39th anniversary grand rapids weekend

We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary with a weekend trip to Grand Rapids, MI. It started off a little rocky, but ended up being a swell time.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown where we stayed for the marathon last year. It is conveniently located just off the highway along the river and allows us to walk most everywhere downtown. They also have a good restaurant on site (Burger Theory). It works well for us. You can see it in the background of the above pic.

FRIDAY

Jane drove us up after work Friday, because I was still wiped out from a head cold or allergies. It's an easy trip up I-69N to I-94W to 131N and took about 2 hours 40 minutes. Just as we pulled in the hotel parking lot though I got a text that a co-worker had tested positive for covid. She had the same symptoms I was having, and they started on the same day as mine! Ugh. So, after checking in, we found a Walgreens and picked up a couple rapid tests. 

It's funny how I was suddenly now sure I had covid. Jane went down and got us supper at the hotel restaurant and we just stayed in the room. My first test was negative, but I figured we would need to leave the next day to isolate at home.

SATURDAY (Riverbank Run, Founders Brewery, Holland Beach, Wolfgang Puck)

After a good nights sleep we awoke to a sunny Saturday... and I actually felt much better! It was the first time my nose hadn't run all night in several days. I took another rapid test and it was also negative. So, I don't know if I had false-negative tests or my co-worker had a false-positive. Either way I was glad to feel better.

It's a good thing we didn't have plans though, because as we looked out our corner hotel window we noticed all these runners going by! Turns out they were having the Amway Riverbank Run that morning, and it went right by our hotel!!! It includes a 5&10k and features the largest 25k in the country, as well as the USATF 25k Open Championship. There were A LOT of people, and I thought it was awesome they were having it while we were there. Bonus!

We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked down the street to the Amway building where the finish line was. It was hopping with spectators and runners and it was fun to mingle about.

We finally wandered down the way - about 1/2 mile - to Founders Brewing Company. We had a couple drinks and watched more runners go by. It was a cool place with a nice gift shop. At just after noon it was starting to get busy so we headed back to our hotel. 

We arrived just as it started to rain, so that seemed like a good time for a nap. It only rained maybe 1/2 hour and the sun came back out, so we decided to drive 40 minutes over to Holland to see Lake Michigan. We went to Holland State Park and walked out on the pier. It was amazing how much colder it was by the water. The temperature dropped over 20 degrees!

 

By now it was time to get ready for our big anniversary supper. We had wanted to splurge and try Ruth's Chris Steak House but couldn't get a reservation that morning. Instead we went to Wolfgang Puck's in the Amway building. It was just over the bridge from our hotel. The earliest we could get in was 8:30. We went all out and both got the New York Strip. It was really good! Our server (Chris) was superb as well. We shared a piece of cheesecake (so good) and when Jane asked Chris to take our pic for our anniversary he said the cheesecake was on him. He probably says that to everyone, but still he made us feel special. We walked home over the rapids, and it seemed like 39 years were treating us pretty well. I felt truly blessed as we drifted off to sleep that night.                          

SUNDAY

Perhaps the main reason we decided on Grand Rapids for our anniversary was to attend a Sunday worship service at our friends Tom & Kim's church. Tom is the pastor of Gaines Church in Caledonia, just south of GR. He and I have been meeting together once a week for almost 23 years now. We used to pastor neighboring churches, and now that they've moved we meet via video call. His dad had actually pastored this church at one point, and it's where Kim is from. It's a nice place and we enjoyed the low key service.

After church the four of us went back to GR and ate at The Old Goat. It was a cool place and they had live music for Sunday brunch. We visited while waiting for a table and our food (not the fastest service, but good food).

We finally left around 3 pm. It's an easy trip, and we arrived back home around 5:30 pm. 

Yeah, we probably spent too much on a hotel and supper, but how much is 39 years of marriage worth? I would say it's pretty priceless.

It was a nice weekend.

***

"Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of one’s house for love,
it would be utterly scorned."

- Song of Solomon 8:7