Sunday after we got married Marc and I left town and headed to the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. We wanted to stay close so we didn't have a ridiculous drive on Sunday but we also didn't want to run into people we knew. So we chose to take the 3 hour and fifteen minute drive to Bayfield, Wisconsin. It was PERFECT. We rented a part of a cabin (it was an old house, I think, that had been divided into two separate spaces) that had a bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a small kitchen all overlooking the Apostle Islands. It. Was. Perfect. We had an absolutely marvelous time. We cooked most of our meals at the cabin (we went out twice and cooked the rest ourselves) - mostly over the open fire (because we love cooking over coals) and it was semi-luxurious camping - exactly what we wanted. While we were there we delighted in several things: mopeding on Madeline Island, lunch out [totally recommend the Beach Club], a massage (a gift from my brother-in-law and sister-in-law) [recommend Superior Body Message and Spa], dinner out [definitely check out Ethel's], hammock napping, kayaking, state park wandering, beach chilling, ice cream (seriously, what would a trip be without ice cream), many a good walk, lots of conversation, and hiking at Houghton Falls. On the way home we stopped in Duluth, eat at Burrito Union, and walked around Canal Park a bit. IT WAS WONDERFUL.
Not totally a downfall but it was a little bit annoying, I am certain it will look amazing when it is all done, but, main street in Bayfield was totally under construction when we went there, it workout fine in the end, but it was strange to have certain things not open and what not due to the construction or have the bathrooms not work because the water has been shut off. We did decide however that it totally makes us want to go back when they have all the construction done to see how it all turned out.
Houghton Falls was totally an accidental find (thank you trip advisor app). We were debating what to do and so I pulled up the trip advisor app on my ipad and was searching for something semi-active that we could do because the weather had turned out to be GORGEOUS that day, I happened to stumble upon a recommendation from two people (seriously saddened that only a couple people have rated this place because it rocked). It was listed as a small park that people could wander through. WE LOVED IT, we hiked and climbed all over, there are even trails that will lead you down and by the water. It was such an adventure and we only saw one person the whole time were were there and it was someone with a big fancy camera that I was drooling over who was walking out of the park as we were walking in other than that it was empty other than us. I took a TON of photos (not that this should shock you) - it was gorgeous and breath taking. You could tell (unfortunately) that not a ton of people go through this sweet park. We spent HOURS wandering around in here and taking photos and soaking it all in.
Mopeding (I am not certain that is actually a verb, but I am going to use it as one, and don't really care what others think) on Madeline Island ROCKED! Seriously, AMAZING, and worth every penny. We debated and hemmed and hawed a little bit (mostly because we are trying to be really wise with our money and pay of some debt (college and car) and so we went back and forth as to what we were doing and what not and eventually decided to go for it and rent a couple of mopeds. I LOVED IT, Marc LOVED IT. I totally recommend it, we went through a company on Madeline Island called "Motion to Go" they were wonderful to work with. We explored the island, stopped at the state park, explored the city beach, and rode all over the island. We seriously would love to get mopeds some day, we had that much fun. Did you know that mopeds get 80 miles to the gallon, do you know how many trips to work, the grocery store, hospitals and nursing home visits I could do on one gallon of gas?!?! A LOT. It was a wonderful way to explore the island and get to see it all. We did say that when we come back we would love to bring our bikes as well because that also would have been a great way to experience the island. While we were out and about on our mopeds we happened to come across an Indian burial ground and we took the time to get out and walk around it (it isn't more than about a city block), it was crazy to see how old people were when they died and to see graves over a couple hundred years old. It was interesting to see how short the life expectancy was at that time, and the number of infant/children deaths saddened my heart and I gave thanks for modern medicine and vaccines. I imagine that a lot of people miss out on the Indian burial grounds because it isn't well marked and is sort of off the beaten path.
We ate lunch at the Beach Club on Madeline Island and I seriously ate the world's best white fish tacos, I was a little skeptical because fish tacos are either really good or REALLY NASTY, and these were by far the best I have ever had, I even took a picture of them to remember their goodness. The trip advisor app on my phone and ipad became a great resource for us as we were trying to find places to eat and things to do. We used it a lot! I am thankful for the community of travelers who have given their stamp of approval to places and things so that we also got to experience them. It was marvelous, I didn't do much research before we left for the trip, I obviously was busy prepping for the wedding and prepping for this trip sort of fell to the wayside. It worked out for the best! Thankfully our cabin had wifi access which made searching for yummy places to eat and things to do much easier.
After the chaos (wonderful chaos, but chaos none the less) of the wedding and having so much family and friends around I was happy to have a few days to just get some overdue rest and relaxation. While I know the wedding was all about Marc and I an the weekend was nearly perfect, I seriously felt like I hardly ever had any time with Marc, and we really didn't have much time to ourselves to talk and process everything that was going on. It was fun on the trip to hear things that he really enjoyed about our wedding weekend and the things that he thought were funny. I also got to hear a bit about stuff that his family said about the wedding. I am thankful that we went right away to at least get a couple of days away. Marc was suppose to have to go back to work on Thursday, but he didn't due to a job change which all fell into place right before we got married.
He had his last day at his old job on the Friday before we got married and then had the next full week off (and I had to work the Thursday after our wedding) and then began his new job (HUGE BLESSING) the following Monday. It was funny how it all fell together. Hence our short quick vacation together. We did decide that we were going to go somewhere warm this coming winter when we both are suffering from serious vitamin d withdrawl. So this coming January we traded in a timeshare (thanks mom and dad) to Puerto Villarta, Mexico and will be spending a week down there together. We also realized that it is amazing to be in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin in June-August so we would be hard pressed to leave at this time. So we are calling it a two part honeymoon, part 1 in the apostle islands, and part 2 in Mexico this winter.
Sorry this post got so long, I never intended it to, however, thanks for reading. I am hoping to do long posts with lots of pictures about our wedding one of these days, we are hoping to get the photos from our other photographer soon. I will hopefully then be able to give you some of the details and highlights for me from the weekend we got married.
Have you been to Puerto Villarta any recommendations?
Any fun travels coming up for you?
Are you doing anything fun for the fourth of July?
