Friday: The small group I am a part of from MNBS went for a "retreat" Friday and Saturday to Margaret's condominium on Old Mission Pointe Peninsula. We had been there back in the fall, and now it was time to do it again! I rode up with Pam, Bethany, and Cindy. Margaret drove the other vehicle with Jen, Christy, Eva and Julie. At the last minute, Helen called and cancelled. She was stuck in a meeting and couldn't get away. We arrived at the condo at around 2:30 in the afternoon. A few of us decided to drive to the lighthouse park and walk around.
I love the surroundings of this little light. I love the woodsy pathways, the fences, the rocky shoreline.
It was a beautiful, but chilly, Friday afternoon. I was glad I bundled up. I had a scratchy throat Thursday night as well as a cough ... I didn't realize that all of that would worsen throughout the day Friday. However, while I was outside, my head and ears were covered, and I was layered up. It was difficult to take a bad picture with the sun shining so wonderfully.
There weren't many other people visiting the area while we were there--which made for nice pictures as well. There is nothing more annoying than having a bunch of strangers show up in an almost perfect picture.
Lake Michigan was pretty calm, and oh-so-BLUE.
The lighthouse doesn't officially open until May 1--so we could NOT shop at their museum gift shop, which was a little disappointing.
Had I been alone, I would have wondered the entire three miles into the woods here; but I was NOT by myself and had to be considerate of those I was with. Two of the girls were not walkers whatsoever--they sat on the beach chairs and just chatted while Jen and I explored and walked.
Mission Point is exactly on the 45th parallel. I had forgotten that. I failed to photograph this entire SIGN that showed the 45th parallel stretching around the earth, which was quite interesting! It travels right through France, and Odessa, Ukraine. The British Isles are quite a bit more north.
I'm glad I got these shots of the lighthouse today. It's such a pretty place. I'll add these to the ones from prior years ... and make a few cards.
Margaret made us a marvelous steak dinner--mine was even medium rare like I love it. We chatted around the table for a very long time. It was fun to get to know some of the ladies a bit better. I was feeling increasingly sicker as the evening wore on and I went to bed a little after 9:00! I slept very soundly until 7 in the morning, which was good. I was thankful I brought cough medicine along with me and plenty of lozenges too. But I felt little better when I woke up Saturday morning.
The girls wanted to do a bit of shopping on Saturday, so first we went to "The Mercato", otherwise known as "The Village" which is an old insane asylum that has been converted into a shopping venue. This place is HUGE. I didn't get many pictures of it--again, because I was with other people--but the whole environment was so ... sad. I couldn't help but think of all the people committed there in years past and the terrible things that happened to them. How dark life can be sometimes.
We stayed mostly on the main floor which had dozens of shops--boutiques, book stores, markets, etc. But none of us was really very happy there. After a little bit, all of the stores looked the same! And it was super crowded and claustrophobic.
We only stayed here for perhaps 45 minutes ...
... then we drove to shop in the downtown area. I didn't photograph anything about those shops. It's a typical beach downtown area with a really cute shopping area. I stopped in at a cute toy store and broused around for a happy 30 minutes. I also found Shelley's book in the bookstore there! It's always neat to run across her books, either in a library or bookstore. When we returned to Margaret's, I was exhausted. We ate a really nice lunch together, cleaned up the condo, and headed back to Grand Rapids. I hope I haven't infected all of my friends with whatever I have. I'm hoping to get into the doctor's office tomorrow and get treatment.
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