After seeing the sights and goofing around in downtown Chicago, we stayed with my grad school roommate, Nicki and her fiancé John for the weekend.
Nicki and John recently bought and refurbished a cute house just north of the city. They were super gracious hosts, even going so far as to eat vegetables with us and lock their 2 poor kitties in the basement so Josh wouldn’t go into anaphylaxis! Unfortunately, the weather didn’t hold and we had a couple days of gusty downpours. But we toughed it out like any good liberal 30-somethings and stayed inside watching Michael Moore documentaries, drinking Whole Foods wine and playing Rock Band! ;) We did brave the blustery day to vintage window shop in Bucktown (which involved window shopping for vintage clothes, not shopping for vintage windows).
On Saturday night, we met up with another of my friends from WMU, Jenn and her husband Rex, for her birthday dinner at El Mariachi in Wrigleyville. This place was amazing, with guacamole made table-side, hot tortilla chips and fresh margaritas! Definitely worth a ‘cheat night’ from our usual organic salad dinners. In all, we had a fantastic time catching up with everyone and catching the highlights of the Windy City (including lots of the trademark wind!).
The next stops on our tour were the beach towns of the Lake Michigan coastline. On our way north from the Indiana border, we stopped in the tiny harbor village of New Buffalo for lunch and a stroll to the lighthouse. Optimistic beach-goers clad in swim trunks and flip-flops made for postcard pictures, even in the 60-degree weather. We made a stop at Warren Dunes State Park after lunch and climbed the giant hills of sand as groups of field-tripping teenagers ran and rolled down around us. We sat atop the dune nearest the lake, digging our toes in the sunbleached sand, looking out across the water. We could barely make out fuzzy grey outlines in the distance, the skyscrapers of Chicago, jutting out of the lake like a ghostly island. We wandered back along the beach and dipped our toes in the icy water before making our way back to the car and our discount whirlpool suite at the Holiday Inn in St. Joseph.
St. Joseph and South Haven were mirror images of one another and the two fuse together in my memory. We walked the streets of both in the same day, trying to make the most of the weather before another forecasted downpour. We ate a picnic lunch on the beach in St. Jo, peered into the expensive homes along the waterfront and ducked in and out of antique shops, galleries and shops filled with local fare and beach town flair.
That evening, we arrived at our super-cute cabin at the Covert/South Haven KOA campground. However, our plan to stay there 3 nights was dashed by near freezing temps and an almost flash flood during the night. We did not come prepared ‘real camping’ on this trip! The next morning we made reservations from inside our sleeping bags and high tailed it for Holland and the comfort of another bargain hotel Josh found online. (We are considering buying a bumper sticker that reads: Hippies Need Hot Tubs Too!)
Holland, Michigan's claim to fame is that it is a quintessential Dutch village, scooped up from a fairytale and plunked down here in the states. I believe the only difference might be the cost of admission to the windmills. I have never been to ‘the real Holland,’ but I have to assume that they don’t charge visitors $8 per person to smell the tulips! That being a high price for budget-conscious wanderers like us, we decided to forgo Windmill Island and Dutch Village and view the windmills from afar. We did enjoy visiting the farmer’s market and the shops in town, especially our tasting tour at Fustini’s Oils & Vinegars where we sampled Better Than Chocolate Balsamic and other varietals!
We finished off the whirlwind tour with a couple nights in good ol’ Kalamazoo. I was mostly laid up at the hotel, nursing what has turned out to be a tibial stress fracture (more later) while Josh was training and cleaning up the town with the AmeriCorps crew. We got to visit with my grad school pal Emily and her gorgeous, growing family. We had drinks at Wayside, the dancehall of my youth. What poor college kid could resist $1.50 Leinenkugel and $4.00 martinis (served in a shaker with a straw, no less)! The familiar scenery on the I-94 drive back home was a great end to a week of wandering the shoreline, making new memories and reminiscing with old pals!
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