Midwestern Travel – rebeccawanderlusting

The journey from Chicago to New Buffalo, MI takes an hour in a half in the car and $8.10 in tolls. I can’t tell you up front that it’s well worth it. We had been trying to plan this day trip to New Buffalo all summer, so I was very excited when we finally got it together and drove there last weekend. Our first stop in this new city was the beautiful beach in town. We paid for parking and tip-toed across the hot, hot sand and past the super cute landmark lighthouse to the surprisingly not crowded lakefront. The few people populating the beach lounged under umbrellas and atop towels in the sunshine, and Mike and I picked out a free spot amongst them to set up. I immediately ran into the lake to stick my feet in the water. Lake Michigan was perfectly cerulean, clear and cold.

Behind the beach, grass covered dunes loomed; the whole scene was beautiful. I walked up and down the beach while Mike lounged, it was too pretty to sit still. I wanted to jump into the water so badly but due to a (minor) surgery earlier in the week, I had to settle for wading in up to my knees. We’ll just have to come back to swim I suppose. After a while, we decided to hike up the sand dunes to the boardwalk at the top. The view was breathtaking from every angle. It almost looked like the beach from Jaws, on the East coast.

As we made our way back down to the parking lot, we decided it was time to grab some lunch. Mike dropped me off at the door at the Stray Dog Bar & Grill, just across the bridge from the beach, and went off to find parking. This proved to be a difficult task, as he didn’t join me in the restaurant for another twenty minutes. While I waited for him, I checked out their beautiful rooftop terrace, which we ultimately opted out of due to the heat. We both ordered local beers (I got Kolsch by Round Barn – yum!), and, because the Bears game was on, we decided to order buffalo shrimp and chorizo nachos. The food was fantastic and perfect for watching the football game.

We watched the first half of the game at Stray Dog and then caught the next quarter down the street at the Beer Church Brewery where we engage in some light day drinking. While half of the church was currently under renovation, it was still a lovely place to sip a craft beer and catch some football. I had the Crooked Cross Ale and Mike had the Midnight in a Perfect World, which he enjoyed so much that we left with a Crowler (2 pint can) of it. At the brewery, we met a lovely couple who gave us some great recommendations in the area to check out.
(If churches made into breweries is something that strikes your fancy, check out Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids too!)

We decided to take their advice and head to the next town over, Union Pier, to check out the St. Julian Winery. On our way back to the car, we strolled down the main drag, Whittaker Street, and stopped into some stores as we went. We really loved Whittaker House (a cute boutique with beautiful jewelry and clothing), Frolic (gorgeous jewelry and fun knick knacks), and Designed Cottage Scapes (cozy home goods).

In between stopping into the stores, we popped into David’s Delicatessen & Coffee for some caffeine. The cool cafe featured home-baked and pre-packaged snacks and a cozy backroom with a fireplace and comfy armchairs. Mike and I took the opportunity to take a breather and plan out the rest of our day.

We drove the short way from New Buffalo to Union Pier to check out the oldest winery in Michigan, St. Julian Winery. We weren’t really sure what to expect walking in, but it was a really fun experience! We decided to do a wine tasting, which was only $6 to try six of their fantastic wines (and included a St. Julian wine glass). We chose to try the dry wines, which progressed from a sparkling rose, to whites to reds and finishing with a brandy. Chris, who was our wine guide for the afternoon, was very charismatic and knowledgeable. The wines were all very good, but we especially liked the Cock of the Walk red blend, which we bought a bottle of to bring home.

Our last stop of the day was Lakeside Antiques. This multiple building antique superstore was just down the road from St. Julian Winery. It was the perfect combination of curated and rummage-worthy piles of treasures. I especially liked all of their unique art on the walls, which of course was all for sale. It was a little pricey, but it was also very fun to browse through.

As we walked out of Lakeside Antiques, it started to rain, which perfectly summed up the way we felt about leaving New Buffalo to go back to reality. This little lakeside town made for the perfect little trip from the city. It had a little bit of everything: a beautiful beach, craft beers, and fun stores. We are looking forward to visiting again!

Have you ever been to New Buffalo, MI? What are your favorite attractions there?

I don’t know if it’s because of the first reappearance of warm weather or all of the brewery visits, but I absolutely loved our time in Grand Rapids, MI. While it was a pretty short trip, we certainly made the most of our time there. We left early Saturday morning after stopping for coffee, and arrived in Grand Rapids around noon (because of the hour time difference). We started at the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden, where it seemed everyone else was starting as well.

