Madcap Coffee and Lake Michigan Love

After enjoying the morning with Andrew, the newlyweds, my parents and our French friends we headed up north (40 miles) to Grand Rapids for yet another coffee pilgrimage. Madcap is a stop we have to make when we are in the Great Lakes state. Eric needed good coffee and as charming as Water Street Coffee Joint is in Kalamazoo, it just doesn't compare to the quality and experience of Madcap. We loved seeing the exact same people who we met last December on our quick visit this time. We even got samples for Ali's boyfriend Matt who owns two coffee shops in Atlanta. I tried a sip of Eric's Summer Solstice coffee this time. It was citrusy and coated my mouth more like tea than a strong coffee. It was delicious and a perfect summer treat. I'm a decaf latte girl and they are super consistent. It wasn't too hot and the local milk had just the right amount of sweetness. You absolutely never need sugar with  a good latte. It was perfect. 

Eric got his coffee. I wanted NEEDED the beach. So we drove another 45 minutes south to our cottage on Lake Michigan to catch up with my sisters and their families for a nice afternoon and dinner. 

It was a gorgeous, cobalt blue day.

We haven't been to the lake in over a year and our neighbors installed this new set of steps just to the south of us.

It will help keep The Bluff from eroding for years to come and is a huge help to us as well. They look outstanding.

When Eric and I first met we spent two solid weeks at Lake Michigan, after only four months of dating...with my precious Mother who summers there. We actually had the best time. Momma is crazy-into-music and would hit every thrift store this side of Chicago to buy $.25 vinyl records. I remember her scoring an Earth, Wind and Fire album and turning the volume up loud-loud at the cottage on that first trip with E. Our poor neighbors. It was classic Momma and awesome. We picked her brain about growing up in Memphis and listened to her stories about Fats Domino and Chubby Checker who played at her high school dances. Can you even imagine?! 

We are beach people. I am most assuredly a Lake Michigan girl. I love the quiet. There are very few people on the beach at any given time. In the middle of the week you may not see another soul for miles. It's so much different than going to the ocean on the East Coast, or even Destin. Plus, the water is salt free. There is something so unbelievably special and serene about the cottage. It's not fancy but it is perfection. You can cram a billion of us in the little four bedroom house. The more the merrier truly. And somehow it always works out that there is enough room for all of us. We didn't spend the night but would have had our pick of beds. It kills me that we only got to spend half a day at one of my all time favorite places in the whole wide world. But I was thrilled to pack in a driftwood walk, hammock nap and cookout with our family. 

My dear childhood friend Sarah taught me how to take sunset-silhouettes at the lake. Her grandmother lived just down the beach from us. We used real film back in the day! Do you remember these Sarah? Ha! I think of you every time I take them.

One of these days I'll get a little more time at the lake, but job searching called and I had to get home for an interview. Thank you all for your emails and calls. We are both so close to having an idea of what our future will hold. We've been on the tarmac a little longer than expected but I know it is all going to be worth it. For now, I will recall our tranquil time at the beach and imagine myself swinging in the hammock to calm my nerves.

Thank you also for all of your notes about my grandmother. I wrote about her earlier this spring. She is doing well but will have to go into assisted living in Memphis. Thankfully she is on the mend. Wishing you all quiet moments on calm beaches.