A Morning Hike at Point Beach

When I found out the hubby was going to be in Two Rivers for softball all day, I asked Rick if he wanted to go hiking at Point Beach State Park with me to help pass time. He agreed.

He picked me up from the ball diamond which I learned after the fact had 2 parking lots. We were waiting for each other in the other lot. We got to Point Beach and after following the road around for a while, came to a parking lot where we could start hiking.

I was disappointed by the hiking trail. I guess I got spoiled by High Cliff with its challenging trails. Maybe there are other trails that we didn’t go on. We stuck to 1 trail that was gravel. If I’m hiking I want to hike on dirt or other similar terrain. And the scenery wasn’t all that spectacular either.

We hiked about a mile to the main road. We could have kept going down the trail or head to the beach and see the lighthouse. I wanted to the see the lighthouse. Just up the road from the trail we were on, was part of the Ice Age Trail – and it was a real trail!!! Too bad I wanted to see the lighthouse because otherwise I probably have insisted on hiking on the Ice Age Trail.

The trail past the lighthouse and down the beach was a boardwalk sandy trail. You couldn’t actually go in or near the lighthouse. Again I was disappointed but we got close enough to take a couple pictures. Then we headed down the trail to the beach. Thomas and I played in the water a little.

Instead of going back the same way we came, we decided to walk down the beach back to the car. That was a dumb idea. The beach at times wasn’t more than a foot or so wide and either you are walking on the dunes or in the water. Even though it might have been a dumb idea, it was still fun and I would probably have done it again. I tried to walk the entire length barefoot since my feet were wet and sandy but once we got into the flock of seagulls, I decided it might be best if I put my shoes back on.

If I’m back in the area, I will definitely hike Point Beach again. I will even hike the gravel trails. Who knows I might find real trails and more pretty trails. It was a nice way to spend a few hours with Rick, Shannon, and Thomas. I’m sure they will be willing to come along again in the future.

#255 Ride in a Police Car

I figured I would cross riding in a police car off the bucket list the same way I crossed ride in a fire truck off the bucket list -- by having someone take me for a spin around the block or parking lot since the hubby knows a few cops. However that was not the case. My ride was a bit longer than a spin around the block and didn't even happen in Wisconsin! 

One of the umpires at the regional tournament was a cop on the town's department. Because of all the rain delays, we had an early start on Saturday morning. The hubby and I were sitting around the umpire's room trying to stay cool when Deputy Dawg walks in asking if we wanted to go get donuts. Deputy Dawg has a unmarked Durango for a squad car. The three of us take his car to go get donuts. The hubby got the front seat and I was in back. Let me tell you if the hubby wasn't such a Ford guy, a Durango would be on my short list of new car possibilities. That back seat was way more comfortable than my Escape. 

Yes that is a police car. 

You would never know until he turns on his lights and sirens

So after stopping at the local donut place, Deputy Dawg figured we had enough time for a tour of the town. We saw the hospitals, the airport, the parks, the rich neighborhoods, and few good places to eat. We were probably gone a good half hour. It was definitely an unique way to get a tour of the town. The only thing I wish once we were back at the park, he would have turned on the lights and sirens. I'm sure if I asked he would have.

I'm hoping that will be my only experience riding in the back of a police car. And IF I would happen to find myself riding in a police car again, I'm almost positive it will not be as comfortable ride as I had. I don't plan on finding out either. So for this good girl, my tour of town in the back of an unmarked Durango will be the closest thing I will ever get to riding in the back of a police car. 

Exploring the Southern Shore Wine Trail

When the hubby found out where he was going for regionals this year, I texted my cousin who didn’t live to far away asking her if she wanted to join me one day and hit some wineries or something. She agreed and I started planning a Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan Wine Trip. I initially was just going to stay in Northern Indiana as there were several wineries about an hour from Munster. Then I realized that Michigan wasn’t too far away and they had many more wineries… a whole trail to be exact (the Southern Shore Wine Trail)

I narrowed the list down to my top 6 wineries mainly based off of the distance from Munster, the websites/wine offerings and the name of the winery. I picked 2 in Indiana and 5 in Michigan. I figured we could hit 3 to 4 wineries. I know that 3 was probably my max. The 7 I picked were:

* Butler Winery
* Shady Creek Winery
* Lazy Ballerina
* Lemon Creek
* Round Barn
* Tabor Hill Champagne Cellar
* 12 Corners Vineyards and Winery

A few days beforehand, I narrowed it down to my top 3 -- 2 in Michigan and 1 in Indiana. Jeanne decided we should start in Michigan and then head back towards Munster.

