Beggining our second week of adventures, we spent a slow morning relaxing. Then we drove part way up the coast of Lake Michigan looking for interesting stops. The first stop was St. Joseph Michigan, where we saw the sites along the river, the lighthouse off the beach and just walked and enjoyed. Stopped at a few other small towns along the coast.
When it was time for lunch I was able to find a cool Perevian restaurant Vieja Havana Grill, in Holland Michigan, where we enjoyed ceviche.
Our Harvest Host that night was Robinettes Winery and Market. The set up there was the winery was downstairs and you could do a tasting or you could go upstairs to the Market Cafe and get a flight of wines and add a wine slushie. We opted for the second option. The wine was good, the slushie was great, maybe a bit too much as I felt a little slushie myself after all that. There was another couple with a van parked in the field. We talked a bit. They were taking an Uber to go to a concert that night, so we were pretty much alone and had a peaceful evening. Robinettes has a cafe, in fact it seems they are known for their baked goods. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could eat, so we headed into Grand Rapids instead.
Originally we were not planning to go into Grand Rapids, but then it made sense for two reasons, it wasn’t much out of the way and at Fika we were able to get a delicious gluten free / vegan breakfast. While we waited for our food, I also picked up a few items from their selection of natural foods. One, Credo Vegan Alfredo sauce, we’ve since tried at home and it’s amazing. Since we were already in Grand Rapids, we couldn’t skip their weekly Fulton Street farmer’s market, which wound up being quite extensive. We did some stocking up, bought a gift and checked out the wide array of merchandise.
Then we headed back for the coast of Lake Michigan and north. Muskegon was on the way, and, well they had a Farmer’s Market as well that day, so we stopped. Not as impressive but well stocked if we had still needed anything.
We explored the town of Ludington, Michigan, walking around the downtown and the harbor. Of course getting some vegan ice cream at House of Flavors, before we left. Then we made a few other scenic Lakeside stops.
Later in the day, we stopped at the Arcadia Scenic Turnout, also known as Inspiration Point. It was beautiful and you could climb to the top or part way for different views.
Our destination for the night was Betsie River Campground. It was a thriving place so spaces close together, but everyone we met seemed nice, including our one neighbor who was playing nice mellow songs and singing with a good voice, at the next campsite. So we sat by our own fire but had entertainment.
As soon as we started planning this trip well over six months ago, everyone we talked to and everything we read said we needed to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We tried to book at one of their campgrounds but they fill up way in advance, but Betsie River was convenient to the park. Wary of our hiking experience at Indiana Dunes we asked lots of questions at the visitor’s center. Even there they encouraged us to do Dune Climb and then offered other suggestions for places to go where the walking would be limited or easier and still give us a great experience. We headed for the Great Dune first, a little wary when we saw the massive sand hill, but we took off our shoes and took our time climbing the equivalent of an uphill beach, stopping to look back at intervals. We were glad we did it. There were trails from there that went further up the dunes, but we were proud to have made it to the first top and wanted to save energy for more adventures.
We drove out to Glen Haven Beach still in the Park and saw their exhibit on the boats that used to fish Lake Michigan, put some toes in the water and caught part of an interesting ranger talk on invasive mollusks that have suppressed some of the native populations of oysters in the Great Lakes and the remedies that are being used.
Our next part of the Park was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. We drove a bit. There are numbered stops and we checked out the various views. The ranger at the visitor’s center, told us to make sure we stopped at the area labeled 9/10 on the map, where we walked out a short trail to the top of a huge dune. Signs cautioned that “down was optional” and if you need to be rescued it is costly and you would be charged. We roamed around, getting good pictures but not going down any further than we knew we could get back up from. The water below looked lovely and inviting but not worth the chance.
On the way into the scenic drive we had passed a picnic area and when we found another near the end we stopped and ate some lunch on a bench overlooking another lovely view. As we left the scenic loop, back to the main road, we were glad we had come early in the day. There is one lane, with a booth checking people’s passes / selling tickets and the line had become enormous.
