anniversary weekend

September 15, 1984 was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding.

We were so young...just 22 and 24. And we'd already been together for 2-1/2 years.

In celebration of 35 years of wedded bliss and aggravation, we headed a few hours north to St. Joseph, Michigan.

On the drive up, I saw a converted school bus that at first, freaked me out. Why did it have "Homemade in China" painted on it? And why were curtains in all the windows? I thought it was a cult bus or something. I Googled it and found quite the opposite. This is a family ~ wife, husband and five kids ~ that originally lived in China, and are now on a sabbatical road trip. You can read Christine's blog here: Christine Keegan or follow here on Instagram: Homemade in China. Such a fascinating family!

This was our second time going to St. Joseph; the first being in 2013. St. Joe is a small beach town nestled atop a bluff in southwest Michigan. One of their famous eateries is Silver Beach Pizza, not only known for their amazing pizza, but the building itself is an old train depot. Now being from the Chicago area and unquestionably having the best pizza in the US, we are pizza snobs. So for us to say this place has some of the best pizza we've ever had, is singing mighty high praises.

See how the side of the restaurant has windows that fully open? There's tables inside right by the open windows.

We were lucky enough to snag one of these tables by the open window. Pizza with a view! We decided to be adventurous and try the Harvest pizza and were so glad we did. It was one of the best pizzas we've ever had. The crust was brushed with olive oil and a little bit of brown sugar, then layered with butternut squash, krispy kale and bacon, and topped with mozzarella and gouda cheeses. Confession: we took our leftover pizza back to the hotel with us and put it in the mini fridge. Then we had it for breakfast the next morning. Tim asked later, "You ate that with coffee in the morning?" I told him yes, it was that good. 

After dinner, we walked to Whirlpool Compass Fountain which sprays water 35 feet into the air. How good would that feel to splash around in on a hot summer day?

Or a warm summer night?

We continued our walk down to the beach...

Here's beautiful Lake Michigan with the St. Joseph North Pier Lighthouse in the background. I took off my shoes and let the water splash up over my feet and lower legs...that water is cold!

Continuing on our walk, we checked out some of the beautiful houses along the lake...

The sun was starting to set so we climbed a long flight of stairs (50 of them...I counted as a diversion to my lungs about to burst and my heart beating out of my chest) to get to the top of the pavillion...

and witnessed the beautiful sunset over the lake.

As the sun was setting, the fountain was turned off and Taps was played over a speaker. It was like the whole town went silent while this was happening. Everyone stopped for just that one minute and stood in reverence while this miracle played out before our eyes. I love that something that happens every single day can still take your breath away, no matter how many times you see it.

We woke to perfect weather the next morning, and off we went. (After consuming leftover pizza in bed while watching Food Network. Don't judge.) St. Joe's has a beautiful farmers market on Saturday mornings. All the vendors were so friendly and happy to tell us about their produce. We packed our cooler with green beans, tomatoes, fennel, and a variety of peppers. We also bought canned pickled beets (Brian ate the entire jar in 24 hours) and pickled zucchini slices. We haven't tried those yet ~ the elderly woman who canned these vegetables told us she just made them, so they're better when they've sat for awhile.

When we were done at the farmers market, we walked around the downtown area, checking out all the stores. This store brought back a lot of memories of the five and dime stores we used to go into as kids. Anyone remember the Ben Franklin stores? It even smelled like a Ben Franklin store inside! No photos, but we also found a record store where Brian bought a couple of albums and I enjoyed a wine tasting from a local winery that had a storefront.

Thought this was rather interesting on the side of a building. I can only imagine how many adventurous young people have tried to get up there. Or drunk people.

We found a wonderful place for lunch (Mason Jar Cafe) where everything is homemade and farm-to-table. This vegetable quiche I had was more like a strata ~ and so dang good that I wish I had the recipe so I could recreate it at home. 

In the back of this restaurant, there's a huge artist space where different artists sell their work...

There was even a small used book nook. Of course, I had to check that out. I didn't find anything though.

Last stop before heading home: the beach. This time we climbed through the sand dunes. The sand felt so good and warm underneath our bare feet. Nature's pedicure for calluses! There were so many monarchs flying around the dunes, which I was happy to see. 

