Friday – Sunday, July 6-8, 2007
Traveled to Michigan to visit Jean Chabut and help celebrate her birthday(s). We had planned to meet Paula Marmet (from Kansas) in Lansing, but we ended up on the same flight from Cincinnati. Jean and Hector met us at the airport and escorted us to their home in Okemos, a suburb of Lansing.
On Saturday, we headed straight to the farmers’ market to load up on fresh cherries and blueberries, then onward to Brown’s Lake near Jackson MI, south of Lansing. Rumor has it that Franklin Roosevelt spent some time here, at the cabin of one of his staff. The Chabuts have a boat there, and we all enjoyed a nice cruise on the water.
On Sunday, we checked out the Botanical Gardens on the campus of Michigan State University, in East Lansing. Lots of pretty flowers in a beautiful setting – on the hottest day of the year! After a delicious ice cream brunch, we took Paula back to the airport and the rest of us took a rest before cooking out hamburgers and brats.Monday, July 9, 2007
Off early Monday morning, we headed to Traverse City, which is located on a sheltered area on the Grand Traverse Bay. It promised easy access to fun things to do in northwest Michigan, and … it is the cherry-growing capital of the state. We decided to take the woodsy route from Lansing, heading north on Michigan 37 at Grand Rapids. We saw some big farms – corn, soybeans and hay. And we saw lots of trees as we traveled through Manistee National Forest. We went through small towns with names like Sparta, Newaygo, White Cloud, Wolf Lake and Buckley. Had lunch at a local diner in Buckley - pretty good soup and sandwich.
We arrived in Traverse City early afternoon, checked into hotel and admired the setting – right across the street from the Traverse City State Park – our very own beach!We soon took off again and headed down the Old Mission Peninsula, a narrow point of land extending about 20 miles out into the center of Grand Traverse Bay. It was indeed a scenic drive – miles and miles of rolling hills covered with cherry orchards. There were lots of roadside stands, with black, red and yellow cherries. In between the cherry orchards, there are vineyards – there must be 20 wine tasting opportunities along that road. This area takes advantage of the “lake effect,” which contributes to a longer fall and protective snow cover in the winter.
At the end of the peninsula is Old Mission Point Lighthouse, where it guides ships into the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. The lighthouse, which was built in 1870, sits on the 45th parallel, equidistant between equator and North Pole. The Old Mission is nearby, a log house built in 1840 and used as a church and school for the Chippewa Indians.
Along the coastal road heading back to Traverse City, we saw an interesting sign that suggests a very different lifestyle come winter.
It’s a beautiful area, with quiet little harbors and nice beaches.
Back at the hotel, we walked along the edge of Traverse City State Park to a recommended restaurant, the Red Mesa – no local fish, but good southwest cuisine. We walked back along Lake Michigan and then headed into town to check out the National Cherry Festival. They had everything imaginable made of cherries.Tuesday, July 10, 2007
After HH complimentary breakfast, we headed north on US 31 along the eastern shore of Grand Traverse Bay. Just past Elk Rapids, we turned off to the little town of Kewadin and made our way to Nagy’s cherry orchards to pick ourselves some cherries. We intended to pick just a few to eat, but in no time we had nearly 8 pounds of dark and light red cherries. Luckily, we had an ice chest with us and filled it up with these beauties.
Fom there we wandered up to Eastport and found the Barnes County Park, beautiful crescent shaped beach on the shore of Lake Michigan. Here we got lucky, too – we found a couple of small Petoskey stones. This is the official stone of the state of Michigan; they are fossilized remains of coral colonies that lived here approximately 350 million years ago in the sea that used to cover the state of Michigan. When dry, the stones look pretty ordinary, when wet or polished, it’s possible to see the small hexagons that is the prehistoric remains of a salt water marine animal. Thanks to Amy’s friend for tips on these neat spots to visit.
Loaded with rocks and cherries, we pressed onward. We stopped at a nice rest area with great views of the lake. It must have been a favorite spot for folks heading off on bike trips – we saw whole families pedaling along the coast.
We drove on into Charlevoix and found the Bullfrog Light Company, as recommended by Jean’s friend Joanne. These folks make very unusual candles that seem to glow from within – we got some pretty souvenirs for folks back home. Charlevoix was a cute little town, with five miles of streets lined with petunias and lots of boats in Lake Charlevoix. We got a good look at boats, shops and people while we sat in the car during operation of the drawbridge on the Pine River Channel that connects Round Lake to Lake Michigan.
Next stop was Petoskey, where we had some Lake Michigan whitefish for lunch. Afterwards, we walked around the town, visiting some of the shops in the Gaslight District and doing a little people-watching. We found the Traverse Bay Pie Company and got ourselves a cherry pie for dessert later. This was another picturesque town, we could have stayed longer just looking but moved on due to expected bad weather.
