Midwest is Best.

After lots of talk of One Last Summer Hoorah before school starts, the plan was to roadtrip to Virginia, the home of our good friend Tyler. We eventually were grounded from ideals, realizing that the east coast is probably not the best destination for a 72-hr vacay... So the following 5 days before the prospective leave date were spent tirelessly rummaging through airbnb in a constant state of group text or email to map out our lives.

holdin' up the backseat.

From a rustic cabin in the UP to jumping the border of Canada (which eventually was turned down due to Daniel's escort out of that country circa 2008... different story for a different time...), to sharing a farmhouse with a motivated overall-ed country boy in Iowa, or sailing a houseboat in a suburb of Detroit (??), to relaxing on the dreamy porch of a Peninsula lake house in Wisconsin.... we pictured and plotted and imagined everything from 4-mile primitive hikes across the forests of Michigan to midnight lake jumps in Lake Superior followed by fireside s'mores outside the cool air of a yurt.

my brother & me

quarter flip & brews.

All this to say: None of these things happened.


But - if life has taught me anything at all, it's that when MY plan doesn't work... an even better one emerges.

And this trip is no exception.

{in case you're wondering if Daniel has a ponytail... he does.}

After last-minute ditching the campfire wood & lil smokies, (but keeping the beer & lime chips) we set off for none other than the next best state over. A last minute booking in the hoppin city metropolis of.... Milwaukee!! (more like 20 mins outside of Milwaukee, in a place that's not really Milwaukee, if we're paying attention to details...)

we're friends.

We pooled our resources, contacted fellow Milwaukeeans for recommended hotspots, and upon arrival, acquainted ourselves with what Milwaukee is know for best: midwestern brews. Hello Milwauks. We love you already.

You can thank Google for the rest of our night... for interpreting such brilliantly formed questions in the state of non-questions: "good bar," "hipster dance," "fun place," "game life,"... etc, and accurately leading us to a bar with an unassuming sign surrounded by bike lanes, coffeeshops, and local brews - a sure sign of trendster neighborhood (says Daniel).

disco ball dancin

The next spot was no disappointment. Everyone was pretty skeptical of the area - but I chose to look past the pawn shops and Gone Missing signs, trusting Yelp reviews for "the best 80's dance party in the city." And that it was. We have all made a pact to return someday for Saturday's "hippest-hoppest dance party around..." (That is, if Daniel and Tyler agree to re-enter a spot clad in rainbow flags and century confused dancers...)

I spy Ty

Finishing off the night with an undercover sneak attack into the Hotel Pool after-hours, competitive games of Marco Polo, mermaid races, and handstand contests... We eventually slept. (kind of.) The next morn, a member of our group was gone missing... But we were all comforted after receiving Tyler's text that he was chillin at the local bar. At 8am. (Would we ever look anywhere else...?)

Alterra brunch

Hipsta attack

Wisconsin's Fishing Capital

The next day started with brunch on the lake, a swim off the rocks, soaking in the sun on the sand, and finally - Tyler disappearing (he has a thing for that apparently...??) and returning with a giant log. And good thing the Amish community of Milwaukee was there to witness a sight, because it could be their first and last.

lazy rock sitting 

log fun

"What the Amish saw when Tyler came to shore...."

As we sat on our log facing the edge of Lake Michigan with Milwaukee in the distance, watching matching Amish kids scurry about, nobody said it, but we were all thinking it. This feels like family and home... (and also - how did life end up here??) It's a moment I will revisit in my memory as the school year starts, when I miss summer sun, and in the dead of lifeless winter when I want something to smile about.

friends like family