We left Friday morning to head north. We stopped on the way in Gaylord at Otsego Lake State Park to have a picnic lunch, stretch our legs a bit, and give Bristol a break from being in her car seat.
After our quick lunch and playtime on the beach, we packed up and headed up to Petoskey. Kevin, Carson and Bristol had never been to Petoskey. Sara had been a few times as a young child, but didn't really remember much of it. Petoskey is so beautiful! We spent some time at Petoskey State Park, at a lake front park right near downtown, and we took a walk down the pier where all of the local kids were jumping and diving off into Lake Michigan. After exploring a little, we had dinner at one of two family-friendly restaurants in town. It was quite good! However, we were a little put-off by the lack of family-friendly places and spaces in Petoskey. Its definitely not really a place to take younger than teenage kids. And it was kind of strange to see that there really is no middle class in Petoskey. That being said, we do want to visit again sometime - however I think we'd probably be better off spending our time in more family-friendly destinations like Charlevoix and Boyne. :)
After dinner, we took another stroll down by the lake and pier, then packed up to head back to Grayling, which is where we were actually staying the weekend. When we got to our hotel, we were a little worried by the looks of it on the exterior. But once we got inside, it was quite nice! Everything was very clean, the rooms were very nice, and it was seriously an awesome hotel for kids! There was a large indoor pool, plus a large hot tub area, plus a 1-ft deep kiddie pool. Plus, there was an indoor playscape, lots of arcade games, shuffleboard, billiards, and some other stuff. We were all quite excited to see it all. Carson and Kevin headed straight for the pool to swim once we were unpacked. Bristol and Sara sat pool-side watching them, since Bristol was still a little young to be exposed to all the pool chemicals.
We got up early on Saturday, had some breakfast, and headed out to explore Grayling. Kevin and Sara used to go camping up there every year, sometimes several times a year... but it's been quite a few years since we've been up there. We forgot how much we love Grayling! There is so much to do outdoors. We found an awesome park with mountain biking, hiking, sports, and a super nice playscape. We spent some time there. Then we headed over to Hartwick Pines State Park. We spent some time in the visitor's center learning about the history of the area, then took a couple hikes. We wanted to check out the Chapel in the Pines, where Sara was photographing a wedding the following morning. We had a great time at Hartwick Pines!
After our hiking, we headed back into town for a bit before heading back out to Hartwick Pines for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Then it was back to the hotel for more swimming.
The next morning, we got up, packed up our car, and headed back out to Hartwick Pines for the wedding. The wedding was beautiful! Afterwards, we headed home. We were again thankful that Bristol did amazingly well on a long car ride! We didn't even have to stop on our way home. :) It was such a great weekend, overall. And it was so nice to get away!
2 comments:
Glad you guys had such a good trip and that Bristol did so well! You're lucky :P Very nice pictures.
Thanks, Mary! We really did luck out. Especially considering the following weekend, it took us almost 3 hours to get home from Saranac (normally its an hour and a half) with several stops to nurse or calm Bristol down. And sometimes even the short, 15-minute rides are rough. We just never know.
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