Adventures around Traverse City

Category: Food

Bellaire Hiking and Other Up North Fun

My day started with high hopes. Adam, whom Andrea and I talked to over beer, nachos and cheesy bread at Short’s in Bellaire the night before, had suggested the Jordan Valley Pathway about 30 minutes north of Bellaire. Andrea was going to be at her medical conference all day, and his suggestion sounded better than the one I had planned. I considered this a fortuitous conversation.

I do recommend Short’s if you are looking for some good food and excellent beer around Bellaire. The nachos were good (not as good as mine, if I do say so myself, and I do) and the cheesy bread was excellent. The highlight of the evening was the Cone Thugz stout, an outstanding dark beer made with, among other things, waffle cones. This is right up there El Mexigander at Loco Boys as my favorite beer of the moment. The enjoyment was not derailed by the fact that we were sitting next to the door which opened and closed all night, a night where the temperature dropped to -7.

Back to hiking. Things went off the rails before I reached the trail. Turning off US-131 onto Deadman’s Hill Road, all went well until I reached the intersection of Edward’s Road a quarter mile before the parking area. At this point, a sign on Deadman’s Hill Road said that beyond that point, there would be no more plowing. Well, I thought, I have an all-wheel drive SUV, and the snow looked flat ahead. No problem.

Problem.

The road looked as solid as the part I had just driven over, but was actually 9″ of partially hardened snow that my tires easily sunk in to. So in less than 100 feet, my SUV stopped dead. After several minutes of back and forth, I was able to rock my way out and back onto the plowed section of road. Had I remembered to pack my snowshoes, I could have just parked on the side and walked the rest of the way. Regrets, I’ve had a few…

My morning plans shattered, I headed up to East Jordan to regroup. My options were a bit narrow because of said lack of snowshoes – the area had gotten around 18″ of snow over the past week. Snowshoes are now on my “Bellaire in the winter” packing list.

I settled on Brown’s Creek Pathway. I had hiked part of this trail before and hadn’t been terribly impressed, but I gave it another shot, treading on a new-to-me section of the trail. Luckily, someone had snowshoed earlier and made my walk a bit easier. The Red trail is actually a mountain biking trail which wove here and there, up and down, taking a long way to get not very far. And as I was halfway through the trail, my snowshoe hero had decided to stop and go back. I did the same. With so much snow, having never hiked this trail, I would have easily lost it.

I had expected to spend quite a while on the Jordan Valley Pathway, so I looked for another trail nearby over a Quarter Pounder meal and found the Rogers Family Homestead Nature Preserve. This was an out-and-back trail paralleled the Jordan River. It was not broken down as much as the day’s previous hike and the going was a bit harder. If you look closely at the image below, you’ll spot the deer that crossed in front of me.

I had enough gas in my tank for one more hike. Needing to return to Bellaire to get Andrea from her conference, I stopped at Glacier Hills. I should have skipped Rogers and gone right here. This is primarily a mountain / fat tire bike course, and the trails were packed down nicely. It made for the day’s easiest walk, so if you are looking for winter hiking around Bellaire and lack snowshoes, I definitely suggest Glacier Hills.

After picking Andrea up from her conference, we headed to Elk Rapids where we had drinks at Ethanology, one of those fancy-drink places. They distill their own spirits and we each did a tasting followed by an adult beverage. It had an interesting steampunk vibe inside – I didn’t expect that in Elk Rapids.

Just down the road in Pearl’s, the only Cajun restaurant in the area, and well worth the trip from TC. My first experience at Pearl’s didn’t go well – I was quickly sick after having a catfish po’boy. But that was in 2002 or so, and I have been a few times since and all has been well. Tonight’s meal was the corn fried catfish, which was excellent, as were the hush puppies and drinks. Service was spot-on and how can you not enjoy the hundreds of hot sauces lining the walls?

So just another dining, drink and hiking extravaganza weekend here Up North.

Hiking and Nachos

Those are a few of my favorite things, and I was able to do both on Tuesday. Despite a smokey evening because of the Canadian wildfires, it was time to get outside.

I visited the Lost Lake Pathway for the second time this year. From my house on the Leelanau Peninsula, there isn’t a straight and easy way to get there, having to come around Long Lake and passing through a neighborhood, but it’s worth it, especially this time of year. With the summer crowds having arrived in Traverse City, I spend more of my time heading north and west onto the peninsula than east into town or to the east bay.

Lost Lake Pathways map

Lost Lake has a very “Up North” feel. The trail is sandy and winds through a pine forest with plenty of ferns for ground cover. And it also felt like Up North because of the mosquitoes. They have been a mostly unfelt presence this year because of the lack of rain, but recent storms have apparently refilled the mosquito ponds, so they were out in force and looking for blood. Literally. So if you plan on spending time in the north woods, I recommend a head netting to keep the bugs away from your face.

Lost Lake trail

After the exercise portion of my night, it was time to replenish those burnt calories, so it was to Rico’s I went. This was my first time there and I was pleased with everything. The beef nachos were good and a nice amount of food. You can see my giant beer in the background, in this case a Summer Fling by Ludington Bay Brewing Co. I hadn’t tried this one before and it’s one I would have again. The people were nice and there were zero of the gaudy colorful flags you too often see around TC, especially in June, just a nice place for a meal.

