Traverse City

 


We left Petoskey this morning after breakfast on the porch of our hotel.  It was hard to leave as it was such a beautiful place.  The next stop on our trip was Horton Bay.  We took pictures at the General Store that Hemingway frequented often and also of the home where he celebrated his first marriage.  We tried to find the cottage that he summered in, but it was a private residence and well protected by an abundance of foliage.

From Horton Bay we headed west toward Traverse City.  We passed a marker that stated that we were at the halfway spot between the North Pole and the Equator.  We found that impressive.  Our first stop was the Right Brain Brewery. The decor was definitely interesting with Homer Simpson hanging on the ceiling, but Doug was glad to have tried the beers.  One was even made with asparagus.  Next, we walked through the shops at The Village at Traverse City.  It was an insane asylum that had been renovated.  We both found it fascinating.

As we couldn't check into our bed and breakfast until 4, we decided to next tour the peninsula.  There were several wineries that were recommended on Trip Advisor along our drive.  They were as good as the reviews and we enjoyed stopping at all three of them.  The views were gorgeous and the wine was delicious.  We were able to make it to the Old Mission Lighthouse which was at the tip of the peninsula before it closed.  It was a beautiful spot to walk along the beach.

I had booked our bed and breakfast online and the Wellington Inn was a wonderful find.  It was a turn of the century home with large rooms and a lot of antiques.  Our bedroom was decorated in purple which I loved.  For our evening entertainment we walked to Front Street.  It was the main strip for shopping and dining.  We enjoyed our walk, found a local bar to eat at, and a few shops to browse through, but our favorite was a food truck court complete with a covered bar.  By the end of the evening we felt that Traverse City was more touristy than the other towns that we have visited in Michigan.   Because of that I don't think that we would return unless we wanted to drive the peninsula again.  It was nice to visit, however, as several friends had recommended it and it was on our way home from Petoskey.