Genesco - Lakeside/Union Pier - Day 7

We were quite eager to get back on the road and the trusty Super 8, all though just fine, did not offer a tremendous amount of motivation to explore Genesco, Ill. Bright and early we continued on our cross country journey. But not to worry, we only had 3+ hours for this leg. Yeah! Because by this point we were beginning to hate the car and being stuck in a 4x4x2 space day after day can really make you think you might go crazy at any moment.

Through Illinois, briefly into Indiana and on to Michigan. Saw some of the sights, but only for a moment, we were excited to land in Union Peer, Michigan.


Something I did enjoy . . . like a faithful friend, each town presented their very own water tower, marking the progress of our journey. On some level they are beautiful and a few towns even got a little creative with their shape. Everyone needs a creative outlet of some sort! At least that's what I believe. These towers seemed to be each community's version of a public art endeavor.

Have you ever thought about road signage? How did we survive before this phenomenon? I'm beginning to philosophize, I've been on the road waaaay too long : ) That would be briefly interrupted as we had reached our exit, Union Pier, Michigan. This is where we were so generously invited to partake in a friend's family lake house on Lake Michigan.

As we pulled into town, we were immediately reminded of Cape Cod and even a little Ogunquit, Maine. Fabulous lake houses, lush greenery, the locals all seemed to know each other. Not to mention that the humidity was in full effect. We will have to get used to that right quick. There will be no relief of that in sight.

Admittedly we went in a few circles, but eventually found our way. The house was appropriately quaint. Great big trees in the front yard. Bright red shutters, with a matching front gate and outdoor chairs. We extracted ourselves from the Saabaru, stretched the legs and back, and took in the little bit of freedom this stop would offer. We made our way into the house and explored what IT had to offer. A beautiful backyard, great pool and themed rooms to boot. There was the wolf bathroom, the bear living room, the fruit/veggie kitchen, the jungle room, the Asian room, and our room the yellow room. Fond memories of the yellow room. The completeness of how each room was decorated in its particular theme was impressive to say the least. The best part, we were three blocks away from Lake Michigan.

After a little lunch we promptly threw on suits, grabbed towels and headed down to the beach. Ahhh, that's the life.

The beach and lake were gorgeous and just what the doctor ordered. If you've never seen Lake Michigan, I highly recommend it. It is so large you can't see the other side, it just seems to go on and on and on beyond the horizon. Not unlike the ocean.

We shared our section of sand with a few families and dog or two. Mom's sunning themselves, kids happy to lazily float around aimlessly in their brightly colored tubes, Labradors chasing the water as it lapped up on the shore, etc. Union Pier and the surrounding towns seemed to be a popular getaway for city dwellers like those from Chicago.

As to be expected the sound of the water eventually lulled us to sleep. Beach day bliss.

After a quick snooze we made our way back to the house for a much needed shower. I discovered that the yellow room offered a little treat in the form of few cute signs that proclaimed "let's put the fun back in dysfunctional". Ain't that the truth! : )

Per our friend's recommendation we headed down the road (about a minute) to the town of Herbert to find Gulistan, a Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern restaurant. A pleasant surprise. No fast food in sight! We enjoyed the outdoor seating and loads of little ones running themselves silly in the front garden. We ordered way too much food, just super excited to have something other than fried chicken strips and soda! The tabouleh was divine, some of the best I've had. A bottle of wine later and we were satiated. Time to head home. After a bit of TV in the bear room, promptly passed out. A well earned 8 hours.