My Bride was one of the conspirators behind the first “Sister’s Vacation” with spouses.  They found a large cabin to rent at a year-round resort complex very close to Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas, one of the major wine centers of Michigan, which was fine for me.  Of course, the logistics for packing for five days with my Bride was monumental, we actually only needed a suit case each, plus one garment bag.  That was the easy part, as well a case of wine.  Then we had an electric refrigerator house, and two coolers for all the food, as breakfasts and dinners were being prepared in-house for everyone.  Lunches were out and about, depending on where we went each day.  We also took pots and pans, griddles, a coffee maker, cutlery, etc., etc., etc., we left the sink in our kitchen. 

Even loading up the car, went quite smooth, just making sure that the rear-view mirror wouldn’t be blocked.  Though I was still grumbling about all of the stuff we had packed, and I was told, that she just wanted to make sure that she would have everything necessary, because she didn’t know how much stuff would be furnished for us.  The cabin was on the grounds of this resort, but it was owned by an avid skier, and I am sure it was used quite a bit during the winter months by the owner.  The cabin besides having furnished bedrooms, had a washer and dryer, a game room with “Foos-ball” and a “shuffleboard” along with sofas and a couple of televisions on the main floor.  The kitchen had basic utensils, small appliances, and thankfully wine glasses, because we only packed emergency plastic glasses.  We made great time traveling, as we were going north, while most of the traffic was going south.  We ended up getting to the resort about three hours early and of course the leasing agency, did not have the cabin ready for immediate occupancy.

We ended up having lunch at The Thistle, a tavern on the grounds of the resort.  Over the years, my Bride and I have been here several times and The Thistle is one of her favorites.  She wanted some light, until she could start make dinner.  She was extremely happy that they had Whitefish Pate, with crisp capers, crostini, and flatbread crackers.  She also wanted a Negroni, as that is her current cocktail of choice.  I surprised myself and had something healthy.  I went with a Shrimp and Avocado Salad of arugula, tomato medley, pickled onions, fresh roasted corn, and a lemon-tarragon vinaigrette.  I had a glass of Fleurs de Prairie Languedoc Rosé 2022 by Les Grands de France under the umbrella of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits.  Fleurs de Prairie is sourced from selected vineyards throughout the Languedoc and some of the vines are over fifty years old.  The wine is a blend of forty-three percent Grenache Noir, forty percent Syrah, nine percent Carignan, and three percent Mourvedre.  The grapes are harvested in August and September and direct pressed for a light, fresh style. Grapes are fermented in Stainless Steel tank and fermented separately by varietal. The wine is a pale salmon color and offered notes of strawberry, peaches, white florals and a touch of lemon.  On the palate tones of papaya, guava, and banana with bright acidity and a short finish of fruit.