Tag: Traverse City

A First Timers Guide to Traverse City

On December 11, 2023

Old Mission Lighthouse

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Traverse City is a popular tourist destination in Northern Michigan, located at the southern end of Grand Traverse Bay. Traverse City is famous for the National Cherry Festival which is held each year around the 4th of July.

Where to Stay

If you are looking to enjoy the water, there are many beachfront hotels located on Front Street just a short drive away from the downtown area. My favorite is probably Sugar Beach Resort. If you are up for roughing it on your visit to Traverse City, Traverse City State Park campground is across the street from the pricey beachfront hotels and is about 10% of the cost per night. If you are looking to stay closer to the action, the Delamar has a great location. For an adults-only trip close to the wineries, I highly recommend the Inn at Chateau Grand Traverse on Old Mission Peninsula. Traverse City can get very crowded in the summer and lodging can be very expensive, but prices drop in late fall to early spring if you don’t mind the snow and the cold breezes coming off the lake.

What to Do

You could spend days browsing the shops and restaurants in downtown Traverse City. Be sure to check out Cherry Republic, which sells 200+ products celebrating Michigan’s Montmorency Cherry. Once you explore all of the shops downtown, head to Grand Traverse Commons, a shopping and dining district in the former State Hospital. Want to learn about the history of the buildings or its reported hauntings? They have tours for that.

Fall in Sutton's Bay

With all the crystal blue shoreline, you are missing out if you don’t get out on the water. Even if you don’t stay at one of the beachfront resorts, there are many public beaches along the waterfront. Places all over the area rent pontoons and jet skis. On our last visit, we took a sunset cruise on the Tall Ship Manitou and I would recommend it to anyone looking to get out onto Grand Traverse Bay.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a short drive away and was voted the most beautiful place in America by Good Morning America. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is a great way to see the park. If you are looking to do some hiking, the Empire Bluff Trail is probably my favorite in the state.

There is plenty to do in winter too. There are several big ski hills in the area including Crystal Mountain. Those non-skiers like me can enjoy snow tubing at Michigan’s largest tubing hill, TimberLee Hills. Miles of trails abound for snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

Enjoying a Glass of Wine at Bonobo

If you visit when they are in season, I highly recommend picking cherries or apples at one of the many farms in the area. Of course, those aren’t the only fruit grown in the Traverse City area. There are also many wineries in the area on both Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas. There are wineries in the area that will make you rethink what you know about Michigan wine. My favorite wineries in the area that produce high-quality, interesting wines include Mawby Sparkling Wines and Rove Estate Vineyard on Leelanau and Bonobo, 2 Lads, and Chateau Grand Traverse on Old Mission. If you’re interested in hard cider, Tandem Ciders on Leelanau is my favorite in the area. I am not a beer drinker, but there are many microbrewers in Traverse City as well including Mitten Brewing Company on Leelanau and Jolly Pumpkin on Old Mission.

Where to Eat:

I always struggle on my visits to Traverse City because there are so many interesting restaurants that I want to try new places but I also want to go back to my favorites. The one restaurant that I have to visit every trip is North Peak Brewery. Get anything with the beer cheese and you won’t be disappointed. For breakfast, you can’t go wrong with the Omlette Shoppe or Bubbie’s Bagels. For coffee, I usually head to Cuppa Joe or Higher Grounds. Grand Traverse Pie Company is an iconic lunch (and pie) spot in the area. For dessert, you have to drive out to Moomer’s Ice Cream which was voted the Best in America by readers of USA Today. For a more upscale meal, I recommend Poppycocks downtown or Boathouse Restaurant which serves wonderful food in the middle of a local art gallery.

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. To read campground reviews check out my Michigan Campground Reviews page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! For my list of gadgets to make your travels easier, click here. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

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Traverse City Pinterest Graphic

Camping at Traverse City State Park

By Ashleigh

On January 2, 2023

In Camping, Michigan, Project: State Parks, Wine Travel

With our love of Traverse City, it is surprising it took us this long to camp at Traverse City State Park. The previous summer we had camped nearby at Interlochen State Park, about 15 miles from Traverse City, but this year we decided to try out the park in the heart of the city.

Traverse City State Park is located just east of Traverse City in East Bay Township, across the street from all the bayside hotels. There is a pedestrian bridge that connects that campground to the beach on Grand Traverse Bay. This is a modern campground with several bathhouses and electric service at each site, some of which have 50 amps. For being a city park, the campsites are good sized but are lacking in privacy.

The campground is very close to Cherry Capital Airport so there is a lot of air traffic and early morning you can hear the jets warming their engines. It is also on a busy street with road noise pretty much 24 hours a day and it was near impossible to turn left out of the campground to head into Traverse City. I wouldn’t recommend this campground for tent campers unless you are a very heavy sleeper.

