Quick Traverse City Trip!

 Last weekend, Gil and I headed up north to Traverse City with our friends, Jon & Tina. We got up there super late on Friday and headed to a cute little place called Brew for some martinis. On Saturday, we headed to the Leelanau Peninsula for some wine tasting.

We made a quick, impromptu stop by Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was windy and cold and rained on and off all day. But still so beautiful, of course!

We were gonna stop by the Cheese Shanty in Leland for lunch, but didn't really think about where we'd eat our sandwiches. Way too cold and rainy to eat outside! We ended up eating in Glen Arbor instead.

Leland

Raining across the lake

Tina making the trek in heels...haha trooper!

 Sunday we watched the Lions lose in overtime at the Jolly pumpkin on Old Mission Peninsula. We also hit two of the wineries beforehand, 2 Lads and Chateau Chantal. Love 2 Lads, one of my favorite views! We drove back home after the game was done.

And when we got home, there was some produce waiting to be picked in the garden! Fun, quick weekend! Oh, how I love Northern Michigan!!

Day 2: Leelanau Peninsula Wineries

This year we decided to do the vineyards along the Leelanau Peninsula since we did Old Mission Peninsula last year. I'm the type of person who finds something good at a restaurant and then proceeds to order the same thing for life.

So I was tempted to do Old Mission Peninsula again this year just because we had so much fun last year. But I'm glad I decided to get ca-razy and try something new. Leelanau Peninsula is just as beautiful! We used this wine trail map to guide us. We picked wineries to visit kinda randomly and found one or two along the way that weren't on the map.

Our first stop was Shady Lanes Cellars, which had a quaint little tasting room. I think we left with a bottle of Coop de Rouge.

The pictures are not really in order. But that's okay, you can't tell anyways.

This was Willow Vineyard, if I remember correctly. I think this was my favorite view of the day. Vineyards, with views of the bay. Can't be beat.

Everywhere we went, Gil declared that he was going to take a panorama. Cracked me up.

Figuring out where to go next.

Leelanau Cellars has amazing views of Grand Traverse bay. This was a fun winery to stop by because the tastings are free (plus!) and they kept recommending delicious things to try. They have a lot of delicious dessert and fruity type wines. We got a bottle of the white sangria and the raspberry dessert wine. I think we might have also gotten the pomegranate wine. Yum.

We had lunch in Suttons Bay at the 45th Parallel Cafe. Food was alright, but it was really nice to sit outside and enjoy the day. We were expecting stormy weather all day, but it ended up being quite nice outside!

45 North was a fun winery to visit. The tasting room had a nice, relaxed vibe. A little kid was selling fresh raspberries outside and they had a bocce ball court. Fun!

I believe this was the tasting room at Circa Estate Winery. This one wasn't on the map, but we saw a sign as we were turning out of 45 North and decided to stop. This tasting room was a bit more fancy shmancy than some of the others. There was only one other couple and we felt like we had to be quiet. Good wine though. We got a bottle of Improvisation here.

We stopped some other places too, but I got bored of taking pictures. Good Neighbor Organics had lots of yummy fruity wines. We got a bottle of peach and a bottle of cherry pie here. We sat and chatted with the owner and a newlywed couple from Nebraska.

We also stopped by L. Mawby winery. This place was hopping and busy and to be honest, a bit overwhelming after all the wine samples I'd had that day! But it was pretty funny because one of our old teachers from our high school served us our wine samples. I had him for geometry and then Gil and I both had his wife for french class. They both retired last year and moved to Traverse City, work at the winery part-time, and then live in Florida for the winter. Sounds good to me! We bought a bottle of the Detroit Sparkling Wine. I don't even know if we taste-tested this, but we thought we'd represent.

We ended the day by heading over to Leland, like we did last year. It was evening and we were hungry so we headed to the Village Cheese Shanty. The pretzel bread left an impression last year!

We decided to head to the beach to eat.

So delish and such a great view...I love the lake!!

I could've sat their all evening. Of course I was assuming Gil was thinking the same thing. We should've brought towels down to sit on because two seconds after we were done eating, Gil declared that he didn't like sitting in the sand. But I got enough beach goodness to satiate me for the evening.

Summer Vacation

So...we finally figured out what we're doing for vacation! Can I just say that picking a hotel is very stressful to me? On one hand, I feel like it's not worth spending a million dollars on a room that we won't be in very much. But on the other hand, I tend to be a bit of a hotel snob (I can't help it!). Don't you just love a new, modern hotel?

