High Hopes & Heartbreak: Hudson!

Back in the winter, a group of 8 of us who are all interconnected from La Crosse did a "staycation" at a cool cabin up north. It all happened to be couples, and it was an amazing time! We vowed at that time that we wanted to do something again, so fast forward about 6-7 months, and we decided to do another 'staycation' up in Hudson. A bit of a hike for L and me from Madison (about 4 hours), but totally worth it! Our friends Rachel and Eric live up there, and we always have such a blast every time we go! They graciously agreed to host us and take us out on her parent's pontoon, so no way were we passing that up! L and I took off work that Friday and headed up early. We got to explore the city for awhile before they got done with work and before the rest of our crew got to town, so that was fun! Once everyone got there, we headed out to Rachel's parent's house (amazing!) and made a bunch of fish they had caught on a fishing trip awhile back. It was so tasty! We also stayed in tents in the backyard. It's been a LONG time since I've slept in a tent. Let me tell ya, those damn birds are brutal at 5:00am! ;) Anyway, on Saturday, we got moving and got on the boat early. We were on the St. Croix River. Unfortunately for us, the weather was not the most cooperative that day. It was a bit chilly, and it was also very overcast. We parked at a sand bar and eventually got poured on. Good thing for us it was still fun! :) We hung out on the river for awhile, then went back to our cars and drove to Stillwater, MN for dinner. We ate at a place called Smalley's; I got the jerk pork tacos, and they were so good! After dinner, we went back and cruised on the river for a bit again because the sun finally decided to peak out. The next day, we got breakfast and then L and I met a friend of ours in Minneapolis for lunch. We ate at a seafood place called Smack Shack. I got the Lobster Mac 'n Cheese, and talk about heaven! L got a lobster roll (one of his all-time favorite things to eat), so we were both quite satisfied and full for our drive back to Madison:). Overall, a fantastic weekend, and I'm hoping we can do it again!

They have a cigar shop in Hudson we always go to. He couldn't decide between these two big ones! He ended up getting the really long one for the boat the next day.