It’s a really long ways from Washington DC to Grand Rapids, Michigan, especially when you are the one riding in the back seat. Just ‘sayin…
We just got back from a lovely week in Michigan. Other than the long drive and the fact that heat decided to follow us, it was an amazing trip. We left crazy early on the Friday before July 4th. Trust me, you do not want to be trying to get out of DC any later than you have to on a holiday weekend in the summer, so we hit the road at 5:30am. This meant we made it to Cleveland and the Great Lakes Brewing Company in time for lunch. Priorities, people.
After lunch (and some amazing beer), we headed to the Cleveland Zoo. It was a lovely zoo and we managed to spend more than 3 hours walking around, before we headed to our hotel and then FatHeads Brewery. (That’s right – we hit two brewpubs in the first day of our vacation.)
Saturday we got to Grand Rapids and the lovely house we rented through Air BNB. We’ve rented a lot of houses through VRBO, but this was our first Air BNB house. The whole experience went great and the house was exactly as represented.
Sunday we headed to Brighton, Michigan so I could run the Hungry Duck Half Marathon on July 4th. I’ll review the race later, but Brighton was a nice town and had a really awesome brewpub. The beer was incredible with unusual (and tasty) beers including “Jelly Donut”, “Red Maple”, and a rye ginger beer. They also had the cutest mini-growler (16oz) that allowed us to take a beer with us.
Once the race, was done, I was ready to really relax. I had planned to run a good bit on vacation, but the combination of too many brewpubs, incredibly sore legs from the half, and a heat wave meant I relied on walking for most of my exercise. Luckily we kept super busy.
We hit Bells Brewing…
Founders Brewing…
New Holland Brewing…
And a bunch of other smaller Grand Rapids brewpubs.
In fact, we visited so many brewpubs that we literally got the t-shirt…
Lest you think all we did was drink, we also visited an “Air Zoo”…
Went on a “Dune Buggy” ride…
Visited a submarine and submarine museum…
Visited Gerald Ford’s Presidential Library…
And hit the Grand Rapids Zoo.
Then we drove the long drive home with a stop in Columbus for a brewpub and a good night’s sleep.
Now I need a vacation from my vacation LOL. We have a crazy week of camp ahead, plus our internet was not the greatest and I’m way behind at work. Totally worth it though!
Today I’m linking up with HoHo and Tricia for Weekly Wrap. Stop by the link up and see what everyone else is up to…
Looks like you got in a lot of great beer tasting while away. I too often feel like I need a vacation from my vacation when I return home. There’s just so much to get caught up on, especially laundry.
Kathryn @ Dancing to Running recently posted…Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon Training Log – Week 2
How did you get stuck in the back seat? Enjoy your vacation
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner recently posted…Cucumber Soba Noodle Salad
That is a lot of sampling! Do you keep up with your favorite brands?
I’m with you on needing a vacation from vacation!
I’m sorry we couldn’t connect while you were visiting the Mitten state (I was out of town). Hopeful you can return and I will, what else?, buy you a beer!