The best gift of all in June, also around my birthday, was I was with my best friend from college. Our travels started in Cincinnati after my work wound up and we traveled eight hours north to Northern Michigan never bored or wondering “When are we going to get there?” The trip flew by as we talked, and talked and talked non-stop. There’s always a lot of catching up to do when you consider like birthdays and Christmas, our getting together happens once a year. In the months in between the visits, it’s an occasional e-mail, text or phone call, but when we get together, we just pick up where we left off, our friendship still natural, no irritations, inconveniences, interruptions…just stopping whenever we mutually wanted to, not too much discussion about what to eat, anticipating the other’s next comment or thought, content to just hit the road and get there when we get there. No schedule.
3,973 miles from Honolulu
June 30, 2013 by georgettesullins
Sounds perfect!
It was perfect, Elyse…and there was a beach too, just a few hours away at Lake Michigan to the west and Huron to the East.
Now that’s a wonderful vacation — natural, enjoyable, relaxed and no schedule! WHEE!
Love Bronner’s and have been a few times. Did you visit the little Chapel, too?
MJ
O it was so nice…We wandered to several places over 5 delicious days. There’ll be another post or two about those.
Yes, we did visit the chapel…but somehow didn’t get a photo… It’s separate from the store and very small like you said. Silent Night was playing inside and out. Nothing like Christmas music to raise your spirit any time of the year.
I just left Michigan (where I went to recover from my recent health issues) and my grandchildren are at Frankenmuth this weekend. It is a very magical place (and they have a fabulous bead store!) Your trip sounds wonderful. I wish I had known you were going to be there…but I have definitely been out of the loop for the last 2 months.
I hope you are recuperating and progressing, Kate. You have had your share of medical attention this year. And, I’m glad you could go to MI to do part of it. I have a feeling MI, being with family, especially the grands, is very good for your soul. If I return next year, I must e-mail you. If I do go, it would be in June.
Now, with all that’s there…how did I miss those beads? Note to self…return next year to find them.
Ditto what Georgette said, Katy. Are you feeling any better after the healing waters of Michigan?
So glad Katy made it home. I think some “Pure Michigan” is just what the doctor would order for her recuperation.
There is nothing like being with a long time friend who you can ‘pick up where you left off’ despite time & distance! I’m so happy for you that y’all had this ‘side trip’ together … wonderful memories made & lots of catching up done!!
Yes, a lot of catching up done on the many “beaches” of MI! 🙂 So glad you could get back to FL this year. You will certainly have to update me on things there.
Nice post and photos.I am glad that you had a wonderful trip.Thanks for sharing 🙂
There are various Christmas stores around the US. I have been to the Kathe Wolfohlt store in Germany which is fabulously enchanting, and there’s an extension of that German store in Ft. Worth. I haven’t been there, but should go since it’s close to D2. This was my first visit to Bronner’s. The store and its surroundings are very special.
Traveling with good friends is in its own category of special treats! I love your Xmas store slide show in June, especially the little village you could hardly pass up. 🙂
ooo…I read you’re going to Memphis with a girlfriend. The fun is about to begin. I wish you safe travel and a wonderful time…I know you will.
christmas!? eek! 🙂
haha…
My comment was going to be identical to Elyse’s! Sounds like a wonderful time – there’s nothing like a long-time friend!
It was so much fun. She picked me up from the hotel, we went to the spindletop restaurant again…our annual thing to do and then set off for MI the next morning. Time flew by…and stayed still at the same time. I hope we can repeat next June again. Thank you for reading.
Georgette, isn’t it nice when old friends get together, picking up where they left off, as if no time has gone by at all? Those are the best kind of friends. Glad you enjoyed your trip, which I’m sure included a side trip down Memory Lane.
Thank you for finding me upon returning from my June projects and travels, not to mention preparing for the Grand Move. btw I wrote about my friend before in July, 2011, “Two Rabbits in Wyoming, Ohio.” She has been a very good friend.
Sounds like a lovely trip, Georgette. I think my sister-in-law told me about that Christmas shop. In Thankfulness to God. That says it all, doesn’t it? I like those signs that tell us how far we are from some popular spots.
