The Start of our Annual Birthday Trip, Destination: Saugatuck, Michigan!

Hey, it's podcast Tuesday! We've got all kinds of stories from our week of speaking and our vacation...and below you'll find some pictures from our vacation, too! :) ENJOY!

 Listen here!

In case you're new to the old blogaroo, allow me to catch you up on our birthday trips! Ryan and I have birthdays that are just about three weeks apart, so when we first got married, we elected to begin a tradition of taking a trip near our birthdays as sort of a gift to each other. (We still give gifts to each other, of course, but this is a fun thing we've enjoyed doing. You can see all our trip recap here, if you're looking for vacation ideas!)

So three years ago, we headed to Holland, Michigan, for the tulip festival, and there were SO MANY THINGS about that trip that were hilarious disasters. Heading the list was the lack of tulips, which didn't bloom because of the Polar Vortex that winter. We said we didn't want to go back to Michigan for a birthday trip again, because it was too risky if we wanted warm weather. Wellllllllllll, then we decided to try it again this year, and wouldn't you know it. Freezing cold and rainy the entire weekend. Isn't it so funny?

So here is a peek at the start of our trip. Annual photo:

Also. Can we pause to ask how we are into FIFTH annual anything? Sorry we both look a little blah in this picture. It was early, we were tired, and clearly under-caffeinated.

It was cold and rainy the morning we left, we couldn't get our GPS to take our destination address, and we were laughing already about the mess this was turning out to be. So it came as no surprise that a semi blocked my view of the Welcome to Michigan sign and now our scrapbook memory of entering Michigan looks like this:

Sigh.

We had to switch up some plans immediately because of the weather, so our first stop was in the lovely town of South Haven, Michigan. Neither of us had ever been there before, but I really wanted to see the lighthouse I'm always seeing in pictures!

So we went right out there on that beach, where the temp was in the 30's, it was starting to rain, and we were layered up in hats, coats, and we would have added gloves if we'd brought them!

First glimpse!! See it out there at the end of the pier? (Ryan wanted to climb on the rocks.)

 So. Cold.

 I have to confess it was much smaller in real life than it always looks in the pictures I see online. But it's still a lighthouse, and I love them!

 How glad was I that I was NOT on that sailboat out there?

Found a coffee shop on the beach. Closed. Because of course.

We decided to go ahead and have lunch there in South Haven, so Ryan read some reviews quickly and decided on a little restaurant called Clementine's. Our food was really good! (Ryan got some sandwich that had seafood on it and I had a salad with really flavorful chicken!)

After lunch, we decided to walk around for a while, check out some of the shops, and maybe hit up the local coffee shop. You know. Maybe.

 We found this cute little coffee shop called The Living Room, and it really felt like one! (So much so that someone took a nap during his coffee. Yes, you read that right. DURING!) Good coffee, great atmosphere, and a nice warm-up break on a chilly day!

(Sorry about the lighting. I'd call it my halo, but we both know better.)

 One of our favorite stores on our little tour around town was this shop that had a HUGE third floor that used to be a ballroom. Original wood floors, exposed brick walls, huge wall of windows: our Fixer Upper minds were spinning!

So that was our visit to South Haven! We left there about mid-afternoon and drove to our home base for the weekend. A bed and breakfast, or more specifically, boat and breakfast, that I can't wait to show you tomorrow!

Cape Henry

Last Monday was our last day in Virginia Beach, and we took it easy that morning {again}. Lynnette and I did a little shopping at Cato, and it's possible the capsule wardrobe grew in that outing. After lunch, Mark and Lynnette took us to see one of my favorite things: lightouses!!

There are two lighthouses at Fort Story, and we were able to climb one of them: the Cape Henry Lighthouse. 

The Cape Henry Lighthouse is located at the "First Landing," where the Jamestown settlers arrived. It is said to be one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the US, dating back to the late 1700's. It looks out over the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, and my goodness, did we ever have a magnificent day to explore it.

 It was 191 steps from the ground up to the base of the lighthouse and then up to the top of the lighthouse.

Did I mention I'm petrified of heights, and I'm claustrophobic?

But I made it to the top, and the view was spectacular!

And as you know, what goes up must come down.

Made it! All 191 steps and the scary ladder included!

And after our lighthouse tour, we looked at some of the other memorials at the First Landing site.

Ryan recreated one....

We looked out over the water one more time...

 And then it was time to say goodbye {to the lighthouses}.

 We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping...

And then Mark and Lynnette took us to Bubba's for seafood. Ryan wanted real, fresh seafood. And it was, indeed, delicious. Even I liked it!

