Munising Vacation winds to a close

The final day of our weekend in Michigan had to come to a close. Today we would be on a mission to visit a few more places, find a few geocaches and head for home.   But before I get to today, I want to back track to last night and the phenomenon in the sky.  Last night was one of the best nights for local viewing of the Perseid meteor shower.  We spent at least an hour out on the front lawn of the motel, enjoying the meteor shower, listening to the soft waves crashing on the shore.  Darrin decided to get nice and comfortable and grabbed his hoodie and fuzzy pants and laid down right on the shuffle board to watch the spectacle in the sky.  Unfortunately I was not able to get any pictures, but I can assure you that it was really cool thing to see.  Apparently from what we were told, Sunday night was going to be the best night to view it even better, but since we were not going to be here, we would just have to enjoy it while we could!

This morning we didn't have a lot of plans before leaving town so we decided to so some exploring and find a few geocaches along the way.  Darrin and my dad have been on a mission this summer to see how many consecutive days they can log a cache find.  So, Darrin said we had to find a few today!  There were still a few in the area that we didn't find last year, as well as a few new ones so we had our work cut out for us.  We finished off the stuff we had in the motel for breakfast, packed everything up and go ready to head out.

Before I get into today though, I want tell you more about this awesome little motel that we have grown to love.  Sunset Motel on the Bay in my eye, the original waterfront motel in Munising (I guess it probably is, as I only know of one other waterfront property in town and that just recently opened).  A friend of mine recommended this property to me before Darrin and I made our first trip up here.  Ever since that first visit, we don't even look for other places to stay for this trip.  Sunset is our home away from home.  The staff always going out of their way to make sure that you have everything that you need, offer suggestions on places to go or see.  It was at their suggestion that we discovered Johnny Dogs on our first trip here and you all know how that turned out for us!  Each room has a perfect view of Munising Bay, one even has a balcony overlooking the shoreline!  There is a private beach with a fabulous sand beach which makes a perfect way to unwind after a day of hiking, biking or whatever you find to do in this fabulous area.  If you are traveling with kids, there is  a playground and plenty of room to run!  One of our favorite things that they offer to guests is that they have grills, charcoal and everything that you need for a cookout!  When Darrin was grilling last night, he stopped in the office to ask if they had paper plates, he came back with paper plates, plastic silverware, napkins and even a bag with salt, pepper and a few other grill seasoning!  Bags of ice are also readily available so you don't have to run to the gas station to buy ice for you cooler before you leave on you daily adventures!

Ok, back to our Sunday Funday (or at least morning)...

After breakfast, we headed out towards Christmas to do some geocaching.  The first stop brought us to the Range Lights just outside of town, where it didn't take Darrin long to grab 3 cache finds.  In one of them, he even found a Minion!  He decided to leave the Minion to hang out in his lakefront cache to enjoy the view a little longer.  As we were walking back toward the car, I noticed that there were some wild blueberry bushes along the treeline, with a few berries just waiting to be picked and eaten!    Once we got back to the range light and started heading towards the car, I noticed that there were several more blueberry bushes long the trail, with even more berries on them! We started picking some for an light after breakfast snack.  However, I was thinking that these would be a great snack for the road trip home... but I would need to find something to put them in! 

Darrin and I headed back to the car and I did find a single ziploc bag to collect my snack for later!  in a matter of about a half hour, we had half of the bag filled - and we didn't even make a dent in the number of berries that were out there! We will definitely be coming back there next year for a quick blueberry fix!  

After a few more quick geocache finds, it was off to find lunch,  Since we couldn't get our lunch time Johnny Dog's Fix yesterday, we decided to head there for our last meal before we headed home.  When we pulled into the parking lot, it was exactly as we found it yesterday... empty.  It was at this time that Darrin noticed the sign that they were closed both yesterday and today for private functions...  guess we are finding a new place for lunch!

Chicken Pecan Cherry Wrap

As we drove around the block, we happened to notice a small welcoming front porch with a sign indicating we had stumbled across the Rock River Lunch Bag.  We have never been here before, it's not a chain restaurant and we were hungry!  Guess we found our lunch stop for today!!

This wonderful little place was exactly what we were looking for! This was a quiet little cafe that was cozy and warm. We were greeted by a very welcoming staff that was ready to answer any questions that we had about the menu.  When I asked about what they were most known for or what some of the best / favorite options were on the menu, we were told about 2 different options...  The first was the Fresh Whitefish dip and the second was the Chicken Pecan Cherry Wrap.

Fresh Whitefish Wrap

That was a decision maker for us.  Darrin ordered the Whitefish Wrap and I ordered the other!  The Whitefish dip is made fresh and tasted phenomenal!  The lettuce, tomato and onion in the wrap were the perfect accompaniments to the fresh fish!   I think I was lucky to get a single bite of Darrin's wrap before it was GONE!  He literally inhaled it, as well as the chips!  My Chicken Pecan Cherry wrap was amazing!  The combination of the cherry and pecan in the tortilla was awesome! We will definitely have to come back and check out a few more of the options on their menu!

After an amazing lunch, it was time to hit the road for home.  We have already started out list of places we still need to check out when we make our trip next summer.  Reservations at the Sunset are already made, just like each and every year.  There is one exception for out trip next year... we are tentatively planning on coming up one week later.  Each year we see the signs as we come through Escanaba for the fair, which always starts the day AFTER we have to be home.  Next year we are planning one week later so that we can stop at the fair on the way up on Friday!  I don't even remember when I was last at the UP state Fair, but I can pretty much guarantee it's been over 25 years!

Of course our trip hope can't be without any pitstops... no road trip that Darrin and I make is a straight drive with no stops!  This time we made it to Escanaba before we had to stop!  We already knew that we had to stop for gas at some point soon, but before we did that, I spotted Sayklly's chocolates and gifts as we drove through Escanaba.  I had to stop to see what new and interesting treats that had in their chocolate case!  I found a few chocolates I had to bring home that included toffee chocolate covered pretzels and dark chocolate sea salt caramels.    As we were walking through the store, I stopped to check out their HUGE selection of gummy candies... bears, worms, footballs, you name it, they probably had it as a gummy - and this would include those AWESOME gummy frogs that I keep me going back to Orange Leaf!  This was the first time I ever saw these gummy frogs anywhere aside from OL so I had to get some!!  We have joked around that Matt has an Orange Leaf addiction, as he has to go there all the time, but I go with him just as often just so I can get my gummy frogs with my FroYo - it's a good thing we are doing a lot of running this summer to make up for the OL and gummy's that I have eaten!  Darrin was laughing at me as I was bagging some up to take home - until he found the gummy bullfrogs and decided that he needed one of those too.

Our final pitstop on trip home was at the Norway Spring - an artesian well, right along the highway.  This spring provides clean, crisp cold water constantly.  There is an awesome little park at the spring so you can get out and stretch your legs while you fill up your water bottles and can get right back on the road!  We always make a point to stop here whenever we drive through the area.  This time, Darrin had to do some digging in the car to find a few bottles to fill up. There is nothing that beats awesome fresh clean water.  Why would I pay for bottled water when I can stop here?  I just wish it wasn't a 2 hour drive from home to get my water!

As this weekend comes to a close, I really can appreciate everything that I have and the opportunities that I am able to enjoy.  I have an amazing family and awesome friends that make each day an adventure!