September Trip to Michigan 2010

For the past several years, Karen and I have taken a couple of days in the fall and gone up into Michigan originally to see fall leaf color, which took us a couple of years to get the timing right and actually see nice colors. In the mean time we discovered a lot of other scenic things in Michigan especially up along the west coast. Last year we invited our friends Jim and Pam to go along and the timing worked out to be in September. It was too early for fall color, but we had great weather, saw some tall ships in Traverse City and generally had a good time.



So we decided to do another trip this September and head up the west coast on September 16th. It was pretty cloudy and a bit cool, but we did get to see several nice sites on our way north.



Karen really likes light houses so we usually stop and any that are reasonable accessible, and a few that are not.

Also along the coast are several opportunities for overlook views. This one requires a bit of stair climbing, but the views are great.

Here is another light house. The dark horizontal material at the base of the lighthouse is sheet piling, without which this lighthouse would have been long gone. A few years ago we stopped at this lighthouse and there was just one small strip of sheet piling, now there are is a lot.

From there we headed to a motel near Elk Rapids where we planned to stay a few nights and from which we would do some day trips along and around Traverse Bay. The next morning we headed west up to Suttons Bay for breakfast and on to Glen Arbor to spend part of the day. Last year we has made a quick stop at the Cherry Republic, in Glen Arbor, and decided to stop back and stock up on some cherry stuff.

Glen Arbor also has a lot of nice shops and art galleries so we spent most of the morning walking around the little town.

Our original plan was to spend the morning in Glen Arbor and then head back to Traverse City to rent some bikes and do some trails. We found a bike rental shop in Glen Arbor so we just rented bikes there and headed out on a route that would take us around some inland lakes.

Michigan has lots of really good bike trails and fairly safe designated routes along existing roads.

After we got out on the road a few miles we discovered some pretty tough hills. The down side of the story is the up hill part was pretty difficult. The up side is that the down hill part was fun.

We eventually made the 12 mile circuit and got back to the rental place.

We did get to see some nice views, and some interesting wildlife like this red headed woodpecker.

After the bike ride we went down to the beach for a while before dinner.

The one interesting thing about taking a trip to resort/recreational areas in September is that they are not all that crowded. There is also lots of evidence that the summer is ending.

On that day even though is was a bit cool, in the sun it was very comfortable.

The next day we had reservation to take a ferry from Lealand to an island out in Lake Michigan and to spend the day hiking in the nature preserve. We loaded up early packed food water and extra clothes and headed off. The got to Lealand (Fishtown) plenty early and had breakfast before heading down to the docks. Once we got to the ferry headquarters we found out that the ferry was cancelled for the day due to high winds.

We spent a few minutes in Historic Fishtown and then decided to change our plans to do today what we had planned to do tomorrow. We headed for Mackinac which is at least two hours away if we drove staight there, which we didn't.

We stopped a couple of art galleries along the way. The view below was taken out of the second story window of one of the galleries. The white spot on the right side of the photo is actually a two masted schooner.

We also stopped a farm market that had a nice selection of produce and we bought some snacks for later.

We got to Fort Michilimakinac in the late afternoon and went to see the re-created fort first.

The visitor's center is under the Mackinac bridge and we were on the trail to the fort when I shot these photos of the bridge.

The fort was an archaeological dig the last time I was there, back in the mid to late 1950's. Back then there was little to see but a few holes in the ground and some artifacts that they had found.

Today there are still active digs going on, but there is a considerable recreated fort with buildings that are full of period displays and interesting artifacts that have been found over the past 50 years.

Periodically the do a formal cannon firing.

The displays are well done and well worth seeing.

After the fort closed up we headed into the village of Mackinac City. Along the way we spent some time around this nice lighthouse.

Towards dusk we headed back to the underside of the bridge where there was an area to watch the sunset over the lake.

As you can see as the sun went down so did the temperature.

We did get several nice sunset photos.

The following day we were heading home via the long way. We went back through Suttons bay, headed north on the Lealand penninsula.

LeaLand had a very picturesque Main Street with lots on nice little shops and galleries

This time we stopped and walked around a bit. Karen found and outdoor purse store with a sign that said if you want to buy something ring the bell.

There was a small stream that flowed through the park just behind the Main Sreet and out into the bay. It passed through this little water wheel on the way.

Here is the stream just before dumping into Traverse Bay.

Further on up the road we came across this little restaraunt that was originally a mill. It was a great coffee and tea break.

We eventually ended up back in Lealand (Fishtown) and spent a little while around the docks and in some of the shops.

Eventually we needed to head home and headed south. The old restored school building is one that made a nice photo.

It was late when we finally got home. It was a really good trip.