Getting the Royal Treatment in Brighton

Day 1

After leaving Indiana, the Labor Day weekend took us back into Michigan to spend the holiday at J and R’s Lakeside Retreat…that being John and Rosi's beautiful home on Woodland Lake in Brighton. What a gorgeous home and idyllic setting with the most gracious and
welcoming hosts.



John got us all parked and settled in their drive with water and electric hookup. This was the best spot we had all summer! Our coach overlooked the lake and the perfectly landscaped yard that sprawled down the hillside to the boat dock. This was heaven!



Rosi took us on the tour of their home, and as when she came to visit us in Florida, we are both amazed at how our tastes in décor run the same…colors to furniture! However, theirs is on a much larger scale with only three stories to furnish and decorate! Every room was just perfect and so comfortable! I don’t know why they would ever consider leaving such a beautiful home and setting; but they, too, want to move to Florida someday.

After the tour and getting acquainted with our surroundings, we settled in for four days of visiting, sightseeing, and of course eating! Rosi is such a good cook and prepared some of our favorites the first night…pulled pork barbecue and hot fudge sundaes! Many other tasty delights followed in the days to come… lemon blueberry biscuits were an absolute delight that she whipped up one morning! I could go on and on, but you might think that’s all we did…EAT!! We came close to it!!


Day 2

After our peaceful and heavenly night’s sleep, Rosi and John literally, put us through Hell the next day! Everything started off just wonderfully, a good breakfast (those lemon blueberry biscuits) and then a trip to the farmers’ market in the town park. But then it went downhill from there, and we truly went to Hell and back with these two!!…Hell, Michigan that is…a little town on its way up!*L*

There is actually a town called Hell as I have proof with the picture of the post office! There were several photo ops in this hellacious little town that we took full advantage of, but the most interesting place was the ice cream shop appropriately named Screams. Not only was it the local souvenir shop, but also a business that reflected its name with treats like Little Terror, Lil’ Devil, Frank-n-Scoop, and Scoopzilla. Toppings to go on these ice cream “freaks” included Bat Hearts, Buttersnot, Bone Chips, Blue Ooze, Beetle Juice, and Devil’s Dirt…you figure out what they might consist of! The best of all was something called The Grave Digger. Three scoops of ice cream on top of sliced Monkey Fruit with Bat Hearts, Shock-a-Lot, Fruit Guts, and Glob of Ectoplasm…your everyday Banana Split! *LOL*

We had a Hellava good time laughing and dredging up any and all “ Oh, Hell” sayings we could come up with…”Hell of a day”? You could say we had one!! And that was just the beginning!

Day 2/Part 2

After spending the morning in Hell, we returned to Brighton for a quick lunch at one of those staple restaurants found only in Michigan…The Coney Island. Good food and inexpensive; Coney Island hot dogs being the headliner on the menu, but we all opted for gyros instead! Good nourishment after we had gone to Hell!!

Lunch over, it was time to return to the “inn on the lake” and take a ride on the pontoon boat. The weather really cooperated with us the entire weekend…sunny and sunny! Our first destination was to pick up Ed and Sharon. We met these two last winter when they came to our house for dinner with John and Rosi. They, also, are RVers and spend a few months during the winter in the Ft. Myers area. We were excited to see them again and be able to spend time during the weekend with them, too.

Ed and Sharon also live on Woodland Lake. So we pontooned over to their place and picked them up for a Saturday afternoon ride. Being the Labor Day weekend, the lake was rather busy with other boaters and lots of PWCs…Personal Water Crafts. Lake swans were also out enjoying the brilliant sunny day. John, our watchful captain, steered us out of the busy path so we could enjoy a tranquil ride while visiting with each other. What a relaxing afternoon!


We dropped Ed and Sharon off after a few hours and would see them later for dinner. Rosi had another delicious meal planned, of course! But before that, just one little incident occurred when we returned and docked the boat…Rosi dropped her cell phone into the muddy muck! Oh, Hell! Oops! I think the morning destination was haunting her!! The good news…it survived! Divine intervention?? Anyway, the second day once again ended with a good meal and good friends!

Day 3 and 4

Sunday morning we were invited over to Ed and Sharon’s for brunch. We had a chance to take the tour of their newly remodeled house. They have a knack for acquiring property and turning them into show places. Of course the view out their back door was stunning…waterside living at its best!

After the delicious breakfast complete with Mimosas, another pontoon ride was in order. We really got into the boat rides! However, Sunday was a really hot day and even being on the lake with the breezes was just too hot for us to enjoy. So back to Ed and Sharon’s to spend most of the afternoon under the big White Birch shade tree and swinging in the hammock!




Later in the day it was time to grill some burgers. Master chef John took over and did an excellent job while showing off his appropriate grilling attire! More food and more deserts!! I told you we did lots of eating while visiting! Card games rounded out the evening with Rosi and Sharon learning the rules of Golf…the card game! We tended to get into the competitive spirit of this game and continued to play even the next night.



Our final day was on Labor Day. We took John and Rosi out for breakfast and then took a walking tour of the town park. Brighton is such a pretty town!

Later, Rosi, Sharon, and I decided to take a little “girl” time and go shopping. Frank and John did work getting the motor home and car cleaned up and ready to roll on Tuesday.







That evening the six of us once again got together for another delicious meal…Sharon taught us to make a quick and easy Parmesan Chicken. A sunset boat cruise and more cards took us into the late hours before we had to say our goodbyes to Sharon and Ed…until we see them again in January!



On Tuesday we had to leave our friends. We had the best time and laughed as much as we ate during the weekend. We could have done more running around to sight see in the area, but we were just too comfortable hanging out enjoying our accommodations, the lake setting, and our friends! The hospitality was the best! John and Rosi made us feel so welcome in their beautiful home. We will be seeing them again this winter when they travel to Sarasota and Bonita for the winter months.

Thanks for the Memories!!!