Author: Lara

After a glorious last half-day in Lansing, we ventured 3 hours southeast to Sandusky, OH to meet Kate, Tim, Caleb and Alexis (Ted’s sister, her husband, and our neice and nephew) for some 6:30 p.m.-midnight 4th of July fun riding coasters and watching fireworks at Cedar Point (cheaper twilight admission after 5 p.m.)! Somehow we’ve managed to spend two out of our last three married 4th of July’s with Kate & family and we’ve had so much fun each time. It’s a tradition we wouldn’t mind continuing!

(Welcome to the island!}

{Because it was 4th of July and the lines for all the greatest coasters – like the Millennium Force – were over an hour-and-a-half wait time, they set up a plinko game right outside of the entrance to the Millennium line. For $5 you got two chances to play plinko and win 2 passes straight to the front of the line if your puck landed in the yellow slots. Why not? Ted and Caleb gave it a try and our good luck charm Caleb dropped the pucks and won us not 2, but 4 passes to the front of the line for Millennium Force!! Those passes saved us four adults 1.5 hours in line, allowing us time to ride the Millennium Force, grab dinner together as a family, and ride several other coasters too! It was amazing. Totally worth it! And despite the crazy high climb and really steep drop, Millennium is sooooo smooth of a ride; a completely magnificent coaster.}

{Happy 4th of July!}

{Hanging with the kids while Kate and Tim took their turn on the Millennium}

{Can’t pass up a good opportunity to be utterly obnoxious}

{Not a bad spot for some Happy Birthday America fireworks!}

{And after hitting up the Millennium, Gemini, and Iron Dragon, it was clearly time to hunker down in the bunk beds – yesssss – when we finally made it back to the hotel at 1 a.m. for a good night’s sleep}

{The next day we drove to Menor, a suburb of Cleveland, to meet up with a bunch of Ted’s family, all driving in to celebrate Fr. Bob’s 80th birthday. I had to leave to drive back to NY mid-afternoon, so only some of the family had made it to town for the weekend by the time I left, but it was so nice to see the ones I did get to see…and from what I hear, Ted and the rest of the family enjoyed a wonderful weekend together too.}

Family, Friends, Food, and Fun…and that concludes our summer road trip! :)

For our last day in Lansing we breakfast’d at Fleetwoods Diner (another favorite breakfast joint from our past), wandered the island in Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge, enjoyed some ice cream at our favorite tiny little small-town ice cream stand in GL – Corner Cone, checked out the amazing produce, awesome selection of hard ciders, and other exquisite goodies at Horrocks (the best grocery store for real, which seriously beats out Wegman’s any day!), walked Old Town and the Riverwalk downtown, found a playground, and met up with one of Ted’s friends from MSU for a lunchtime drink.

{Gyro hippie hash at Fleetwoods – a truly delicious one-of-a-kind breakfast!}

{The island at Fitzgerald Park}

{Feeding ducks}

{The face tree}

{Blue Moon at Corner Cone!}

{Horrocks, you are the best grocery store that ever there is! I miss you so!!}

{Swingin’}

{And lastly, on the road again with everyone’s favorite road trip snack – the Astropop!}

So long Lansing…thanks for the memories! You have always been so good to us :)

Road-trip Day 2:  Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon! 

{We learned the best time to hit up an amusement park is when it’s 68 degrees, cloudy, and threatening rain. All fun, no lines!}

{This wooden coaster – “Shivering Timbers” – the longest and fastest wooden coaster in Michigan – was my favorite! We rode it at least three times. Lots of climbs, lots of drops, lots of speed, and over a mile in length. It’s a crappy picture but the coaster snakes all the way to the very end of the shot, and then back again. So fun!}

Days 2 & 3: Lansing!

