Michigan 2008
It turns out that September is the best time of year to visit Michigan. We spent a week there in the middle of the September and experienced the best weather ever.
We arrived in Grand Haven around dinner time but the first order was to re-introduce our two dogs to our friends' three, two older Beagles; Ruby and Daphne, and a mix breed dog, Rafiki. Rafaki is a beautiful milk chocolate colored dog with a personality very much like our yellow Basenji Shiba Inu mix. They are so much alike that it was not love at first sight. But Mika loves beagles and that seems to help the pack dynamics. Following Caesar Milan’s advice, we entered their backyard with confidence, no talk, no touch, and no eye contact. All went well and by the end of the week, a true pack was forming which included the littlest member, our long-haired Chihuahua named Nitro. This successful meet and greet left us all ready for dinner so Stephanie ordered pizza and the visiting was able to commence.
Our friends don’t like seafood but they knew that Carol and I would be very excited to know that Grand Haven’s new annual salmon festival was to be held the next day. Carol had actually researched this tidbit of knowledge and it may have played into our decision to leave on a Friday. So Saturday morning, we were up and ready to make a first stop at the nearby Farmer’s Market. I snagged the last quart of Honey Crisp apple cider, a fact that I celebrated all week. As a matter of fact, I have fallen in love with honey crisp apples and nick named Nitro HC since she has such a cute little apple head. We stocked up on some ingredients for the veggie pasta we would make on Sunday.
We also hit the art fair and bought some really cool bracelets and matching rings. We already have wedding rings but with Carol’s recent hand injury from work, she can’t wear her ring right now so these can be a fun substitute. They are made from obsidian and were not terribly expensive. The salmon and wine tasting got underway in the afternoon. We tasted a few really excellent dry reds and whites and a really nice cherry dessert wine. On the salmon side, there was some pretty basic sushi, a beautifully done broiled salmon in parchment paper with an herb topping and some salmon appetizers in pastry cups. We hadn’t had enough salmon and the lines were getting long, so we scooted over to the Kirby Grill and had a salmon appetizer.
On Sunday, we did some shopping at Wal Mart, using our friend’s employee discount. We made quite a haul even though I don’t like the way they treat their employees and my friend is no exception. But with this tight economy, we may need to consider shopping there more often. Next, we went over to the marina, hoping to find a charter fishing boat. But it was too expensive and the sailing charter had stopped going out for the season. We cooked our vegetable pasta that night as a follow up to Stephanie’s healthy awesome parmesan chicken that we enjoyed on Saturday. We were having lots of good home cooking.
Monday was a totally relaxing day. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked along the beach. We also went out to the tip of the lighthouse pier. Last time we were there, the waves were crashing and surfers were riding them into the beach but today, it was as still as it could be. We had lunch at my Grand Haven favorite Bill Mar’s on the beach and enjoyed the absolutely best clam chowder I have ever eaten. It was creamy and rich in a mushroom soup sort of way. I had the perch sandwich and Carol enjoyed the daily special, a salmon burger. Most every evening, we finished off the day with a fire in our friends’ beautiful yard which is the site of an awesome fire pit.
Tuesday, we headed north on a little mini road trip. Our first stop was Ludington where we found a gorgeous beach that was nearly empty. It looked like a great place to pull up a beach chair, listen to the gentle lapping of the waves and read a book. But there were no dogs allowed, and we were heading further north, so we didn’t linger. From there, we let the Garmin guide us to Traverse City and what great scenery we saw off the beaten path. My memory of Traverse City was of a small sleepy town in the early eighties. Well no more, we arrived to find the place was tourist central and we were very grateful to have reservations at one of the few dog friendly lodges. Unfortunately, dog friendly meant we were not on the beach but only a block away. We headed out to find waterfront dining and discovered a great place on the bay overlooking many of the area sailboats. Sitting on the deck of “Fresh Catch” we enjoyed our first peninsula white wine, an amazing whitefish dip, and the whitefish special. We were true locavores.
This is where we stayed:
The Traverse Bay Inn
This place looked beautiful but was not pet friendly.
Tamarack Lodge
On Wednesday morning, we took advantage of the free bikes at our lodge and took off on the bike trail right behind there. We rode about 7 miles to the downtown area and ate lunch at the “Cooks House” a local sustainable restaurant. We had hummingbird tea and I enjoyed the rabbit salad while Carol had the Cobb salad. We split a walleye sandwich. The food was absolutely amazing.
