Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City

Well, we went and did it.  We went to an "All Inclusive" vacation place.  Great Wolf Lodge (indoor water park).

The positives are that Great Wolf Lodge is in one of the most beautiful places in Michigan.

Looking out the window.

A little bit of zoom.

The staff was perfect.  Great people, every one of them.  They were unfailingly cheerful and helpful.  We had a minor issue with our room...it would have been minor for most guests...and they gave us an upgrade at no cost.  I cannot promise that they do that all the time but it saved our weekend.

As an indoor water park their meat-and-potatoes are young families or multi-generational families.  They work very hard to keep the young ones busy so they sleep like logs and, incidentally, give mom and dad (or granny and grampa) a break.

From a flier shamelessly stolen from our room.

Inside the water park.  I found a place where water was dripping on some stonework.  The mist kept me cool.

Mrs ERJ, I, Kubota and Red Necky (Kubota's friend) went on the weekend.  This is a picture of Red Necky falling off a lily pad and about to get wet.  The 14 year old girls shamed him.

Tick-tick-tick...  When you hear that you better move away if you want to stay dry.

The prices were reasonable.  Really good (outstanding, actually), craft beer was available in the swim area (90 degrees, important to stay hydrated ;-) ) for $6 and it was a full 16 ounces.  Bartenders were cute and willing to chat when there were not people in line.

I even had a chance to talk to a couple of business owners who I will contact and hopefully write small business reports on.  I must confess to a severe case of laptop envy regarding one of them.  I was going cold-turkey regarding connectivity (Friday and Saturday's posts had been pre-loaded).  I watched as he popped up a video and found myself mesmerizing.  It may have been due to my deprived state but I thought the content and delivery was very well done.

I asked him to shoot me the link and he was more than happy to oblige.

The thing is...
I must not be an "Inclusive" kind of guy.

I wanted to go outside

A pretty, little Northern Michigan trout stream.

A Rosa canina flaunting a Candy Apple Red paint job between the Chevy and the Ford dealerships on highway M-37.

Kubota dragged me out early in the morning just so we could drive around.  This is a glass garden in Sutton's Bay.  I do not know if this is a business or a private garden.  Pity we were not driving by an hour later when the sun would have been lighting them up.  I get the feeling Kubota is not an "Inclusive" kind of guy, either.

Michigan Highway 22.  Looking east, out over the bay.

More trout stream.

Stockbrokers advice to his son:  Buy son.  Buy son.  Bison.

There are still piles of snow in the parking lots.  Not that it is so cold.  Rather, there was so much snow.  Every winter.