Tag: Self Indulgent

Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield, WI – Food & Place Alert.

Here is the blog that everyone is so curious about because I went off on my own trip to a place that doesn’t really fit my past travels. I decided to go into ‘hiding’ for my birthday this year. 31 never felt so personal and it was very much needed for myself. This birthday was a mix of emotions, lets just say the last 8 years have been spent with love, but this year was a little different… still with love. Just different.

Every weekend in June up until mid July, I had an event and it was back to back drinking, being social and long active hours/late late nights. No complaints, I made sure to live my summer up. Something I haven’t been able to do in a long time. I wanted something quiet, calm and to be with myself for one weekend. I was looking at all sorts of retreats and came across Wild Rice Retreat. It wasn’t as expensive as the others and I could also drive to it instead of having to pay extra for a flight and rental. Flight prices are a little insane right now. Wild Rice Retreat was also running a 5 year anniversary promo, so that also sealed the deal. Let’s get into the greatness of my weekend at Wild Rice Retreat! ♡

TRAVEL

Wild Rice Retreat is in Bayfield, Wisconsin about a 9-12 hour drive from Grand Rapids, Michigan depending on the route you take and if you hit traffic. I chose to drive there for cost and I simply wanted to be able to drive to and stop at whatever caught my interest.

On my drive to the retreat, I chose to drive out of Michigan, through Indiana to Chicago, Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin and up to Bayfield, Wisconsin. I left at 3 or 4 am and did not hit traffic at all, so it was only a 8-9 hour drive. Something I’m use to when driving to Minnesota. I did stop to take a nap in Chicago, so I was on the road for 12 hours total. This route took me on a tour of Wisconsin. I can say that I have seen about 70% of Wisconsin now. Wisconsin has a lot to offer in the northern region. I would have loved to stop in some of the towns to explore. The towns were on the lake and beautiful. One thing I did not like about this route was the last 3 hours of the drive. The last 3 hours has you driving through these smaller towns on a freeway, going from 50 mph to 25 mph. I’m a Michigander, we go 80 mph everywhere!!! I was trying so hard to not speed and to not get mad at how slow everyone was. I was getting irritated for sure, but nice towns did help me a little.

On my way back home from the retreat, I chose to drive the other route, so essentially I drove in one big circle. This time I drove along the northern part of Wisconsin into to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, passing through Marquette, Michigan over to the Mackinaw Bridge to enter the Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I also got lucky and did not run into any traffic at all. 90% of this route was along the lakes, like your driving on the highway and can see the lake the whole time. This only took me 8 hours, but I stopped at a lot of the scenic rest stops or overlooks to take in the beautiful views and spend a little bit of time on the beaches. Bonus: I got to see the sunset on the lake. I’m a sucker for a sunset by the water (take notes men). I have only been in the UP once, so it was super cool being able to drive through and see why everyone raves about it. I agree with them. I was also able to stop at 2 different spots to admire the Mackinaw Bridge before driving on it personally. There were so many moose crossing signs though. I was a little scared, but thankfully didn’t have to deal with moose. The speed limit in the UP is 80 mph, even faster than our 70 mph in the LP, so I was a happy girl.

LODGING

Wild Rice Retreat has a few lodging options for you to choose from for your time there. All the lodges are these beautiful, wooden, Scandinavian inspired stays where they can accommodate 1-8 people depending on what you choose. I was looking between the Ricepod or Nest for just myself. I chose the Nest for the extra sq ft, the king bed, the separate sleeping and living quarters, sofa and kitchenette. The Ricepod was more like a studio where it’s one big room, while the Nest felt more home like. I also stayed for 4 nights and 3 days, so I wanted something more. The lodges are in separate villages and while yes, you do have neighbors, it’s not wall to wall like hotels. You truly feel like you are in your own home. Every lodge also includes a mini fridge, sink, microwave, portable stove top, rain fall walk in shower, oversized windows, an outdoor balcony or patio and wifi. Don’t even get me on the Parachute Egyptian cotton linens, towels and robe they provide. That robe, I could have lived in forever.

