Wine Tasting Fun in Northern Michigan

Hi everyone, how is your summer going so far?

For many of us Michiganders (that's what we here in Michigan are referred to as!), summer just wouldn't be complete without a trip to beautiful Northern Michigan!

Last week hubby and I traveled there in our new (to us) motor home. A bit more about our motor home later, we are very excited about it!

I'm sure many of you would be surprised to know that Michigan produces wine.  Not just any wine, but award winning wine!  And we have some amazing wineries that would rival those of more popular wine producing regions, such as California or Washington State!

So nearly each summer we venture north of the Traverse City area, where there are two gorgeous peninsulas, both of which are home to dozens of these amazing wineries!

For this trip, we stayed on the Old Mission Peninsula, which has stunning views of Lake Michigan and the lush surrounding rolling hills.

This first winery, below, just opened up.  It was built to look as if it were in the middle of the Italian country side instead of here in the Midwest!  It was pretty impressive.

Another winery that we like to visit, Chateau Chantal, has this wonderful patio area where you can take your tastings.  

I think this is one of the most beautiful areas of our state!

And here is our home away from home! We'd looked far and wide for a motor home that had all of the features we were looking for.  In fact, we traveled all the way down to North Carolina to buy it!
Notice Miss Molly in the window?

All of these photos were taken with my cell phone and haven't been retouched.  I know the below picture is pretty blurry, but I just couldn't resist sharing it with you!

The motor home has a small window on the side, down at floor level.  It acts as a little peep hole of sorts for Molly!

Up next is Bonobo Winery, which I was very excited to visit for the first time. They opened up less than two years ago, and is owned by Carter Oosterhouse of HGTV, along with his brother.
Carter is a native of Traverse City, and designed the building himself.
While it may look a bit utilitarian on the outside, just wait til you see the inside!

That's me, below.  If you look closely, you'll see Molly on the dash in the front window!

That's super hunky rather handsome Carter on the right, and his brother on the left.

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We visited on a Monday, when it wasn't crowded in the least.
I just loved these large fabric covered panels that were suspended from the ceiling.  I'm sure they act as great noise baffles.

The design of winery was so well thought out. There are several rooms here and there which are also used as tastings and private tastings. They have the look and feel of being at someones private home.

Ok, I am sure I was the only one to photograph the women's room!

Sorry for the poor picture quality (again, this was taken with my cell phone).  I 

just thought the wire shelf holding the rolls of tp was such an amazing idea, loved it, and the cool light over the sink too.

Mario Batali, a long time fan of  Northern Michigan (he has a summer home in the area) designed the tasting menu of Bonobo. Sadly, we didn't see Carter or Mario on this trip!  I sure would've loved to meet them though!
If you ever get the chance to visit this beautiful area of our state, I would highly recommend it!
Ok, now we are back home, below!
And no, you are not seeing things!  The front two tires really are off the ground!
Our driveway has a bit of a slope, and when the stabilizing jacks are down, the front end comes up!

 Our home, and our home away from home!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
I've gotten so behind in my blog visits, but I promise to stop in as soon as I can!
Have a great rest of the week!

Savannah Bound

Bonjour, Y'all!

We've left cold and very snowy Michigan behind, and headed south to Savannah in our motor home for a little break!

Thank goodness, we pulled out just in time.  The day after we left home, almost a foot and a half of snow fell!

 We're soaking up every last bit of sun while we can:) 

This is our fourth trip to Savannah, we just love the state park here where we're camping.

While the weather is cool for down here, it is a huge improvement from back home in the Midwest!

So we've shed our parkas, scarves, boots and gloves.

 It's subtropical down here, full of beautiful and huge palmettos, palm trees, and lots of moss draped live oaks.

 This is our home away from home!

The sites are large and private and oh so quiet.  I've brought some craft projects along, so I will be a happy camper!

 It's supposed to warm up by the weekend. 

  The campground has some amazing and long hiking trails which we love taking Katie our cocker spaniel on.

 Sorry about the glare in the photo below.  Notice Katie on the dash?  That is one of our favorite perches!

Stop back in a few days, and I'll share some pics of gorgeous and historic downtown Savannah!

For all my friends affected by the winter storms, stay warm, safe and cozy!

A Visit to Acadia National Park

Hi everyone, hope you all are having a great week!

One of the highlights of our trip to Maine was visiting Acadia National Park. While we had been once before years ago, we forgot just how gorgeous it is, and somehow managed to miss alot of it!

It is even more beautiful in person than my photos can capture!  Trust me when I say it is amazing!

In the above photo, you will notice two large cruise ships.  Unfortunately they now stop at Bar Harbor nearly every day of the week, making the town pretty crowded when they are in port.  Thankfully the park itself is much less hectic!

I will let the pictures do most of the talking:)

Here's hubby, enjoying the view.  You can see for miles!

Wouldn't you love to live in this house??

Here we are at Sand Beach, also part of Acadia.  We were so excited that they now allow dogs on the beach!

We walked the beach two different days, the first being gorgeous and sunny, the second visit was pretty chilly and gray, but still beautiful non the less!

Below I snapped some "action shots" of our Katie doing one of her favorite tricks, playing "catch the feather".

 She is quite the little acrobat and can really jump high!

(Not to mention get very tangled in her leash!)

We also visited Bass Harbor Head lighthouse.

It is perched on a rocky cliff, surrounded by tall pine trees.  What a romantic setting!

 I found the photo below on line.  Isn't it gorgeous at sunset??

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While many were venturing way out on the rocks for photos, I don't like heights, or climbing on rocks!!

So this is as far as I got for my pic!

Of course what is a trip without a little retail therapy?  We stopped in the nearby town of Northeast Harbor, which is a tiny and oh so quaint little fishing village.

I just loved this cute shop, below!

Inside this super cool giant lobster print is the first thing you see.  Love!

I was also loving the beautiful hooked wool rugs and pillows.  They were quite pricy, so none of them came home with me!

I just had to snap this shot of the other side of the street.  They must have known I was coming, and decided to paint their fence the same beautiful shade of aqua blue as the awning (love that color!!).

Isn't this white wicker furniture adorable?  It was sitting outside a very, very full antique shop.  So full that I had a hard time walking inside.  I was so afraid that I would knock something over, so I quickly walked out!

I have even more photos of our trip that I will be sharing again soon!
Thanks so much for coming along on my little tour:)

Sights of the South

Bonjour Ya'll!

We're still camping here in South Georgia, taking a much needed break from the cold and snowy arctic Midwest!  Today we visited downtown Valdosta, and had lunch at the nicest restaurant called "Steel Magnolias" (love the name!).

 I also love the quote on their chalkboard!!

 Cute little outdoor tables, with chairs painted my favorite shade of aqua blue.

I'd read many good reviews of the restaurant on line, and knew this was a place after my own heart, as soon as I spotted those cute folding chairs!

I also fell in love with all the gorgeous mirrors on the wall!

 The wall behind me had the neatest wallpaper, again with that pretty aqua.

Our lunch was delish, we will definitely eat there again!

 Below are some photos I snapped of a cute shop we went in.  It was full of all sorts of painted furniture and home decor.  I was a bit shy to snap any photos inside, so these are of their window displays.

 Love that neat birdcage!

 Great vintage furniture transformed with chalk paint.

 I fell in love with this Frenchy chair!

 The next photo I took in another nearby town.  It's their courthouse,  I really loved that amazing architecture and the neat silver dome.

 Ok,back home at the rv, here is our Katie taking a little break.

 She loves camping, and especially loves the long hikes we've been taking her on each day!

I'll be sure to share more photos with you in future posts. 

Have a great weekend!