We Heart St. Joseph

Matt and I had a lovely time on our mini-getaway to St. Joseph on Tuesday and Wednesday! Our time there was short, but sweet, and just what we needed. The weather wasn't what we had hoped for...we arrived to rain, which thankfully stopped about two hours after our arrival. The rest of the time, the skies were overcast, but they provided a very cosy, romantic feel.

We began our trip with one of our favorite past times--leisurely strolling through charming downtown St. Joseph. We dodged the rain from shop to shop, stopping at some of our favorites: Forever Books, the old five and dime store, FuzzyButz Pet Bakery, the Toy Company, Urban Home, Days of Yore antiques {where I was sooo tempted to buy a pair of adorable 1940's grey peep toe heels--in my size!}, etc. We stopped in the Chocolate Cafe to warm from the chill and the rain. Matt enjoyed a LaSalle hot chocolate {with mint} and I a Kaffe Wien {coffee with hot chocolate and cream} while we browsed the history books of the St. Joe/Stevensville area. I love to look at the pictures, seeing how things have changed, and as much how things have stayed the same.
We checked into the Boulevard Inn in downtown St. Joe and settled into our room. Then we headed off for an incredibly delicious dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants: Villa Santaniello. It's the Italian restaurant where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner. We had a great time savoring our meals and enjoying "us" time, as we were seated in a cozy corner of the restaurant.
We loved watching our favorite weeknight shows {Lost, V} on the big flat screen TVs in our hotel room! Wednesday morning, we slept in a bit and enjoyed an impressive breakfast at our hotel's bistro.

After checking out of our hotel, we walked on Silver Beach for awhile. Then we headed out toward another favorite local restaurant for lunch: Tabor Hill. Tabor Hill is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and they are a famous winery in southwestern Michigan. They're also famous for their gourmet restaurant. We were the first lunch guests to arrive and were seated at a corner table with beautiful views of the vineyards! Although it was cloudy, everything looked so lush and green! I ordered my favorite dish there: pecan-crusted raspberry chicken. So delectable! We took our time and enjoyed every moment there...we even managed to save room for dessert!
We had to head back home after lunch as Matt has had many preparations to make this week. But we had such an enchanting time in a place so dear to both of our hearts--St. Joseph.

The Boulevard Inn.

The view from our room. You can see the white dome of

the heritage center where we had our wedding reception.

Room #2, which we obviously didn't use!
Kitchen/breakfast bar...
Another view of kitchen and of the entry way.
Matt's checking out the flat screen TV!
The view of Lake Michigan from our suite.

Cloudy, but no less beautiful...

View of Silver Beach and the lighthouse from the front of the Boulevard.

One of the best things you'll ever put into your mouth:

the focaccia bread at Santaniello's!

My savory dinner.

Sometimes I miss St. Joseph so much, my heart hurts.

Loving every minute of our getaway.

The view from our table at Tabor Hill.

Matt is excited for lunch!

Another view of the vineyards from our table.

My delicious salad.

Matt's open-faced buffalo taco.

My pecan-crusted raspberry chicken.

The raspberry sauce is the secret!

Matt's latte came with two gourmet truffles.

We thought about buying some truffles from the gift shop,

but it was $17 for five truffles. Nah.

I ordered the "kiddie" dessert, but the size was just-right.

It was delicious dark chocolate hazelnut gelato rolled in sprinkles.

I love anything with sprinkles!

We stayed in a suite on the top floor. This is our king bed in room #1.