{What’s left of the Boarshead Theatre, where I got my professional start in theatre and where Ted and I met. Stupid city. Stupid parking lot. We had lots of happy memories in that old building.}

{Clara’s Lansing Station – a lovely old train station turned restaurant we used to frequent and where we celebrated the night we got engaged.}

{Oh, how I missed salads from Clara’s!}

{Return to Golden Harvest – our most favorite tiny, snarky breakfast joint in the history of ever!}

(Enlarge this picture and read all the signs. Seriously, they’re the best, right? The sign at the bottom of the door is amazing. They tell it like it is. I like that.}

{They’ve only got about 10 small tables plus the bar, and the line is always a mile long, out the door. Absolutely worth it! So, you see why the sign is necessary, no?}

{Their eclectic decor is pretty snazzy too.}

{They’re totally not mean at all, just honest and full of snark. In fact this place is run by some of the nicest people and best breakfast cooks with a sense of humor there are!}

{More awesome decor. Every square inch is covered in eye-catching greatness. A feast for your eyes, your belly, and your soul.}

{Now here’s a man who’s happy…}

{…to be reunited with the epic blueberry pancakes he loved so well! Day = made.}

{Omeletes, toast and home fries from Heaven – featuring veggies fresh from the garden out back.}

{Ah yes, the intersection of Grand River and Grand River, followed by a few more Grand Rivers in various other parts of the city. Maddening when you’re first trying to learn your way around…funny now that we know our way around.}

{Capitol building in downtown Lansing. She’s a beaut!}

{The MSU dairy store – all made on campus with MSU moo cows. Rumor has it that their ice cream is so fattening – read: so fantastically tasty – that it’s not allowed to be packaged and sold in stores. So, naturally, we had to get fresh grilled cheese sandwiches and a double scoop of the Frozen Four Slap Shot – creme de menthe and andes mints – and the Maize-N-Berry – blueberry pie – flavors in a homemade waffle cone. Incredible!}

So, you can see how this trip was basically all about just whizzing around on roller coasters, hanging out with great people, and eating our way thru our favorite places, right?

More to come next week! Stay tuned and happy weekend! :)

…& return to the Old Channel Inn Beach!

Last week we took a not-overplanned and on-the-cheap 5-day road-trip vacay to Michigan and Ohio to revisit old friends and favorite haunts from our past. We drove from Rochester, New York thru Ontario, Canada to Montague/Whitehall, Michigan (right on the shores of Lake Michigan) to visit Blue Lake (where I taught acting and dance for musical theatre for six weeks last summer), Lansing (where Ted and I met), Sandusky, Ohio (Cedar Point!), and Mentor, Ohio (family reunion). It was lovely – a perfect quick and dirty summer getaway!

{Canada has the best roads and wineries every 3 miles. The U.S. should follow suit}

{Summertime in northern Michigan}

{Monumental because our closest Sonic in NY is about 150 miles away}

{And what’s a road-trip without your favorite junk food? Stocking up while I can}

Our first stop was for a beaching and bonfiring night in Montague/Whitehall, Michigan to hang out with one of my very best friends Rachel (who I met in college and roomed with when we studied Shakespeare abroad in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK) and the rest of the wonderful faculty I worked with last summer. Rachel and I shared the acting/dance position at BLFAC last summer and she was able to teach there again this summer too – so, clearly, this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

{This girl = the best}

We met at the Old Channel Inn Beach (where I spent a good majority of my non-theatre making time last summer) for some catching up, sand, waves, gourmet sandwiches, beer and wine, and a gorgeous sunset. Ah, I missed these fine people!

{Feelin’ right at home on these soft sands}

{Pastrami with havarti dill, lettuce, tomato, onion, red pepper hummus, and a spicy veggie spread paired with strawberries, cherries, watermelon, rotisserie chicken, chips, and some Leinie’s and pinot grigio}

{Unwinding – you’re doing it right, Ted}

{This place has the most glorious sunsets! The light reflected off the surf and sand? Nailed it.}

{We’ve gotten good at meeting in places anywhere other than where we actually live}

{Yup, he’s a keeper}

{Clearly, we are a stunning example for young theatre artists}

{Really!}

After the sun set, we took the party back to the cabins for a campfire and some s’mores in the woods, just like old times.

I am so lucky to have such amazing people to call my friends!

‘Til next time, BL!