Go Blairs Go

While up north in Beulah a few weeks ago, I had a few hours to sneak away and fish the Platte River for the first time. While I didn’t catch any sizeable fish, I was able to bring about 15 rainbows and browns to hand. As I waded upstream, there were lots of caddis and cahills hatching in the riffles and seams, all around me and the fish were rising to them. This time of year is so great for dry fly fishing.

There is a moment while driving on 31 in Benzonia when you’re sitting at the top of a hill overlooking Beulah, Crystal Lake, and further away the city of Honor. Driving down that hill, I get butterflies every time because it reminds me of my childhood. I know that road and that town like muscle memory because even though I never lived there and really only visited each year for a week at a time, each visit was incredibly special to me. My grandparents have a cabin on a road close to Crystal Lake, which has been passed on to my dad, that smells a certain way and looks a certain way. It’s all very nostalgic for me. 

Last week as we faced a long Memorial Day Weekend, we went back and forth about what to do and where to go. We had plans to camp at Muskegon State Park, but we were feeling meh about that. My dad had invited us to the Beulah cabin with him, my step-mom, my sister and her friend. But we wanted to camp, so we decided to join them but stay in the side yard. I’m so glad we did that: We had the benefit of spending time with family but also the exciting freedom that comes with camping and being on our own schedule. We did our favorite things, like visiting the Cherry Hut and the flyfishing shop. We sat for hours with my family at a brewery on the first night we were there. We went to the drive-in movie theater, the Cherry Bowl Drive-In, and I was the only person who stayed awake for the movie. We tried a new deli called L’Chayim that had incredible bagels.

I love the way we walk away with this collection of memories that soothe me, because they are made up of these places that mean so much to me. Each moment this weekend builds on the one before it until we’re saying to ourselves, “This is our place” and talking about how to come back again and again. It’s not just nostalgia anymore. It’s more than that. It’s building a place and a love for a place in my adult life with my spouse. That’s pretty incredible. I feel very lucky for that. 

- Lucy

Because we moved from the Upper Peninsula last summer, I’m always on the hunt for new streams to explore down here in lower Michigan. I had the day off on Friday and had spent much of the evening on Thursday doing some research on trout water via Google Earth, a public land atlas and whatever else I could find online. 

I drove about an hour north of Grand Rapids and found myself on a beautiful spot on the Little Muskegon River surrounded by forest for miles. It was about 48 degrees and super cloudy. After putting on my waders and lining up my Blue Halo 7′6″ 3wt fiberglass rod, I got in the water near a plunge pool. In my first three casts with a burgundy mohair leech fly pattern, I caught two rainbows and one brown trout. I knew I had found a good spot. 

As I walked downstream, I saw sulphurs and small cinnamon caddis hatching all over and several trout rising to them. I tied on a sz. 14 Adams proceeded to catch another 25 trout (one more brown and the rest rainbows) in about a four hour span - a personal best day. The fish were rising to my fly aggressively and on several occasions, the trout went airborne. What a rush!

The last fish I caught was a surprise - a pumpkinseed on a Royal Wulff. I didn’t run into anyone else on the stream and several times, just stopped to watch the magic happen. What a day.

- Lina

There is something about watching freight boats that brings me so much calm and happiness. I could do it for hours, for days. When I was looking up places for us to camp this summer with the GO, I looked for spots where we’d be able to see boats or at least be close to a good spot to watch them. When I found Algonac State Park, that was it. We looked for a time when we could get a campsite right along the river and it worked out mid-week last week when we were off of work. 

Along the St. Clair River, we watched dozens of boats pass by and I did research with each one on Marine Traffic of where the boat was going and where it had been and what its dimensions were. Especially because we aren’t in Marquette and don’t have plans to visit the Soo, I really appreciate the chance to spend time with boats this summer. 

As we were leaving, we also went up to Port Huron. With my #boatnerd interest, I’d read about how it was the best place to watch boats, so we had lunch under the international bridge and watched the water a bit longer. I really loved this trip. The state park wasn’t the nicest we’ve been to and lacked shade or quiet, but you can’t beat the view. I’m looking forward to going back.

I’m glad we camped in Holland when we did: When things were busy for the Tulip Festival and as our first foray into camping with the GO. We kept things simple without too much camping fanfare. Being close to home and in a city we’re familiar with, we were able to relax and take our time. There wasn’t anything we were dying to explore. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was sitting in traffic for an hour trying to get downtown for the Tulip Festival and talking while we waited. We talked about what’s going on with us and listened to an episode of the Limetown podcast, which Lina was working through. Then we decided we didn’t want to wait anymore and turned around, drove to a pub we’d seen on the way, and drank a bit and hung out. I love those moments: When we find the best way for us. The next morning, to get a little bit of Tulip Time, we visited a Tulip farm and Lina took beautiful photos. 

