I went snowshoeing last weekend, which was fun and exhausting. I headed out on Saturday morning and drove to Ludington, first for lunch at McDonald's - one I hadn't eaten at before, so it was new and excited - and followed that up by heading to Ludington State Park.
I took the 1.5 mile trail to the Big Sable Lighthouse, sometimes sticking to the path and sometimes going up and down the dunes. Then I spent another hour or so on the paths through the woods that meandered around the state park. It was an exhausting walk.
Then I headed to Traverse City, staying at the Fairfield Inn on US 31. The room was nice and they actually gave me the requested room type (upper floor, away from the elevator) which is almost unheard of. The room had a stunning view of a Cracker Barrel.
I made the short trip to Traverse City Commons for a very short hike on the trails through the hills above Traverse City before going to the House of Doggs for dinner. It was a cheap dinner consisting of two hot dogs. The first was called a Jazz dog, had banana peppers, jalapenos, hot sauce, chili, and other wonderful stuff. It had a bite. The second, the Honky Tonk, had cheese and bacon, beautiful in its simplicity.
I called home to say goodnight to Elena and she told me all about The Jungle Book and the popcorn and milkshakes she and Andrea had eaten for dinner. And that there was a bear named Baloo in the movie, also the name of one of our cats. This was an incredibly exciting revelation to Elena.
I stopped by Left Foot Charley, a winery in the Commons, to buy some wines. They only has Rieslings left, but I bought a few bottles anyway. Finally, I stopped by Right Brain Brewery and had two beers. The first, Altar of Heaven, was a ginger-flavored IPA while the second was a chocolate orange stout. Very unique brews.
The next morning I had the complimentary Fairfield Inn breakfast, which was pretty good. They had self-serve waffles, which I love, microwave Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, and hard-boiled eggs. I ate a little more than I normally would since I had to fuel up for more snowshoeing.
My last trail in TC was Peninsula Township Park at the tip of Old Mission. What's better than walking across a frozen bay with the wind whipping in your face?
met a friend from my Babbage's days for lunch at The Blue Tractor. I had a very good bleu cheese and bacon burger before heading south for the final trail of my trip, Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. It was a little boring as trail go, a simple circle around a nature area, but it was a new trail for me.