This last weekend Doug and I went to the
Celebrate Your Marriage conference on Mackinac Island. This was my graduation gift from my parents (you're welcome for sharing Doug!) The conference was actually Sunday/Monday, and even though I put in for the day off when I got hired, they scheduled me. Rrrr! I finally found someone to switch with me, she will be richly rewarded in fudge, but it was irritating.
We drove up Saturday and spent the evening in Mackinaw City. We walked around, got pizza, tried to eat by the lake (but were swarmed away by May flies).
Our pizza was just as tasty on our hotel bed with HGTV in the background. I can't get enough of those shows! Then we ventured out again to see the sunset.
We had a jacuzzi tub in our hotel room and a radio in the wall, it was really nice! The next morning we got up and caught the ferry to Mackinac Island. We went on the Mighty Mac ferry which takes a brief detour under the Mackinac bridge, that was cool, I've been to Mackinac several times, but have never done that ferry trip.
Doug was excited to see this Delorean
I was excited for this Eskimo Kisses icecream
oh my gosh, brrrr, was it cold!
Once we got to the island we window shopped, and then got bikes to see the island. Doug hadn't been since he was a kid so it was fun to do that with him.
biking by the East bluff
Arch Rock
Pretty soon it was time to head up to the hotel for the conference. It was hosted by a couple, married for 30 years, and they shared stories, and talked about marriage using funny clips of songs in a he said/she said type feel. And another speaker, a pastor, who also talked about marriage topics such as sex, intimacy, honoring and enjoying marriage, prioritizing marriage, what to do when your marriage is stuck in the grind, and about a covenant marriage. It was really a good weekend. There were 3 main sessions and then a little free time, a 'date night'
(dressed up!)
where they had dancing, and in between were these fabulous Grand Hotel meals.
The first night was a 5 course meal. I usually don't like all that fanciness, but the staff was super accommodating and I was able to order my goat cheese crepe duck-less, and get the bacon sauce off my beef bourguignon. Breakfast and lunch were these amazing buffets, I think the only bad thing I had was some kind of rum ball, everything else was delicious.
I had never stayed overnight on the island before, and never been up to the Grand Hotel. The staff was amazing, but the decor was very 70s/80s. Ugly cheap checked tile floor, patterned plastic couch cushions, entire floors with walls painted kelly green or bright pink. Our room was very grandma-like, but also very cozy.
the ceiling wallpaper matched the inside of the duvet!
the view from our window
But it was a sunny, if a little nippy, weekend and we enjoyed sitting out on the porch
After lunch on Monday, we headed back on the ferry and drove back.
It was a great weekend and time to connect. The conference sparked many good conversations, and hopefully more to come, and they even challenged the couples to do child sponsorship with
Compassion. Doug already was doing a little boy from Africa, and now we are so happy that a little Indian girl will be able to go to school and be free from prostitution and child labor, and have a chance to learn about Jesus.
We had a jacuzzi tub in our hotel room and a radio in the wall, it was really nice! The next morning we got up and caught the ferry to Mackinac Island. We went on the Mighty Mac ferry which takes a brief detour under the Mackinac bridge, that was cool, I've been to Mackinac several times, but have never done that ferry trip.
Doug was excited to see this Delorean
I was excited for this Eskimo Kisses icecream
oh my gosh, brrrr, was it cold!
Once we got to the island we window shopped, and then got bikes to see the island. Doug hadn't been since he was a kid so it was fun to do that with him.
biking by the East bluff
Arch Rock
Pretty soon it was time to head up to the hotel for the conference. It was hosted by a couple, married for 30 years, and they shared stories, and talked about marriage using funny clips of songs in a he said/she said type feel. And another speaker, a pastor, who also talked about marriage topics such as sex, intimacy, honoring and enjoying marriage, prioritizing marriage, what to do when your marriage is stuck in the grind, and about a covenant marriage. It was really a good weekend. There were 3 main sessions and then a little free time, a 'date night'
(dressed up!)
where they had dancing, and in between were these fabulous Grand Hotel meals.
The first night was a 5 course meal. I usually don't like all that fanciness, but the staff was super accommodating and I was able to order my goat cheese crepe duck-less, and get the bacon sauce off my beef bourguignon. Breakfast and lunch were these amazing buffets, I think the only bad thing I had was some kind of rum ball, everything else was delicious.
I had never stayed overnight on the island before, and never been up to the Grand Hotel. The staff was amazing, but the decor was very 70s/80s. Ugly cheap checked tile floor, patterned plastic couch cushions, entire floors with walls painted kelly green or bright pink. Our room was very grandma-like, but also very cozy.
the ceiling wallpaper matched the inside of the duvet!
the view from our window
But it was a sunny, if a little nippy, weekend and we enjoyed sitting out on the porch
After lunch on Monday, we headed back on the ferry and drove back.
It was a great weekend and time to connect. The conference sparked many good conversations, and hopefully more to come, and they even challenged the couples to do child sponsorship with Compassion. Doug already was doing a little boy from Africa, and now we are so happy that a little Indian girl will be able to go to school and be free from prostitution and child labor, and have a chance to learn about Jesus.
What a creative gift! And it looks like such a blast! This is making me want to check out Mackinaw even more now!!
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