Trees and Water; Water and Trees

Lake Michigan from motel window, Williamsburg MI

We have seen so much! And it is such a small portion of Michigan! Yesterday we took off from Petosky, just outside Traverse City and explored an arm of Grand Traverse Bay, heading north up a narrow peninsula and coming back down on the Lake Michigan side. We visited so many small towns we simply cannot remember them all. Small towns here seem to be called Villages or Townships -- we never did find out the difference. One thing we do know is that all have seashores and vibrant-appearing shops -- and people at the bars and restaurants. Also nearby golf courses; we have never seen so many golf courses!

We stopped often. Roadside fruit stands are everywhere -- mostly on the honor system with lock boxes to accept payment. Peaches are delicious. Apples are plentiful and sometimes apricots. Also sweet corn but had to pass that up with no means to cook. We tried to find cherries but we are a bit past the season. One other treat which we found in most towns was delicious ice cream -- had to sample that also. 

This area is so easy in which to travel. It is super clean everywhere -- roadsides, towns and individual places. There are bright flowers in every available spot. Trees are large and sometimes seem to take over areas -- several deciduous and many evergreens. Parks and green spaces are abundant -- and used. Most of all, the people are simply nice, friendly without being overly so and easy going. We stopped in one place today and the people parked behind us remarked they recognized our Colorado car (unusual here) from the fruit stand we had visited yesterday! We had a delightful conversation as they are from Milwaukee and also on a road trip. Servers in restaurants are anxious to tell us about the best local places. Drivers are mostly pretty courteous. Most all cars are from Michigan or Wisconsin, with a few Illinois or Ohio in there.

We visited one town yesterday, Leland, which was super crowded although we couldn't exactly figure out why. It had a nice family beach on Lake Michigan and had ferries to the Manitou Islands. But this town was as crowded as Gruene TX with cars parked all over town and people headed to the marina. The marina wasn't very special but we felt we must have missed something. We did have good ice cream in a nice boutique but always felt we were missing something.

We ate last night in Williamsburg at a super busy and very good restaurant overlooking a golf course designed by Jack Nicholas. The slope on the course was 150! but people playing appeared to still be having a good time. It was part of a casino resort but golf courses are found everywhere in this area. 

Tonight we are at a B&B in Ludington. Pretty charming. Traffic is heavy with people headed north for the Labor Day weekend. We got in early today for a change and took over the living room for the blog.

the garden

Getting here today was another fun drive through lakes and trees. Today we traveled south, again mostly along the lake shore. Lake Michigan is so impressive, but the whole area is dotted with "local" lakes -- and I mean everywhere! Many of these lakes are very large. Some villages were situated on narrow strips of land between Lake Michigan and some local lake. Boats and marinas define the towns. Fishing seems to be a major activity.  The weather has turned a bit cloudy, cooler and more windy. We saw many boats sailing on Lake Michigan today.  

Like yesterday we stopped often to visit the local beach and/or park. We saw towns we especially liked, as we did yesterday. We stopped at the Betsie Lighthouse which has a really interesting past, having served as a rescue station during some major storms for ships in trouble in the passage.

beach at Betsie Lighthouse

camping and sailing at the beach

Betsie Lighthouse

Vic: Lighthouse keeper

We also stopped at Arcadia Point (vs Acadia Point in Maine). From here we could see about to the end of he world. But we had to climb to get there! Stairs went on and on -- I think 7 groups of 23 stairs! Stopped a couple times but worth the effort.

on top at Acadia Point

We are still trying to digest all we have seen the last few days. We know we love this area! And there are so many places we would love to revisit: Petoskey, Bay Harbor, Charlevoix, Sutton Bay, Glen Lake, Glen Arbor, Frankfort, probably several more. But for now time to head back west a bit. Tomorrow we leave here early and drive to Muskegon to pick up the ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee. Tomorrow night is the Brewers game and then we leave Sunday for Madison to see Sandy & George Huber. We're not quite done with this road trip, but that will be a bit of a respite.