James turned 29 in October. Per James' request, I made him an autumnal birthday cake from scratch. It received rave reviews at an MSU tailgate from our friends and the birthday boy himself. Personally, i enjoy it but thought it tasted like pancakes (probably due to the large amount of Vermont maple syrup I used in the batter).

To continue the celebration, we headed up to the "UP" (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan. He did his field work up there for 2 summers, but I had never been. We spent a day touring Mackinac Island on tandem bike (there are no cars on the island) after taking a ferry over.
The bridge.
Early morning ferry ride over to the island.
The very impressive Grand Hotel.
No cars here, just bikes and horse-drawn carriages.
James and I took the tandem for a ride all the way around the edge of the island.
It was fun! James will show you:



Luckily we just beat the rain as we left the island.



James loves the colors of fall (or autumn as he would say). He stopped a few times to take photos of the leaves changing colors on our way to Sault Ste. Marie.



That night we drove up to Paradise, MI and stayed at a hotel on the lake. I was so excited to wake up to a few inches of snow even though it was early October.






After breakfast at the hotel, James and I went out to White Fish Point. This is a huge place for ship wrecks (think Edmond Fitzgerald). They had a new museum and light house you could tour. Our rental car wasn't too pleased about the snow and made me love my Subaru even more.




Afterwards, we hiked Tahquamenon Falls and had lunch in the brewery.


It was a great weekend getaway to celebrate James catching up to me in age. Now I can check a few things off of my Michigan list. I am always so amazed at how beautiful Michigan is once I leave the city and head out into nature.