Leaving Platte River Campground at the southernmost end of Sleeping Bear Dunes, we drove north through the rest of the park, making a quick tour of an historic village called Grand Haven that was involved in transport of lumber and fruit on Lake Michigan. At the northern border of the park is a great little lake front tourist town, Glen Arbor.
Our objective in Glen Arbor is to visit the original store of the small Michigan chain, Cherry Republic. All things cherry are available from wine, beer, candy, jams, BBQ sauce and even horseradish! I asked an employee what you would use the cherry horseradish for and she launched into a mouth watering description of how to make a roast beef sandwich with the horseradish and cheese, then grilled like a cheese sandwich. So, one jar of cherry horseradish and some cherry jam came home with us. (We did make the sandwich and it's a keeper.) In addition to the gift shop, they have a wine tasting area, a playground for the kids, and a restaurant.
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| Spotted this at the kids' playground! |
The gardens were really pretty and the restaurant (with all things cherry) served indoors and out. The multiple buildings making up this Republic were packed and all the outside tables were taken at the restaurant, so we had lunch inside and split a cherry chicken salad wrap and a basket of fries with a light coating of cherry BBQ sauce. Forgot to take photos of the food, but it was delicious! A very fun stop.
Stayed the night at a winery/restaurant on the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay, north of Travis City. Ordered some shrimp rolls to go and they were ok - nothing special. Skipped the wine tasting. On Thursday (July 10), we drove south along the Bay into Traverse City outskirts where we did some errands/shopping and stopped to eat lunch in a small park right on the Bay.
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| Grapes everywhere! |
Next up was a drive up the Mission Peninsula - a 17 mile jutout of land into Grand Traverse Bay, effectively cutting it into an east and west arm. This area is known for cherries and wineries - cherry trees and grape vinyards everywhere along with beautiful vistas of the Bay and some water-front eye candy homes. We drove up the west Lakeshore drive and returned on the east side of the peninsula. Stopped at a lavender farm and expected to get some cherries - but for $12 half pound, I skipped them. I'm sure they are good, fresh from the tree, but not THAT good!
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| Lavender fields were gorgeous! |
Back from the Mission Peninsula, we drove straight to our campground for two nights - a county park on a small lake in central northern Michigan. We are again getting close to weekends where it is hard to find campsite availability, so we returned to looking at campgrounds on the interior, away from Lake Michigan.
Having a "down" day gave me time to plan our next several days and to be able to monitor the reservation websites for cancellations. We got super lucky and nailed two nights at Petoskey State Park and another two nights in Mackinaw City with views of the Mighty Mac bridge. More to come on those destinations, so stay tuned!
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