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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Change of Scenery

A couple of weekends ago, my husband and I flew up to Michigan for my cousin's daughter's wedding on the shores of Lake Michigan.


I was thrilled to get the invitation and also happy that my husband and I were in the position to be able to go.  It was a chance to meet family members I haven't seen in forever.


A little history -- I was born and raised in England and moved here in 1982.  My mum's sister, my Auntie Beryl, married an American GI on my fourth birthday (I was a bridesmaid) and moved with him to the U.S.  Auntie Beryl and Uncle Bob lived first in Tennessee and then Michigan, and had two daughters, my cousins Beverly and Connie.  It was Beverly's daughter, Christie, who was getting married.


My mum and dad flew over from England to stay with Beryl and Bob, now retired to Florida, for a few days.  Then they all drove up to Michigan for the wedding. 


Beryl's other daughter, Connie, and her husband and son, drove up from Cincinnati. In addition, Auntie Beryl's long-time friend, Penny, another English lady who she met in the "Transatlantic Brides Association," drove over from the other side of Michigan where she lives, along with three of her adult children.


It's been 15 years since I have seen many of these people, and even longer since I have seen others. So it was a wonderful reunion weekend.


 The new Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Brown

I'm only going to show you a couple of pics of the bride and groom. I know not everyone is comfortable having their photo on the internet, so I'll respect everyone else's privacy, and not post photos of them in my blog.  Instead, since it's a gardening blog, I'm going to show you some photos of the locale chosen for the wedding and the beautiful scenery in that part of Michigan.


Christie spent a long time scouting out locations for their wedding. I think she chose the perfect spot.

Michillinda Lodge is a turn of the century country estate, nestled in deep woods, on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.


The driveway makes quite an impression. Looking from the road to the Lodge:



Looking back toward the road:



I named my blog "Green and Serene" because that's the feeling I want in my garden (I'm still working on that!!).  Michillinda Lodge seemed to ooze serenity and I fell in love with it and would love to get back there for a vacation sometime.



All around the main lodge are many different cottages and guest houses.  Mum and dad were staying in one called "Surfside" which, true to it's name, overlooked the lake.


The view from their balcony:




Everywhere we went there were flowerbeds brimming with color. I heard that, although we had beautiful weather when we were there, they had two weeks of rain prior to that!  






Each of the cottages/guest houses had it's own character, which made the whole place just delightful to stroll through.




One day, we promised ourselves we would get back up there for a short vacation :-)



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

4 comments:

Kyna said...

I bet it was a beautiful wedding! :) I'm happy to see pictures of a place that's a lot greener than mine is right now. The drought in eastern NC continues...

Jayne said...

I feel your pain Kyna. The drought is bad here too. I'm dreading my water bill this month!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I enjoyed a break from Nebraska. That looks like a nice place!

Rosie@leavesnbloom said...

It does look lovely and green and serene there Jayne. I've the same feelings about photos on my blog. My son got married nearly 3 weeks ago and I never put any photos on my gardening blog even though the grounds of the estate were so beautiful. I'm sure it was wonderful to meet all your family again.