This past weekend was the annual Woodward Dream Cruise weekend here in Detroit. It’s an event that combines classic cars with the 50’s and 60’s pastime of cruising. Now being a native of Detroit, I have to admit that the concept behind this event is excellent. Not only does it celebrate the history of Detroit as the Motor City, but it certainly gives the surrounding cities a nice economic boost.
The part that bothers me, though … is although the official Woodward Dream Cruise day typically falls on the third Saturday of August every year, people start cruising (or even just sitting on the side of the road) at least one week beforehand. And since I live less than a mile away from that famed Woodward Avenue (aka M-1), by the time the official event starts I am completely sick of the traffic, the noise, and the general hassle that comes with even attempting to cross Woodward.
So this year, hubby and I decided to “skip town.” At the last minute, we decided to head up to Traverse City and enjoy some well-deserved quality time together.
You might think, when don’t the two of you have quality time together? No kids, no other responsibilities except for work and keeping up with our daily activities. Well for hubby and I, sometimes it’s the every day things that keep us from spending time together. Hubby commutes approximately 160 miles roundtrip at least four days a week. This means he spends about three hours of driving a day and then typically doesn’t get home until almost 7 pm every evening. Luckily, I don’t have to deal with such a commute. However, my work schedule consists of 10 hour days. This also means I don’t get home until late as well. Our evenings after work consist of eating dinner, unwinding for about an hour and then off to bed so we can get up early and start our work day again.
Anyway, we decided to leave early Saturday morning and stay overnight at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. Yes, I know … why would two adults want to spend time at a family and kids’ play place? Well, let me tell you … it was FUN! We spent the afternoon playing mini-golf while waiting for our room to be ready. And then once we got settled into our room, we changed into our bathing suits and hit the water park. We splashed at each other, rode on the waterslides together, played water basketball, and relaxed in their whirlpool. Being the typical Cancer water-sign, I loved being in my element. The rest of the evening was spent wandering about town. We had dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant downtown and then headed to the local movie theatre to watch “Superbad,” where we laughed our behinds off. After all the activity of the day, it’s no wonder we just crashed the minute our heads hit the pillow.
Even better that the water park adventure was our full body hour massage at the Elements Spa within the resort the next morning. (I have to add that the massage was a result of a bet that I won in regards to our trip to Chicago.) If you ever head up that way and decide to partake in a massage, make sure you ask for Theresa as she was excellent on working out the kinks in my neck, back and shoulders.
Then it was time to return home. But not without our quest to find the Wendy’s that specifically made Cherry Frosties in the midst of the Cherry Capital of the World. Any time we headed up to Traverse City, we made it a point to get one of them Frosties. But wouldn’t you know it … just like the Virgin Megastore in Chicago, the Cherry Frosty was no where to be found. Oh, the humanity ….
I’d love to tell you more about our lunch at Hooter’s (which was an adventure in itself), but I suppose I should quit rambling for now. If you’d like to see more pictures, feel free to click on the album below.
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