Beer and a lakeshore...

Could you really ask for anything more? 

The hubs and I had sort of a staycation for our second anniversary. I can't believe we've already been married 2 years!

We went down to Cincinatti and repeated our first anniversary trip to Brew Ha Ha. Caroline Rhea was headlining and was quite funny indeed. We drank lots of delicious beers from microbrews all over. My favorites were some from Goose Island out of Chicago that I had not yet had the pleasure of trying. While I did take some photos, most were quite blurry because it was dark... :(

We were joined by our dear friends the Benson's once again as well as both of their daughters and their sig. others this year. A good time was had by all and a cozy wonderful hotel bed awaited us after all that hoppy goodness as we somewhat stumbled back (all walking for us as the roo was safely parked in the garage next to the hotel. :D) We stayed with the Benson's and Jess did my hair which was a previous post. :D

Once Joe and I got back home we settled back in and I got some work done but I'd been itching to visit Saugatuck again (I dream of living in that area someday with a flock of various fiber bearing aminals.) So, when we hadn't gotten off our butts for a few days, I printed the directions next to Joe while he puttered on the computer and said, "HEY! Let's go, huh?"

We wandered downtown Saugatuck for a bit and went to a few galleries I'm HOPING to apply to get my work into. Did I have ulterior motives for a Saugatuck visit? Maybe. But beer and food were definitely on my mind. We did discover a lovely little spice shop that smelled absolutely heavenly while we were there though. :D

I had probably the most amazing French Dip sammich ever at Saugatuck Brewing Company. Joe and I split a sampler because it had been 2 years since we'd been and they had lots of new beers on tap. Super tasty stuff I say!

Did I whine after dinner and say that we cannot be next to the Lake Michigan and not let me go wading at least for a little bit? Um... duh. We went to a dune park and ended up walking off dinner on a helluva hike through the woods and down a dune but when we finally reached the water it was magical.

When we finally ventured back to the car Joe noticed a little message in one of the dunes. Hard to read in the picture but it says, "Will you marry me," in sticks. Pretty romantic to see when you are enjoying your anniversary. How fun to think of the happy couple that must have been there within the last few days... maybe even hours before. <3

All in all, I was thrilled to be reminded why I still live in the state I grew up in. Michigan is so full of natural beauty, it is where so many of my loved ones are... and damn do they know how to make good beer here.