Like Key West Only Colder

July 16, 2011



Nadene & Trevor





Like Key West Only Colder

Grand Haven, Michigan is a summer vacation paradise that is one of the most popular recreational ports along Michigan’s coastline. It is a beautiful place and a perfect location for the exchange of wedding vows between our friends Nadene & Trevor. Trevor was born and raised nearby and has been coming to the area for years, just like generations of vacationeeers who are drawn to the beauty and tranquility of the area.



Michael & Jim



Kathy & I feel privileged to have been invited to share in this special occasion with our friends and even more excited to have been invited to come and photograph the special welcome reception for the wedding party at the incredible summer vacation home belonging to Trevor’s sister Brenda. The home rests on a bluff high above the beach at Grand Haven State Park and the view is incredible. Along with the perfect weather, delicious food and drinks and delightful company in the form of Trevor and Nadene’s family and friends who compose the wedding party.



Trevor & Travis

Nadene



Trevor, Brenda & Eileen

Weddings are really a magical event that brings together not only two families but also two sets of friends that span across two lives’ experiences. This wedding is of course no different as not only members of the two families, but friends dating back to grade school right up to the large contingent from Key West all gathered together to help celebrate.

Tiffany & Howard

Eileen



It was great to be able to meet so many really nice new people. Knowing Nadene and Trevor it didn’t come as any surprise that they were as nice a group of people as you could hope to meet. The reception was held just after the rehearsal and it gave the wedding party a chance to gather and get to know each other a bit, before the remainder of the out of town friends arrived.



Amy & Travis

Roger & Abby



Kathy, Brenda, Nadene & Kim

Jim, Eileen, Fiona & Kathy



It was a wonderful introduction to Grand Haven. It is a fantastic community and it is easy to understand why this place is such a popular destination. Kathy & I, and a number of the out of town guests are staying at the delightful Harbor House Inn, which is located downtown along the waterfront and is conveniently located in walking distance to most all of the wedding activities



Fiona & Michael

Indiana Dunes

July 15, 2011









Indiana Dunes

This week, Kathy & I are headed to Grand Haven, Michigan to attend the wedding of two of our dear friends, Nadene & Trevor. We made the decision to extend the trip a little to take a few days to enjoy some time exploring the area and enjoying the wonderful northern summer where the evenings actually are noticeably cooler than the daylight hours.







We booked a round trip from Chicago and were on our way. The drive from Chicago to Grand Haven is only about three and a half hours around the dip of Lake Michigan through Indiana, but we opted to stop halfway through and check out the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a place that despite having been born and raised a Hoosier, I had never experienced.







It was my loss not having been here before as the Dunes are beautiful. We booked a night at a beautiful new small inn located in Chesterton, Indiana in the heart of the Dunes area. The Dunes Walk in is a new boutique hotel created from the historic Furness Mansion and is a beautiful place in a perfect location to explore the area. We checked in and then headed out to the Indiana Dunes State Park to check out the Dunes.

Dunes Walk Inn



The Dunes stretch about 25 miles along the Southern Shore of Lake Michigan from Gary, Indiana around to Michigan City. The State Park is located in the midst of the designated National Lakeshore and was created in 1925 to help preserve the natural wonder that is the Dunes. The miles of incredible soft sandy shoreline are amazing and the shifting Dunes can be literally a couple of hundred feet high. We hiked through the lush green woods, following a rolling trail to the beach, which had surprising high surf and even riptide warnings. It was a beautiful day and well worth the brief stopover on our way to Michigan.







It is really an amazing place full of beauty, history and the Dunes themselves that have formed over thousands of years of blowing and shifting sands. Some of them really tower over you, covering entire trees so that just the tops stick out. You just can’t get the feel or capture the immensity or beauty in a photo.







In the evening, we headed over to the charming small town of Chesterton to have dinner. The town was like the set for some movie about small town America yet seemed to have a fairly wide range of good restaurants lining Main Street. We selected Popolano’s and had a great Italian meal and some great local microbrews from nearby Three Floyds Brewery.







After dinner we happened upon a quintessential slice of Americana as the band of the 38th Division Indiana National Guard was performing a concert in the park in the center of the town. The park was crowded with local folk enjoying the show on blankets and lawn chairs under a perfect Hoosier summer sky. As dusk set in under the strains of “God Bless America” with the lightning bugs beginning to fill the sky and the distant sound of train whistles, it really did take me back to my Hoosier youth- a wonderful day all around.





Dunes Walk Inn

Indiana Dunes

Indiana Dunes State Park

Popolanos

Island Summer

July 12, 2011





Robyn & Kathy

Island Summer

The pace of life slows down during the height of summer. With no snowbirds around and not so much to fill the social calendar like during the tourist season, the pace of life tends to be much more relaxed. The weather can get hot, but so far it has been about average and you really come to appreciate the fact that there are just less people around. Traffic is actually manageable and when you go out, you are much more likely to see locals than at some points during season.

Rick & Kathy

I love the pace of the summer in Key West. And just because it doesn’t match the frenetic pace of the winter and spring, it does not mean that there is nothing going on, just that there are a few less options of things to do. It also means that the pace of on the water activity increases greatly and Kathy has spent much of her free time kayaking and paddleboarding.

Carolyn, Ron & Tom

Last weekend was sort of typical in that we had a plethora of events to attend on Friday evening and then the remainder of the weekend was just low key with some relaxing at home and a few water activities.



Friday evening started out at the Bottlecap Lounge for their non-profit happy hour benefit, this week’s recipient was Heron Peacock supported living. Heron Peacock provides housing and services for the chronically mentally ill of Monroe County. It is a fantastic organization and it was nice to help support them. They had a silent auction, a spin and win wheel and of course all of the tips went to the organization as well.

Marci & Kathy



Theresa & Eric

Our next stop was at the Frangipani Gallery on Duval Street where our friend Will Fernandez was having an art opening featuring new works of sculpture that he had created. It was a nice show and it was great to see friends out and about enjoying the arts





Finally we joined a large group of friends at the Galleon Tiki Bar for a bar stroll birthday party for our friend Kathy, who is one of the nicest and coolest people in Key West. She had organized a bar stroll to help celebrate her birthday and her friends turned out in big numbers to join in the fun.





We were already tired, but felt we had to make a short appearance to wish Kathy well, she is just that sort of person. We made it to three stops at the Chart Room and the Tree Bar at Rick’s before calling it an evening. I am sure the festivities went late into the night with many additional stops. Kathy & her friends are a fun loving and great group of people to hang out with. We hope she had a great birthday.



Heron Peacock Website