After our parents left we had about two weeks to ourselves organizing the apartment and exploring the area. We discovered that a local movie theater has a special where you can get a ticket to a movie anytime on Mon-Thurs for $4.75! If you go on Fri-Sun it's like $9.00. We've taken advantage of that a few times, as well as the $9.99 steak special at Outback and the 2 for $20 at Applebees :) Trying to save $$$!
Before moving to Michigan we had talked to our good friends Reed and Meredith Cole about spending the fourth of July together in upstate Michigan (Leland) because Reed has family up there and they often all get together for the 4th, as they were this year. We were so excited that we had the opportunity to celebrate with our friends! Reed and Meredith arrived on the 1st and stayed the night with us - we went to Dick O'Dows, an Irish pub in Birmingham, for dinner. We arrived in Traverse City, MI on Thursday the 2nd around dinner time and we met up with some of Reed's family for dinner. The Traverse City and Leland area are famous for their cherries - they are everywhere up there! After dinner we drove the rest of the way to Leland and checked into our hotel - the Leland Lodge. It was such a quaint place - it had a mountain lodge feel to it.
On Friday the 3rd we explored Leland and were lucky to have a beautiful day - it was a bit chilly and windy at times but still very sunny. We went down to the fishing village called Fishtown in Leland and ate lunch at a precious little deli that is famous for their pretzel bread - it was delicious.
After lunch we walked along Main Street and checked out some of the shops and the Mercantile general store. We went to dinner with all of Reed's family - all 20 or so of them - and after dinner went to another of Reed's family members houses in Leland. She lived on farm land and owned several horses, which we loved seeing!
In Leland they do the fireworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th, so that night after dinner we joined a huge crowd to watch them - they were fabulous!
Me and Mer back at the lodge :)
On the 4th we were excited to see the Leland 4th of July parade that we had heard so much about - it was so much fun! Leland and other small surrounding towns put on a parade made up mostly of local organizations and it was very nostalgic and wholesome.
After the parade we headed to Reed's great Aunt and Uncle's house - it was right off of the beach and had a beautiful big lawn with a tent and badminton and yard games set up. We played games and enjoyed a cookout for dinner - we also went down to the beach and watched the sunset - it was a great day!
Lake Michigan
After the sunset we headed back to the Lodge and a few of us lit some of the sparklers I brought (leftover from the wedding!) It was such a great vacation and we hated to leave. Hopefully we can spend another 4th there someday!
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