Travel

Adventures In The UP

In 2019, I promised myself to make the best of every moment and to explore more. With a thirst for adventure, I made a trip to visit my boyfriend at Michigan Tech in Houghton, MI. For those of you who may not know, it is about a nine hour drive north from where I live.

(Check out my Road Trip Essentials post to hear about how I survive the looooong drive up.)

Each day was so wonderfully spent with Bryan just enjoying our time together. Michigan Tech hosts a Winter Carnival each year, which gave us no shortage of things to see and do. 

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D A Y   O N E

I arrived at Bryan’s apartment, a cute building in downtown Houghton, right around 4pm. After a long day of driving, I needed some down time so we relaxed a while before bundling up to head out into the freezing cold for the all-nighter celebration on campus.

Completely outdoors, we explored the activities set up for the all nighter. They had warm drinks and tasty chili for the students, visitors, and alumni to enjoy. There was a broomball game on campus as well as a snow mobile stunt show; truly some of the most interesting things I have ever seen. We survived the cold for about two and a half hours before we called it a night.

D A Y   T W O

On my second day, Bryan and I took our time getting up as we were so tired from the long day/late night the day before. Once we got moving, we made our way to Michigan Tech’s campus again to check out the masterpieces that are the snow sculptures. Groups on campus spend several weeks creating these and the proof is in the details.

After spending time admiring statues, we made our way to the campus library for coffee and time to warm up. It was nice to sit and chat while lounging with Bryan. After buying matching t-shirts to commemorate this years winter carnival, we trudged in the snow back to his apartment. At home, we made a tasty dinner and enjoyed a slow night in.

D A Y   T H R E E 

For the third day, the weather had gone absolutely crazy and ruined some plans we had made. The snow was so deep, we were a bit stranded in the apartment for the first part of the day. Despite the change in the agenda, we made the best of it. Bryan and I whipped up some delicious brownies and watched an episode of A Million Little Things (definitely my choice, not his!) 

After snuggling on the couch for a while, we braved the snowy weather and did a bit of shopping at the local stores. Spontaneously, we made the decision to catch the hockey game on campus. This was a spectacular choice, as it was an intriguing game that was 0-0 until the third period when both teams scored. The game went into overtime and ended up going to shootouts. Sadly, Michigan tech did not win, but it was a fantastic game to watch.

Following an exciting game, we made our way to the Douglass House Saloon, a typical college-town bar, and had a few drinks. Bryan ordered me a “crack-pipe” which is a delicious mix of vodka, apple pucker, and red bull. We enjoyed a few more drinks at the bar and met up with some of his friends before calling it a night.

D A Y   F O U R

The morning of my last day here Bryan, unfortunately, had to work from 8am to 1pm. During this time, I worked on writing this very blog post. When Bryan came back home, we decided to get a pizza; the domino’s in Houghton gives a discount based on how many points the hockey team scores. As the huskies only scored one point, we got a 10% discount on our pizza.

After enjoying that, we made our way north to check out a coffee shop. Bryan had a friend working at Keweenaw Coffee Works and we had to explore it. We spent a few hours just chatting and enjoying the delicious coffee. I got a simple Americano, whereas Bryan explored a bit more and chose a “Girl Scout” which was mint chocolate truffle tea, steamed milk, mint and chocolate flavor, with crunchy thin mint pieces on top.

Around dinnertime, Bryan and I made our way back to the apartment and made chicken parmesan with spaghetti. This is one of my favorite meals so it was really sweet for Bryan to have put it in the weekend plan. Once we finished that, we decided to grab a few drinks at a different bar in the downtown Houghton area. This was genuinely my favorite night. We weren’t in any rush, we just enjoyed our time at the bar. We chatted the night away, just the two of us.

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My adventure in the upper peninsula was absolutely fantastic; any time I am able to spend with Bryan is remarkable. I’m so grateful to have had this time away and I’m looking forward to my next adventure.

What is your 2019 adventure? Leave a comment; I’d love to hear!