Just past Petoskey, we drove around the village of Bay View, a collection of Victorian houses in an enclave established by the Methodist Church. It began in 1875 as a religious retreat. Over 400 houses in this area are on the National Register for Historical Places – it is one of the nation’s largest collections of Victorian houses.
Further north, we took a side trip along the coast on SR 119. It was a narrow winding road with only glimpses of driveways, big houses and views of Lake Michigan. It’s a twisting, turning road atop the lakeshore bluff and the trees arch over the road so that it’s almost like a tunnel.
At Cross Village, we cut across to US31 again and headed north to the Mackinac Bridge, which stretches 5 miles across the Straits of Mackinac. So – we officially arrived in the Upper Peninsula! We drove a little ways along US Route 2 and stopped for a beef pastie while waiting out a brief rain shower. We stopped for a couple of photo opps - - some nice views of the bridge.
Back across the bridge and south on US 131 – pretty smooth sailing until we had to take a major detour just south of Mancelonia. Not sure what the US 131 construction was about, but we went in a huge circle to get around a fairly short segment of road.
Eventually made our way to Williamsburg, home of Turtle Cove Casino, where we stopped to drop a few coins in the slot machines. Fran’s money went fast, but Margaret had good luck on her birthday – she came away a big winner at Wheel of Fortune.We got back to hotel just before 10 PM, amazed that it still wasn’t dark at that hour. The days are long here in the north country!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Off we go again – this time to the west of Traverse City, to visit the Leelanau Peninsula. Route 72 is a nice ride through farmland, with many roadside stands offering fresh cherries and other delicacies. First stop was Empire, at the Visitor Center for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore. This 35-mile strip of Lake Michigan western shoreline contains 71,000 acres and includes mountain-like dunes, at 440 feet among the worlds largest. The park also includes two islands, North and South Manitou.The name is derived from an Ojibway Indian legend that tells of a bear and her two cubs forced to swim across Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. The mother bear reached the shore safely to the top of the dunes to await the cubs that never arrived. She still maintains her vigil in the form of a dark hill of sand atop a plateau, while the hapless cubs have become the North and South Manitou Islands.
The dunes are a product of glaciers nearly 11,000 years ago. They glaciers left a legacy of rock, sand and silt as they melted. Rugged bluffs rise as high as 480 feet above the lake. Among the dunes are ghost forests that were once covered by advancing dunes that then moved on.
From the Visitor Center, we traveled along the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive – this is a 7-mile loop through beech-maple forests and sand dunes, with several spectacular views of Lake Michigan. From a covered bridge near the beginning of the route, we made our first stop at the Glen Lakes Overlook.
Next stop was Dune Overlook.Further along, we stopped at the Lake Michigan Overlook, which sits 450 feet above the lake and offers panoramic views in all directions.
Next stop was the Sleeping Bear Dune overlook – the Sleeping Bear Dune is about 100 feet high. It no longer looks much like a bear – it used to be a big round knob covered completely with shrubs, well over 230 feet high. Today, it's just a small green bump in the distance. It’s disappearing!
Final stop on the scenic drive was the overlook for North Bar Lake. This small lake was formed as a pond behind a sand bar. At times, a small connecting channel exists between the two lakes.
Also in the park, we stopped at a “Dune Climb,” an area where visitors are invited to brave the sun and sand. Lots of folks were out giving it a try…. Maybe next time.
As we left the park, we headed to the town of Leland, a small resort area just north of the park. Being lunchtime, we went looking for food and ended up at the Bluebird Restaurant, which is located on the bank of the Leland River. We had some nice walleye fish sandwiches and tasted the restaurant’s famous cinnamon buns.
In the village, we visited Fishtown, a 140-year old fishing village that is a cluster of 1860’s weathered, gray fishing shanties that now provide homes for shops and numerous charter fishermen. We found Carlson’s Fisheries and bought some smoked whitefish to go with the sourdough bread we bought at Stone House Bread.
From Leland, we headed to Northport and on to the tip of Leelanau Peninsula, named after an Indian word for ‘Land of Delight.’ Here is located the Leelanau State Park, which is home to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse – a beacon to guide ships in the Manitou Passage of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse was built in 1858; it is one of the oldest in the state of Michigan. The building now contains a museum depicting the life of the lighthouse keeper and his family, as well as information about the surrounding area.
The shore near the lighthouse was seriously rocky....
After wandering around the lighthouse area, we stopped in Omena for directions to the Leelanau Cheese Company. We stopped there for a chunk of raclette cheese – for later.
We stopped at the Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown, between Omena and Suttons Bay. This was a small casino, but just as willing to take our money as the bigger guys down the road.
We made our way back to Traverse City and gathered up our goodies for dinner – smoked whitefish and sourdough bread from Leland, raclette cheese from Suttons Bay, and cherry pie from Petoskey. We had plenty of time for one last walk along the beach. A fine ending to a nice day.Thursday, July 12, 2007
We were up early and on the road – back to Lansing to return the rental car and catch the flight home. Remainder of trip was uneventful – time now for a rest!