* Butler Winery
* Lazy Ballerina
* Lemon Creek

LEMON CREEK
Because Lazy Ballerina didn’t open until noon, we started at Lemon Creek Winery in Berrien Springs. It was a small winery with a farm stand outside. There was another couple already tasting and was getting a lot of 1 on 1 attention. We were helped by another worker and it almost seemed like we were inconveniencing her. It was $7 for 5 tastings with a keepsake glass. Jeanne and I tried to sample different wines so we could also taste each other’s.

I tasted Lighthouse White, Pinot Grigio, Silver Beach Saunterne, Lighthouse Red, and Cherry Wine. I don't remember what Jeanne had. I know hers were drier wines.

At first we weren’t going to buy any wine mainly because of how we were treated but we did each end up getting a bottle. I bought a bottle of Silver Beach Saunterne which I’m hoping the hubby likes.

LAZY BALLERINA
After leaving Lemon Creek, we headed up to St. Joseph. Since Lazy Ballerina was right downtown, we parked downtown and decided to check out the cute downtown before going to the winery. We stopped in the 5 and 10 store and had a good laugh. I found some new stylish sunglasses. The antique store was my kind of antique store – not stuffy. It reminded me of an old lady’s rummage sale – knickknacks, sheet music, posters, and other actually useful stuff for non-antique type people.

On every corner downtown there were these whimsical bug statues.

We stopped at the South Bend Chocolate Factory for lunch. I had a grilled cheese and Jeanne had a tuna salad sandwich. When the cashier asked what I wanted with my sandwich and rattled off a list of chips including goldfish crackers, I was like you have goldfish? I will have them please. I also had a bottle of butterscotch root beer. The grilled cheese was very good but I could only eat half. It felt like such a waste not being able to bring it home. The root beer was ‘eh ok. It was not what I expected.

Since it was now after 12:00, we made our way to the winery. It was a very cute family owned winery. They don’t own their own vineyards but get grapes from all over Lower Michigan. Despite having several groups to serve, the owner was very pleasant, answered any questions we had, and didn’t make us feel like we were interrupting her day.

It was $8 for 5 tastings and you got a keepsake glass and a chocolate truffle. Again Jeanne and I tried to sample different wines to get a taste of most of their wines.

I sampled Sweet Nita's White, White Swan, Pink Tutu, Demi-Plie, and Nita's Red. I don't remember all that Jeanne sampled but she did try the Cranberry.

We each ended up buying a bottle… mine as a Christmas gift and Jeanne bought the Cranberry wine for Thanksgiving which I won’t get to have since it’s our year to be with the hubby’s family.

We drove by the lighthouse (or as close as we could without crossing a bridge) and the Lake. The weather was getting stormy and we just beat the storm out of town. Those poor people at the beach that got stuck in it.

After we left Lemon Creek, we decided to go to Shady Creek Winery instead of Butler Winery since we kept seeing billboards for it in Indiana. The only reason I picked Butler Winery was I didn't like the Shady Creek Website.

SHADY CREEK WINERY
We made a good decision. This by far was our favorite winery. The tasting was $8 for 5 tastings if I remember correctly. The winery bar was packed with people. You could order lunch or snacks. The wine workers were helpful and friendly. The only downside was we didn't get a keepsake glass but really I have enough wine glasses. It must be a Michigan Thing.  To help decide which wines you wanted to try and wanted to buy, they gave you a sheet with all the wines on it.

I sampled Beach Glass, Pink Sky, White Caps, Natural Cherry Fruit Wine, and Sweet Sunrise. Like the other wineries, some were white and others were red. I tried to stick to sweeter wines as that's what I prefer but I did sample drier ones since that's what Jeanne prefers.

I came home with a bottle of Sweet Sunrise.