The afternoon was spent on a driving and winery tour of the Mission Peninsula. We visited 6 wineries and realized quickly that everyone in Michigan seems to have a cherry wine, ranging from the very sweet to those that are more tart with a nice cherry tang. Some more of the highlights of our time on the peninsula included tasting a wine called Naughty Red at Chateau Chantal. We also bought a very cool “Earth, Air, and Wine T-shirt during our visit. Our very first stop was actually at Blackstar Farms where they had an outstanding cherry wine, a power wine in their Cabernet France and a 06 Barrel-aged chardonnay. It seems that Michigan is starting to do a fine Cabernet Franc as we were also impressed at Peninsula Cellars. At the Chateau Grand Traverse, we were taken by the Gamay, the Chardonnay, and a very interesting cranberry Riesling. Our last stop was Bowers Harbor. There we found a stand out cherritage, a very nice dry rose and a small bottle of the wine country mustard.
We really enjoyed walking around the old lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula. With water on all sides, it felt like we were somewhere very remote. We were able to walk out on the sand and see in all directions. What beautiful views you find on an island so narrow that often you can see the water in both directions. Atop one of the hills, a new winery, 2 Lads had breathtaking views from their very modern tasting room. We didn’t like the wine though they have barely gotten started, promising dry reds would be their forte once they really get going.
We decided to stay in for the evening with a stop at the local market. We stocked up on more whitefish dip, oysters, a dried cherry chicken salad, and cherry pie. We enjoyed the bottle of Naughty Red from Chateau Chantal Winery and the Jacuzzi in our room.
Thursday morning we were up early to try for a photo shoot of the sunrise.
Thursday night was the birthday dinner for our friend who had a big birthday about two weeks earlier. She chose Snug Harbor as the destination. Our friends just don’t do seafood so they enjoyed watching us order sushi. We had two excellent bottles of a nice crisp non-oaky white wine.
Our last day started out with breakfast at Morningstar, a Grand Haven classic. I had an amazing stack of almond and dried cherry pancakes topped with Michigan maple syrup. We ended our day with one more trip to the beach to watch the sunset. We took some wonderful hilarious photos and movies which I will be uploading to You Tube very soon.
It was cool in the morning, moderately warm in the afternoon, and each evening it cooled just enough. We began this journey on a Friday and crossed the Michigan border after the usual traffic snarls in Indiana. The traffic congestion did give us a chance to see some of the receding floodwaters that were left from hurricane Ike that had hit south Texas a week earlier.
We arrived in Grand Haven around dinner time but the first order was to re-introduce our two dogs to our friends' three, two older Beagles; Ruby and Daphne, and a mix breed dog, Rafiki. Rafaki is a beautiful milk chocolate colored dog with a personality very much like our yellow Basenji Shiba Inu mix. They are so much alike that it was not love at first sight. But Mika loves beagles and that seems to help the pack dynamics. Following Caesar Milan’s advice, we entered their backyard with confidence, no talk, no touch, and no eye contact. All went well and by the end of the week, a true pack was forming which included the littlest member, our long-haired Chihuahua named Nitro. This successful meet and greet left us all ready for dinner so Stephanie ordered pizza and the visiting was able to commence.
Our friends don’t like seafood but they knew that Carol and I would be very excited to know that Grand Haven’s new annual salmon festival was to be held the next day. Carol had actually researched this tidbit of knowledge and it may have played into our decision to leave on a Friday. So Saturday morning, we were up and ready to make a first stop at the nearby Farmer’s Market. I snagged the last quart of Honey Crisp apple cider, a fact that I celebrated all week. As a matter of fact, I have fallen in love with honey crisp apples and nick named Nitro HC since she has such a cute little apple head. We stocked up on some ingredients for the veggie pasta we would make on Sunday.
We also hit the art fair and bought some really cool bracelets and matching rings. We already have wedding rings but with Carol’s recent hand injury from work, she can’t wear her ring right now so these can be a fun substitute. They are made from obsidian and were not terribly expensive. The salmon and wine tasting got underway in the afternoon. We tasted a few really excellent dry reds and whites and a really nice cherry dessert wine. On the salmon side, there was some pretty basic sushi, a beautifully done broiled salmon in parchment paper with an herb topping and some salmon appetizers in pastry cups. We hadn’t had enough salmon and the lines were getting long, so we scooted over to the Kirby Grill and had a salmon appetizer.
