Girlie Vacation in Traverse City: Sleeping Bear Dunes, Left Foot Charley, Amical, & A Sunset Sailboat Ride

Dress: Tilda Wrap Dress by Free People (size XL) via Nuuly

Sandals: Born

All Jewelry: Colleen Toland

Photography: Super Boo, Kate, & Me

Stats: 5'7" 40-37-53

I LOVE this dress...everything about it...I wish I owned it. The colors were incredibly flattering to my skin tone & you know I love the pattern mixing. I was the first person to wear it, I got to rip the tags off...but until I'm a stable size...ugh. It was the perfect length maxi...I could wear it with flats too. The only negatives: it wasn't a true wrap & it needed a cami to be decent. 

I fully intended on wearing this dress out of the house this way...but Kate nixed it...& to be fair...would this really have been the look I wanted to go for during the day? Think of the sunscreen that would have required. I thought it was pretty & a bit sexy. And David agreed.

Look at all those glorious colors.

My make-up with this outfit included...Urban Decay eyeliner in Love Drug, Lucky, & Torch; Glory, Carnelian, Poppy, Phlox, & Agate eyeshadow from Natasha Denona; NYX lipliner in Nectar; Becca lipliner in Blissful; New York Apple lipstick by MAC; Clockwork lipstick from Sugarpill Cosmetics; & Morgan Taylor nail polish in Sunrise & The City. 

I wore this dress for the entirety of our first full day of vacation. Look how quaint...our hotel door had a real key. Kate started the day with a walk around Frankfort while I dolled myself up...then we took a little stroll together so I could mail a package & check out the mineral springs. 

If I was the kind of girl who wore jewelry like this...how pretty are these stone necklaces that look like the beach at sunset?!

Mineral springs! I was so excited...then I tasted it...oh, the sulfur...not for me, but Kate drank her bottleful. While sauntering back to Veronika, a woman remarked: You have such a pretty outfit walking by...you look like a parade. I get a lot of compliments, but that's an excellent one. 

Next stop: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We went here when I was a kid, but I barely remember it. 

Gorgeous girlies with a view. 

When we were here in the 70s, my dad let the air out of our Jimmy Blazer tires & we drove around the dunes in it. Oh, the 70s...now it's walking only.

Just look at that stunning water! I was not brave enough to make the decent to Lake Michigan...too steep for me.

I enjoyed the scenery though...& walking around in my bare feet. 

After the dunes...lunch! Kate had chosen Good Harbor Grill in Glen Arbor. The girlie is an excellent trip planner. I usually don't trust anyone to decide what we'll do. I *love* to plan trips & weekend outings...but it seems Kate always does the planning for our vacations. I wonder if she could handle it if I planned an entire trip for us? For lunch, we both selected the Good Harbor salad...Kate's with a vegetarian patty, & mine with blackened whitefish...I think we also had different dressings, but my memory is not that good. But there were lots of in season veggies, along with cranberries & pumpkin seeds. 

Then...off to our reservation at Left Foot Charley on the patio...it was a beautiful drive & a lovely day to be outside. We shared a flight of 8 wines...so we could try all the ones Kate wanted.

The wine was good, but none of it was great...we left without buying any bottles to take home. 

The view from our hotel Kate found us...we had our own private patio right on Lake Michigan...it was glorious. 

And...another room with a key! Headed out to downtown Traverse City...where their film fest was going on. And look...Kate is wearing my dress...I love that we can share clothes! She would have done better with a size down, but still...we can share clothes! We had a delicious meal at Amical. They don't take reservations for their patio, & when Kate inquired (I think I was parking the car or she just walks much faster than I do), they told her it was a 45 minute wait. A few minutes later, I walked in & they immediately sat me...probably because I'm not good at taking no for an answer...or because I looked like a parade. 

Cute covered patio with my charming companion. 

I look unsure...but I assure you, I was delighted with my meal...I had Faroe Islands Salmon (rice crusted, grilled broccolini, red curry aioli, kimchi radish, scallions, micro herbs) & Kate opted for the Lion's Mane Mushroom Cakes (celery, onion & bell pepper, cashew mayo, mushroom soy cocktail sauce, jicama slaw)...& we both had a side of grilled broccolini with lemon...& mine with shaved Parmesan...we were craving veggies. 

On the walk back to the car...I spied this dress in a closed shop window...papayas! I found it online...do I need it?! After dinner...off to the harbor where we had to walk through this slightly scary tunnel...but at least it was painted fun.  

Kate had booked us a private 2 hour sunset sail...we were on the boat, Michelle. 

We had 2 nice men manning the boat. It was glorious being out on the water. 

The clouds gave us a completely different sunset than the night before, but it was stunning. 

The lights briefly went out on us in the tunnel on the way to the car. And back at the hotel...we wandered down into Lake Michigan & I considered going for a swim.