I lost my laptop in the mayhem so I haven’t been able to blog but I now have a keyboard hooked up to a tablet and I’m making it work because I just can’t stay away from you guys for too long! (I left my computer on the plane when we arrived in Vegas and have a lost items claim filled out with Delta so all hope is not lost. I’m holding off buying a new computer for a couple of weeks as it seems like laptops forgotten on airplanes can resurface within a month. Fingers majorly crossed!)
But let’s back up to the fun stuff!!
Arrival in Michigan
On Thursday night, my parents arrived in town to help watch the boys, dogs and leopard gecko while Ryan and I went on our whirlwind trip. We were so grateful to them for offering to stay with the boys but extra grateful to them for taking on a vizsla puppy as well. (Comet is truly a bigger handful than all 3 boys at the moment!) Chase, Ryder and Rhett couldn’t wait for special time with Mae and Pop and leaving the boys in such loving, capable hands made saying our goodbyes a little easier.
We had one stop en route to Traverse City, Michigan on Friday morning and had a quick 45 minute layover in Chicago, my old stomping grounds!
I grew up in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago, so anytime I find myself back in Chicago, however briefly, I feel happy! I also couldn’t resist a $19 Chicago sweatshirt that called to me from a random gift shop.
We made it to Traverse City around lunchtime on Friday (perks of a super-early flight) and picked up our rental car before driving along the coast of Lake Michigan toward our hotel in Petoskey. We made a pit-stop in Elk Rapids for lunch at Cellar 152 which we thoroughly enjoyed!
I ordered a Reuben sandwich because corned beef is forever one of my favorite foods and a warm sandwich was calling to me in the cold weather.
We had a 90-minute drive ahead of us but made another stop to walk out to the Petoskey Bayfront Lighthouse which was not our smartest idea.
We laughed a lot as we slid all over the snow and ice-covered path that looked a lot more like a mini ice peninsula than the pier it apparently is in the summertime. (On either side of the path was the lake and it got quite narrow and the drop off on either side was rather steep close to the lighthouse!)
It was windy and freezing and our footwear was horrible (zero-traction minimal sneakers) but it ended up being a highlight because it was such a ridiculous adventure. It felt like we were on another planet because the lake was frozen and covered completely in snow and ice. At one point we stumbled upon a small American flag someone put along the path and burst out laughing when I couldn’t resist saying, “It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind.”
Eventually we made it to the Bay View Inn where we met up with a bunch of our college friends who were staying at the same hotel! The hotel worked well for our group as it had several semi-private lounge areas we were able to commandeer and use for our gang in the mornings and late nights.
Our Friday night consisted of a group dinner in Petoskey before we made our way to Bar Harbor, a local bar in Harbor Springs, for a fun night out with Ashley and Sean, the bride and groom we were celebrating, and their families.
Saturday
Saturday morning began bright and early because, despite a late night, our college group is almost all in the same boat and can no longer sleep past 7 a.m. This worked out well because we were able to hang out in the second floor lounge area in our pajamas and sip hotel coffee and ease into the day together. Eventually a DM from one of you on Instagram led us to Maple & Batter in Bay Harbor for a festive Valentine’s Day brunch. The restaurant had live music, a red and pink balloon arch, a long wait (to be expected with a large group) and good food!
Brunch took most of our morning but we still had a little time to explore and headed into Harbor Springs where we very quickly learned the town all but shuts down during the winter months. The vast majority of the shops along Main Street were closed for the season but I did manage to nab an apple fritter the size of my face from Johan’s Pastry Shop so all was not lost.
The shuttle for the wedding was set to pick hotel guests attending the wedding up at 2:20 p.m. and a little after 1:30 p.m., we all figured we should get ready. The wedding wasn’t black tie but it was a little fancier than cocktail attire which made it a lot of fun, as we all wore long dresses and faux furs to combat the Northern Michigan chill.
(Wedding outfit details all linked here! Special shout out to my shoes because I never felt the need to take them off even once after hours of dancing!)
The wedding ceremony began at 3 p.m. at the most beautiful snow-covered church at the end of Main Street.
Watching Ashely walk down the aisle had me in years knowing how deeply in love she is with her husband. Sean and Ashley currently live in San Diego and began dating a year ago after reuniting more than a decade after they initially met in Chicago. Our group hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know Sean as well as we’d like (dang long distance friendships!!) but it became so glaringly obvious Ashley is marrying a wonderful man and gaining one heck of a wonderful family as we spent more time with Sean and his crew throughout the weekend.
(Photo credit:Stephanie Baker Photography)
Shuttles took guests to Birchwood Country Club where we enjoyed a delicious dinner (my flank steak was fantastic!), cake, drinks and lots and lots of dancing to a live band.
We had the absolute best time and I’m convinced there’s not much better than laughing until your stomach hurts, dancing your face off and spending time with friends you’ve had for more than two decades.
Sunday
Sunday morning came a little too quickly, but thankfully no one had super early flights so we were able to reconvene in the hotel lobby with coffee in hand and rehash the shenanigans of the night before… another one of my very favorite things to do with my friends.
Eventually we all said our goodbyes and Ryan and I made the haul back to Traverse City to catch a flight to Detroit before heading onto Las Vegas. Flight options were slim so we had a rather long layover in Detroit (4 hours) but we walked a lot around the terminal and grabbed a decent dinner before catching our 5 p.m. flight.
The time change worked in our favor, thankfully, and we arrived in Las Vegas a little after 7 p.m. (10 p.m. Charlotte time) and hauled our butts to our hotel where we had about 15 minutes to quickly change and all but sprint to the Sphere before the Backstreet Boys concert began.
We made it with a few minutes to spare and joined a handful of Ryan’s coworkers for the concert! (Ryan has a work conference in Vegas this week which is how this whole idea came about! When you have childcare coverage, ya make the most of it!)
The concert was fantastic and equal parts fun and nostalgic. It’s basically impossible to be a millennial and not know the words to a ton of Backstreet Boys songs and we all sang our hearts out and leaned into our inner teenage selves while donning our BSB whites!
On our flight to Vegas, Ryan and I were fairly certain we’d be face planting in bed immediately after the concert but when you’re in Vegas, all concept of time flies out the window and we found ourselves dancing up a storm at a club for a few hours before In-N-Out Burger called to us just before 2 a.m. (5 a.m. Charlotte time — who are we!?!)
It was a blast and a half of a weekend and even though I arrived home feeling like a bit of a zombie, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Getting away just the two of us is a rare but wonderful thing and we are so, so grateful to my parents for helping make it happen. Now it’s back to realityyy!
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