The Old Mission Lighthouse is a 30-minute drive from the campground

The best part of camping at Traverse City State Park is the location. It is about a ten-minute drive to all of the shops and dining in downtown Traverse City or ten minutes to the wineries on Old Mission. As mentioned above, the campground is just on the other side of Munson from the beachfront hotels, which can run over $300 per night in the summer. A campsite in the state park is only $45 for a summer weekend night, granted you have to bring your bed with you, but it is quite a savings to be in the middle of the action.

If you are looking for a campground close to Traverse City with beach access, look no further than Traverse City State Park. If you are looking for a quiet, private, nature-centered camping experience not too far from the city, I would recommend Interlochen State Park instead.

Thanks for stopping by! To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Grand Traverse Commons

By Ashleigh

On April 10, 2017

In Michigan

During our recent visit to Traverse City, I was excited to check out The Grand Traverse Commons which is home to many unique shops and restaurants. You can tell from this photo that The Grand Traverse Commons is not your typical shopping center. It used to be the Northern Michigan Asylum. Many of the hospital’s old buildings have been demolished, but a few of them remain and have been preserved and revitalized into the Grand Traverse Commons. The former building 50 is the centerpiece of the complex and houses The Mercato in the basement. It is fascinating navigating the twists and turns of the old building to see it all. The architecture is fascinating! We really need to get back to making buildings like this! The old hospital is said to be haunted and you can even take a ghost tour.

Both of these photos were single RAW exposures taken with my iPhone 7 and edited in Lightroom Mobile. I believe the bottom, exterior photo was taken with the new HDR function. At first I couldn’t find HDR mode, but its not in pro mode. It is now a third option: Pro, Auto, and HDR.

Thanks for stopping by! For more information about Grand Traverse Commons visit, TheVillageTC.com. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

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Wordless Wednesday: Vineyard Sunset

By Ashleigh

On April 5, 2017

In Michigan, Wordless Wednesday

Wine Tasting in Northern Michigan

By Ashleigh

On April 3, 2017

In Michigan, Wine Travel

Back in November I wrote about Bourbon tasting in Kentucky. This past weekend we did a beverage tour that is much more my speed: we went wine tasting. Old Mission Peninsula extends into the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan extending out from the popular tourist town of Traverse City. The interesting thing about Old Mission Peninsula is that it lies on the 45th parallel, halfway between the North Pole and the Equator, which is an ideal climate for growing grapes. Interestingly, Bordeaux is also on the 45th parallel.

Nine wineries make up the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail (although when we were there, I learned there are a few more wineries on the peninsula that for whatever reason aren’t on the wine trail) and on this trip we visited four of them: Chateau Grand Traverse, Bowers Harbor, 2 Lads, and Peninsula Cellars. Chateau Grand Traverse was founded in 1974 and was the first commercial winery in Northern Michigan and was the first Michigan winery to grow European grape varietals (Riesling, Chardonnay, etc.). Of the wineries we visited, Chateau Grand Traverse had the most extensive wine list and I liked that you could deduct your tasting fee from any purchases made in the tasting room. Chateau Grand Traverse offers a free tour that showcases their history as well as the wine making process. If you’re visiting the area, I highly recommend you check it out. We also loved Bowers Harbor, which is another one of the older wineries in the area, with the first vines being planted in 1991. Their wines are sophisticated and the tasting room is cozy. With the $5 tasting fee, you get to keep your glass. 2 Lads Winery is one of the newer wineries and its modern architecture really makes it stand apart from the others in the area. They have a smaller selection (you get 5 tastings for $5 and they tell you to basically choose the one you don’t want) but they were all complex and sophisticated. Peninsula Cellars was the last winery we visited and it was the one we were least impressed with. It is housed in a historic schoolhouse and has a unique feel to it, but the tasting room was small and when a bus pulled in it got crowded. I wasn’t impressed with their wines at all, they were mostly too sweet for me. Overall, Chateau Grand Traverse and Bowers Harbor remain our favorites. We also liked 2 Lads and it will probably remain in the rotation with Chateau Chantal (which we didn’t visit this time but we have in the past) but we will skip Peninsula Cellars.

This photo of Chateau Grand Traverse was taken at the roadside park that is on the road right in front of the vineyard and tasting room. We got lucky that there was a stunning sunset that night. I had my tripod pointed toward the bay but when the sun poked out and illuminated the vines and the rooftop, I swiftly picked up the entire tripod and snapped a quick shot knowing that I was probably going to have to straighten in post processing. When I got back to my computer, I realized that this rapid-fire shot, was one of my favorites of the evening.

To plan your wine tasting tour of Old Mission, visit WineriesofOMP.com and OldMission.com. Please, explore the region responsibly. There are many tour companies in the area, but TraverseCityTours.com was the cheapest I could find. Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

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