The rest of the day was spent doing lots of Karen De Tour’s. We needed to do some laundry, but not before checking out The Grocer’s Daughter, a local chocolate shop with dairy free options. Their treats were very pricey, but we got a bag of dark chocolate covered cherries and a chocolate popsicle I put in the freezer for later. It’s probably good we didn’t try either right away or we might have blown the rest of our vacation budget buying more; both were really delicious when we got to them later on.
We found the recommended laundromat, and I explored some local markets across the street while waiting for things to be finished. More cherry products and fresh cherries. We were away when there was the lettuce and other possibly other produce causing the outbreak of a serious stomach bug, so we were cautious on what we bought and where it came from. I felt pretty safe with the local cherries, which could be cleaned well.
Once our laundry was done we were initially intending to head back to the campground and relax, knowing we had some drives ahead, but when we needed to stop at a supermarket on a Sunday, we had limited options. Since most of the markets were a little North towards Traverse City, we headed that way. We had planned to go to Traverse City the next day, but since we were near by we went and strolled the downtown and found an interesting place for dinner. Poppycocks was busy, but they gave us seats at the bar and we enjoyed some good fish dishes.
The next day’s itinerary was to drive the coast, as much as possible along the Peninsula that began at Sleeping Bear on a road know as the M22. An area known for it’s wineries and scenic towns, as well as Lake Michigan Lakefronts and other lakes scattered throughout.
We stopped in Leland, which has a historic section just off the main street known as Fishtown, with a small, free museum describing the up and down history of commercial fishing the in the Great Lakes. We also bought our first smoked lake trout at one of the fish shops there. I use smoked fish to mix with vegan cream cheese and scallions to make a spread for breakfasts, I’ve had different smoked fish from stores and local but nothing like this. I’ve learned to freeze pieces of smoked fish for spread and it tastes just as good. I spent the last few days of the trip trying to find more, which I did, but not quite the same.
After Leland, we tried to stop at one of the wineries but weren’t really impressed with their offerings, so we kept going. We got to the furthest town on the North of the peninsula, Northport and had to get out to take pictures, for our son who works in Northport, Long Island and stroll around a little.
Now on M22 South, following Great Traverse Bay, we tried another winery, Leelanau Wine Cellars. They were adjoined to a restaurant, called Knot Just a Bar. They are two separate businesses, but we were able to order take out from the restaurant and a wine tasting flight from the winery and enjoy both of them on the winery’s deck overlooking the Bay. It was pretty, tasty and relaxing.
We circled back off of the peninsula and headed north again towards our Harvest Host for the evening, Royal Farms: Farm Market & Winery. in Ellsworth, MI. Here, we again, tasted some wine, taking it to the porch that overlooked the vineyards. In the picture you can see Spud parked below facing the cornfield. One of their features is a small hill you can climb, overlooking another lake and you can enjoy drinks, a picnic or as we did the sunset up there. Besides the wine they have a nice market with prepared and packaged foods, some produce and other items.
In the morning, we started with no real plan, except drive North on another beautiful Michigan day. We checkout out a town call Charlevoix and Steve even figured out the pronunciation. They are known for their “mushroom houses”, though we could only find one good example.
We stopped at the Bear River Valley Recreation Area, in the Petosky, MI area for some exercise and to enjoy the lovey day.
Steve had a little work to do so I wandered around downtown Petoskey. I found a sign for North Central Michigan University. Years ago, our youngest did classes with the Young Americans in California and he got credits from the school in Michigan he had never seen. Before we left town, we found this charming outdoor space at Chandler’s Restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch.
