Old Mission Peninsula and Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City, Michigan :)

While here, I thought I'd post a few photos of our trip we made this past weekend,to Northern Michigan. (It was actually a necessary trip for Mark, but we managed to get in a few fun moments - forgive the photo quality, some were quickly-snapped cell phone pics :)

You should've seen my happy husband in his natural habitat, he was like a kid in a candy store! :)

Lighthouse Beach on Old Mission Peninsula, Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan - Traverse City, Michigan :)

Nope, that's not the ocean, that's Grand Traverse Bay, part of Lake Michigan.  Much like the ocean, it's super blue, but super clear, smaller waves and less things that could hurt you when you swim in it :)

Mark, apparently baptizing Brooke? ;)

The vineyards, cherry orchards and apple orchards of Old Mission Peninsula, with views of East and West Traverse Bay (Old Mission Peninsula separating the two) :)

Mari V Vineyards (Italianate/Tuscan Style with underground wine cellar).

Chateau Chantal Vineyard and Restaurant

Peninsula Grill -  Where my honey finally got his much-anticipated and beloved fried perch! :)

An appetizer of crab cakes with lime-corn salsa and avocado with a glass of Blackstar Chardonnay (local wine)...

I swear, he almost licked his plate of perch, when he'd finished, before I stopped him! lol

Though he knows it doesn't go with fish, Mark wanted to try the Mari V cabernet franc (local wine, see pic above).  He said the wine tasted nearly identical a Rothschild and therefore went with everything ;) (Methinks he was just on a battered-perch high ;))

For my entree, as I hadn't eaten all day, I had smoked spare ribs (smoked all day on site), with butternut squash and brussel sprouts with bacon - heaven!

Boardman River through Midtown, Traverse City, Michigan 

A pit stop on the way home of Mark's Alma Mater, Michigan State University - one of the few US universities that can boast both phenomenal football and basketball teams. (He must've brought them luck - The Spartans won against Notre Dame that day @ Notre Dame!)

My own Sparty in front of Spartan Stadium...

Spartan Mark in front of the Breslin Center (currently being renovated) and the Magic Johnson statue...

And this pic is one I snapped of one of the two things I'd never seen before, until this first trip to Michigan - a black squirrel! (I thought it was a skunk at first from a distance LOL).

What's the second thing I'd never seen, you ask?

I didn't get a pic, but the amount of men with an exact replica of Mitt Romney's hair :)

Lastly, a little video of the Sparty family in front of Beaumont Clock Tower, while chiming, at MSU - beautiful campus - I admit, much prettier than UK's campus :)