Anyways, it took a lot of discussion and checking of reviews, but we finally figured out what we're doing. We're going to spend just a couple of days in Traverse City like we did last year and then we're going to Mackinac. We decided to actually stay on the island. We've never been to Mackinac Island together & we've heard that it's pretty fun to see what the island is like once all the tourists have left.

We were going to go to the UP and see the Pictured Rocks, but it ended up seeming like too much travel to hit TC, Mackinac Island, and the UP. I think we're going to save the Pictured Rocks for maybe next summer and go on a camping trip in the UP. Now I just have to figure out our itinerary (nothin' too structured...I just like to figure out a loose plan of things we want to see) for when we're up there.

So excited...bring on vacation!

Day 4: Leelanau Peninsula

One of my favorite vacation days included a lot of driving. We decided to drive up the Leelanau Peninsula and then over to Leland. It was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Along the way, we stopped at one more vineyard that we happened across called Gill's Pier Vineyard & Winery. We bought a bottle of the Icebox Apple Wine...made with Michigan apples, of course!

After more driving, we headed over to Leland which is so cute. How have I never heard about the Historic Fishtown in Leland? It was darling. A couple of people had suggested eating at the Cheese Shanty in Leland so we made our way there for lunch. It's a tiny little deli located in Fishtown. I wasn't sure I'd be a fan of the pretzel bread when I ordered my sandwich, but it was sooo good.

Since we were playing things by ear, we decided to find a beach where we could spend the rest of the day. We headed South towards Sleeping Bear Dunes knowing that we'd find a great beach along the way. We ended up at North Bar Lake, which was such a perfect little spot to stumble upon. It's a cute little inland lake that sits right next to Lake Michigan. We took a short walk over the dunes to spend the day at Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. I wish I had taken a picture at the beach! Swimming and laying on the beach = A perfect day!

Day 3: Old Mission Peninsula Vineyards

Last Tuesday, we spent the day exploring the vineyards of Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. I had never been wine tasting before and it was so fun!

We started out the day at 2 Lads winery, which had a modern look & an amazing view. We got a glass of the Pinot Grigio, crackers and cheese and enjoyed the view while we ate. We got a bottle of the Cab Franc. Yummy.

For the record, I'm not having a baby...apparently we just pose for pictures like this. :)

Next it was on to Chateau Chantal. After a fun tasting, we bought a bottle of the Sparkling Cherry Wine. Delish. We also did a cellar tour, which was a bit long winded so we skipped out early. It was cool going down to see inside the cellar, but I was bored within about 30 seconds! Chateau Chantal was under construction while we were there because they are currently expanding their tasting room and the cellars below.

Next we made a quick stop to Bowers Harbor Vineyards. They had a cute little tasting room and I really liked the feel of it. They are famous for their resident Bernese Mountain Dogs. I got a picture of Cooper laying around the Tasting Room. He's a biiiig boy. This made me miss Laila!

Next we went to Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery. We got a bottle of the Cab Merlot. Somewhere along the way, we stopped for lunch at the Bad Dog Deli. Yummy sandwiches, connected to the Peninsula Grill.

Chateau Grand Traverse was next and we picked up a bottle of the Late Harvest Chardonnay. I didn't know until this trip that I actually really like chardonnay.

One of my favorite stops of the day was to Old Peninsula Cellars tasting room which was set up in an old school house from the late 1800s. How fun is that? Unfortunately I had stopped taking pictures at this point. Wish I had gotten a picture of this place! Some of their wines had a school theme and we picked up a bottle of the unfiltered "Dentention" and a bottle of the "Homework". They were really yummy, sweeter wines.

The last winery of the day was Black Star Farms. We splurged and bought a bottle of the DELICIOUS Sirius Raspberry Dessert Wine. It tastes like jam. You should get it!

Wine tasting was definitely a fun day and a great way to experience lots of different types of wines. It's a great way to find out what you like and what you don't like, while enjoying awesome vineyard views.

Day 2: Sleeping Bear Dunes

On Monday we spent the day at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. It was Gorgeous! We started out the day by driving the Scenic Road and stopping to take pictures along the way. There were some amazing lookouts along the way. It was soo windy- as evidenced by my hairdo.

The water was sooo blue. The views were unbelievable.
















I was worried that we were going to have a couple of rainy days but the weather was amazing the whole week.

We hiked the Alligator Hill Trail all day and then went to a cute beach in Glen Haven.

The water was crystal clear. Our friends Matt and Erin were with us at the beach and there was a small mishap when Matt's wedding ring slipped off in the water. Luckily because the water was so clear that he was able to find it.

For dinner, we went to the North Peak Brewing Company in TC. Check it out if you like local breweries like we do!