We walked down the pier to the lighthouse, but not on this side where all the water was splashing onto the pier. One would be swept right out into the deep water! We walked on the other side where it was safe to walk.

This seagull just sat on the railing and stared at me, even as I got closer to take a photo. Wasn't afraid of me at all. Hello, pretty bird!

On the way back towards the beach, we saw workers setting up an arbor and chairs for a wedding. What a perfect spot for saying, "I do" with the waves in the background, the dunes in the foreground, and the gorgeous blue sky overhead. I teased Brian and told him it was for a surprise for us; that we were renewing our vows. 💔

This is one of the newer houses right by the entrance to the dunes where we parked. At first I thought it was part of a resort. I always wonder with places like this, how much room do people need to live in? Unless you have like 15 kids or multiple families living under this one roof. 

We had a wonderful time in St. Joseph but I was glad to get back to my humble home and my kitties.

Comfy House.

anniversary weekend & meeting up with a high school friend

We must've been babies when we got married because we just celebrated

our 29th wedding anniversary! Our weekend celebration took us to southwest

Michigan; just a 2-1/2 hour drive away. We had to go through downtown Chicago

to get to Michigan. Even though I'm not much of a city person, I have to say

that every time we pass through or go into Chicago, I am amazed by the stunning

architecture, especially the Sears Tower. Yes, I know it's now called the Willis

Tower, but living in the Chicago area most of my life, I just can't bring myself

to call it anything but the Sears Tower.

We didn't have time to do much on Friday evening. We walked around to some

shops in St. Joseph, then walked down to the beach. How beautiful is this fountain

 with Lake Michigan in the background? We then went out to dinner at this little pizza 

place that was still mobbed even when we were leaving at 9 p.m. I didn't think one 

would find such great pizza outside of Chicago, but we did! We had a spinach, garlic,

 and sun-dried tomato pizza which was on super thin, crispy crust and just enough

 cheese to make it oozy and perfect. I have to remember to write a Yelp review.

Saturday morning, we drove out to Tiscornia Park to walk on the beach and

see the lighthouse. The sand dunes are gorgeous, but we didn't walk or

climb them. I can tell you from past experience that you have to be pretty darn

fit to climb these sand hills! Some of them are huge; this is just part of a small one.

It was a picture perfect day to walk on the beach and then down the pier to the

lighthouses. The only other people there were a couple of photographers and 

fishermen.

 We also hit a farmer's market in St. Joseph and came home with a bunch of

goodies...apples, green beans, fingerling potatoes, a loaf of bread, a garlic

pizza crust, and a big hunk of organic, farm-raised, no-nitrate ham.

Oh, yes...and a basket of these gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, too. How I wish

we had access to all this farm-fresh, organic produce year-round!

On our way home, we stopped at The Round Barn Winery in Baroda, MI

to do some wine tasting.

The inside of the barn roof was stunning...

We've done wine tastings in several places, including Napa Valley.

We were very pleased with the deliciousness of the Michigan wine.

We brought home a bottle of their Weekend Red.

 

 The winery was having a British car invasion event, so we had a good time

walking around and admiring all the cool, vintage cars.

 All too soon we had to head home, though truthfully, we were ready. Both of us

like to get out and do things but there truly is no place like home. This was the

sky as we were close to our house.

The fun and excitement of the weekend didn't end yesterday. This afternoon,

I was blessed to be able to meet up with a friend from high school (in KY) that

I haven't seen in 35 years! I swear, Beverly looks exactly like she did in high school.

And so did her husband whom I also knew from high school. It's funny how we

still see each other with young eyes. We didn't have enough time to really talk;

just a little over an hour. But I'm still riding on a delightful "high" from even that

little bit of time with my Bee. When me and my family moved from KY back to IL

and I had to leave my friends, Beverly wrote me the most beautiful going-away

poem. I think I still have it in one of my scrapbooks somewhere.

 

 And now it's back to reality...housework, laundry, unpacking fall decorations

and fall clothing, bringing in the houseplants that have been outside all

summer, and starting on some fall porch decorating.