Waking up in the Empire room at the Cottonwood Inn brings back memories of the first time we stayed here back in 2013. It was our first vacation together and to be honest I was about to burn out. I had just been through two very hard years and building our house had about wiped me out. I needed a break. So when Cindy suggested we go north to Michigan to sail with friends of hers I at first thought she was crazy but then I realized we needed some time away, I needed some time away. So we went. Our first sail was the type of event that you never forget, for all the wrong reasons, much like the first night of our honeymoon LOL! Who knew that one fateful day in July would lead us back here again 3 years later. Oh the memories we have made along the way!
Neither one of us was really eager to get started with our day as we knew it was time to start heading back south. That meant that we would be returning to the real world soon and no longer would I have my beautiful lil best friend by my side all day long. Cindy is just so much fun to be with and we get along so well that I honestly think we could spend day in and day out together. But that is not to be right now and we knew that.
After breakfast we packed up and said good by to Carrie at the inn. We let the boat sit and made one more trip down to the beach as it was beautiful day and neither of us wanted to leave.
It is amazing to see how much the beach changes from day to day. The water never stops moving and it is constantly rearranging the grains of sand and the pebbles it washes up from the bottom of the lake. Each walk is like walking on a new surface with new treasures to find. With pockets full of rocks we headed back to the inn to get our leaky little boat and head south.
We wanted to stop back in Saugatuck and do some shopping so I booked the night at the Captains Quarters on the north side of town. The reviews were good and they said they had room for the semi and the trailer. We took our time working our way south and arrived there sometime in the midafternoon. Someone needed a nap after all the excitement paddling the day before
The Captain's Quarters turned out to be a great find.
It was a old road side motel that set back off the road but it had been totally redone and the rooms were very nice. Not huge, but they had everything we needed. Not only was it nice but the young couple running the place also had one very pretty pup for a mascot!
Hard to believe she was 13 years old. Scratching her ears made me miss our boys who were being spoiled rotten back home. We found a place to park the boat along the drive so all was good there. After dropping the boat we took off in search of treasures. We spent the afternoon going from shop to shop, buying way more stuff than we needed. But hey, its our honeymoon, plus we were stimulating the local economy.
We had dinner outside next to the marina in Saugatuck. I had to ask the waitress why the sailing club was called the Singapore Yacht club to which she was clueless. Later I found a sign talking about the old town of Singapore that was there before Saugatuck and how it was buried in the sands from lake Michigan. I think I had my answer.
We were both beat from all the walking and shopping so we returned to our room at the Captain's Quarters to watch some tv and relax. I lasted about 5 mins before I saw the back of my eyelids for the last time.
I slept like a rock and so did my new bride, or at least I think she did as I did not notice her waking up any in the night. It was a sad day as it was the last day of our honeymoon. We were going to drag our feet as much as we could but we knew by the end of the day we would be back home and the real world would be waiting on us.
After checking out and saying good by to the mascot we left the boat behind for a bit as we went to check out the Saugatuck beach as we had heard it was very nice. It was a bit of a drive to get there as we had to go south into Douglas and then back up around the harbor to get to the beach road. I was a bit miffed that they charged 8 bucks to park and no dogs were allowed. I paid the 8 bucks but grumbled as I did it. The beach was very nice and went probably at least another mile north to the pier.
It got wider the further north we walked. We splashed about in the water which was probably 10 degrees warmer than the water at Empire but sadly there were very few rocks to be found.
We headed back to pick up our boat before turning south for South Haven. You did not think we would pass up the chance to visit South Haven did you??? What a fun little town. Not sure I would like to live there but we sure enjoy visiting. We lucked out ad the parking spot we had on the way up was still there waiting on us when we got back!
It was only about 11 am when we got to South Haven but it is never too early for a tall cold glass of SHIT
We had a late breakfast/lunch a the Idler Riverboat. Such a neat little place and the South Haven iced tea is to die for. While we ate a new class of future sailors was getting towed out for their lesson.
Always good to see a new generation take up the sport as it is dying a slow death today for several reasons.
After our snack and beverages we took of for our two favorite shops in South Haven, Divana G's and the antique store just down the street. Diavan G's is a neat little boutique with a lot of pretty clothes for Cindy. Not much for me but I do enjoy a good fashion show.
The antique mall down the street always has some great finds just waiting on us to sniff them out.
This time I scored a awesome wood sailboat for 20 bucks! I also got Cindy a sharp pair of sailing pants probably from the 70's. I wanted them for as soon as I saw them but she said they would not fit. I made her try them on right there in the booth. What do you know, they fit. SOLD!
After our shopping was complete, as in we spent too much money, we walked down to the pier for the first time as husband and wife. I am sure we took a selfie there as we always do but heck if I can find it now. If you have seen one selfie of us in front of the light house at South Haven you have seen them all LOL!!
Someone told us about the Viking ship that had sailed there from Norway so we had to go check it out. It was docked on the other side of the Black River so we had to walk across the Black River on the drawbridge to find it. It was at the Coast Guard museum and we did not feel like paying 50 bucks for us to see it up close. But what we did feel like paying 50 bucks for was eat, drinks, and t shirts at Lou's bar right next door!
We had put it off long enough, sadly it was time to head south and face the challenges the rest of the world would throw at us as husband and wife!
We made it home a little before 9 that night and Edward and Wilson were super happy to see us.
The chicken tenders I brought them as a peace offering probably helped them forget we just left them for two weeks LOL!
While it was good to be back home it was miserable all that same time. The temperature was in the mid 90's and the humidity was 90% plus. It just felt like a sauna outside. Again I say, nobody chooses to live in southern Indiana because they like heat and humidity. I think it had rained almost everyday we had been gone and the grass was a foot tall. But what really made the fact that we were home so hard to deal with was because I knew I only had one more day with Cindy all to myself. Call me selfish, but I love when it is just my bestie and me side by side doing anything. We still had to take the rental truck back and go to West Marine to get supplies to fix leaky. I was going to make the most of every minute we had left together before we both returned to work...
No comments:
Post a Comment