Adventures around Traverse City
This is going to be a familiar site along Grandview in the coming months:
For now, they are tearing up part of the median between Division and M-72. I believe they are going to have a turn lane onto Elmwood, but I could be wrong. I don’t know that this will help with anything, but some MDOT employee in a cube in Lansing decided this is what we needed three hours away, so this is what we get.
Ferns are one of those things I think of when I think of “Up North”. Sandy trails running through pine forests that end at fields of wildflowers and ferns – that is an ideal trail. My quiet morning walk at South Long Lake Nature Area was a wonderful way to start the weekend. The paths were empty and the day was cool and the late summer flora was a rich green. All too soon this will be covered with white, so I am enjoying this beautiful mornings before they hide for another year.
Cherry Festival 2023 is a wrap. We made a decent showing this year. I know many locals (and I must consider myself one now that I live here) avoid the crowds, but I find the Cherry Festival a great event every year.
My highlights:
Watching the air show from Greilickville Park.
On the Fourth of July, we listened to Skillet and Theory of a Dead Man from a boat floating on the bay outside of Open Space. An adult beverage or two was consumed.
That was followed by fireworks over the bay:
Wednesday was Candlebox and 3 Doors Down. Andrea and I saw 3 Doors Down at Common Ground in Lansing many years before, before the new city market existed. It rained a bit, but that didn’t stop anything.
Thursday was a low-key day – I rode my bike down from the hills into the festival to the food vendors, paid $10 for an Italian sausage, and listened to some music.
Saturday we watched Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy.
My one regret is that I didn’t have an Elephant Ear. I need more fried dough in my life. I will not make that mistake again.
Sunday was National Ride to Suttons Bay. I’m 99.9% sure I made that up, but there is that chance that there is actually such a thing. I actually didn’t stop in Suttons Bay as I usually do but kept on going north a few miles north of town. The Leelanau Trail continues for about 1.5 miles past town and makes an undramatic end at Dumas Road. I kept on heading north on M-22 and decided to stop after getting halfway to the North Pole.
Sunday was also the day of the Cherry Festival air show. The best views were from bay, but we could see the Thunderbirds doing their routine from our house.
Down at the bay, the barge is ready for the 4th of July fireworks show.
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 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.
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.
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.
Parting is such sweet sorrow – I’m putting up my beloved Nissan Murano SL SUV up for sale. My frequent trips to Lansing from Traverse City have led me to purchase a hybrid with better gas mileage. I bought it new from the dealer, so I have been the only owner.
If you are interested in a Murano, here is the vital information you are probably interested in:
Year: 2015
Mileage: 127,000 (126,000 and change)
Gas Mileage: 21 (city)/28 (freeway). I have found in the city, I get about 24. The freeway mileage is about right. 25 MPG doing 75, 29 doing 60.
Color: Gray (exterior), Black (interior)
Engine: 3.5-liter V6, 260 HP,
Audio: FM/AM XM CD Player
Two key fobs
Technology Package
Panoramic Sunroof
Adaptive Cruise Control
Navigation System
Remote Start
Heated Leather Seats
Roof Rails
Power Liftgate
Blind Spot Monitor
Forward Collision Warning
Emergency Forward Braking
18 Inch Wheels
11 Speakers
Adjustable Steering Wheel
Roof racks
Trailer hitch
Asking price: $14,500
If interested, email or call me and leave a message.
We’ve had a couple of bridges under construction for a while (North Cass, South Union), but now, the fun is getting super fun. Starting Monday, Division between Grandview Parkway and 10 Street will be repaved. If you’ve driven down that stretch of Division / US-31, you know it’s in rough shape. Hopefully it will not take too long to complete, but I’ll be taking the back way home for a few weeks.
While it’s not the same as Christmas, I love Peeper Time, those early spring nights when the frogs come out and sing their love song to one another. At the pond behind my house, there is usually one early riser who spends many lonely nights peeping away before his late-sleeping friends join him. So he’s like that guy that shows up at the club at 7:00 when things don’t really start until 10:00. He’s a frog version of me.
Over at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac, though, things are in full swing. It’s a perfect Peeper habitat and the frogs were not shy. The raised trails wind their way through waterways full of little hiding places for the thousands of froggy residents.
Even the snakes were enjoying the warm weather.
Peeper time doesn’t last long, only a month or so. Make sure you find those marshy areas that the frogs enjoy before they become silent for another year.
The trails at Hickory Meadows are getting some TLC:
Thee were spreading some gravel on the muddier sections of the trail near the eastern part of the park. That should mean less slipping and slider in these, the wetter, muddier months of the year.
Remember, though – it is still frowned upon if you walk at Hickory Meadows without a dog.
A lot of people head south for Spring Break. But why? Leelanau County has many beautiful beaches to choose from, such as Good Harbor:
Yes, perhaps the 40-degree temperature of last weekend was not quite what you would like, but there is plenty of space to lay out your blanket, and the views are incredible. And the peace and quiet – priceless.
As an added bonus, Good Harbor also has hiking trails nearby. It has been a little windy as of late, and several trees didn’t make it through, but you can practice your Limbo ability. Or just walk around – whatever you feel like:
Again, if peace and quiet is your thing, these trails are calling. Even in the summer they are not too busy. Just remember to bring your Sleeping Bear pass – this is part of the national lakeshore.
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