Bill and Eileen's Travels: Traverse City

On Thursday May 17th we moved on to Traverse City. This is a City on the bottom of Traverse Bay along the northeast shore of Lake Michigan. We hadn't originally planned on coming here but we are sure glad we did. This is a beautiful area with a great deal to do and see. The waters of the bay are turquoise in color and it is a beautiful place. We are leaving here tomorrow but I know we will come back here someday if time and health allows. This is a definite A list place and the RV park is probably the nicest we have ever stayed in. Beautiful place and very nice people. It is early in their season here but the campground is in excellent shape and the events start with Memorial weekend. (Enjoy the pics).

Day 1 - Got settled and enjoyed the beautful RV park.

Day 2 - We went into the town, shopped, ate, enjoyed the great downtown. Then we took a drive up the peninsula that goes up the middle of the bay. Beautiful big homes on the water, wineries, marinas, and at the top an old lighthouse that has been restored. The water is incredible, unfortunately we are not able to capture the true beauty on film. I went up into the small lighthouse #80 of 91 on Lake Michigan. Very good day.

Day 3 - We drove up the western side of the bay through small towns with little shops and interesting items. Stopped for lunch at The Knot Restaurant in Omena. It is attached to a winery I had never had Michigan wine before and I must say the Chardoney was very good. The price was right also. After lunch we went to the top of the lakeshore here to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. (#79 of 90) This was a very interesting lighthouse with many of the original furniture in it dating back to the late 1800's.

We then went down the west shore of the lake to Leland MI. They have a place here called Fishtown that is one of the only remaining commericial fishing villages still in operation in this area. Interesting shops and nice people. There are lakes all over this region. They all have the turquois water, beautiful homes, and abundant natural beauty. After 5:00pm church in Traverse City we went to the most recommended restaurant in town, The Apache Trout Grill. Eileen did the trout and I had an excellent Walleye fillet. Well worth the trip. Great Dinner.

Day 4 - We drove to the west of town to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We took a drive named Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive through the dunes. This dune is massive, it covers something like 4 square miles and on the lake and it is 450 feet above the water. It continues to migrate and is unbelievable to see. On the inland side they allow the hardy (young folks) to climb the dune. When you get to the top it is still about a half mile to the water. We have pictures of people coming down. Amazing place and more of the natural beauty of the lake.

Sleeping bear was named from an indian legend about a mother bear that swam across the lake with her two cubs. When she got to this shore her cubs were gone. There are two islands off the shore here that are said to be the cubs. The mother bear layed down where the dune is today and waits for them to come. I personally don't think it will happen. We drove the country on the way back, around lakes, through the beautiful countryside. This is really a magical place. there are lakes everywhere. Someone told us the other night that in Michigan you are never more that 80 miles from a lake no matter where you are.

Day 5 - Today we slept in. Paid bills and did our shopping. Basically a lazy day. The weather turned colder than the 80+ degree weather we have had the past three days to the low 60's. Brrr! I was thinking of playing golf but the morning was to shakey regarding rain potential. I'll pull out the clubs later in the week.

Tomorrow we leave for Petoskey Mi. which is a little over and hour northeast of here. It is on a bay like Traverse City so I'm looking forward to exploring there.