As we were heading toward our destination for the night near Mackinaw City, Steve had to take a phone call, and just around that time there was a sign for an Bear Creek Organic Farm Market. It was a destined De Tour and I found some nice produce while he took care of some business, things we could use later that night in our first dinner over an open fire for this trip. Before we left on this trip, we bought a one burner butane grill that we can use outside. We were worried about “no burn orders”. We actually didn’t encounter any fire restrictions but found the burner handy and cleanup of pans easier for a lot of cooking. We actually didn’t use Spud’s propane burners once this trip, though we did use our trusty air fryer.
Our campground, Tee Pee Campground, in Mackinaw City, had a lakefront on Lake Huron. Now our third Great Lake to enjoy this trip.
We bought tickets for the ferry at the campground when we arrived and were told we only needed to call for the shuttle in the morning, so no work battening down the hatches, drawers, etc. Spud got a day off. We choose to go out on the 9:30 ferry, even though we were ready earlier, as only some of the ferries swing under the Mackinaw Bridge and we wanted the full experience.
There are no motorized vehicles allowed on Mackinaw Streets, except we learned an ambulance that resides on the Island a few other emergency vehicles. Deliveries of packages and goods are by horse drawn carriage. People travel on foot, by bike (only a few medical exceptions are made for electric bikes), on horseback or horse drawn vehicle. Again to have the full experience we decided to do one of the carriage tours. The tour includes a few stops where you change carriages and drivers and tour guides are mostly from Croatia, Romania and other Countries. They tell a lot of jokes, which is pretty impressive for non-Native speakers, but amusing. The tour gives some information about the Island and it’s history, we both just wished it was more facts and less anecdotes. After completing the circuit, we got off at the Grand Hotel, which is famous for it’s porch. Since there is a charge to even sit on the porch, we skipped that but strolled the grounds, hunting down the Secret Garden. The Islander’s lover their flowers and it wasn’t only the hotel that had lavish displays but many homes as well.
Next we walked the short distance back to the downtown. They are known for their fudge. Reminds me of a boardwalk town at the Jersey Shore, without the boardwalk. We had limited lunch choices that met our needs, but finally settled on a small, casual Mexican place, tucked off the main street inside one of the hotels. It wasn’t phenomenal but okay. After our lunch we walked up and down the main streets for a bit, had some vegan ice cream instead of vegan fudge and made our way back to the ferry. The shuttle deposited us back at the campground where we had a relaxing evening.
The next day we had to start the trip down the Eastern side of “The Mitten”, as Michiganers refer to their State. If you don’t know why, you need to look at a map. There is one part of the State that is not the Mitten but the Upper Peninsula or UP. That is the part across the Mackinaw Bridge and further north. It supposed to have many beautiful sights, but that will have to be seen in another trip.
So on the trip South we were trying to stay close to the shore of Lake Huron. We learned quickly that there were less scenic spots and towns than the western side of the State, in general less population, but still a lot of beauty. If you are a beach person, Michigan is full of sandy/rocky beaches, where you can wade far out into the Lakes. Many are free beaches, except those in State Parks.
One of our stops was 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. They had several historic exhibits on the property, including the light house. There is a bridge from an old ship, where a volunteer explains about the ship and allows guests to sound various alarms and bells. There is a display on ship wrecks and a skeleton of a wooden shipwreck on the beach.
A few more stops and we had lunch at a restaurant called the Hungry Hippie, with lots of fun healthy choices in Alpena, MI.
Then in the same town we visited the Great Lakes Maritime Heritiage Center. It is free, though they appreciate donations. We think of the Great Lakes as large lakes, but they are really inland oceans. They look like oceans, though only with smaller waves, caused mostly by wind. They have been used from Native times forward as ways to transport people and goods over long distances, including allowing ships from overseas through channels and canals. They also have storms like in oceans and the number of ships that have sunk / wrecked is astounding.