Overall it was a great day. Unfortunately because of the weather, I didn't miss all that much baseball. I like visiting wineries but it is one of those things you really don't want to do alone. I'm sure I can always find a few people to go on a wine road trip....

#317 Go to Renaissance Faire

I always wanted to go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. It’s been on the list to go to every year for the last couple of years and never found the time to get down there especially it’s only open weekends July-Labor Day. Last year I came close when a group of us were planning on going but something came up. This year, I thought Stacy and I could go in August when the hubby is in Massachusetts but it turns out I will be in Boston. Because of having to move girl’s weekend, I decided I’d rather go to RenFaire instead of the Octagon House.

The Renaissance Faire in Bristol is a fair set in England in the 1500s. It gives you the illusion you stepped back into Medieval Times. There is a fully armored joust, the Queen and her glittering Court, amazing arts and crafts, delicious food, fine spirits, music, dance, parades, rides and games, and entertainers in the streets all day long according the website.

Since Stacy has been there numerous times, she printed out a schedule and highlighted the shows that were must sees. Because we had to walk from stage to stage, we couldn’t hit back to back shows. My requests were jousting, swords, and fire. We were able to hit all these and a few more. Between the shows Stacy shopped (I watched the fairies and took pictures) and ate.

First we stopped and got an amazing crepe and watched the end of Tortuga Twins, I believe.

Then it was time for the joust. This was my favorite event of the day. We sat almost directly in the middle of the arena. 4 competitors faced off in 2 rounds of 6 jousts each… basically facing each competitor twice. The object was to try to knock the other person’s shield to the ground or break their lance. The jousters got points for breaking the opponent’s shield, knocking the opponent’s shield to the ground, or breaking their opponent’s lance. The joust is an ongoing story told through the various jousts throughout the day.

After the joust we headed over to the sword fighting show while I contemplated some more if I really wanted to spend $20 for us to fence (which I didn’t… $10 I would have jumped at but not $20 for both of us). When we got to stage, the acrobats were still performing. We watched most of the acrobat show and this definitely was my second favorite show. The things they could do.

Then came the sword fighting duo. Just let’s say I was disappointed. I expected a lot more sword fighting than 2 and then a comedy routine on how to treat your lady. I think I saw more sword fighting at Pirate Fest in the rain than I did in the 20 minute show. Don’t get me wrong, what sword fighting there was, was very good. I just wished there was more.

After the show, we had some time before the next show and decided to get some real lunch. Stacy had mushrooms and I had a foot long sausage on stick. Initially I thought about getting kabobs but the sausage on a stick sounded good. Of course, I dipped it in ketchup so that took some talent to eat. I washed it down with some more sarsaparilla. Since they don’t let you bring in outside food and beverage, we had to buy all of our drinks inside the gates. Sarsaparilla was only a $1. Luckily it wasn’t too hot out or I’d been drinking a lot of that stuff.

With stopping to get lunch, we were almost late for the fire whip show. Again I was disappointed. I thought this guy would use fire whips the entire show but he only used it right at the end otherwise he cracked various other whips. I really liked the fire whip but I could live without seeing another whip crack show. It is just not my thing.

Once we hit all the shows we wanted to see, we wandered around for a little bit before we left. We managed to catch the end of the mud show. Trust me, that’s all I really ever needed to see. Besides all the free shows, there was lot of other things to do that required a separate fee like fencing, skill games, or the pirate ship.

Overall I was impressed with RenFaire. It really wasn’t what I expected but it was more than I thought it would be. What I didn’t care for was all the adult humor thrown into the shows. I’m all for adult humor but it didn’t seem to fit with the Medieval Times theme but who knows maybe there were crude and rude back then. The other thing that surprised me was all the performers hawking their DVDs and trying to collect tips after each show. I get tips since that’s how performers make their living but I don’t see the need for a DVD of acrobats or whip cracking. Maybe it’s just me.

I probably won’t make this a yearly thing but I will definitely go back. It’s the only place I know where I can learn to fence. It’s fun, entertaining, and if shows aren’t your thing the people watching is just as fun… between the regular cast of characters and fair goers in costumes there is plenty to see.