Traverse City - Summer 2015

For those of you who don't follow me on social Media... MOM... here are some of the photos from our recent summer vacation to the beautiful Traverse City, Michigan! How lucky are we that Matt's hometown is a top vacation spot in the U.S. and it's easy to see why when you see how much fun we had!

Here is our car packed up and ready to go... I was literally only home for 12 hours after my Europe trip before we hit the road on vacation! and I got A LOT done in those 12 hours... Sleep, laundry, packing, and cleaning out the fridge.

the kids didn't get much sleep in the car but they did great...

and after 15 hours we were there!

 

 

We did a ton of eating on this trip... like always. Here is a full post about some of my favorite TC Restaurants.

 

Here is Hunter at our favorite Breakfast Burrito location, Cuppa Joe!  

 

Kids loved looking at the water and finding minnows

 

You see that backpack on Hunter... it is full of toys to help make sure that we make it through dinner out at a restaurant without a meltdown!

 

Photo outside of City Hall after Dinner

 

We are always sure to stop by the Great Lakes Children's Museum!

 

Both boys loved this little bridge right off of the Main Street.

 

Emma and Uncle Mitch at lunch on day...

 

Hunter went bowling for the first time... and didn't do too shabby

 We went to Sutton's Bay and wineries on Old Mission... Full post and photos HERE

Had a blast out at the North Bar Lakes and Dunes!

 

Gibson fell asleep on the raft!

 

Grilling and smores at Matt's Dad's

 

Boys did some great bonding

 

We went down to the Cherry Festival but the kids had a MELTDOWN so we didn't stay long

 

Our last full day was the 4th of July and the airshow so we went to Matt's Aunt and Uncle's... they have an AMAZING view of the bay and a pool. It doesn't get any better!

Now back to reality and HOME!

Favorite Things Friday: Sutton's Bay & MI Wines

So yesterday was just about the best day EVER... It started with a trip to Sutton's Bay, Michigan which is just a 15 minute drive from downtown Traverse.

The little town is so beautiful and I love walking up and down the main street and getting pizza at my favorite spot, the Roman Wheel.

We also took a little walk down to the water, while we were waiting on our pizza, and Hunter was in heaven!

After that we put the boys down for a nap at Matt's Dad's house and we went to a few of the wineries on Old Mission Peninsula. Love 2 Lads... I mean just look at this view!

and Bower's Harbor is hands down our favorite winery...

at our wedding we only had Michigan Wines, as a nod to Matt's home state, and a majority came from there. To include their award winning 2896 wine that is only made in small batches. For our wedding we had the 2008 and it was our favorite wine... about two years ago they sold their last batch of the 2008... but we did see that they still had this ONE 3L bottle...

We decided to splurge and get it! We are going to save it for our 10 year anniversary! Don't worry we do not plan to drink 4 whole bottles on our own! We will celebrate with friends!

What a great day!!!

Favorite Things Friday: Traverse City Eating

As I mentioned earlier his week, we were just up in Traverse City for the week. Sadly, we are on our way home (I'm writing this post from the car while Matt drives).

One of my FAVORITE things to do in Michigan, besides visiting family, would be eating! Traverse City is actually FULL of amazing restaurants with super fresh local ingredients. We took full advantage of the yummy foods and ate out almost every day for both lunch & Dinner (with a few breakfasts also)

Here is a breakdown of where we went...

The Omelette Shoppe: Met an old friend for breakfast here. I grew up with him in Virginia and now he is an Air Force recruiter in Traverse... what a SMALL world

Matt said that this is one of the best breakfast locations in town and he was right! 

Cuppa Joe: Went here with the kiddos for breakfast one morning while Matt did some work and a conference call. They had SUPER yummy breakfast burritos. Emma was especially a fan!

Hunter was being particularly difficult this morning and wouldn't even try anything.

The Towne Plaza: This place was so good that we went here for Lunch AND dinner!

For lunch I had a duck leg! AMAZING! For dinner we had a ton of appetizers (Escargot, Duck stuffed Quail, Beet salad) and for my main dish I had Pork shank. It was HUGE! When I ordered it my brother-in-law declared that there was no way that I would ever be able to finish it... I am a little ashamed to report that I ate it ALL!

This was my fresh beet salad!

Blue Tractor: We went here with Matt's grandma for dinner and it was great.

The fried pickles and Whole Hog Quesadilla (pictured above) were the perfect starters and I had beef brisket for dinner! Matt and Hunter both had the pulled pork and I was totally guilty of stealing some from Hunter. It was MONEY!

The highlight for Emma was the HUGE ice cream sandwich

When we go back next year we will be sure to order some mac and cheese. I've heard from multiple people that it is the best ever! I mean just look at this selection...

• three cheeses and herb bread crumbs 
• smoked chicken, mild chiles and jack cheese  
• ham, peas, smoked gouda and crispy onions 
• bbq pulled pork with smoked gouda 
• smoked sausage, whole grain Dijon mustard cheese sauce and jalapeño chips 

Yes please!In fact I think that we will need to go with multiple people and do a mac and cheese tasting. That sounds like a dream.

Harrington's on the Bay: the view was Great and Hunter had a blast looking at the fish tank and all of the fish on the wall.

I had a fish taco and Matt had a Sunrise Burger. If you put a burger with egg on your menu my hubby will order it!

Georgina's: This whole in the wall is about to literally bust out with a larger location but I was happy that we had a chance to have the full experience of this LITTLE restaurant with only 18 seats we almost took over the whole place for lunch one day.

The menu is split down the middle Asian and Latin. While I was not a fan of my Shrimp Pad Thai. I did like Emma's taquitos and Matt enjoyed his Asian BBQ.

Tuscan Bistro: Matt's mom took us out for dinner one night, without the kiddos, for his birthday. This was the perfect little spot for dinner. Matt's brother actually use to work in the kitchen here and his mom occasionally works here as a hostess.

Hands down this is the best place in TC for traditional Italian food. We had a yummy Eggplant stuffed with herbed ricotta cheese for an appetizer and for my main dish I had Orecchiette with broccoli rabe, sausage, red pepper flakes & Pecorino Romano cheese. Matt had Rigatoni tossed with prosciutto & baby peas finished with a parmesan cream sauce.

There are big portions so I love that we had the option for a half size... Because of course I needed to save room for bread pudding!

Trattoria Stella: and to save the best for last! This restaurant holds a very special place in my heart and Matt and I go here EVERY visit up to Traverse City. It is our date night

Located in the basement of Building 50 the old State Hospital the atmosphere is interesting with the brick walls and the feeling that you are in a haunted location.

The menu is updated daily and the offerings are mostly local. In fact, in the menu the night that we went the chef was preparing many of the dishes from animals that he won from the local 4-H auction.

For an appetizer we had Pacific Octopus with Calabrese Sausage, smokes shallots, rice bean, and tomatoes. It was amazing and I would eat this every day if I could. For my entree I had Long Island Duck- slow-cooked leg, hard-seared breast, candied almond & pumpkin risotto, basil pesto, crisp butternut squash, with a five-hour sauce.

YES PLEASE!


So excited that Traverse City is becoming such a foodie location!