Thank you for reading, Patti. We made our way further north where it seemed nature was preparing for Christmas with all the clusters of blue spruce. MI certainly lives up to its Pure Michigan ads.
Christmas is every day in Frankenmuth.
It certainly is in a big way! But I only see my friend once a year.
Oh, lucky you! You got to spend some lovely time with a very good friend AND a trip to the Christmas shop….a place after my own heart. This was so delightful. Thanks for taking us along. And I must know, what did you fit into your suitcase?
How fun of you to ask, Cindy! I fit in a lovely tiny smoker in the shape of a house (about 3.5 x 3.5) with a box of pine scented incense. GS loves lighting them after dinner and watching the smoke waft out of the chimney.
Hey, Georgette, I’m from a town about 20 miles from there! Isn’t it a great place? Did you try the roasted chicken dinner at Zehnders?
The reason I have never liked beer, all my life, is because of a field trip to a brewery in Frankenmuth when I was in junior high.
We drove by and saw bus loads of people hovering around there. My friend explained it’s very popular and their chicken is shipped around the world. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon and after Bronner’s we kept heading up north. Don’t exactly remember what we ate that night, but I do remember, we never missed a meal. So glad you checked in on this one. I waved down at you when my plane flew over making a connection from O’Hare.
I know so many bloggers in MIchigan, and my best friend is off touring the state just now – for about the umpteenth time in a row. I must get there sometime!
Clearly, your trip was wonderful. My friend Carolyn and I had the same sort of reunion and trip over the 4th, though we didn’t travel nearly so far. She was able to drive herself down here, after all, so we went for seafood in San Leon, then went on down to Galveston (too many people!) and then down the Island to San Luis pass, Surfside and a drive through the country.
Our special meal? Not famous chicken, but vine-ripened tomato and applewood smoked natural bacon BLTs. Wonderful. And by the way – did you ever come across Leinenkugel beer? My last name, Leinen, is a “we’re in the new country now let’s dump the old country name” shortening of Leinenkugel.
Seafood from the TX Gulf! I can’t imagine a more perfect 4th of July meal with the breezes to boot.
No…never came across Leinenkugel beer as I always ask for Bud Lite w/ lime. I’ll have to be more observant. But I will alert my friend to look out for it and she being the wonderful friend she is will remember. She doesn’t care for beer, but her husband does…so she’ll know it would be a treat for both of us.
Your name makes me think of my brother who has amazed us all with the geneaology research he has done on my mother’s family. We were thoroughly entertained at the lake with all he had uncovered, scanned and put together. Goodness he has done a mountain of work tracing “principles” and some secondaries to the 1600’s. Funny…he’s the creative writer in the family. People would think he should be the blogger, and I the geneaologist. It’s tedious work what he is doing, and he’s doing a great job for all of us. He’s doing my mother’s family as my father’s family is already well scoped and recorded in volumes already published. We’re very fortunate on that side.
His research makes me wonder what you would find out about the Leinenkugels. My SIL, his wife, is second generation Swiss-German and their #1 son married a lovely German girl last August. Presently, they are in Germany. I will ask her if she knows the beer and name.
Actually, that Leinen was a married name which I just kept. My real genealogical interests lie in other directions, specifically the Irish Crowleys who were on my mother’s side. 😉
Now that you speak of it, I remember your mentioning the Crowleys. My mother’s family is Scottish on both sides, maternal and paternal, coming by way of New Brunswick, Canada.
Nothing like spending time with old friends.
I’m just not acquiring any more stuff, but it was so delightful to snap pictures all over the store. The thought crossed my mind…what if they charge me $.25 a snap. haha…
Christmas in June sounds fun and exciting. If only it’s Christmas time all year round. Minus the crazy shopping part, the spirit of christmas is the warmest and most happiest of all events. Wonderful pictures!
The store was not jam packed at all. It was easy and fun to get around. And I was able to get photos without loads of people around. You and the family would have had fun there. The Käthe Wohlfahrt store opens seasonaly in Arlington, TX. I still haven’t made it up there around Christmas. That will be a trip D#2 and I will have to make.
Oh my you caught up on a lot of reading! Thank you for visiting, commenting and telling me what you’re up to.