Date Day

It has been a very busy month for us, and it will take me some time to get caught up on my blog posts. Sorry about that. We ordered the framing materials for our house from Menards at the end of July when they started their recent 11% rebate promotion. Many of the items we needed were also on sale, so we saved a bundle. We dislike paying full price for anything, so we were very happy at the end of that day. You can see the smile on Steve's face - despite the incredibly lengthy receipt and empty pockets!

We knew we were in for a busy August, so we decided to spend the beautiful day of August 2nd as a "date day." (It was Steve's idea, ladies! I'm so blessed!) What do we want to do on a date day? We want to go to our property and admire our basement floor, of course!

The contractor has applied a sealer since then, but the cement was drying nicely. The bump-out in the following photo is under the great room that will have two sets of sliding doors and huge trapezoid windows. This will give you an idea of the view we will have from the great room.

Love that Keweenaw Blue sky. I also took some shots of wildflowers (weeds?) on the property while we were there.

We continued on to Eagle Harbor

and spotted a freighter out on Lake Superior.

Great Sand Bay is always pretty.

There's that freighter again - or was it a different one?

We stopped at our favorite little falls along Hwy. 26 next.

I know we've shown you photos of this spot in the past, but we love it.

It's so peaceful. We could sit there for hours - smelling the pine and listening to the water gushing over the rocks. 

We didn't sit there for hours, however. We headed off to Copper Harbor for dinner at The Harbor Haus. The Harbor Haus is known as one of the best restaurants in the Keweenaw. Based upon the quality of their food and their prices, if it were located anywhere else other than Copper Harbor, one would be expected to "dress up." Since it's in Copper Harbor, the majority of diners are dressed in casual attire. After entering through their huge copper door, you find this display in the vestibule.

Here's a better shot of the bobcat. (Yes, we do have them here in the Keweenaw. We saw bobcat tracks on our property this afternoon.)

A better shot of the bear.

Do you think he's really the chef? Is he Finnish? The Harbor Haus is a German-themed restaurant - complete with waitresses in German attire. Confused? How about this? When the boat returns from Isle Royale each evening, the waitresses run outside and dance the can-can for the tourists. Since when is the can-can a German dance? No matter, your dining experience makes up for those inconsistencies.

The Harbor Haus sits right on Lake Superior with an entire wall of windows facing the water, so every table has a water view. What could be better than having a delicious meal while gazing at Lake Superior? I took the next two photos while seated at our table.

Your table will have a white tablecloth and white cloth napkins and coffee/tea cups with saucers. Again, it's in Copper Harbor, so you won't feel out of place if you're dressed casually. The food at the Harbor Haus is incredible! First, they give you a basket of rolls to dip in an herb/olive oil mixture. Mmmmm. Then, they bring out your lovely salad. If you're smart, you'll request the creamy bacon dressing.

We ordered our usual - the planked whitefish wrapped in bacon. It's an unforgettable dish.

We don't usually have room for dessert, but most of them need to be ordered at the start of your dining experience and are made especially for you. The Harbor Haus is definitely a restaurant you wouldn't expect to find in Copper Harbor, Michigan.

Now that our tummies were satisfied, we decided to head home, pick up Cocoa and take her to the beach with us. We made tracks for the one just 4 miles from our Calumet house. 

Cocoa runs ahead of us to the water.

She runs in and out of the water - sometimes swimming - sometimes sniffing the sand and running down the beach.

We laugh at her when she walks up and down the shoreline in the shallow water - looking into the water for fish - like she used to do at Draper's pond down in Saginaw. Of course, she never finds them that close to the shore in Lake Superior.

As we walked on the beach that evening, we found this in the sand.

It was probably created by some children that day, but it sums up how we feel about this place. We Y it here, too!

  

A perfect ending to our date day.

All is well in the Keweenaw.