all kinds of things from wood.

The sign outside of Leg's Inn

One of the sculptures at Leg's Inn.

Some of the carvings in the bar.

I felt like I was back at CROW.

The gardens out back of the restaurant were beautiful. I took this during a brief respite from the rain.

Here is Bob coming out of Leg's Inn.

We drove back to the cottage and all of us went down for naps. That evening we had chili for dinner out on the porch. The last meal we would enjoy out there because of the cold weather and the rain. That evening, we popped in Alex Beaton's DVD and watched it. It was a great day but that morning was the last time we saw the sun all week!!

Bob and Chuck relaxing.

So, that was our first two days. I will post this now and will fill you in on the rest of the trip later.