I'm back!

I had a really great weekend, but it's always a nice feeling when you finally arrive safe and sound at home. Before going I was fretting about the weather, and it turned out to be absolutey beautiful. The sun was shining all weekend and we didn't see a drop of rain.

After arriving in Petoskey and unpacking our stuff we headed to the casino, which just happened to be right down the road from our hotel (go figure...I'm sure Brian didn't plan this at all!) Anyhow, it was pretty fun. We only stayed for a few hours and I hit a jackpot for Brian. That was pretty exciting. I had since exhausted my quota for the night...he handed me $100 to play a slot that he thought "might hit", as he had watched quite a few people sink a pretty penny into it without it hitting at all. I dropped the $100 pretty quickly, with no results...bummer for him! LOL I told him that was it, I was done for the night. He handed me another $20, and insisted that I sit next to him and just play that last $20...so I did. After a few spins, I hit for a spin on the wheel of fortune and got 1000 credits. That winning left him breaking even...we cashed out and left. LOL

Went to Mackinaw City on Saturday. Spent the day, leisurely strolling from shop to shop along the main drag. Had lunch at Mama Mia's, which is a pretty cool place for those interested in ANY history on the erection of the Mackinaw Bridge. The guy who owns the place, had his hand in working on the bridge and you are surrounded by pictures of him (old and young) in his plight from bridge builder to waterfront shop owner. There were so many relics...Brian and I were talking about how devastated he would be if he were to lose his shop! There have to be a million memories there!

His family arrived Saturday afternoon. We spent some time going through some antique shops that were near the hotel. I could have spent a fortune. There was this one shop that had such beautiful custom furniture. They had this particular piece that I will probably dream about until my dying day. It was a pedestal sink for a washroom or a bathroom. It was the perfect mix of modern and traditional. The sink basin was a white ceramic bowl...like you often see these days...it sits on top of the pedestal instead of being recessed in it. The bottom was all wood...with ornate detailing. Oh my goodness, I wanted this thing so badly! It was half off for $1,800 too...what a steal! LOL I may as well keep dreamin' about that one!

Saturday evening we all met for dinner and then took off for Victories Casino in Petoskey (again). We had a ball. Brian was trying his luck at Blackjack. I wandered from slot to slot...ended up winning a bit and played on my winnings for the rest of the evening. I was pretty happy! I didn't walk out of there any richer or POORER! LOL However, his mom had really good luck! She was playing the blazing 7's and I could hear her screeching from around the corner...I went over to watch...thinking she had hit bigtime. She had hit all right...for $200! LOL I stayed and watched her luck continue...she was up to $344 and hit for $1,000 more! Woo hoo! (And here I thought she was excited over the $200) Shortly afterwards we left...we had to get back to the hotel so that his brother and sister-in-law could take their turn up there. (We had to stay with his brother's son) Early the next morning, they were ringing us to meet for breakfast. After breakfast we were told to assemble in his parents room...they had an annoucement for us. Upon entering their room his mom was laying in bed...she kept rolling around on her pillow saying how tired she was. Once we all got there, she slipped her hand under her pillow and pulled out this big banner....it was from the casino...mama bear had snuck out of the room (unbeknownst to papa bear) and went back to the casino with his brother and sis in law...and had hit for $1,800 more! We were all whooping and hollering! We couldn't believe it. Especially papa bear! LOL She's so sneaky! She will now have her picture on the "wall of winners", in the casino. What's so funny about that, is upon walking in there earlier that evening, she said..."I sure wouldn't mind having my picture up there". LOL She got her wish! Go mama bear!!!

Sunday was his nieces graduation ceremony. It was a very small graduating class about 50 or so. The ceremony was very nice...though we caught her brother napping during it..LOL Afterwards they had an awesome slideshow that left me wishing that they had that sort of technology when I graduated from high school. We all went for a celebration dinner after which was lots of fun. After dinner we made our way back to the casino again (I wasn't too happy about this trip...I had had enough of the casino at this point, but I went along for the ride). The casino gods must have sensed my apprehension, and they let me know that I should have more of a winning attitude while there, because I just couldn't catch a break! LOL Well luck must run in his family, while watching a little blackjack (and a little blonde trying to get right in there with my boyfriend), his brother comes running down to the end of the aisle..."Stace hurry up, you've gotta see this!!!!" I go running down to his machine and see that he has 6,400 credits...just on the bonus round! LOL He already had over 4,000 before this bonus! LOL He then ended up getting about 2,000 more and then cashed out for about $750! Go Billy!

Yesterday morning, we got up and headed to the jacuzzi and pool and then pretty much got our stuff together and left to come home. On the way back, we stopped at the Turkey Roost. It's a restaurant that has been there for ages, and it's sort of a family tradition to stop there whenever they get the chance. For years, I guess they raised their own turkey's right on the property. They have since stopped doing that, but their food is awesome. (Kind of like a huge Thanksgiving dinner...all the trimmings...very reasonable). It was great and we stuffed ourselves until we couldn't stuff ourselves anymore...his brother especially...who got a good tongue lashing from his wife for indulging in 6 (or maybe even 7 of their biscuits)...LOL It was all good, even though she didn't agree!

The way home was pretty uneventful except for a few traffic snags (and his dad making sure that we were sweating to death, because he's always cold). Almost 80 out...windows almost completely rolled up! Brian was wearing a sweatshirt and I was in jean capri's and in full sun the whole way. Ugh! We did survive and papa bear was warm, so all was well. It was worth it and I learned a valuable lesson...next time I will have to remember to dress very lightly when traveling anywhere with papa bear! LOL

Now, it's back to the grind! Joy joy!! Well folks, that's all for now!!! Have a great day...and tell me about your weekend adventures!

=)