This past weekend @mrsbozz and I took our last camping trip of the year. This trip was a bit different from the other ones mainly because of the location. Usually, we try to visit relatively remote places, with the exception of Mitchell State Park in Cadillac, MI, we like to escape the chaos of the city and civilization in general.
Since we have an anniversary coming up, we decided to turn this last trip of the year into something a little more special. We usually try to go somewhere on our anniversary if we aren't too busy each year, but in case you haven't noticed, hotel prices are kind of nuts these days.
My wife suggested maybe we get a campsite at Keith J Charters State Park for the weekend which sits literally in the middle of the city for about $38 per night. That's much better than the $150+ per night a hotel would have cost me.
Friday evening after we arrived, we set up camp and then went out for dinner. If you want, come back tomorrow and I will cover all the awesome food we ate in Traverse City. Saturday, we decided to head into the downtown area a bit and visit a couple of the many breweries and taprooms that are spread throughout Traverse City.
Traverse City is pretty well known for a couple of things. The first would be the National Cherry Festival that is held in June/July of each year. The other thing would just be the fact that a lot of rich folks have summer homes there or in the surrounding area. The whole region is really well known for wines with many wineries being spread across the Leelanau Peninsula.
My wife and I actually just went and saw artist Ben Folds in concert (more about that next Tuesday) last night and he mentioned that he lived in Traverse City for a time.
The city itself feels like it is always growing and spreading out. My wife and I were talking as we were walking and we realized that this was a section of town we had never actually visited before. Even the downtown area is split into so many sections that you could spend a whole weekend just in a square block area and be content.
As you can imagine, given the fact that so many wealthy people visit Traverse City each year, there is a pretty good food and beverage scene. I actually can't think of a single bad meal I have ever had in Traverse City. Especially when you visit some of the more local places. There are areas with national and regional chains, but as I said, the true gems are the local places.
If you stick to the downtown area, Traverse City is very walkable. If you look at a map though, you will see that it is sprawled all along the West and East Traverse Bays. For example, I am heading to a conference back in Traverse City next week. Where the conference is located is actually a bit out of town in a smaller village called Acme. To make the drive into the downtown Traverse City area is actually a bit of a pain. Especially if there is a lot of traffic.
They do a good job of mixing the old and the new in Traverse City though. This old canning company was right across the street from one of the breweries that we visited. It also was right down the road from some new townhouses that had just been built.
Since we logged close to two or three miles on this trip, I am going to submit this as a #wednesdaywalk post sponsored by @tattoodjay.
There are three larger towns in the northwest part of the lower peninsula of Michigan that I would consider to be the "gems" of that area. Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Traverse City. Between Charlevoix and Petoskey is an area called Bay Harbor that is basically a several mile long gated community for the ultra rich and famous. People with yachts and sailboats and things like that.
There is a good chance I will never see the inside of that place in my life. My brother in law has been to a couple conferences there before. That's really neither here nor there though.
My point is, if you ever get the chance to visit those cities, I highly recommend it. If you had to pick only one, I'd probably direct you towards Traverse City. They each have their own charm, but Traverse just has a lot more options for you in terms of entertainment.
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