VACATIONING

Nina and Pinta

August 6th - South Haven, Michigan

CA and I are on a quick trip--short vacation--to southern Michigan. Our chair and ottoman have been upholstered in Battle Creek, so we are on a visit to JL. It is refreshing to go to bed and wake up early with the light reflecting off this lovely lake. It is a perfect day--sunny, warm, and breezy.

After a fitness walk punctuated by the opportunity to view the newest house on this lake, we decide to head to South Haven to purchase blueberries at Leduc's and take a look at the tall ships in South Haven's harbor.

I have been to South Haven several times on business--trips that sometimes included evening sails on beautiful yachts. My previous employer had donors with big bucks and big boats, and we were able to utilize the boats for board meetings and business entertainment purposes.

This is maybe only the second time I have been to South Haven just for fun. It is a lovely little vacation town and if you are imaginative you can pretend you are on the ocean, because Lake Michigan is BIG! I have been needing the ocean, and Indian Lake along with a bit of Lake Michigan feeds that need.

The house tour this morning was purely luck. JL and I were 1/2 way through our walk when a lovely neighbor stepped out into the road to compliment JL's recent 25 lb. weight loss. When we complimented her new house, she kindly invited us in for a tour. This was a tear down/rebuild project. She owned the previous house and intended only to build an addition, but the economics of the situation dictated that they start from scratch. She has a gorgeous lot on the very end of the small heel of this boot-shaped lake and they were able to maximize lake views.

The house was perfect. After no luck with two different architects, they found their builder and he suggested the tear-down. His finish work is over the top gorgeous. They repurposed and reused what they could from the original house and were able to preserve fond memories from the life lived previously, which is most important because the young husband died suddenly seven years ago. The children are almost grown now, and there is a new dad, but the wise, wise mom knew to preserve what she could to ease the transition.

So, we had no plans when the day started but as we wait for the creamy chicken and the sweet potato/black bean enchiladas to heat up for dinner, we are content in how the day turned out. The oven is pre-heating and the enchiladas are ready to warm. The last sunlight of the day is waning and we are settling in for a relaxing evening and a fun meal.