If you noticed in the photos, you don’t see a television at all. That’s right, the lodges are television free. It’s a retreat for your mind, body and soul, so they cut out the technology to help. However, they do have free wifi for those who need to do work. If you know me, you know I’m a huge sucker for huge windows and letting the sun in my space. I woke up early every morning to the sun and started the day feeling so refreshed. It was probably the best sleep that I have had in a while. I can be such a homebody, it was perfect. Plus I had to be a homebody a bit that weekend. Since it’s located in Bayfield, Wisconsin, basically the tippy top of Wisconsin I was only a lake away from the fires happening in Minnesota and Canada. The air quality was pretty bad there and you could see the smoke/fog/sot. My eyes would get irritated if I was outside too long sometimes. My Nest provided for me.

AMENITIES

What attracted me in choosing Wild Rice Retreat was the amenities that are included or the extra options to be added on during your stay. The retreat is about nurturing individual creativity, human development, and meaningful connections. Just like the lodges, the amenities also ground the mind, body, and soul.

Dining/Food

A lite breakfast, brunch and dinner are all included during your stay. Yes, you read that right – all included. Food was served buffet style at Root, the onsite kitchen. They kept the nourishing mission throughout the retreat, the kitchen included. Wild Rice does farm to table, so all the food you get is fresh and only the best. They cater to all sorts of dietary needs and restrictions. Everyday, I went to all three meal times and tried everything they put out. Not one bad thing, I loved it all. Not only were there fires causing bad air quality, but bad lettuce going around causing illness. So I was super excited that the retreat grew their own vegetables and I wouldn’t have to skip the wonderful salad spreads they provided. Water, hot tea, and coffee are available all day at Root for all guest and alcoholic beverages and mocktails are available for purchase. You do receive 1 complimentary mocktail ticket upon your arrival.

Brunch and dinner are different everyday and some of my favorites were: the gluten free midnight brownie, the lemon parsley chicken, fish cakes with yogurt dill garlic dip, ponzu roasted salmon, the apple cake, kimchi egg scramble, roasted vegetable hummus wrap, summer chicken salad wrap and all the house made vinaigrettes with the salad stations, carrot ginger, tomato, berry and house.

Wellness and Movement

There are plenty of wellness amenities included with your stay like a 24/7 sauna with a rain fall shower room and an outdoor fire pit and cold plunge bucket. It is it’s own building and every guest has access to it by using their lodge keys. It’s very spacious and with the open hours you can time it out just right to get the sauna and shower room all to yourself!

There are also daily wellness and movement classes to sign up or drop in for, most are free and a few have a class fee. Every week classes are changed and every day offers various classes to attend. The class schedules are on their website. I had a list of classes to drop in, but I ended up doing none due to being too comfortable in bed and taking to to enjoy my Nest. I also bought a lot of activities or crafts with me to do just in case the air quality canceled any of the outdoor classes. I know I was there to relax, but I caught up with some things I needed to do for my job. It was still relaxing enough, I didn’t want to leave.

Some classes that caught my interest: Morning intention setting, new dawn vinyasa, cultivating vitality: a mid-summer well-being check in, the breathing experience, somatic float aerial yoga, pilates & stretch, self guided forest bathing, grief and gratitude fire ceremony, chakra balance, mixology mocktail, and summer nature therapy walk.

Adventures

Wild Rice Retreat has a few trails to walk along Lake Superior, Marty’s Landing to sit at and adore Lake Superior and some patios with seating with a higher view of the lake. All very beautiful. I visited Marty’s Landing and walked partial on the trails. I know I’ll be back and hopefully when there’s no air quality issues.

The town of Bayfield is not very far from Wild Rice and you can drive over to explore it. From what I drove through, it looked very charming. I’d very much would love to explore the area as well in the future.

My trip to Wild Rice Retreat was what I needed and I would recommend it to everyone. Take time to be with yourself, take time to slow down. This trip wasn’t the typical Sally travel, but it helped me personally in many different ways. I wish I had a discount code to give out to my blog readers, but I do not. I wrote this because I really loved it at Wild Rice Retreat and share all that it has to offer. Please check them out for your future travels. Until the next adventure ♡

Food Alert: Royal Oak Taco Fest.

I decided to spend my July 4th over at Royal Oak Taco Fest! It was a very last minute decision, but in the end worth it. I’ve been saying that I wanted to challenge myself to go out and do things solo more, so I did just that! I’ve never been to any Taco Fest, so I wasn’t sure what it would be like, but it was well worth the drive and admission fee. Royal oak is about 2 hours to 2.5 hours away from me, so I made it a small foodie adventure. Admission tickets were $12 per person and when I got in, there were tons of food trucks, vendor booths and a huge kids area. There were all sorts of food beside tacos and plenty of drink booths, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. Now, let’s eat!