Nachos at Rico's

My evening ended with a beer at Fresh Coast Beer Works to visit my mug – I have not spent enough time with it recently – and a walk along the way to see the waning summer light over Leelanau. Not a bad day.

Sunset over Leelanau

Nachos at Hopscotch

This is not a food blog, nor do I intend for it to become one. However, we do have lots of good places to eat, and once in a while, I’ll share my experiences. I am also a nacho guy, with a weekly family Nacho Night (complete with movie and popcorn) at a day of the week that varies based on whether or not it’s volleyball season.

Hopscotch is someplace we don’t go often because we are West Bay people and don’t get to the East Bay often. Which is odd because it’s not like the area is THAT far away. It is a pain in the butt to get to, though, especially with summertime traffic and the plethora of lights between here and there. Still, we made our way over to those visit the east siders. And their food.

Hopscotch Nachos

And there they are! The nachos of Hopscotch. Not a huge plate, but enough for one person. They got a smidge to close to the edge of the oven, but a little char builds characters. The pulled pork was tasty and overall they were pretty good, though the green sauce was too sour for my taste. Sans-sauce would have made the nachos better. And I know nachos.

One criticism I have is the 3% surcharge that restaurants (like Hopscotch) charge for credit card purchases. One of the (many) reasons people hate TicketMaster is that they add 30% to their tickets after you are already paying a bunch of money. Now, 3% is not 30%, but some of us (read: me) do get irritated when we have to pay even more money for various things. If you want to charge more, add a quarter onto the price on the menu and call it good. Restaurants that do things like add extra fees are less likely for a repeat visit.

Thus ends the Public Service Announcement.

Cousin Jenny is on the move

As The Ticker mentioned, Cousin Jenny’s  is moving from the corner of State and Union to further east on State, I had not visited its current locations in at least 15 years, so I decided to stop in and take a look.

Cousin Jenny's

They do have more than just pasties, but honestly, I don’t care – I go to a pastie place for the pasties. (By the way, if you don’t know what a pastie is, then you’re not from Michigan. They are pastry-wrapped bundles of goodness with various ingredients, but the traditional pastie include beef, rutabagas, and potatoes. They were brought over by Cornish miners as they worked deep underground in the Upper Peninsula.)

I was tempted by some of the specialized pasties (the French looked particularly good, and the German also looked tasty), but having not had a pastie in quite a while, I went with the traditional. I had tried to get one in Mackinaw City over the summer, but my favorite pastie location there, Cunningham’s, had closed, leaving me sad and empty for a few seconds until that was replaced by hunger and we went someplace else.

A pastie!

And there it is, the big pastie! There are also small pasties, but for the extra buck, I went big. No fountain pop, so you’re one and done there. I did like that they brought gravy and sour cream to the table. I had never heard of sour cream on pasties, but to each their own. And the decor! I’m a fan of England, so seeing the Union Jack brought warmth to my heart. No bizarrely colored flags, just the classics. When they move to their new location, I’ll give one of their other great looking pasties a try. If you do want to experience one of their pastie in the original location, do it fast – their last day there is tomorrow.

Special – Glizzy’s Coney Island

If you are out on the town in Traverse City on a Thursday evening, I recommend stopping by Glizzy’s next to The Coin Slot. Thursday is throwback night, and there are $2 hot dogs, $3 Coney dogs, $2 French fries, and $2 lemonade. This is a fantastic deal – you can get a meal for under $10, something that is becoming increasingly rare. And Glizzy’s has the best Coneys in town which makes the great prices even greater. Super great.

Glizzy's Coney Dogs

And if you take your food down to Fresh Coast, you can enjoy them with the best beers in Traverse City.

 

Goodbye again so soon?

It was only three weeks ago that we arrived at our Grand Traverse Resort condo as we moved to Traverse City. And now, it was time to leave it. So we bid adieu to the golf course that had been our home, and what a “so long” it was. My Garmin fitness tracker records 100 flights of stairs – that was some serious ups and downs getting those boxes loaded and unload. Some things I will miss about our first Up North home:

  • The “plink” of the golf balls as they left the tees
  • East Bay sunsets
  • Being within walking distance of two beaches
  • Early morning walks around the abandoned Tom’s and K-Mart across the street (hey, it was quiet)
  • Close proximity to trails like Yuba Creek and Sand Lakes

But now we are in NOBO – North Boardman Lake District –  a term I dislike (trendy acronyms are not my thing, IMHO (that’s irony right there, people ). What I like about this area (after only one day):

  • Close access to the TART 
  • Walking distance to three breweries
  • Central location
  • Library is just two blocks away

Our first meal at the condo was takeaway from Red Mesa Grill. No offense, but we stepped up our first meal game and went to The Filling Station, just a block from the new digs. The 1927 train depot had many roles after the heyday of train travel was completed, but now it’s a great spot to get pizza, and an even more greater (sorry English teachers) spot to grab a few beers. Both of the ones I ordered – the Great American Wheat and the Walla Walla IPA – were fantastic, and Andrea loved the Calais Biere de Garde. See, fans of German style and Belgian styles can still get along.

In the morning, I took a walk by the station for a nice shot of it in the morning light:

The Filling Station

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