There was a line to get in, a $14.50 entrance fee and another line to move through the butterfly sanctuary. BUT! Once we got outside into the sculpture garden proper, we were very happy. The walk through the park was really, truly lovely. The weather was perfect and the sculptures were spread throughout the park so there wasn’t so much of a crowd.

We waltzed through the sculptures and headed to the Japanese Garden to walk around the pond. It was beautiful and tranquil. The walk took us past multiple waterfalls, a gorgeous gazebo, a Japanese Tea House, and a life-size zen garden.

After we had taken it all in, we decided we deserved some lunch and headed to the Electric Cheetah. There was a twenty minute wait, which we spent out in the sunshine. Once we were seated, we perused their extensive root beer list and both chose the Brix Soda Co. The root beer gave us enough pep to devour our amazing “Hot Goat Blast” (goat cheese, cream cheese, veggies and naan) appetizer.

For the main course, I ordered the “I’m not your bro, bro” sandwich which was chicken, bacon, and provolone deliciousness, and Mike had a gigantic reuben sandwich. The Electric Cheetah was everything I wanted it to be: fun décor, delicious food, great service, and root beer to spare. After lunch, we walked down the block to The Sparrows coffee shop for a little more caffeine. The café was super cute inside and they have a bevy of unique periodicals and magazines. They also have an outdoor seating area that was perfect for days like the one we were enjoying.

From there we zipped over to the highly anticipated (to me, anyways) antique stores. As we approached the large warehouse across from the Amtrak Station, I thought perhaps our Google Maps had made a mistake. But no, this HUGE warehouse was just what we were looking for and was chock-full of antiques. I couldn’t wait to explore it. The warehouse was comprised of three different shops: Warehouse One, Lost + Found, and Century Antiques.

I loved exploring the zig-zagging booths of antiques, piled high in Warehouse One and Century, but I really loved the beautifully curated antiques and furniture at Lost + Found. Though rummaging the booths and treasure hunting are a few of my favorite things, there’s something to be said for a well laid out antique store.

Once I had my fill of heirlooms and trinkets, we headed to our hotel to check in. I know I said we were staying at the City Flats Hotel, but it turns out they had overbooked themselves and needed to bump our reservation. So Mike upgraded us to The JW Marriott Grand Rapids instead.

Our room was gorgeous. It had a huge fluffy bed, a city view and a prime shower. Needless to say, we were pretty happy with the change. After reading ourselves for a night on the town, we hit the road. We drove over to Brewery Vivant in the East Hills Neighborhood first. It is a beautiful brewery, with a great outdoor area and a regal dining room with stained glass windows.

We ordered the Vivant taster which included the Farm Hand, Triomphe, Big Red Coq, and Undertaker beers. We also got the marinated olives and the bone marrow to go with our beverages. It was my first time trying bone marrow and I hate to admit it, but it wasn’t for me. Mike liked it though. The beers, however, were all amazing. We bought a 4-pack of the Undertaker to bring home with us.

From there we parked back at the hotel and walked over to Founder’s Brewery. As it turned out, we were there the night of their annual Black Party, celebrating the success of their black beers (stouts, porters…). We bee-lined for the bar and ordered a couple ales (palm reader for me) and settled in to enjoy the live music.
The band, The Animal Years, was fantastic! In fact, they were so good, we are going to see them again on Thursday here in Chicago.

We stuck around until the end of their set and then headed to our next brewery: Grand Rapids Brewing Co. I ordered the Violet MacMillan, a cranberry beer that tasted like ale mixed with cranberry Sprite in a really delicious way. At this point in the night, we were ready for something cheesy, so we ordered a couple of small plates. We got the BBQ quesadilla and a chorizo pizza bread concoction that really hit the spot. The atmosphere of this brewery was more sports bar-like than the other two, but we enjoyed our time there and Mike was happy he could catch up with the hockey game on that night. Our last stop on our self-guided brewery tour was The BOB, a multilevel super bar situated in downtown Grand Rapids. We started in their brewery on the basement level where I tried the Blondie beer and discovered where my craft beer limit ends.

We made our way up to the rooftop that we spotted from the street, walking past what looked like some sort of rave and multiple bachelorette parties. The floor with the roof top terrace provided city views and a sliver of the Grand River. We sat and drank our beers and gushed over the beautiful city. More beer, 14 holes of Golden Tee and a truly awful cover band later, we headed back to the hotel to crash into our heavenly cloud of a bed.