A Visit to Lake Michigan

Entrance to Frankfort, MI harbor

Flower garden at the Frankfort city park

On Monday we managed to leave Shipshewana before the rain showers, drive through the worst of it, and arrive at Traverse City after the rain.   Unfortunately, the rain did a poor job of washing the trailer.  So we looking out a very dirty back window onto a wooded view of the south side of Silver Lake.  We did manage to not lose the new trailer wheel hubcaps.  But there's still time...

Dune overlook along Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

Tuesday seemed to be the best weather day of our time here, so off to Lake Michigan we went to check out the dunes and then back to Traverse City for dinner.  First stop was Frankfort, MI to take a look at the bicycle trails and view the lighthouse.  After that  it was a nice drive up to Sleeping Bear Dunes to visit it again.  We were able to take a couple of scenic tours that we passed on back in 1995.  From there it was back to Traverse City for dinner at the Brew Pub (Mackinac Brewery).  

Our first two restaurant choices were both on temporarily closed roads and, consequently, closed, too.  Who'd thought that?!  I guess if you get a 5-star rating on the YP smartphone app, the immediate DOT response is to close the road in front of your business?  Doesn't matter - the Brew Pub was excellent.

Mission Peninsula Lighthouse

As the sun was still up after eating, we decided to take a drive up the peninsula in Traverse Bay.  Just playing a hunch based on the GPS's road map, we took Peninsula Drive up the west side of the peninsula to Mission Peninsula Lighthouse and return via M-37.  Looks like this little peninsula is where the rich folks live in this area, but it only goes so far. After about 20 minutes of driving, you're in cherry orchards and vineyards. So after a few pictures of the lighthouse & 45Th Parallel at sunset, it was back to the trailer.  Got back at 8:30 PM (sunset), talked with the neighbors for half an hour, then closed the door for good at 9:00 PM.  For us that's a late sundown!

While that made for a late day, that last bit of socializing was a learning experience. Turns out the campground we're in is an ownership RV park.  This explains the beautiful landscaping around all the sites.  And we also learned of the famous Moomer's Ice Cream.  A quick trip there, today, probably added a good 1,000 extra calories to today's calorie count for each of us!

Frankfort, MI Harbor

Anyway, we've got one more day here with high probability of rain.  May try to get back to Sleeping Bear Dunes with the bicycles tomorrow and drive to the northern section to visit Sleeping Bear Point.  Just have to see.  Friday is our planned move to St Ignace, MI for a few days look around there.  It's home of Mackinac Island though we probably won't visit the island this time.  More later, David

Dune overlook along Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive