Door County Getaway (Laurie)

My husband and I went on a short vacation at the end of May to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary (Curious to know how we met? Read all about it here!). Our trip was noteworthy for a few reasons: 1) it was the first time the two of us have gone anywhere without the kids since our oldest son was born four years ago, and 2) we went to Door County, Wisconsin, which is where we spent our honeymoon six years ago.

If you aren't familiar with Door County, it's the "thumb" of Wisconsin that is surrounded by beautiful Lake Michigan. It's a wonderful place to relax and spend time in nature, plus they have lots of cute shops and restaurants.

One of the restaurants has goats on the roof - seriously, how cool is that?

And, not surprisingly, it boasts many stunning lake views :)

The sunset on the bay our first night

While we definitely missed our boys, I must admit that it was SO nice to have a brief getaway! Even the 6-hour car ride felt like a vacation since we were able to have uninterrupted conversations and listen to the music we like :)

This is the adorable little cottage we stayed in

We also got to sleep in every morning, go on hikes, eat at restaurants without disturbing our neighbors, and take a ~5-mile kayak adventure to a small island.

We made it!

I also (mostly) took a break from my computer and phone, which I needed at least as much as a breather from my beloved little munchkins. It was so freeing to allow myself to let things go for a week, to only deal with the necessary messages and put the rest on the back-burner. Being a writer is about so much more than just the writing - keeping up with Lands Uncharted, other social media pages, critique groups, etc. can be fun and invigorating, but also draining. A few days to "unplug" and spend some time reconnecting with my husband and the great outdoors was exactly what I needed!

The sunset on our last evening there, which we watched while eating giant ice cream cones :)

Our return to reality was bittersweet. It's hard knowing that we probably won't get this kind of opportunity again any time soon, but the huge grins on my sons' faces when we walked in the door absolutely melted my heart, and it's been fun to reconnect with my writing friends and manuscript. It was nice to have a break, but it's good to be back, too. Despite the piles of laundry and other neglected tasks I've needed to tackle the past few weeks, I've come back feeling refreshed and grateful to have such an amazing "normal" life to come back to :)

How about YOU? Have you taken any trips or breaks from your regular schedule lately, or do you have any summer vacations planned?

Thanks for reading!
Laurie