It was pretty hot out, so a freshly squeezed lemonade was a must! There was an option to add alcohol to the lemonade, but I decided not too. I was not going to make the mistake of “eating” alcohol like I did with previous festivals that I wanted to blog about.
The first food truck was Eight Claw Crab Boil. I will say, I was hoping they had their seafood boil available, but sadly it wasn’t. Instead I ordered the Crab and Lobster Grilled Cheese. I’ve never had a grilled cheese that was this tasty. It was like heaven. I might have to hunt down Eight Claw Crab Boil pretty soon.

Next was Spicy Jerk Chicken and the famous BBQ Mac & Cheese from Chef Collier Willis of House of Barbecue. I was walking around and the smell of the ribs was so amazingly delicious that I stopped and grabbed food. The ribs were a big portion and I wanted to be able to try more foods, so I skipped on it. Don’t worry, I’m coming to find you too! The BBQ Mac & Cheese was nothing special, still good though, but the Spicy Jerk Chicken was SPICY. It had a great kick to it. I usually don’t like chicken that much because it usually is dry, but this was perfect and juicy. You got everything fresh and right off the smoker. House of Barbecue also got voted for ‘best entree’ out of everyone else!

I always try to go on these foodie adventures and get so full after the second food truck or booth. I opted in for some dessert just in case I was going to call it a day. I was so stuffed after eating this delicious strawberry and pineapple milk chocolate skewer topped with sprinkles, marshmellows and peanuts from Lekker Choco Treats. It was just what needed on a hot summers days. They have different fruit skewers to choose from, then you get to choose your chocolate and then your toppings. You can’t go wrong!

Who was I kidding? Who just quits after the third food truck when you go on a foodie adventure? Definitely not this girl. I was at the Taco Fest for hours, just trying to walk off the food I already ate to try more. I walked around for a good hour and even sat at one of the stages trying to stay awake and away from the food coma that was trying to get me LOL. Ya’ll I was struggling trying to not nap. I succeeded and decided to celebrate with some tacos! Finally the item that the festival was named after.

I know, I know. This might knock down my foodie credit with some of my readers, but I like flour tortillas over corn. Don’t hate me, okay!?! Please still support me ♡ I visited Galindo’s Authentic Mexican and ordered their red queso steak taco and just a regular steak taco. No, I didn’t eat them dry. I added both of their spicy roja salsa and verde salsa. They were good tacos, but nothing that made them stand out to be the ultimate best. Galindo’s got voted for most authentic taco at the festival!

Dessert time again! I’ve been really into sweets lately, which is very unlike me, but I’m not going to question it. It is what it is. There were some carnival like food booths and this one had deep fried candy bars. I’ve never heard of such thing or have seen one, so I had to give it a try. I ordered a deep fried snickers. I don’t know what I expected it to look like, but not a corndog like item with powdered sugar on top. Let me tell you though, if you haven’t had a deep fried snickers bar, you are missing out. I was impressed with this chocolate corndog delight. It may not look like it in the video though. I was passed full and starting to sweat being out in that heat.

I could no longer eat anymore, I was about to pop. It was time for me to leave, BUT before leaving I had to get one last drink. I tried the Watermelon Sugar topped with blue punch. It was a mix of the blue punch with raspberry tea and strawberry melon. It was very sweet, maybe a little too sweet for me. I think it would have been better without the added blue punch. It was pretty refreshing though, so I do recommend everyone to visit The Fern when you find yourself in Royal Oak!

I’m very happy that I did the solo trip to Royal Oak Taco Fest. Sometimes you just need to self indulge and take adventures. How would I rate Taco Fest? 8.5/10. It was a family friendly event with tons of craft tents and blowup obstacles for the kids, then tons of food options to choose from, plus multiple of the same food trucks, so lines were short. There were multiple vendors and chances to spin a wheel and win prizes from the merch ones. I will point out that if you are against cannabis, then this might not be the event for you. Most vendor booths were cannabis and THC products, so that’s all that I will point out. I’m not sure if this event is held in multiple cities, but you can always get a good idea of what vendors will be there based off of the sponsors! I’m not sure what the next foodie adventure will be and I won’t promise anymore about certain ones because I might end up “eating” alcohol again.. oopsies. ALWAYS remember though, we live to eat and not eat to live! ♡