Memorial Weekend – Part I – Live Well with Alison

Happy Tuesday! Time sure does fly when you’re having fun and I have to say this past Memorial Weekend was a fun one! It started off on Friday with a day off of work (woot woot!) so I could chaperone my niece, Hannah’s 4th grade field trip to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. The museum campus is very pretty and it was a beautiful day.

Fountain at Greenfield Village next to the museum. I went to Greenfield Village on my 5th grade field trip, but would love to go back and check it out as an adult.

The museum is pretty cool and mostly dedicated to transportation, technology, and American history. One really neat thing (among many others) that is housed in the museum is the car that JFK was riding in when he was assassinated. They also have the bus Rosa Parks was on when she refused to move to the back, and the chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot.

I would LOVE to have a VW camper bus someday – so cool!

Love this girl! We had a really fun time and it was great to hang out with her for most of the day. I was a bit nervous before the field trip as I didn’t really know what to expect and thought I would have a whole gaggle of 10/11 year olds to supervise. But it was just Hannah and one other girl and it was very laid back.

Just as soon as Noah and I got home and got all of our belongings packed up, we headed to South Haven on Lake Michigan on MI’s west side. Our friends Joanne and Travis were there for the weekend staying with Travis’ parents and they invited us out for the weekend as well.

When we arrived in SoHa we hung out for a bit and had some snacks before heading out for dinner at the yacht club. I brought this yummy spinach parmesan dip to eat with veggies and Joanne had these delightful patriotic colored tortilla chips as well.
After dinner Joanne, Travis, Noah and I headed to a local bar to have a couple drinks and ended up gettin’ our groove on and danced a little as there was some funky live music at the bar – a duo of a singer and keyboard player – Tony and Doug! – who jammed out to some 70s funk and mixed in some current rap/hip hop music. It was interesting to say the least and very entertaining!

Joanne and Travis! 2 of my favorite people – we often joke that Noah and Joanne are similar in personality and that Travis and I are similar. Sometimes I swear that Travis is like my brother from another mother 🙂 Saturday morning I woke up early (nothing new there) and hung out catching up on some magazine reading while rehydrating and eating my first breakfast of a banana and a Clif Bar. Once Noah got up we headed outside for a beautiful morning walk on the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous! I just love this snack shack – reminds me of old school beach movies!

Later in the morning once we all got around, we headed out for breakfast/brunch at Phoenix Street Cafe in downtown SoHa. I had my 2nd breakfast which was this delicious veggie hash of potatoes, butternut squash, and parsnips accompanied by the best gluten-free bread I’ve had (French Meadows Honey Multi-Grain), an overeasy egg and a mimosa! So tasty! Joanne and I wandered around the shops downtown for a bit before heading back to the condo to indulge in these delightful Clementine Crush cocktails. We first had them last April in Chicago at the Grand Luxe Cafe and recreated them last Memorial Weekend. They were just as good this time around too! We had snacks for lunch while enjoying the sunshine on the deck of the condo (just a bit too chilly for the beach unfortunately).
We had a delicious dinner on Saturday of grilled steaks, asparagus, green beans, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, salad and crispy fried onions. So good! Sunday morning we went out for another walk on the beach/pier as it was another gorgeous day! Live life to the fullest indeed! (Though I don’t necessarily agree with the graffiti…) I love boats!