Trips with Tony are like a box of chocolate

You never know what you are going to get! Guess what? We didn't go to Chicago? Guess where we went? Port Austin!!!! The funny thing is that I didn't pout, or say a word, it just all worked out. Tony got home late Friday night from work, so he said we'd leave early on Saturday morning. Well he slept in until 7 am! Much too late to drive to Chicago, so he said, let's just go to Port Austin. We were in the car by 9 am and 2 hours later we arrived. It's a very small town, not a ton of shopping, but they had the farmer's market going on, so we had fun walking through there looking at all of the flowers, fruit, veggies, puppies (yes there were black labs for sale), handmade cedar furniture (we saw a swing we liked), and more. Okay rather than continue to write paragraphs, I'll post pictures with some stories.

Tony had to get a picture of this tricycle looking car because they remind him of Italy. Apparently his grandfather had something similar. The lady was a good sport and let us take pictures of the car. I told her we aren't always this weird. You can see the farmer's market in the background.

After the farmer's market we walked out on the Pier. It was REALLY WINDY! However it felt great because it was in the mid 80s in town, so the breeze felt great and the temperature was a lot cooler the further we walked out on the pier. It was way too windy to kayak, therefore we couldn't go out to that cool rock formation that I showed a picture of in my previous post. I had forgotten that you can't get there by land unless you have a key to the gated community on the peninsula, however you can kayak there. Maybe some other time, or maybe someday we'll get invited by someone who lives in the Pointe-aux-Barques community.


Tony at lunch saying "Are you going to take a picture of everything?" To which I replied yes and snapped his picture!

Next we went to this subdivision that is near the water, that has 2 houses and 36 lots going up for auction in 2 weeks. We wanted to check it out. It was really nice, so I think we are going to go back up for the auction and see if we can get either a lot or one of these 2 cottages for super cheap. It's a shame that the builder must have taken a complete bath because the economy is so bad. It's a gorgeous gated community in the forest. The only bummer is that it doesn't have lake lots, it has lots with views of the lake, but you'll see in the picture below that there is a fence and on the other side of the fence is private property. Since there are only 3 other occupied houses in this complex, Tony and I plopped down our lawn chairs in this little park area and hung out for 2 hours enjoying the view, the breeze, and each other. Tony took a little nap and I read my Oprah magazine. Oh and I even peed in the woods - okay I haven't done that in 15 years or more!

Here are the 2 cottages up for auction. They were built in 2005 and never occupied, so I imagine they will go for much less than they are listed. We'll see. Although this sub is not directly on the beach, it's only a short walk to the beach, and a short bike ride to the town. I would be thrilled if we could snag one.


We left Port Austin and drove 17 miles along the coast to Caseville. We had a scrumptious steak dinner at the Riverside Roadhouse. While at dinner I decided to call my cousin Julie who has a cottage in Caseville to see if she was up here. I left her a message and low and behold she called me back. She and her family were at their beach house so they invited us over for a beer! We ended up staying for more than a beer, we stayed over all night and crashed with them. Their lake property is absolutely gorgeous. It is on Saginaw Bay so the water is as warm as bath water. The sand is also very nice. We walked up and down the beach and Julie showed Tony and I several houses that are for sale. We couldn't believe how many lake front houses were for sale, a ton! Unfortunately I think even the "steals" are a little out of our budget, unless we were to go in together with his brother and sister-in-law. It certainly is fun to dream however! Anyway we enjoyed our time with my cousin, her husband and 2 kids. The kids swam for hours and we hung out on the deck sipping wine. Unfortunately stupid me didn't take any pictures of them! I'm so selfish. Gary, Julie's husband took a great picture of Tony and I, and we also enjoyed a beautiful sunset.