Birthday Extravaganza, Part Deux

Because Steve is IMPOSSIBLE to buy for (seriously - the man has everything. He is a compulsive shopper), I decided to give him memories for his Birthday instead of buying him a gift that he wouldn't use or already had or didn't need. SO - I rented a condo at Indianhead Mountain in the UP of Michigan for the weekend. Think jacuzzi, fireplace, snowboarding, nice views, good food (I'll tell you about our wine experience later)...it was awesome. We had a fantastic time and he said it was the best birthday he'd ever had (which was the goal of course). I think I may have set the bar a little high for myself though...unless I win the lottery by next December, I'm screwed. 

Fireplace (yay)

 

Spiral staircase going up to the loft...

 

Giant jacuzzi tub...

 

View from the loft down to the living/dining area

 We had a full kitchen (including dishwasher), so we were able to make breakfast each morning, and keep snacks/beer/wine/champagne in the fridge so we didn't have to even get dressed until afternoon (just kidding mom!)

 

Here was our deck, which had beautiful views of the mountain by the way...I didn't take any pictures that did it justice.

 

Unfortunately, I had to put Steve to work almost immediately. The deck wasn't shoveled off...we were roughing it, people! 

 

It was a very relaxing, peaceful weekend. Oh, except for when I stepped onto a snowboard again. Ouch.

 

Here is me strapping into my board. I have a smile on my face, and I am able to sit, which leads me to believe that this picture was taken before I nearly died (twice!). I had my bell rung a couple of times, and I would like to take this moment to thank Steve (again) for making me wear a helmet. 

So after about 2 hours of riding on Saturday, I was spent. But I made Steve go by himself on Sunday so he could actually see what the mountain was like, beyond the bunny hill. He said it was great. 

About that crazy wine experience...on Friday night, we decided to just go up to the lodge to eat dinner, instead of having to drive into some other tiny MI town to find a place to eat. We sat down, ordered a bottle of wine and when the waiter brought it out he tried a couple of times (unsuccessfully) to pull out the cork. Instead of bringing it back to the bar to ask for help, as Steve and I watched (with open mouths), he put the bottle of wine on the floor. Between. his. two. feet. And pulled the cork out. I was speechless. My jaw was literally resting on the table - I couldn't believe it! We were at A SKI RESORT for crying out loud. I paid half of my weekly salary for our condo and it was 50% off. When we recovered our composure, we laughed our asses off. And then Steve tactfully offered to teach him how to use a cork screw. Unbelievable. As a side note, our food was actually really good. We did find a tiny MI town to eat in the next night, however.

On our way home we stopped at South Shore Brewery in Ashland for lunch and refreshments.

 

Sampler platter...mmmmmmm....

 

Yummy nut brown ale

 

It was a very good weekend. By Sunday night though, I was ready to go back to being a spoiled princess. Until next year...