Step 26: Go on a Final Summer Trip

Before you head back to your institution of choice (full time career, part time job, school, prison, ect.) you've got to go on one last adventure. And who would have thought my last adventure for the summer would have been a day trip up to Michigan? Lacking in the intense fear factor that can be found at Six Flags and the emotional experiences of two weddings, Michigan doesn't seem like it'd be all that fun as a final hurrah.

But you'd be surprised at how much fun you can have going on a car trip with your mom.

First off, I'm a terrible navigator. We didn't realize we had missed out exit until we were about 12 exits past. But because of my ineptitude at spotting the correct turn, we found a cute little place called The Chocolate Garden. Now, I'm a little let down when the flowers weren't made out of chocolate, but what we get is still pretty dang cool. They sell homemade truffles that are unlike any other truffles because they lack a hard chocolate coat. Mama bought a package of four: a white chocolate, a milk chocolate, a dark chocolate, and a darkest chocolate. Her and I split the darkest chocolate and milk chocolate, and some how we managed to go an entire week without eating the last two so that we could give them to my grandma for her Birthday.

After eating our desert, we finally got to our picnic spot on the shore of Lake Michigan at Warren Dunes State Park. We ate our lunches and then people watched for a while (despite the lack of people in this picture, the beach was actually pretty full farther down - Mama and I had a pretty nice view of some good looking young men. ;) ).

And we also had a pretty good view of all the doggies since we were on the dog beach. :3

After eating, I had to work off all those calories, so I climbed the dune behind me (it might not look that big in this picture, but you'll see in the next picture that it's no easy climb). It got to the point that I would take a step and sink back half the distance I'd just come. :P

This picture is proof of two things: 1) I indeed am still running and ran down that dune and 2) If you observe the young man behind me, he and his team (I'm guessing cross country, but I didn't ask) had been going up and down that hill for a while now - he's only at the base of the sand dune and he's already stopping to catch his breath. Proof that the hill was as big as I said it was!

After running off my lunch, it was only appropriate that my mom and I stop at the legendary Redamak's to get a burger. It was pretty good, but for a place that supposedly made Buffalo, Michigan famous, I was expecting a little more.

Then it was a clear shot to The Silver Dipper ice cream shop. Wow... this trip involved a lot of food. :) But we just had to stop there - they have this delicious ice cream made with Zanzibar chocolate and oreos called Zoreo. It's the only ice cream shop near my house that sells the stuff, but it's all the way up in Lafayette, so anytime I'm up at Wolf Park or going past the city, it's a law that I must stop.

Our final stop was back at home, and as much as I'd love to tell you that we ate some more when we got home, we were so full and tired from our long day that we went straight to bed.

So my question to you: Where's your favorite place to go on a day trip?

And my challenge to you: If you haven't been up to Warren Dunes State Park, check it out sometime - it's a very relaxing beach

Oh, and for all of you LOST fans out there - the town that Warren Dunes State Park is in is called Sawyer. ^_^