Last Weekend

How time flies!! I have not had time to sit down and journal for a few days, but life has been busy. Everett and I left for the Traverse City area last Friday the 15th, to spend two nights at the Chateau Chantal, a winery on Mission Point. Brett & Roxanne, Brenda & Joel and Emily gave us a gift card for Christmas '05 to spend time there, and it took 1 1/2 years to get into the room we had picked out. We had a beautiful view of the water on both sides of the peninsula, and the vineyards in the valley below the Chateau. It has been at least 5 years since we have been to TC and we were surprised to see how the city had grown. We reacquainted ourselves with places we remembered, did a little shopping and then went to the old part of town for dinner at Mode's Bum Steer. We had not been there before, but had a great prime rib dinner. So tasty. On the way back to CC we drove to the point and saw the lighthouse, stopped on the way back at an 'old' general store for a dish of ice cream. The store began as a wigwam in the mid 1800's, where Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were customers at one time. It was full of history and memories of things we remember, and made me feel as old as the antiques we were looking at.
Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast of an italian vegetable & cheese strata, bacon fruit and shortbread. After breakfast we took a tour of the winery with the owner, who had the vineyard of approximately 65 acres, since 1983. This was his third career, and he seemed to be enjoying himself very much. He also owned land in Argentina where different types of grapes were raised, to make other varieties of wine. He explained about new equipment that made trimming and tying the vines, and also picking the grapes easier and took less manpower. They have approx. 18 fulltime employees and seasonal help up to about 130 workers
Later that morning we drove to Sutton's Bay and saw many beautiful places, along the water. We stopped at Stubb's Sweetwater Grill in Northport for lunch along with a group of bikers.
We continued along highway 22 and midafternoon we were at Dorsey's where Ed and Virg live for the summer. We stopped in and found Ed working around the park, and Virg and Graham their grandson had gone to TC for groceries. We enjoyed the view from their sun porch and had a nice visit with them.
We stopped for supper in TC at Scalawags for fish, and then on to a movie.
Sunday we had brunch at The Boathouse on the west shore of Mission Point overlooking Power Island, as guests of the Chateau. We had a leisuely drive home, and as we left TC we drove past Fun Country where we had gone with Ken and Margie and all our kids one summer. It was owned by hunting friends of K & M and the kids had a blast driving the go carts. We also saw Greiner Parkway, and remembered a fast ride through the woods in a Suburban on our way to see where Mr. Greiner made maple syrup (burned) , and we held our breath as he missed trees by mere inches!! One ride we all remembered.
We made it home and agreed we had a wonderful relaxing time, enjoying great beauty, thanks to our kids!