Day 3.4: Traverse City, MI

For the first time in a long time, we didn’t set an alarm and slept in, though Arielle got up briefly to watch the sunrise over the lake before going back to bed. We got ready slowly and then drove about twenty minutes to Noah and Kit’s house, which is closer to downtown Traverse City than the peninsula cabin. We were excited to get to spend some time with Scout and Ezra, their young children, though we first went out to explore with Noah. He took us to the nearby Mari Vineyards, where we each sampled five wines, all of which are locally-produced. Abe tried the 2016 Gewurtztraminer and the 2017 Bestiany Ramato, and Arielle tried the 2017 Troglodyte Rosso and the 2017 Cabernet Franc. We both tried the 2016 Scriptorium Riesling, the 2017 Late Harvest Riesling, and the 2017 Troglodyte Rosso. Arielle enjoyed most of hers while Abe was reassured that he doesn’t particularly like wine aside from Moscato and Manischewitz. Noah is far more sophisticated and ended up getting a glass of the 2017 Nero, which he enjoyed while we stood outside by a high table and marveled at the view.

We then drove downtown to a cluster of food trucks outside a bar called The Little Fleet. Abe ordered the last portion of BBQ tofu with cornbread and mac and cheese on the side from Cordwood BBQ, where Noah got a pulled chicken sandwich. Arielle was very excited about getting cheeseburger fries with Beyond Meat from Glendale Ave, though it took more than half an hour for the food to come and then it had the sauce she had asked for on the side on it instead. She still enjoyed it, and the weather outside was really great.

We returned to the house to relieve Kit, who had to go out, and spent the next few hours playing with Scout and Ezra. We had a lot of fun playing soccer and later went for a walk along Lake Michigan, which is just a block from where they live. We took advantage of the warm, sunny day and shot some basketball, pushed buttons in our car, and just hung out outside for a while.

Kit returned home and we got to catch up a bit, and enjoyed Noah’s delicious tofu broccoli stir fry for dinner. We said goodbye as the kids were going to sleep and drove back up to the cabin to turn in for the night.

Approximate number of miles covered: 19

Day 3.3: Buffalo Grove, IL to Traverse City, MI

We woke up and chatted with Lisa for a bit before departing to head into Chicago. We met up with Kevin, a high school friend of Abe’s, and his wife Stacey, who we hadn’t seen since their wonderful wedding back in September 2017. Luckily, there was one parking spot left in the lot behind Ann Sather’s, which saved us a lot of time from having to find a metered spot on the crowded Lakeview streets. The place was insanely crowded – and very loud – but we only had to wait about ten minutes before we were seated. The restaurant is known for its giant cinnamon rolls, which are available as a choice for one of the two sides each main dish comes with, and they were incredibly delicious! Abe and Arielle split one side and also got the biscuits and an order of hash browns each, both of which were decent. Abe got the garden omelet with mushrooms instead of peppers (which initially came out with peppers anyway). Arielle got the garden omelet with egg whites, sub mushrooms, well-done onions (that didn’t come out well done) and cheese instead of zucchini, peppers, and carrots, leaving the broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach intact. Kevin got a breakfast wrap and Stacey got a bagel sandwich, and we were all happy with our food.

It was great to catch up with Kevin and Stacey, and we got back on the road to head back east and then north. We hit some traffic getting out of Chicago and crossing back into Indiana.

We next crossed into Michigan, a state we’d both been to but not before by car.

The rest areas along the highway in this state were pretty nice too. As we approached Grand Rapids, we realized that we weren’t too far from the two Gerald Ford presidential libraries but decided that it wasn’t a stop we had time for this time. We did, however, locate a Tropical Smoothie Café, the chain we had discovered in Little Rock back in March, and arrived to each order the Chia Banana Boost. Abe got his with more banana instead of peanut butter or strawberry (which Arielle got), though he was once again initially charged an extra fifty cents for the substitution, something he’ll have to clarify in the future.

We continued along the road to head up to Traverse City, arriving around 8pm right as most of the dinner places we were finding on TripAdvisor were closing. We ended up going to Sparks BBQ, where Abe got a two-meat plate with brisket and pulled chicken and Arielle had the sides: mac and cheese, baked beans, and a salad. We walked out briefly to the water while we were waiting for the food and then got into the car, driving slowly up to where we were staying and stopping frequently so that Arielle could take pictures of the incredible sunset view.

We were greeted by a friendly note for Abe’s cousins Noah and Kit at the cabin owned by Noah’s grandparents, which we had visited for a rehearsal dinner the night before Noah and Kit’s wedding back in 2013. We settled in to the comfortable cabin, watched some TV, and went to bed.

Approximate number of miles covered: 370

Day 3.2: Kent, OH to Buffalo Grove, IL

We decided to get up around 8am to try to fit a few activities in to the long drive, and left the house with Aaron in our car before 9am. It was easier than we thought to make room for a third passenger in the car, which was reassuring. We drove a few minutes into town to eat breakfast at Wild Goats, a local diner. After perusing their lengthy menu, Abe ordered the garden omelet with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach, choosing hash browns and an English muffin as his side. Arielle ordered an à la carte option: two egg whites with hash browns and an English muffin. Aaron got the avocado benedict. We enjoyed a nice meal and then stopped down the road for a short walk to a dam-turned-waterfall and a forested nature walk alongside it. We dropped Aaron back off at home, planning to return in exactly three weeks.

We drove about half an hour to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which Aaron had highly recommended. There’s no entrance fee for this park, and we drove right to the Octagon Shelter parking lot. We knew there was a short path to a worthwhile viewpoint but weren’t sure whether to follow directions to the Ledges Shelter or to the Overlook, choosing the latter. We ended up walking up almost a mile through the trees past cool rock formations, which we think were the aforementioned Ledges themselves, arriving at a view of trees that wasn’t nearly as impressive as what we saw on the way up. There were numerous black squirrels and tiny chipmunks darting around, but they weren’t too fast for Arielle’s quick fingers as she managed to get a picture of a chipmunk!

We returned to the car and hit the road for our six-or-so hour drive to Chicago. Our first stop was at a fancy-looking travel plaza, which Abe thought resembled a school, to use the restrooms and get lunch. Abe ordered a beef burrito from Red Burrito, which was cheap and actually a lot of food, while Arielle ate a yogurt she had brought with her. Arielle had a call in the car while Abe caught up on TV watching and reviewing. We crossed into Indiana (and the central time zone) and stopped for gas at a travel plaza with 347 miles on the odometer and the empty light not yet on.

As we approached and then entered Illinois, we started hitting a lot of traffic.

Luckily, we had just enough extra time to spare, and made it to Buffalo Grove in time to make a quick supply stop before pulling in to the home of Lisa, Abe’s former colleague from USY. We enjoyed an incredibly delicious dinner prepared by Lisa’s husband, Michael, who also happens to be the uncle of our good friend, Laura, who Abe met in college. The highlights were grilled chip-thin-sliced salami with brown sugar as an appetizer, and the family steak and potatoes as a main course. We also had the opportunity to meet Sandy and see Eli, Lisa and Michael’s youngest son, who just graduated from college, and Rachel, another former colleague of Abe’s from USY.

With full stomachs, we stayed up for a while chatting and then went to bed.

Approximate number of miles covered: 435