And then....we went to their favorite coffee shop: Cafe Moka. It was delightful.

And so was our last day in Virginia Beach. :( We spent one more night at Mark and Lynnette's, and we were sad to say goodbye to them when early morning arrived.

The Shafferland Shuffle

In case you missed it yesterday...SURPRISE! We went on vacation this past week! In fact, we sneaked out a couple days early at the end of last week, making my picture sharing tricky for last Friday and Saturday! While everything I told you was absolutely true, here are a couple of montages that show a little bit more fully the events of a week ago Friday and Saturday:

* Friday was really filled with an all day road trip that began at 7 a.m. {and the trip to Starbucks you saw} and ended when we arrived at my best friend Lynnette and her husband Mark's house in Virginia Beach, Virginia. {They own the cute dog you saw in last week's Shuffle.} We had THE most perfect day ever for driving. Not one single construction zone. Not one single wreck. Not one single slow down. Nothing. And stunning blue skies, sunshine, and changing leaves made for such a pretty drive. We had a blast in the car, but we were happy to arrive and stretch!

* Saturday, we really did sleep in and eat BBQ and cuddle up to watch TV at night, but there were a few more exciting things throughout the day. We lounged around Mark and Lynnette's house all morning and then we headed TO THE BEACH! Lynnette took us to two different beaches and we had a great time walking through sand, walking down the boardwalk, crashing a wedding, playing with photo props, and so much more. We ended the day eating at a darling little BBQ place and then watching TV.

* Sunday, we went to church with Mark and Lynnette, and then they took us to Colonial Williamsburg. We'd never been before, and again, we had such a pretty day and LOVED being able to run around, having fun, seeing history, and spending great time with my half of our wedding party. {And I won't lie - I kind of wanted to move into some of the houses in Williamsburg! They are adorable! But I would not have wanted to live back in those colonial days!}

* Monday was our last day in Virginia, and Mark and Lynnette took us to the lighthouse at Cape Henry. {Again, in case you have forgotten, I am petrified of heights and enclosed spaces, so climbing lighthouses is a feat for me. But I did it!!} We had another GORGEOUS day - much nicer than was predicted, actually. We had a seafood dinner on the water and ended our day at Mark and Lynnette's favorite coffee shop. A great end to our time in Virginia Beach!

* We left Mark and Lynnette's house early Tuesday morning and drove almost the entire day, headed to our NEXT adventure! The morning's drive was kind of maddening - rush hour and delays and wrong turns and such, but midday, we stopped and visited Furnace Hills coffee roasting company! We'd never seen roasting in action before, and it was exciting! More about this later. We drove all afternoon, up from Virginia, through Maryland, all the way through Pennsylvania, and into New York, and we got a hotel for the night - and it had complimentary coffee and cookies. YUM!!!

* Wednesday, we were THRILLED when the weather report was wrong and our day at Letchworth State Park in New York went splendidly! I can't wait to show you more of the pictures, but we hit a stunning leaf season to drive and hike through this beautiful park that is voted the number one state park in the nation for a very good reason. We spent the entire day in the park, ate dinner before 5:00 {LOL!!!!} and then spent the evening resting our aching feet. Hiking uphill is a change of pace for these flat-land midwesterners!!

* Thursday morning we had our shortest drive of the whole trip: an hour and a half to the great sight of Niagara Falls! It was Ryan's first ever trip to the Falls, and my third. {Second that I remember. I was two months old the first time.} Though the day had been slated for cold and rain, it was warm and sunny and STUNNING. There weren't a ton of people there, so we had plenty of room to move around, take pictures, see beautiful fall leaves, and take our first trek into CANADA! Though our legs almost fell off at the end of the day from all the walking, it was a lovely day in every way.

* Friday morning, we took our time getting ready and packed up, walked back down to the Falls one more time for a goodbye look, and left New York shortly before lunch. The drive home was every bit as annoying as our drive TO vacation had been NOT annoying. We had construction delays, rush hour, and didn't get home until 10 p.m. But we enjoyed our day on the road together and decided it was the best end to our vacation! {Plus I got to stop at Sonic, so I was VERY happy for that!!}  Thankful to be home with our girlie again! 

* And because we hadn't spent enough time in a car, yesterday morning we picked up my parents and drove a couple hours south of home to have lunch with my sister at the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana. The food was so good, and it was a fun day, even if it was a long drive. And it's never a bad day when you get to watch Andy Griffith the whole time you get to eat lunch!!