Summer Getaway, Part 1

Whew, I'm tired! We got back late on Thursday night (Friday morning, really) and then spent allll day yesterday cleaning and setting up for a certain someone's birthday party. The party was today, so it was another busy day. Busy, tiring, exciting and fun, and it left this mama exhausted. I could probably drink a pot of coffee, but instead I'll stick with the cup I have and tell you about our trip. And of course, later this week I'll share photos from the party. I can't believe she turns two tomorrow, my sweet and wonderful girl.

Anyway...

I know it's not technically summer yet, but we went on a summer mini-vacation this week! Chad was off all week and we decided at the last minute to go away for one night during the week. We didn't have a destination in mind, just someplace that we hadn't been to before, that was near water, and was within a 4-5 hour drive or less. After cruising the interwebs for a bit I discovered a small beach town in Michigan called South Haven. It seemed to meet all our requirements plus it looked really cute--pretty beaches, lots of neat restaurants and a bunch of boutique stores and antique shops in town.

We found a hotel/b&b in town and scored a room for a great price at the Hawkshead Inn. (it's still considered off-season there plus staying on a weeknight meant lower rates and no minimum night stay). The room actually had two bedrooms and a small kitchen and they delivered breakfast to our room in the morning! Nice. Here's a photo of the hotel:

South Haven is a gorgeous little town right on Lake Michigan in the southern part of the state. It was about a 4.5 hour drive for us, so we left early in the morning and got there in the mid-afternoon (with three stops along the way to let little legs run around and blow off steam). It was a beautiful place and wonderful trip and we're already planning on going back next May for a longer stay. I highly recommend it!

Here's stop #3, which involved a snack of milk and nuggets, a la Wendy's. Yum.

I took an excessive amount of photos (shocking) so I'm dividing this little trip post into two so I don't overwhelm you with hundreds of photos at once. I liked too many of them to choose :)

There are several beaches in South Haven but we spent most of our time at South Beach. It was just beautiful and there were only about a dozen or so other people there. The sand is perfect--soft and clean feeling with no rocks or garbage anywhere. And the exfoliation benefits of walking barefoot in fabulous sand should not be ignored :) Another bonus? There was a playground and swings right on the beach. Toddler heaven.

Part 2 coming soon...

~Stacy