Rainy Day

Our first morning at the campsite was just beautiful. The sky was blue, and the sun was bright. We hung around the campsite for the morning before heading out to run an errand. Jim needed to take care of some business regarding his grandma's headstone. We had a choice between heading to Cadillac, about 15 minutes away, or Traverse City, about 30 minutes away. We decided to head to Traverse City because we'd come in through Cadillac the day before. We'd only be on the road about 10 minutes when it started to rain...and rain...and rain.

Sera fell asleep on the way there, so we started driving around. We headed to the downtown area. If you've never been to Traverse City, MI, I recommend it. It's a great little town. It's very tourist oriented, but in a good way. There are lots of great shops and restaurants, particularly in the downtown area. We parked near one of Jim's favorite stops, Horizon Bookstore, and waited for her to wake up. Well, I waited and dozed while Jim ran through the rain to the store. On his way there he passed a restaurant that smelled great. He asked the store clerk who helped him about the place, and she strongly recommended it. As soon as Sera woke up, we headed over there for lunch and then to the bookstore. The restaurant is called Amical.

Isn't it cute?

Jim had bought some magazines for us to look at while Sera slept. One of them recommended the Baked Tomato Soup en Croute.

All I can say is that it may be worth a four hour drive just to have this again.

Pan-sauteed Tilapia over spinach and portobello mushrooms with a white wine, garlic, and butter sauce

And Jim's lunch, Chicken Potpie

The food was amazing. All three of us loved every bite. In fact, it was so good that we went back there for dinner on our last night of camping.

After lunch, we killed time driving around and stopping a few stores. I bought some clothes for the new school year, and Jim checked out kayaks at a sporting goods store. We were basically waiting for the rain to stop. We headed back through Interlochen just because we'd never gone that way, and the rain finally stopped on the way back. By the time we reached our campsite, the sun was back out and it was a fantastic night. Jim grilled burgers, and we had another nice night by the campfire before heading to sleep.

Our original plans had called for us to leave the next morning for the Upper Peninsula. Our friend, Eric, was going to join us. He ended up delayed a day, and we decided that tearing down the campsite and driving for hours wasn't very appealing. We ended up staying in Mesick. We did have to move our campsite, but it was still easier than having to completely repack.

On Wednesday, we pretty much hung out at the campsite. The only time we left was a quick trip that Sera and I took to the store to buy a broom and an ice cream run after naptime.

Our big adventure happened on Thursday, but you'll have to wait to hear that story.