We didn't make our annual family vacation to Destin this year, but we found a beach that is a close second to Destin...St. Joseph, Michigan...only 2 hours and 40 minutes away!!! It is this amazing beautiful little town right on Lake Michigan with sunsets that have to compare to those on the west coast. Chris and I wonder why we didn't discover it until now, and we look forward to more stays here at St. Joseph.
***More photos in the Web Albums***
***More photos in the Web Albums***
The St. Joseph River empties into Lake Michigan right next to the beach, so our backdrop for the weekend were these 2 lighthouses. The red and white one is the 2nd most photographed lighthouse in Michigan. We thought we would try and push it to the #1 spot throughout the weekend. The boys loved the lighthouses...although it would have been much cooler if you were able to go up them.
Usually on our Destin trip we take a walk out onto the pier and watch the dolphins and end up being really hot by the end of the walk...as much as we missed the dolphins, we loved being able to be cleaned up and not sweat just walking out to the lighthouses like we would have in FL.
We do have a photo where everyone is looking but we also have this one where no one is looking! Pretty typical in our family to have at least one like this. Seriously, everyone is doing their own thing!
Mom and Dad decided to join us for the weekend as well. I think they too were amazed a place like this existed so close to home.
While the boys rode the 100 year old Silver Beach Carousel, Chris and I found our own entertainment for a few minutes. I was really puzzled as to why the artist needed to make the woman's legs so hairy! He/she must be European:)
The highlight of the trip was pier jumping! Who knew?!? When we walked out to the lighthouses Sat. night we were a little concerned with the lack of railings along it. My first thought was "Someone could just come out here and jump off!" (Being a former diver and a mom of 3 boys I couldn't help but think of it). Well we soon found out that is exactly what people do all along the pier all day long. No warning signs or anything! Just jump at your own risk. The boys REALLY wanted to do it (and I secretly did too). So with their lifejackets on, we let them jump off the 12 foot high pier. They were hooked after the first jump and had sooooo much fun!!!! And the best part was I didn't have to worry about getting eaten by a shark (that IS my greatest fear)!!!
READY!!!....SET!!!!....
JUMP!!!
So graceful! This is about the position the boys entered the water every time.
Meanwhile, while we were pier jumping, Papaw stayed back with Cooper building a drip sandcastle. The sand was surprisingly fine and clean...not Destin sand, but very close to it. And the lake bottom was just as soft with lots of sand bars so it wasn't too deep.
I can't say it enough...the sunsets were gorgeous!! People came down to the beach to enjoy a bottle of wine while watching sun sink into the water.
The last thing we did on Sunday was rent this Surrey Limo bike for an hour. A lot harder than it looked but lots of fun. We rode it all around the downtown...
I can't say it enough...the sunsets were gorgeous!! People came down to the beach to enjoy a bottle of wine while watching sun sink into the water.
The last thing we did on Sunday was rent this Surrey Limo bike for an hour. A lot harder than it looked but lots of fun. We rode it all around the downtown...
...and even had to push it once up a hill the owners said we would have to but didn't 100% believe them. Who did we think we were?...the only 2 groups to ever make it up this hill were a set of military guys and some long distance cyclists! We didn't stand a chance!
