Washington Island 23 :: Day 03

Time to leave the island. First stop was Red Cup Coffee before hitting the road. They were running all five ferries that day, so we didn't have to wait long. Our van made it into a smaller ferry with less than an inch to spare on the top. Fortunately, the captain was an expert, and they were able to have us drive out a bit when exited, then raised the platform a bit so we could get out. Crazy. We were one of four cars on that boat. It was such a peaceful ride. Once on the mainland, we traveled through some of the more touristy areas of Door County. We stopped in Gills Rock to pick up smoked whitefish from Charlie's, and discovered an adorable little shop called Hill House. Then we went to Ephraim to stop at Island Orchard Cider. In Sister Bay, we got wild ramp chevre from Door County Creamery. Our favorite taco place in Fish Creek closed a few years ago, so we ended up at the Fish Creek Market and grabbed sandwiches to go before driving back. We are so lucky to have this place less than three hours away from our house. It's absolutely amazing. 

Washington Island 23 :: Day 02

What a jam packed, fun day. We caught the first ferry over to Rock Island and spent most of the day exploring. It was originally settled by Native Americans. The lighthouse that still stands was constructed in 1836, and is the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin. It made the island a stop along the Grand Traverse route. The first settlers came around that time. By 1863 settlers moved to other parts of Door County, and it was deserted until a wealthy investor named Chester Thordarson purchased it for his summer estate. Fortunately, most of the land was left untouched, and what he did construct is truly remarkable. Just check out the boat house! The inside has board games and is a great space for campers. The hike around the entire island is about 5.3 miles. No vehicles, including bicycles, are allowed on the island so it's basically trails. We walked to the lighthouse then decided to do the entire parameter of the island, ending at the gorgeous beach. It was so fun. On the boat ride over that morning, someone mentioned we had to stop at Jackson Harbor Soup for a sliced of cherry pie. It's right next to the ferry parking, and he was right -- it was delicious. Brian had bumbleberry, which was also fantastic. Then we went to Nelsen's Hall & Bitters Club, the oldest continuously-operating tavern in Wisconsin, thanks to a loophole to serve alcohol during Prohibition, and joined the Bitters Club. A shot of bitters is pretty nasty, but when at Nelson's.... After that we had whitefish caught that morning at K. K. Fiske then went back to The Albatross for ice cream. How cute is that scoop I got? Needless to say, we all crashed pretty early that night and slept like babies. 

Washington Island 23 :: Day 01

What a crazy, fun week. Besides everything else we had going on, Brian & I (Van too) went to Washington Island for a couple of days. Brian's been there on his motorcycle before, but it was my first time. What a special place. On the way up, we stopped in Bailey's Harbor, where there was an art show and farmer's market happening. Loved seeing the cute alpacas. Next week took the ferry over to the island. We lucked out big time, and pulled right in to the last spot before it took off. I love being on a ferry. The short ride over was beautiful. First stop once there was Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm. It was a bit of a racket ($8 a person just to wander the fields) -- but it was really beautiful and I'm glad we got to see it. By then, we were starving so went to The Albatross for a cheeseburger. So good. Then it was time to go to our campsite. There is only one campsite on the island -- Washington Island Campground. It's a private campground, that also has cute little cabins. And horses. After a big day, we enjoyed just staying at our site and cooking there. We had a beautiful spot with forest all around us. And fortunately, not nearly the amount of mosquitoes we had earlier in Michigan. It was a lovely night. 

Moments 07 23 :: Week 05

We were invited to go on the pontoon boat again this year. It's always such a highlight of the summer. 

Stephanie and her sister are amazing hosts. These are Lake Michigan Arnold Palmers -- love the blue spirulina to make it look like lake water. Too funny. 

We cruised all over the river and into the lake area for a bit. It was the Air & Water Show which made it especially fun. Love this little tug boat. 

Us. It did pour on us for a little bit, but for the most part we had great weather. 

The bubble from a different angle, before the crowds arrived. 

