Two Down...

Last week we celebrated our second anniversary! We celebrated with a long weekend on Mackinac Island - our first real vacation that we've taken with just the two of us since our honeymoon (although we've been on other vacations with Leslie's family and with my family).

We left Thursday after work, stayed overnight in Lansing, and then arrived in Mackinaw City around noon on Friday. We checked out the old lighthouse and then booked our ferry ride. We had a little time before our scheduled departure, so we took a look around the touristy downtown area to see what they had to offer. Unfortunately it was a little chilly, so we didn't take advantage of the many ice cream and fudge shops. Maybe next time.

The Old Lighthouse

Mackinac Bridge

Shepler's Ferry

The ferry left at 1:30 and got us on the island with plenty of time left in the day (the ferry ride itself was an adventure - apparently we were on the party boat, as there was a large group of elderly and middle-aged women wearing matching shirts and doing jello shots to celebrate Grandma's birthday or something... go figure). Our first stop on the island was at the Draught House at Mary's Bistro for lunch. They have loads of craft beer on tap, most of which are from Michigan breweries. We had a few pints, a good lunch, and took some time to plan out the rest of our day.

Look at all those taps!

Lamb Burger for me!

Leslie's Chicken Pot Pie

After lunch we headed to our hotel, the Island House, to check in. It's a beautiful old building and apparently one of the oldest hotels on the island. I had found a deal online that included a discounted rate for two nights, free breakfast both mornings, bike rentals, some fudge, and a voucher for dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had bought this deal and booked the room way beforehand, but somehow there was a mix up with our room. To make up for it they upgraded us to an ever nicer, larger room. No complaints here.

From there we got some bikes (fo' free, thanks to the aforementioned vouchers) and headed out to explore the island. We rode around the island and checked out some of the sites in the park. It's a nice, easy one hour ride around the whole island and we had a lot of fun seeing everything, especially some of the impressive vacation homes (mansions, really) along the shore.

We checked our bikes back in at the hotel and then headed downtown to explore the shops. There are lots of fun little stores selling everything from fudge and candy to fresh-baked dog treats and custom stationery. Once we had checked out all the stores, and picked out our free fudge, we decided to get some pizza at one of the bars downtown (where we once again encountered Grandma's party group). A good end to a good day.

Local jams, sauces, etc.

Michigan Wine!

Mackinac Shirts Everywhere!

Sander's - we bought lots of fudge here

We didn't get these... I'm already perfect

Saturday morning started off with breakfast at the hotel (and they had a really great breakfast hash with mushrooms and potatoes and all kinds of good stuff... it was great). After that we went down the street to check out the Butterfly House. Yep, it's exactly what you'd think it is - a bunch of butterflies and insects. It was actually really cool. Besides having hundreds of live butterflies fluttering around they have glass display cases with lots of other stuff. I don't think I'd make a day out of the place, but it was worth a look.

After that we stopped by St. Anne's Church and headed up to Fort Mackinac. The fort was pretty impressive. There are a lot of buildings to see with loads of informational plaques, historic pictures, and various artifacts. They also have a few guys dressed in period uniforms to answer questions and do cannon / rifle demonstrations throughout the day. After exploring the fort we saw a few more sites on the island, got a bite to eat, bought more fudge, and then headed back to the room to rest our feet and warm up (it was chilly that day and had rained a bit... Leslie was cold). Later that evening was dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was delicious. We left full and happy, but not too full to eat a little more fudge back in the room.

The next day, our last day, was a little more relaxed. We checked out the Art Museum and then explored some parts of the island we hadn't visited yet - there were even more shops just back off the main strip that we didn't get to on Friday. We checked those out, got some coffee from a little local place, and then took the ferry back to Mackinaw City. From there it was a long drive home, but we made it back in good time, much to the relief of the cats.

Fancy Pants Coffee

Frank was clearly very happy to see us...

We had a great time on the island. Mackinac was beautiful and lots of fun, so I definitely think we'll have to find time to visit again.

So that was the end of our Mackinac trip, but not the end of our anniversary vacation! The next day we went to the Indianapolis Zoo. Leslie loves the zoo, so what better way to spend our extra day off! Since it was a weekday it wasn't too crowded and we were able to take our time and see everything at our own pace. The weather was beautiful and it made for a great anniversary day.

But wait, there's more! It wasn't really part of our anniversary, but it was a few days after and was lots of fun. Our favorite comedian, Mike Birbiglia, was performing at Clowes! He's a great comedian and his new show was hilarious. If you enjoy a good laugh then I definitely recommend checking out his Netflix special, "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend," any of his CDs, or his movie, "Sleepwalk With Me."

And that, dear friends, is the end to what was a pretty great anniversary celebration (plus a little more). I hope you're all having a good week and we'll be back soon with more fun and exciting things. Thanks for reading!