Gotta love vacations!!

This year's vacation was very different for us. Every year since we’ve been married we have gone to Emerald Isle once and usually twice, a year. It is hard to beat a free place to stay that is a block from the ocean.

We knew the day would come when that would not be available to us any longer and my time with grandma was unpredictable, which is why we went there as long as we could. Then it happened, grandma passed away in January of this year. It is funny how many things change when a member of the family passes, especially the ‘matriarch’ of the family, as some people referred to her as (but that is a previous blog). Anyway my dad and his brother inherited the property, and now they have renters. I am very happy for them, as it will help pay for the upkeep of the place and provide a little income also.

But I digress, back to today. So we went on one of the very few vacations so far in our lives together that did not involve Emerald Isle. As I sit here and write this, we are in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (aka the UP). I had forgotten how clear and gorgeous water could be. The Great Lakes are just spectacular!

We started our trip with a visit to The Henry Ford (as they call it now). Which consists of Greenfield Village and The Henry Ford Museum. I had been to the museum and was so looking forward to seeing it again, for it had been 100 since I was there. But to my surprise, I actually enjoyed the Village more! I found so much so interesting. You really do feel as if you have stepped back in time there, they do a great job of preserving that atmosphere, along with preserving all the buildings. There are actually people who work the land using the implements of days past. It is all beyond very cool!

Then we drove to St. Ignace, and ended up staying here for four nights (the original plan was two nights!). But we just couldn’t leave! Our hotel room overlooked Mackinac Island, and we watched the sun rise every morning, right outside the balcony. It just poured across the room and across the bed, what a great way to wake up every morning. Mackinac Island, lighthouses, waterfalls, and the most gorgeous cliff formations in the world, it is all there!

I won’t go into a lot of details here I will let my pictures tell the stories. But I have to say that this has been a wonderfully fantastic vacation. Ed fell in love with the UP, and wants to return some day. I fell back in love with the most gorgeous lakes in the world (I put my hand in three of the five Great Lakes while we were here).

Grandma being gone is very sad for me, but looking on one bright side, it opens up a world of possibilities of places to visit while I can still do it. I have so many ideas….where should we go next year?