Birthday weekend

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Another birthday!  

Usually we don’t do much but this year I planned something different. 

I thought it would be fun to go on the SS Badger and cross the big lake - lake Michigan- for the first time since moving to Michigan in 1986 almost 40 years ago!

Another first- go for a dune ride. Lake Michigan has the most incredible sand dunes… living dunes- dunes that continually change. It was a blast !


Eat at a couple of good restaurants.  The Jamesport brewery in Ludington had great beer and delicious food. The Courthouse in Manitowoc also did not disappoint.



The best chicken wings… according to Arie!

Fish and chips! So good!

The hotel in Ludington was basic (no elevator), clean, with a good bed but no breakfast $89 total. I picked it because of location and ratings. We had to find food in the morning because we had to be at the ferry at 8:00.  We were happy to find a MacDonalds  and got food and coffee for $19. 




Door county in Wisconsin is beautiful- especially the road up the coast but of course the sunny weather helped too.  We got “stuck” behind a truck filled with corn silage. It was like a snow storm! …another first!

A new winery serving their award winning wines was a good experience but a bit on the yuppy side. We did not buy any wine!

Visiting Green Bay home of the Packers and a very impressive Lambeau field was next. The place is huge!  The 1919 Pub Cafe is right inside.



The Vince Lombardi trophy!

Caesar salad 

Chicken pot pie


We stayed at a nice hotel for $155 per night.  It included a very good breakfast and great coffee.  I figure that would have been $30 at a restaurant. It’s a short walk from the hotel to Lambeau Field and on game weekends the rooms go for $500 a night!

The Green Bay Botanical Gardens were a wonderful surprise. Besides coming on “free” day, we enjoyed the gardens a lot! There were so many plants still in bloom and everything was labeled - even the annuals in containers. 




In Manitowoc, we found a lovely, local bakery that reminded me of my father’s bakery.  We got a nice variety of very fresh pastries to enjoy for lunch.  One in the car and one on the ferry and one on the drive home. Terrible calories but so good!




The ride home was a quick, moon-lit ride with lovely sunset sky.

 


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