Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Two-day trip to Ludington

Took a two-day trip to Ludington with B. and T. to see the fall colors, drink some microbrews, and enjoy the UMich "Fall Break."

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I rented a ZipCar (although we went WAY beyond the miles/day), because insurance and gas are included. Of course, getting up to Ludington required some fuel pit-stops.

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And on the way up, we took M37 through Newaygo, with a small detour over to the Croton Dam. I did summer work on the Muskegon River, from the dam down to the mouth of the river during the summers of 03, 04, and 05. It was fun to see the dam again; it brought back some memories.

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We finally made it to Ludington, and went out to the Harbor to see Lake Michigan. (Sorry, no photos of the Fall colors on the trip up; someone had to drive...)

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We also took a trip up toward Ludington State Park, but because I didn't have a parks passport, I decided to park along the road, just shy of the park entrance and walk around on the beach at that point. Lots of driftwood, fine, and wind...

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Going back to Ludington for dinner, we stopped at the Jamesport Brewery for some nice microbrews and cod sandwiches. (T. had a steak sandwich au jus, but decided that she wanted mustard instead of jus.) The beers were tasty, but with a few miles to drive back to the hotel, I wasn't ready to down several pints.

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The next day, we stopped along the White River on our sojourn back to Ann Arbor. The leaves were falling like snow and the colors were fading from brilliant to barren.

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For lunch, we stopped by the Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids. (The Brewery is behind me as I took this photo, as was the sun...) I like this photo, because at the present time, the only ZipCar availability in Michigan is in Ann Arbor. ... and yet, there is a ZipCar (anomalously) in one of Michigan's cities...

We ended back in Ann Arbor, taking time to go grocery shopping, and I also went that evening to Mr. Stadium to do about 4 week's worth of laundry. But that's a different story (without photographs, which make it that much less interesting, and that much less likely to be shared).

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