The babies seem to be doing ok. I found out the neighbors around us have been trapping and relocating rabbits. I haven't seen a ton of movement with the nest (we did the twig test), but I have to just hope everything is going ok. I actually removed the twigs so I didn't stress out about it too much. Honestly, we don't want these things in yard anyway. They are just so gosh darn cute when they are in their nest though.

Neighbors. The Cherrys (sitting behind me) moved back to Canada this week. They moved in only a few months after we did and my gosh, we are going to miss them. They've watched our crazy lives unfold for over a decade as our kids grew up. Just as we are hopefully going to have more free time, they moved. So yes, I'm a little bummed about that. Fortunately the neighbors all found a night to have a little farewell party for them. We hosted since our house sits central to all of these folks. They are all such great people. Hopefully we won't have to wait for another farewell party to do this again. Also, so glad Hudson made it home for it. He wasn't supposed to get home until the next day, but it worked out perfectly. 

Moments 07 23 :: Week 04

Brian and I rode our bikes to the Marcus Performing Arts Center to catch the newest art installation -- "Evanescent" by Atelier Sisu. 

It's only here for a week, and we were lucky enough to catch it on day 1. From what I hear, it's been pretty busy.

It was just so cool being downtown. We don't take advantage of it enough. 

There are also free concerts this entire week. We loved watching Funkadesi.

Baby bunnies! In our yard. Don't they know better? Gretel found them which means, one didn't make it (not this one - this is the biggest, chubbiest one). Now we have a fortress around the nest. Mom didn't come back last night though. Crossing our fingers they make it. Not that we want bunnies in the yard, but ugh. 

STL :: Day 03

The last day. These weekends go fast. We picked Hudson up and went to United Provisions, our favorite grocery store, the had lunch at Corner 17. It's so fun watching them hand toss the noodles right before your eyes, but also, the food is crazy delicious. We kind of did a dim sum thing, so had Handmade Wonton with Homemade Chili Sauce (maybe my favorite thing), Sesame Balls, pork bao, Handmade Sticky Rice Chicken Shumai (Cole's favorite) and Handpulled Dan-Dan Noodles. I could eat here every day. Sadly, it was time to say our good-byes. Fortunately we'll get to see Hudson soon for a couple of weeks while he's in between apartments. What a great weekend. 

STL :: Day 02

We were all really looking forward to this day and it did not disappoint. We started by making our way to the Tower Grover Farmer's Market. On the way, we drove by a patisserie (La Patisserie Chouquette) I had sent Hudson. Thankfully he remembered and mentioned something because of course we had to stop and pick up some goodies. Like a cream puff, Darkness Croissant, canelé, cookie butter Mille Crepe cake slice and lemon tart with sweet tea meringue. Trust me, we held back. Everything looked amazing, including their coffee bar. Can't wait to go back. From there, we walked across the street to AO & Co, a super cute store and coffee bar. If I had a storefront, this is what I'd want it to be. We also picked up coffees here. Brian's Marrakesh Fog (jasmine mint tea, almond-rose syrup and milk) was amazing. Finally, made our way to the Farmer's Market. Brian and I stumbled upon it during one of our visits this past year. It's so good. Next we went to The Hill. Not sure how we never explored this area until now. Hudson has been going here, but we've never made it. He took us to a sandwich shop with the most delicious food. We went to Italian grocery stores. Visited the soap shop that had the sweetest shop dog, Bubbles, got more coffee (affogatos for Cole and me), and wandered around. Again, it was a million degress out so we were all pretty sleepy. We came back to the hotel to rest before the big event of the day -- the St. Louis City soccer game. It's the first season, and nearly impossible to get tickets so we felt very lucky to be there. They played Miami, and won 3-0. We missed Messi, who joined Miami, by a week. Would have been fun to see, but the game was still crazy fun. We walked back to campus, dropped Hudson off, then stopped at Narwhal's again for for slushy cocktails to go. Love that you can do that. There was something really fun about sitting in our hotel room watching a SNL rerun and drinking our Mississippi mudslides.