To Bavaria and Back, In a Day

My MIL's birthday isn't until Saturday, but she'll be off visiting her other son and DIL in Philly then. Brad has this week off from work, so on Tuesday we decided to celebrate her birthday with a special day trip to one of Michigan's biggest tourist traps, um...no wait, I mean tourist destination where the whole town is themed around Bavaria. The town is also known for it's all you can eat chicken dinners, but we were there for lunch and got more manageable portions - Alicia over in AZ, I enjoyed every bite in your honor ☺

Another draw to the town is the ginormous all year round Christmas store and the outlets located off the highway at the same exit. They have Potterybarn Outlet there!!! It was the first time I'd been in there; I was in throw pillow heaven. They even have some Potterybarn Kid's stuff there too, so if we ever get around to having another baby I am so going there. There is a ton of stuff to look at; the store is huge and seriously to really see everything would require a few hours. Luckily for Brad, unless I throw everything out and start again I don't have much reason to really plunk down the moola there.

After our required chicken dinner and stroll through the shops along the main street, we headed over to their newer outdoor mall, decorated heavily in...you guessed it the town's Bavarian theme. It's actually a really nicely landscaped and planned out space with "rivers" and "waterfalls" scattered about the grounds.

ER enjoyed standing on the walkway alongside the road and next to the real river, that's a working covered wooden bridge in the background. Even though rain had been predicted, we kept our finger's crossed and it never came, it was cloudy but no sprinkles. Plus since it's early enough in the tourist season, it was clear of crowds. It was a nice day, strolling around...and for once no fudge was bought! My Dad wasn't there you see...