A new vacation...

Well for the first time in several years we ventured North instead of South for our Summer vacay. Instead of our standard trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama we headed up 131 through Michigan to Traverse City for a week in a beach condo instead of a southern beach house.

Holly and the kids drove up on Saturday and I flew in to the Cherry Capital airport Sunday evening from Duke, just in time for dinner.  It turned out to be a really wonderful trip. The weather (and water) was decidedly colder than Alabama, but the humidity vanished, too. TC (as it will be referred to from here forward) had a bay not a gulf (salt water), much smaller beach, less people, less attractions and less heat. However, it did have that charming small town shopping, restaurants, breweries, mini golf, etc., that are easy to attach to.

 Dinner on the balcony

Our accommodations were terrific. It was a vacation by rental owner - a 2-bedroom, 2.5 bath new condo on the third floor overlooking the bay. The unit had high end furnishings and plenty of room for our good friends the Clawsons to even come up at the end of the week and spend a couple of days with us.

The outdoor pool and hot tub were utilized early and often by the kids. Locals said the bay water might have topped out at 55 degrees!! It was literally freezing cold to the adult's feet, while the kids didn't have a problem getting in. The last full day in TC we rented a pontoon for two hours and drove around the bay. This was a ton of fun, particularly when Matt and the kids all jumped in the ice bath. The expressions on their faces the first time they jumped in were priceless. We still aren't sure why they all took multiple plunges!

We took a day trip over to Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Holly had been there years ago and remembered the climb not being too taxing and would be a healthy challenge for the kids.  Clearly time has clouded her judgement and memory because she forgot that the dune climb was a solid 2-mile hike from start to end.  We made it about a mile in before turning around.

Not far from Sleeping Bear is a cute little fishing town called Leland.  It was top on Holly's to-see list so that Bryce could get a picture in front of a town sign.  It didn't turn out quite like she thought, but lunch at The Cove and their famous Chubby Mary (a bloody mary garnished with a smoked chub fish!) was a highlight of the outing.

Perhaps the highlight of the week for Holly was the 4th of July fireworks display. We were told by the condo owner to simply sit on the private beach we had access to and watch them from around the bay. Not only did this allow us to avoid the rat race of getting a spot in TC, it let us watch multiple personal shows near our condo.

We took a quick trip up the Traverse Bay peninsula, which was dotted with little wineries and huge homes.  At the very tip of the peninsula is the now-defunct Grand Traverse Lighthouse.  Bryce and I paid the cursory tourist fee to climb to the tip top and get a quick glance around.  Kari and Daddy were happy to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground.

Another great aspect of TC is the local restaurants and breweries. They were all very kid friendly and while the brews for the adults were delicious, the root beer for Kari was equally tasty! Food was very good, as the scales indicated when we arrived back home.

 The Filling Station is a former train station turned brewery with a very appropriate Boilermaker theme.  We felt right at home!

So, the standard two-day 13-hour trip to Alabama was replaced by a 6-7 hour jaunt to our neighboring state to the North. We'll definitely consider another trip to TC in the future.