On Thursday afternoon we took a nice ride down Lakeshore Drive and discovered a couple new Ottawa County Parks, one between Kirk Park and Tunnel Park called Olive Shores and another at Lake Macatawa, The Black Lake Boardwalk. Nice additions to the system since the last time we explored our home county park system.
Thursday night we were grateful to be invited to Dave and Sue's along the lakeshore in Holland for an evening of dinner and conversation. It is such a nice change of pace to have a great home prepared gourmet meal versus meeting friends out for dinner.
We also toured their totally remodeled home (which is gorgeous) and took a nice walk to the beach to view the sunset. The cloud bank over Wisconsin occluded the sunset, but it was a great walk and a great view of a calm Lake Michigan shoreline.
Thanks for the great evening and the wonderful cooking Sue and Dave! We hope to see you in Florida this late Fall.
After dinner we "checked in" at Mary and Kevin's home in Hudsonville. We spent three nights in their beautiful home's lower level. Friday we took a nice walk around their neighborhood and generally caught up on things. Also helped Mary update her music system...
Friday night we went to the Fire Rock Grille for a great dinner. Saturday morning we took off to drive to Pentwater for some shopping and of course a famous Brown Bear burger for lunch.
We then drove the back roads over to Foster Lake to see the private acreage owned by another family we all know.
A beautiful spot....and Keith, we didn't bring our boat, we left it in NC...
We continued our travels to Cowan Lake, east of Rockford to attend a dual 60th birthday party for our friends Vicki and Pat who graciously extended us an invite to the "Two Big Birthdays, One Grand Party" celebration when they found out we were back in town. It was great to see so many friends in one spot! Thanks for the invite Vicki and Pat and welcome to the 60+ club!!
Vicki and Pat's son Tim, presenting a toast.
Sunday morning we attended Mass with Mary and Kevin at Holy Redeemer, the parish we attended for 20+ years prior to selling our home. It was fun to catch up with parishioners we had not seen in years! A quick picture after Mass.
We stopped to visit Courtney and say goodbye on our way to check in at the Shoreline Inn, the hotel at our old marina in Muskegon.
Sherry and Todd have their Sea Ray here and we joined them and Terrie and Tony for a nice Lake Michigan cruise. It was so nice to be on the "big water" again! Thanks for the nice ride and conversation!
The Lake Express coming into Muskegon harbor.
Sunday evening Pat and Tim came to the Lake House to join us for dinner. We had a table right in front of our old slip at Terrace Point Marina. And the slip was empty...memories, memories, it was such a great couple seasons slipping the boat here. We had not seen Pat and Tim since they visited us in Fort Meyers Beach in January so it was great spending time together. Thanks for making the drive to Muskegon! Please keep your promise to follow our blog and let's see where we can meet up this Fall or next Winter!
Monday we took a nice walk around the city of Muskegon checking out the progress since we left a year ago.
We may have to consider another season of cruising Lake Michigan after visiting Glen Arbor, Pentwater, Frankfort, Muskegon, Grand Haven and Holland the past few weeks.....it is really hard to beat a Michigan summer. A Grand Haven sunset.....
We stopped to visit Mom one last time and shared a lunch with her. We also practiced on her Kindle and she was able to Skype with Sarah! She also practiced some more with Julie in the hallway so we could help her find a good place to set up for these video calls. So everyone in the family needs to help her by occasionally calling her and having her turn on her Kindle so she can receive a video call from you! We took a nice walk outside before bidding farewell. We reminded her we would be back in Michigan for the family Thanksgiving celebration. Thanks for having us for three "overnights" Mom, we love you!
Monday night we "checked in" at Sherry and Todd's home and then all drove to Rose's in East Grand Rapids where we met Amy and Larry for dinner overlooking Reeds Lake.
It was great visiting with all four as they recapped their recent trip to Mackinac Island with their boats. Amy and Larry had stopped to see us in Sarasota last January so it was great to see them again. We arrived back at Sherry and Todd's where we were graciously accommodated for an early departure on Tuesday morning. Thanks for the great hospitality Sherry and Todd!
More once we arrive back in Wilmington NC and get back on the move. Thanks for following our blog.
1 comment:
Lovely photos. Looks like a wonderful time! :)
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