Well it was a jam-packed weekend full of family, friends, and of course tons of food.

The weekend started Saturday morning with another early morning spin class.  I swear to god the classes get harder every week! The instructor keeps upping the resistance so there’s a lot less sprinting and a lot more chugging along up imaginary hills. Needless to say, the small, non-air conditioned room with 30 people sweating up a storm makes for a very “cleansing” workout. No wonder hot yoga is such a good workout!

After spin class I rushed home to jump in the car with my family and go to Michigan for the weekend.  

We’ve been going to the same beach area for 19 years now as a family–it’s one of our treasured family traditions.

Unfortunately we hit MAJOR traffic on the way down there.  It was such a bummer and we were all cranky and in need of some good food the minute we hit the Michigan border.

The Blue Plate Cafe is one of our favorite breakfast spots in the area. They always have a million baked goods as well as fresh smoothies and other breakfast creations.

After three cups of coffee with cream (hey, it was vacation!) I settled on a tomato/spinach/pesto egg scramble served with rosemary potatoes.  I also chose a side of cinnamon-raisin bread.

The eggs and potatoes were out of this world! I loved the pesto with the eggs.  You couldn’t see it but you could taste it, so I guess a little really does go a long way! The cinnamon raisin bread was just okay. I wish I had saved my “sweet spot” for something better from their pastry area.

Nom. Their special that day was pistachio chocolate scones.  Too bad I’m not a huge scone fan or I would have scooped those right up.  Pistachio is great in desserts!

I love how it’s a family in the kitchen…so simple and authentic.

Even though it was cloudy we decided to hit up the beach.  I’m thankful that we did because the sun came out later in the day and we all benefited physically/emotionally from its presence.

Sunday played much in the same way, with one exception: a phenomenal dinner!

Red Arrow Roadhouse is without a doubt our favorite restaurant in the New Buffalo/Bridgman area in Michigan.  We have been coming to this same place for years and years and it never disappoints! My brother and dad claim it has the best ribs and while I’m not a big meat eater, I always find something great to eat there.

We started off with the same appetizer that we always get here:

The always-healthy homemade potato chips topped with blue cheese and scallions.

Since I knew ice cream was coming later and I was craving vegetables I went with a side salad and the crab cake appetizer.

The crab cakes were on top of a salad with lemon vinaigrette which was great. I haven’t had nearly as much fish as I usually like to have during the summer months so it was nice to have this treat.

I also captured a picture of the “famous ribs”

Also worth noting was what happened AFTER dinner.  THIS PIE.

My dad ordered a piece of homemade blueberry pie and it was the most delicious pie I’ve ever had! I think I liked it even more because it wasn’t served piping hot like most pies are.  It was just warm which made it easier to enjoy along with the cold vanilla ice cream. I had to steal a few bites and I’m not the least bit sorry about that.

On our way out of town we stopped at another favorite:

You can’t come to New Buffalo and not go to Oink’s.  I even have a piggy keychain from the place because I consider myself a devoted follower of their ice cream goodness.

I came in wanting coffee ice cream and left with this:

Carrot cake ice cream?! Could there be anything more beautiful?

After my family rolled me back into the car we hit the road for our drive home.  It was a beautiful weekend and it was so nice to be able to keep the family tradition alive for another year, even though my brother and I are both 22!  We’re lucky that our schedules all aligned to make it happen.  I even got a little color and didn’t burn like a lobster! Woooo!

Question: how did you spend your Labor Day weekend?