On Sunday, we did some shopping at Wal Mart, using our friend’s employee discount. We made quite a haul even though I don’t like the way they treat their employees and my friend is no exception. But with this tight economy, we may need to consider shopping there more often. Next, we went over to the marina, hoping to find a charter fishing boat. But it was too expensive and the sailing charter had stopped going out for the season. We cooked our vegetable pasta that night as a follow up to Stephanie’s healthy awesome parmesan chicken that we enjoyed on Saturday. We were having lots of good home cooking.
Monday was a totally relaxing day. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked along the beach. We also went out to the tip of the lighthouse pier. Last time we were there, the waves were crashing and surfers were riding them into the beach but today, it was as still as it could be. We had lunch at my Grand Haven favorite Bill Mar’s on the beach and enjoyed the absolutely best clam chowder I have ever eaten. It was creamy and rich in a mushroom soup sort of way. I had the perch sandwich and Carol enjoyed the daily special, a salmon burger. Most every evening, we finished off the day with a fire in our friends’ beautiful yard which is the site of an awesome fire pit.
Tuesday, we headed north on a little mini road trip. Our first stop was Ludington where we found a gorgeous beach that was nearly empty. It looked like a great place to pull up a beach chair, listen to the gentle lapping of the waves and read a book. But there were no dogs allowed, and we were heading further north, so we didn’t linger. From there, we let the Garmin guide us to Traverse City and what great scenery we saw off the beaten path. My memory of Traverse City was of a small sleepy town in the early eighties. Well no more, we arrived to find the place was tourist central and we were very grateful to have reservations at one of the few dog friendly lodges. Unfortunately, dog friendly meant we were not on the beach but only a block away. We headed out to find waterfront dining and discovered a great place on the bay overlooking many of the area sailboats. Sitting on the deck of “Fresh Catch” we enjoyed our first peninsula white wine, an amazing whitefish dip, and the whitefish special. We were true locavores.
This is where we stayed:
The Traverse Bay Inn
This place looked beautiful but was not pet friendly.
Tamarack Lodge
The afternoon was spent on a driving and winery tour of the Mission Peninsula. We visited 6 wineries and realized quickly that everyone in Michigan seems to have a cherry wine, ranging from the very sweet to those that are more tart with a nice cherry tang. Some more of the highlights of our time on the peninsula included tasting a wine called Naughty Red at Chateau Chantal. We also bought a very cool “Earth, Air, and Wine T-shirt during our visit. Our very first stop was actually at Blackstar Farms where they had an outstanding cherry wine, a power wine in their Cabernet France and a 06 Barrel-aged chardonnay. It seems that Michigan is starting to do a fine Cabernet Franc as we were also impressed at Peninsula Cellars. At the Chateau Grand Traverse, we were taken by the Gamay, the Chardonnay, and a very interesting cranberry Riesling. Our last stop was Bowers Harbor. There we found a stand out cherritage, a very nice dry rose and a small bottle of the wine country mustard.
We really enjoyed walking around the old lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula. With water on all sides, it felt like we were somewhere very remote. We were able to walk out on the sand and see in all directions. What beautiful views you find on an island so narrow that often you can see the water in both directions. Atop one of the hills, a new winery, 2 Lads had breathtaking views from their very modern tasting room. We didn’t like the wine though they have barely gotten started, promising dry reds would be their forte once they really get going.
We decided to stay in for the evening with a stop at the local market. We stocked up on more whitefish dip, oysters, a dried cherry chicken salad, and cherry pie. We enjoyed the bottle of Naughty Red from Chateau Chantal Winery and the Jacuzzi in our room.
Thursday morning we were up early to try for a photo shoot of the sunrise.
Unfortunately, the sun rose amid dense fog. But there were still some very cool shots of the marina in the mist. Before leaving town, we stopped to check out the Tamarack Lodge, a beautiful place right on the beach with a balcony in every room but no dogs allowed. This is where we would love to be on a possible return visit. As we headed south, we stopped for lunch at the Government Lake Lodge. I had a crispy fish wrap that had slaw in it, what a flavor combination. Carol had the regular seafood wrap and both dishes were a lot of food for little money. The place was full of electrical workers so you know it had to be good. It actually did overlook a small lake as well.
Thursday night was the birthday dinner for our friend who had a big birthday about two weeks earlier. She chose Snug Harbor as the destination. Our friends just don’t do seafood so they enjoyed watching us order sushi. We had two excellent bottles of a nice crisp non-oaky white wine.
Our last day started out with breakfast at Morningstar, a Grand Haven classic. I had an amazing stack of almond and dried cherry pancakes topped with Michigan maple syrup. We ended our day with one more trip to the beach to watch the sunset. We took some wonderful hilarious photos and movies which I will be uploading to You Tube very soon.
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