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Tag: quarantine

Last Minute Island Getaway

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On June 23, 2020

In Michigan

As I’m sure you know by now, we had to cancel our spring break trip due to the pandemic. So, after three months of being stuck at home, when the Governor of Michigan announced the end of Stay at Home, I quickly booked a last-minute trip to Mackinac Island! We had talked about staying on the island in the spring before it gets busy, but because of coronavirus the hotels opened a few months later than planned. We ended up staying at the Chippewa just days after they opened for the season.

We have wanted to stay at the Chippewa for years now. Its right on the water and is home to the Pink Pony, our favorite restaurant on the island. If you take Star Line Ferry to the island, The Chippewa is just around the corner from the dock. Because of the last minute nature of our booking, the waterfront rooms were all booked up, but our main street view room was great, very clean, and much more modern than I expected from the pictures on the website.

Enjoying a drink at the Pink Pony

This was my first time staying on the island, unless you count my 8th grade class trip, and since we weren’t allowed out of our rooms after dinner, I don’t think we got the full island experience. The best thing about staying on the island is that you get the place to yourself after the day visitors leave on the last ferry of the day. And since the two biggest resorts on the island (The Grand Hotel and Mission Point) weren’t open for the season yet, it was even quieter in the evenings. You can see the deserted Main Street in the top photo.

If you have never experienced evening on Mackinac Island, I highly recommend spending the money to stay on the island. Even if its just for one night, having the island to yourself after the day guests leave is totally worth it. And I highly recommend the Chippewa as well. It is one of the less expensive options and you can have breakfast on the water at the Pink Pony. It doesn’t get better than that!

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

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How to Feed Your Wanderlust in Quarantine

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On April 27, 2020

In Travel

New York Skyline from the Norwegian Gem

I don’t know about you, but being stuck at home day in and day out is really starting to get to me. We had a trip planned a few weeks ago that we had to cancel and that really stung. When the highlight of your week is going to the grocery store or catching some sun on your deck, you know you’re going stir crazy!

  • Reminisce over past trips: Edit photos, get out your travel souvenirs, make a photo book, write about your adventures, create a photo gallery wall with your travel photos. I just got a photo travel map to add pictures to.
  • Read travel books: Libraries are closed but many have resources available to check out electronically. Visit your library’s website for more information. While it takes longer and does cost some money, pick a dream destination and order a book from Amazon. I got a National Parks book and Northern California book to read while stuck at home. Not into reading travel guides? There are great memoirs and novels out there to feed your travel bug too.
  • Binge travel shows: With so many streaming services out there these days, you can always find something to watch! To fuel your wanderlust, I recommend checking out National Parks: America’s Best Idea (Amazon Prime), Travel Man (Hulu), Expedition: Unknown (Hulu),  Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Hulu), Somebody Feed Phil (Netflix), and Samantha Brown’s Places to Love (free on PBS.com and the PBS app).

The view from the top of South Bubble Mountain

  • Create your travel bucket list: Where do you dream to visit? Make a list. Chris and I did this a few years ago and without even realizing it, when I found the list again last summer, we had already crossed a few places off of it. Organizing our thoughts helped us to make decisions about future trips.
  • Plan your dream trip: While you have extra time, research a bucket list trip. Figure out where you would stay, eat, what you would like to see. Start at trip on TripAdvisor or make a vacation Pinterest board. A Cornell study shows that planning a trip can make you as happy, if not happier, than actually taking it. If you, like me have a flight credit from a cancelled trip, pick a place and book it. We booked flights to California for this summer. I know there is a possibility that it won’t be safe to travel when that date comes, but right now it feels good to have something to look forward to and plan for. And if we have to cancel it, I have already saved a lot of places on TripAdvisor for when we can actually get out there.
  • Research places to go near your home: Eventually this virus will go away and you will probably not be able to hop on a plane right then. Find places nearby that you can escape to for a little bit. There may be some places close to your house that you never even knew about before. Check out Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Yelp, ask your friends on Facebook for inspiration. Check out onlyinyourstate.com for unique ideas!

Grand Canyon South Rim

Travel show host Samantha Brown posted something a few weeks ago that really stuck me and I wanted to share it with you. She writes on her blog: “I had to go back to work [hosting travel shows] a week after 9-11. There was the financial crisis of 2007, H1N1, floods, fires and volcanic eruptions. All of these events abruptly changed my immediate course of travel..But one thing I’ve learned in two decades? Travel comes back.” Travel always comes back.

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

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