We made most of our reservations for both campgrounds and Harvest Hosts many months in advance, but we decided to leave the last few days open to see what we wanted to do and what time table would work. Therefore, we found ourselves booking Harvest Hosts the day before we wanted to stay. The first was through a division of Harvest Hosts, called Boondockers Welcome. It allows you to stay on private properties instead of businesses and there are not charges for one night stays unless they have hookups and you choose to use them. Most of the owners are folks who camp as well, and like welcome fellow travelers. This was our first experience of a true Boondockers Welcome, though we had some similar experiences that were unplanned. There was another family camping there. We never met the hosts, but it was a lovely remote site with a big fire pit. We put some money in the donation jar for some firewood but that was the only expense.
In the morning we headed to the Farmer’s Market in Saginaw. We knew all along we needed to go through Saginaw, as we are Simon and Garfunkel fans and love the song America. If you don’t know it, there is a section, “It took me 6 days to hitchhike from Saginaw, we’ve all gone to look for America”. According to Google, as the economy of Saginaw slowed, the lyrics of the song started to appear on the side of abandoned buildings throughout the city. We didn’t find any of those, but we sang the song a lot. We also had a nice breakfast at the Uptown Grill on the way there and a quick trip through the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market.
Earlier in the trip, when our host at Cherry Creek winery had told us about the chocolate shop in Techumsah, Harvest Chocolate, I really wanted to stop, so we were able to on our way back. Again the chocolate was expensive but super good and we bought a few vegan bars. If you are in the area the shop does cool things like tastings, chocolate drinks and more. It was also a lovely town, so we explored the rest a bit, lots of art and some other nice shops.
We were getting close to our stop for the night, when I found a fish place in Port Clinton that had some of the smoked fish we had gotten back in Leland. So we De Tour’d and walked around a bit.
We had bypassed Sandusky on our trip west. I wanted to visit the Merry Go Round museum and it wasn’t open the day we were in the area before, so it made a perfect overnight stop. We stayed at a Harvest Host that is a “Thrill Center”, The Ghostly Manor. There were lots of activities, haunted and otherwise. It would be a great place to stay with kids, but we did enjoy a game of indoor miniature golf. We also had a lovely conversation with the young couple in the RV parked in front of us.
We got up in time to hit the Sandusky Farmer’s Market in town and walk around a bit.
We got to the Merry Go Round Museum when it opened. The museum was interesting, but I was a little disappointed that there was no history of some of my favorite carousels. Also their displays had weird electronic signs that made it hard to read the info on the exhibits. The carousel ride, included with admission, was great.
It was time to make some miles. A lot of our RV groups argue the pros and cons of a Harvest Host membership. We found a big benefit traveling home on a weekend. All the campgrounds we looked at wanted two night reservations. Instead we stayed our third night off grid behind the Union Hotel in Everett, PA for the cost of a really delicious dinner.
Of course, we couldn’t go directly home on Sunday, we had to add some De Tours. We headed for the Foothill Flea Market. We had to turn around at one point and go another way as the road signs along the route that the RV gps app sent us on were a little scary. There were narrow roads and big hills. When we worked our way around that area, we finally got there and shopped the large indoor Foothilll Flea Market, getting a few items for our daughter’s business and a new pan for cooking in Spud.
If you follow my adventures, you know I always enjoy Lancaster, PA. I’ve been trying to get to the new Lancaster Vegan, a restaurant opened by the cook from another vegan restaurant in the area that closed a few years back. We were not disappointed. We had two different types of mushroom sandwiches on gluten free bread. Both were delicious; the owner talked about his plans for slowly expanding their offerings.
Since the lunch wasn’t huge, we walked a few blocks to Bramble & Berry. This was our first time there as well. They do soft ice cream mixed with your choice of fruit and toppings. I was able to get a oat milk based ice cream in a fresh baked gluten free waffle cone. I can’t remember the last time I had an ice cream cone! They seem to take allergies very carefully, changing equipment if you tell them you have an allergy.
Finally, it was time to go home. It was a very relaxing vacation. It was great not to have everything planned. I look forward to many more adventures of this type.
A final note, going back to the Simon & Garfunkel song, America.
“Michigan seems like a dream to me now…” A very good dream. Now time to look for more of America.
