We escaped to a couple of Airbnb’s in Michigan in April before life started to get busy again and it was so good for our souls. We’ve been quarantining safely at home during the pandemic, and thought we could use a little more space to roam and fresh air to breathe – so we decided to move our quarantine life to Michigan for a couple of weeks.
Our first Airbnb was the super minimal “Squiggle House” in Watervliet on 150 acres. This place has to have been some kind of summer camp prior to this because there were ponds and rivers to explore, hiking trails, a couple other Airbnb cabins scattered on the property, and a whole bunch of tennis and basketball courts – completely empty – just waiting for our sport-loving family to take over! 😉
We had the best time having campfires, and fires in the fireplace (as it ended up being much cooler weather than we anticipated), and spent so much time just running and playing outdoors without worrying about having to throw on masks every 5 seconds – because unlike Chicago, nobody was anywhere near us!
I love to snap film photos of our personal life and so here is our time at the first house documented via my Mamiya 645 medium format film camera. All shot on Porta 400 & 800 (for the photographers & photo enthusiasts who are curious).
The second house we stayed at was my choice (James chose the first) and it was a “treehouse” of sorts nestled in the dunes just south of Warren Dune State Park in Sawyer, MI. There were 75 steps up to the house (as exhausting as it sounds – haha) but the tranquility and view from up above were well worth the climb! We all loved the hot tub on the deck, and could walk to a private access beach on Lake Michigan (just another 100 steps or so down the road through the dunes) to explore the sand and hear the waves crashing. It was pretty chilly for this part of the trip so we bundled up for our explorations, but it was relaxing none-the-less, and the hot tub was perfect to warm up after!
It was such a wonderful little escape for our family and the perfect reset after a year of mostly only being within the walls of our own home. The kids still talk about the hot tub and the ‘squiggle house’ and we hope to go back when we are able to again!
I hope these photos brought a smile to your face like they have mine. 🙂
