Birthday Plans

In a little over a week I'll be turning 31 and Ross is taking me to Grand Rapids, where I lived and went to school for two years, to celebrate. It's kind of crazy of us, considering the circumstances, but we've been meaning to take a trip to Michigan for a while now, and since I was too sick on my 30th to do anything special, we're actually celebrating two birthdays in one.

We looked at B&Bs and a bunch of hotels and everything seemed too expensive until we found Hyatt Place. They are doing a summer promotion where you get the second night half off. The hotel is actually outside of Grand Rapids, in Wyoming, MI, but it's only a ten minute drive to get down town and we have the Garmin, so it should be fine.

This will be Ross's first trip to Grand Rapids and I am trying to figure out what I want to show him. We will definitely go to Calvin College. I haven't seen it in almost ten years! I want to show him my dorm, and the building I worked in, and walk across the quad again. (I can remember so many nights walking across the quad after work, the moon overhead and not a soul in sight.) In downtown Grand Rapids we can go to the Gerald R. Ford museum...maybe checkout the Amway Grand Plaza...and coffee at Four Friends (if it is still there?)

We plan on working the lake into our trip too. I'm gonna pack lunch for us (in fact, we are going to try to bring enough food for all of our meals to save a little money) and we're going to stop in South Haven or Saugatuck for a picnic on the beach. We'll probably do the same thing on the way home, and maybe even stick around to watch the sun set.

We try to be responsible, and being unemployed always figures into our decisions, but you only live once!