Cabin Fever Reliever

In celebration of the rare event when Jeremy and I have 3 unplanned/unscheduled days off together, we thought we'd take a little trip to Manistee.

I called the Manistee City Fire Department last week and asked if we could take a tour of the station. They were the first stop on our list. Manistee's fire station is the oldest, manned fire station in Michigan. It's a beautiful building and we were all excited about this tour. Jeremy and I wanted to do more tour and hear more history of the fire department in the city but, our lack of a nap child only wanted to see woo-woo's. He did learn a new word though - ambulance!

This is Abe, our firefighter/tour guide. He was wonderfully patient with us and Jacob's energy. He let us open doors on the trucks, sit in trucks, jump on trucks, stand on trucks, open doors in the station, and he even showed us how to slide down the pole - just like Fire Dog (Jacob's new favorite movie - Firehouse Dog). I sure hope he didn't have to wash our fingerprints off of those shiny trucks!

The Pumper - there is only a 1 1/2 inch clearance between the lights on this truck and the sides of the bay where it's parked!

Jacob and one of 2 'Firedog' poles.

The three of us on the city's aerial ladder truck. This truck was specifically built for Manistee's Fire Station. It has fold down buckets to be able to fit through the door. They also have a red light at the back of the station - that goes either on or off when the door is up all the way (I don't remember which) so they don't rip off the garage door with the big ladder/buckets on their way in or out.

Jacob in the pool at our hotel. It snowed the whole time we were there so, we swam both days.


I do have to say that our hotel was GREAT! We stayed at the Manistee National Inn & Resort. It was wonderful! They only had 3 sold rooms that night! We had everything to ourselves! The beds and the pillows were soft and comfy. They had a full bar in the lounge - that was open! The staff was wonderful. And not to sound hillbilly-ish but, they had Bath & Body Works soap, shampoo, conditioner AND lotion. Now, we have stayed at some pretty swanky hotels and most of them, had stinky soaps! They had complimentary fresh coffee with flavored creamers and juice in the lobby at all times. I highly recommend staying with them and we will again - even if we can only afford to stay off-season! :)

*** I did forget to mention the BEST part of going to Manistee. Big Al's! We went twice! Once after the fire station and we took it back to the hotel. The other, we ordered and brought it back home with us to eat after we unloaded the truck. I unwrapped my sandwich and it smelled just like the dive that Big Al's is! You know, the smell of a restaurant that hits you as soon as you open the door. We had a nice little chat about how greasy everything feels in there but, yum! We went to House of Flavors for "pink' ice cream too. Jacob wanted pink ice cream...

I do have to tell you that we didn't sleep well. Jacob woke 3 times in the night, crying. Jeremy and I both kept waking up - too hot, too cold, or Jacob. So, this next photo should come as no surprise...


Jacob crashed about 9:00 PM with his woo-woo pillow from Aunt Cindy and his woo-woo blankie from Aunt Karen. He slept until almost 7:00AM. There's something to be said about sleeping in your own bed.