Over the weekend, Pete and I met up with Michigan folks, Jennifer and her husband, Karl. Jennifer and I were friends in high school, and we recently re-connected through Facebook. When we were in Michigan over Christmas, she and I had lunch one afternoon and it was as though time had never intervened. We spent three hours chattering - wine included. :) Their daughter, a cellist, is touring with the group Owl City - how cool is that? I love their song Fireflies - Continue Reading
Shakespeare at the Guthrie: Macbeth
Over the Easter weekend, Pete and I were pleased to host visiting Michigan relatives. The occasion was a milestone birthday for my cousin, Joan. Her dad, my Uncle Jack, who is in his mid-eighties, wanted to come to Minneapolis, too. (We wrote about Jack's neck of the woods here, and introduced you to him and his siblings here.) Long on Joan's Bucket List has been a visit to the world-renowned Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and Pete and I were determined to make this happen Continue Reading
Roaming Through Michigan
The link to this charming vintage film arrived recently in an email from Michigan relatives. It opens with views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore and lovely Leelanau County, which we wrote about here. The aerial view of Traverse City shows beautiful Grand Traverse Bay and the peninsula to the east of downtown where one of my two cousins who are lucky enough to live in T.C. resides today. The first of the three girls picking cherries in the video could have been my mother; Continue Reading
Going All In On the Gunflint Trail, Part 2
So we head across the street from the Ugly Baby Bait Shop and into the Trail Center Lodge, one of my favorite places squared (meaning, it's a favorite place within a favorite place). The screen door slams behind us. On our left is a little grocery area, and before we get inside the bar proper, there's a bit of retail space. Filled with Dorkwear, coffee mugs and other items emblazoned with trail-related emblems and pithy sayings, there's always something to look at. Usually, Continue Reading
Going All In On the Gunflint Trail
Every traveler has sacred places. For me, they're the ones where I, upon arriving for the first time, feel compelled to stand still and look around in recognition. I get a grounded feeling that tells me, "Yes, you could belong here." In Paris and Key West, this is a seductive whisper, easily dismissed with deprecating gesture and rueful laugh as impractical. In others, like Denali and Southport Island, I am powerless as the soles of my feet latch on to the earth beneath Continue Reading
LOVELY LEELANAU
I spent a few days last week with my Uncle Jack, my late mother's oldest brother, at the tail end of a longer trip visiting family. Jack and his late wife retired years ago to Suttons Bay, in Leelanau County, Michigan. They had grown up sailing on Lake Huron out of Alpena. Grand Traverse Bay proved a fine day's outing on the water, as well as a peaceful easterly view from their new home. Both my Uncle Jack and my cousin Joan participated in sailing a two-masted schooner, the Continue Reading
CHEECHAKOS IN THE CHUGACH
This is a re-post from a year ago. We were fresh back from our trip to Alaska and in the midst of chronicling our experiences. Consult this handy reference for definitions of "cheechako," "Outsider" and others. I think it's safe to say when we arrived in Alaska, we expected it to be teeming with wildlife and photography opportunities from the get-go. Initially, one of us looked upon this prospect with more favor than the other, as you will see. You'll also see that my Continue Reading
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- …
- 61
- Next Page »