What we discovered this weekend was that it’s easy to relax in the GO. It probably says something about me that I wondered or worried about that, but I figured it would be a different experience than tent camping and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it was easy to do our own thing. Lina had brought supplies to tie flies and set up her vice on the table. I finished a book and got all my steps for the week. It was fun and doable, this weekend. I feel like we found our way as we look forward to bigger camping trips in the next few weekends. 

- Lucy

It is an understatement to say that we’ve been looking forward to this. For years, we’ve wanted the GO. For months since we made the decision to buy it, we have been counting down to this weekend and preparing our summer plans and our camping gear. On Friday, we picked it up and that night slept in our backyard. 

We have an entire summer planned, camping throughout Michigan from Holland to Algonac and Muskegon to Marquette. Nearly every weekend we have a new place to go and we’re spending a lot of time in our favorite spots like Interlochen and the U.P. I feel so, so lucky and excited to make a summer out of this freedom that comes from camping and exploring for weeks. 

Obviously we had to try it out the first night that we had it. Here are some things that surprised me: 

- It’s actually as easy as they say to set up. It only took us a half hour on our first try, and I’m sure we’ll only get faster at it. 

- It’s way bigger inside than I expected. There’s room to move around, put a rug down, spread out, etc. 

- We’ve been talking with some of the guys that work at SylvanSport, and they encouraged us to set up the canopy. I don’t know why someone wouldn’t: It’s easy and provides that much more shade and comfort coming in and out of it. It feels like home. 

- The GO doesn’t fit in the backyard, haha. I thought we’d be able to fit it through the fence, but we couldn’t, so we just set it up in the side yard. But, we pushed it back there. Being able to push it into place if we need to makes the backing-up, setting-up process a lot less intimidating.

Our first major camping trip is next weekend, already. We’ll be in Holland for the end of the Tulip Festival. This summer is looking really good. 

- Lucy

When I think of Milwaukee, I think of what it meant to me when we lived in Marquette. It was a lifeline to entertainment and big-city-ness because it was a straight shot south and a bit closer than Detroit or, obviously, Chicago. So our trip this weekend was a new experience. It’s only four hours from Grand Rapids, which really isn’t too bad, and we were able to see a live taping of My Favorite Murder, one of my favorite podcasts. 

We stayed in an out-of-the-way hotel with our friends Lauren and Brent, friends from Northern. We hadn’t seen them since we moved, so we spent the weekend catching up, gossiping, and growing closer. Being together in this new place at different times in our lives, I think we grew closer and connected differently than we ever had before. We had fun on Saturday talking for hours at the bagel shop, shopping around downtown and then drinking at Pabst. 

Sunday I woke up with a migraine, so I mostly recall slithering lower and lower in the passenger seat on our drive home. But aching and everything, I insisted on stopping at Boswell Bookstore where I fell head over heels with the bookshelves and their shadows. Lina also found a fly-fishing store in Milwaukee that blew her doors down. Win-win! They’re both stores that I feel certain we’ll be visiting again next time we’re in Milwaukee. 

- Lucy

Any time I’ve been to Kentucky, I was enroute to Tennessee. But this time we stopped. Lina’s sister goes to school at the University of Kentucky Lexington, and we were delighted to find that Lexington is as college-town as they come. It’s Lina’s sister’s first year, and so we were hooked and booked all weekend doing college tours and the general awe-inspiring that comes when your sister is a freshman out of state. It was nice to see her and explore with her: I especially loved visiting the Joseph Beth bookstore whose setting was totally deserved for an independent bookstore. More of this in my life, please.

Lina is always desperately game. For anything. I had just finished reading John McCullough’s book about the Wright Brothers (highly recommend), and we were driving through Dayton and literally 13 miles away, she said, “look it up.” So we drove up a steep hill to this memorial and “interpretive center” and learned all kinds of things and just soaked it in. There is no better way to finish a book than to go to the places in the book and experience it for real. Seriously the site itself was pretty meh but to be there and to think, This random field is history, man. 

Quick weekend trips are what we’re made of. They’re the kind of trips that don’t take too much out of you but on the other end, you’re thinking, “That was cool.”