Tag: Holland
Catching Up!!
Whew, another weekend has flown by. We traveled to Holland this weekend and had a blast. We try to visit Holland each year during their “Shop till you Drop” annual shopping event.
We usually stay in downtown at the Marriott Courtyard. It is literally downtown and after shopping and drinking it’s nice just to stumble back to the hotel and not have to drive.
This is how we kicked off the weekend! We always start at Hops 52 on Main. We love their selection of craft beer and their menu is delicious. We settled on Brewery Vivant’s Love Shadow and a Griffen Claw Pumpkin and shared a small pizza.
Feeling pretty good as we staggered (not really, but we were feeling no pain) around trying to find great deals in the shopping event! We did get some really good deals. 🙂
This sign is on my radar. I love the simplicity of it the beautiful saying. You can buy one for yourself here.
On Saturday we drove to Saugatuck to eat lunch and shop some more.:) We have tried a few places in the area but we always end up at Phil’s bar and grille. Phil’s offers such good salads and sandwiches. We also tried a new brewery in Holland on Saturday early evening. It’s called Big Lake Brewery. We ordered a few sample beers and were really impressed- we will make sure to spend more time there next time we are in Holland. We sat by the fireplace on leather chairs and couches to sip our sample beers.
Next, we headed to Grand Rapids for a tribute to Frank Sinatra.
But we first ate dinner at Roam by San Chez. We loved the vibe of the restaurant and the food was delicious AND we couldn’t believe they offered Cedar Spring’s Hefeweizen on draft! We will definitely be going back.
Roam’s specialties are small plates from around the world. The idea is to order a few items off the menu to share. We settled on the green beans served in a bread cornucopia and split a Cubano sandwich. Yum!
The restaurant is across the street from the Devos Center where the Grand Rapids Symphony is located.
The Grand Rapids Symphony was such a treat to listen to. The singer was Tony DeSare. Dave thought he sounded better than Frank.
On the way home we stopped in Fenton to have lunch at the Laundry. Seriously, they know how to make a sandwich. We split a turkey club with avocado and bacon…so yummy! They even brew their own beer now and of course we had to have one. We tried a wonderful Belgian Tripel called Sacred Executioner. They now can their draft beer so we took some home with us!
It was a crazy busy weekend but so glad to get away and yet so happy to be back home.
Running stats for the week: 12
No biking- out door season is over 🙁 Let the monotony of the indoor season begin.
I joined Orange Theory and I LOVE it!! I can’t get over the workout. Have you been bitten by the orange bug yet?
Till next time,
Karen
Monday Mash-Up- Founders KBS Part 2
KBS was here and now it’s gone! Yup, you heard me right, we enjoyed a few wonderfully brewed Kentucky Bourbon Style Stouts at Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids this weekend and now that we are home we are regretting not paying the big bucks to take home a few. We stood in line for almost two hours and then once inside, stood for another 30 mins, just to get our hands on this wonderful craft. Brewing this beer really is a craft.
Getting bored waiting in line for so long- starting taking selfies 🙂
Finally, we have in our hands this wonderful brew. Founders has this recipe perfected…11.8% ABV, an imperial stout brewed with coffee and chocolates, then aged in oak bourbon barrels for an entire year. Simply Amazing and worth waiting in line for. Shall I dare say we had our fill. Dave was literally stumbling when we left, luckily for him I can handle a good beer :0) A short walk to our hotel, Marriott JW, and he was ready in no time for dinner. FYI- We enjoyed the 2016 version better than the 2017 version; it was smoother and richer in taste.
Holland, mi
Discovering Triathlons!
A week ago, Dave and I traveled to Holland, Michigan to compete in our first Tri 🙂 We arrived on Saturday to pick up our race packets and listened in on the informational lecture about the race. The speaker was the race organizer and he was giving us information about the water temperature and what the water temperature would have to be for them to cancel that leg of the race. Last year the waves were so big in Lake Michigan they ended up have the racers compete by running, biking then running again and skipping the water altogether. We were really hoping that would not happen for our race. Friday night we hardly slept because we were so anxious for the race. Both of us had jitters. Saturday wakeup call came very early and we were finding ourselves so sleepy and wishing we could roll over and go back to sleep. Of course, we didn’t–this race was expensive, and we were committed to competing in it. When we got to the course the race organizer said that the water temperature was fine for the race and the waves were pretty much nonexistent. So, we got our bikes ready and headed to the start of the race. I should be honest here. Dave got cold feet, literally. He knew the water temp was a low 60 degrees and he decided at the last minute to compete in the duathlon instead. I can’t blame him- he feels he’s not a strong swimmer and swimming in very cold water that is 12 feet deep can be daunting! Well anyway, I proceeded to the water while Dave proceeded to the running line. He was running a 5K, then biking 20K, then running another 5K.
The swimming was difficult- must admit. I didn’t have a wet suit, so I was extremely cold. As I started to walk into the water I started to hyperventilate. I thought there is no way I can do this. This water is way too cold. I stood there, very still, as I watched the other swimmers getting ahead of me. I started to back out of the water and thought I guess I just wasn’t meant to do this race. As I was backing out of the water, I was thinking what the hell am I going to do now. I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly realized that if I turned around and walked completely out of the water, I would be letting down so many people including myself. I also didn’t want to admit to the 200 spectators on the beach that I was not able to compete due to water temperature. So…I started walking forward, each step a little colder, each step a little deeper, until I finally submerged into the water. I can’t tell you where the strength came from; maybe my mom in heaven was helping me – warming me. I started to swim and swim and swim. I passed a few women and thought to myself- “OK, I got this!” At one point I was doing the backstroke and looked up into the blue sky, while being surrounded by Lake Michigan, and thought this is quite beautiful. As I came to the finish line and began walking out of the water the feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming. I was so proud of myself!
Anyway, I still had to bike 20K and run a 5K before I could call it quits. I did my best and I came in 2nd place!! Dave came in 3rd place for his age group! We were very proud of each other and continued to enjoy Lake Michigan, but only on the beach, for the rest of the day 🙂
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| Home stretch! |
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| looks dazzling with his medal! |
We stayed at the new Holland Marriott hotel right in downtown Holland.
Absolutely beautiful and once again the hotel staff was so accommodating. We loved our time spent in Holland- great shopping and tasty restaurants and amazing craft beer! We especially like Hops 84- with so many beer selections and a farm to table menu.
