Blogs from Traverse City, Michigan, United States, North America - page 3

I had a spectacular time in Michigan. There I said it. I started off on a positive note. So forgive me now if I sound a little negative about the state itself. Honestly, after spending a few days there I came quickly to the conclusion that the best thing about Michigan is Brendan O'Donnel and the Tall Ship crew in Traverse City. I will fast-forward through the hell-ish traffic around Detroit, the huge gas guzzling cars, the claustrophobic and expensive camping experience in a MI state park, the price-gouging touristy town of Traverse city, to the amazing time I actually had while I was there. I checked into the B+B on the Manitou in the early evening on a Friday night. Basically, my friend Brendan is the 1st mate on a replica of a historic sailing ... read more

We have been waiting for the weather to clear so that we could venture north to Charlevoix, Petosky and Mackinac Island area. It has been raining here for over a week and today was THE day to venture out into the sunshine! Charlevoix is a picturesque little village along Lake Michigan. Many famous people have summer homes here including Madonna, Tom Selleck, Michael Jordan, and other millionaires from around the world. It is a beautiful small village with flower lined streets, Lake Charlevoix, and a drawbridge located between lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan. Venturing on to Petosky, another small quaint town just north of Charlevoix, we found the same flower lined streets and many art galleries and restaurants are located in the village by the water. What a gorgeous place. From there up through Mackinac ... read more

This July 4th was somewhat quiet as the weeks activities have been exhausting! We spent a leisurely day at the pool and then a cookout on the patio. Of course the weather was perfect all day and we enjoyed the relaxation. ... read more

Michigan is well known for it's wonderful wine and this region has many great wineries. We visited a few and did a little wine tasting. Of course we purchased a few bottles and some wine glasses just to prove we had been there. The Leelanau area is full of wineries. We visited the Chateau Chantal and Grand Traverse Winery. It is a beautiful area surrounded by Lake Michigan and will remind you of the hills around Napa Valley. Visiting the Old Mission Peninsula we toured the old Mission Lighthouse and the Hesler Log Home. The Hesler log house is a rare original log home dating from the early settlement of the peninsula in 1851. Joseph and Mary Hesler built the home of hand hewn pine and hemlock logs retrieved 14 miles south of here and ... read more

Time is such an odd thing when you hold a definition to it. In no less than 10 Earth days Mike and I will begin our cross country travels. Being that its Christmas, our "to-do-before-we-go" list is exponentially more intimidating than it might've been this summer. I'm pretty sure we're both looking forward to a long exhale once we get on the train. We hope you'll stick with us for the journey...... read more