Day 1: Driving
Despite leaving work early, we still ran into traffic on the way North. And somehow a 3 ½ hour trip became almost a 5 hour trip. But we made it, with only 3 potty breaks, 2 free Speedway drinks, and half a Lamplighter audio story played off of Dan’s iPhone.
Day 2: Cherry Festival
Even though we both grew up in Traverse City, or maybe because we did, Dan and I never really were into the whole “tourist thing” at the National Cherry Festival. Now that we live down state and haven’t been around for the Cherry Fest in a few years, we had no shame in being all-out tourists. We walked down to the open space from my parents house and sampled every free sample available: jams and salsas (cherry, of course!), flavored nut butters, granola, fudge, yogurt, and even some chicken jerky.
For lunch, my parents treated us to the highly overpriced Cherry Fest food and we both got some chicken pad Thai along with a big cup of Grand Rapids sweet cherries. It’s true, the cherries at the National Cherry Festival are usually not actually from Traverse City. They were still yummy.
On the way home we passed some people raising money for a bird sanctuary.
One of the things I HAD to do on this trip was go to the beach. But after a long walk and hot day at the Cherry Festival, I was more interested in taking a nap. So we stopped at one of my favorite mini-beaches where the Boardman River runs into the Bay. It was just enough to dip our feet in the cold water and give Lydia a taste of beach. We’ll have to get a real beach trip in sometime soon.
It was a long, hot walk home. My dad brilliantly suggested a pit stop at McDonalds to cool off and Lydia got a free sticker.
In the evening we headed over to my grandparents house for a Fourth of July dinner and some lawn games. Lydia played with Uncle Tim and Dan had a competitive ladder golf tournament with my Uncle Dan.
Then, to wrap up a very full day, we made a stop at my sister’s home. Since this was our first visit, Steph and Nate gave us a full tour and then we spent some time just catching up. Lydia found toys Steph and Nate never even knew they had, and we all stayed up later than we should have!
Day 3: Playground
Before leaving Traverse City in the morning, my Mom and Dad made us a big breakfast and then they took Lydia to the school playground nearby.
Then, because we hasn’t already packed our days to the brim, we decided to go cherry picking. But that’s another story…
