Monthly Archives: August 2015

If you talked to us before we left, you know we had the mushroom houses of Charlevoix on our “must do” list in Michigan.  Sunday was the day and we were not disappointed.  If we did not tell you about our plans, these are houses designed by Architect Earl Young with natural materials used on the roofs and exterior walls with natural curves and rounded corners that make them resemble a mushroom.  He designed 37 in all but there are 7 immediately available on a walking tour to see from the road.  I’m sure these homeowners get tired of all the attention some days, but I guess they knew what they were signing up for when they bought the house.  Here are some pictures.

Stone Fence at Mushroom House

Then we saw this one still under construction.

Mushroom House under construction with thatched roof

The amazing thing about this one is the roof is actually a 7-8 inch thick thatched roof.  Jim and I both thought it was concrete made to look like thatch until we got out of the car and actually touched it.  We peeked in the windows and this is going to be one beautiful home.

We walked the town and visited some of the shops,

Downtown Charlevoix

stopping at the Weather Vane Restaurant for an early dinner.  This building is one of the mushroom houses listed on the tour but I think it is more popular for having a outdoor eating deck that overlooks the channel between Lake Michigan and Round Lake.

Weathervane Restaurant in Charlevoix

There is a drawbridge on the road leading into town and it opened every 1/2 hour to allow the large yachts and sailboats under the bridge.  While we ate this fabulous meal, we had an endless parade of boats and ships, and near-perfect weather.

Drawbridge at Charlevoix

Great way to end the day.

We moved from storm-torn Traverse City to Petoskey, Michigan looking forward to seeing an area not effected by the recent severe storm.  We found multiple small lake side towns with shops and restaurants; pleasant temperatures and a good KOA RV park filled to capacity.

Office at Petoskey KOA

Flowers all around town in Petoskey

It was the night of the debates so it was important to arrange our plans to make watching both the 5 pm and the 9 pm debates in total.  Although we have not actually decided who our primary candidate is yet, we do have a short list and each one of our members of that list did well in the debates.  It’s comforting to see a majority of the people watching the debates saw the same competency that we did.

On Friday, we did some scouting around to prepare for Carol’s arrival.  We found a wonderful restaurant called the Twisted Olive and I had a grilled peach brushed honey and thyme, with salad of arugula and goat cheese with lemon vinaigrette dressing.  Jim had a ham sandwich with brie, granny smith apple and fig preserves on sour dough bread.  This lunch was just as delicious as it was beautiful. Check out the dessert.

Grilled Peach Salad w/Goat Cheese

Ham Sandwich with Brie Cheese, Fig Jam and Apple on Sourdough Bread

Cinamon Brioche

Then came Saturday and Carol arrived on time at the Capital City Airport in Traverse City.

Carol arriving at Traverse City Airport

After showing her some of the damage in Traverse City and the downtown area we drove to the Mission Table Restaurant for some al fresco dining that lived up to her expectations.

Dinner at Mission Table, Traverse City overlooking Lake Michigan

Carol and I had roast duck, with duck sausage and lentil, carrot and spinach side, while Jim had pork tenderloin with red potatoes with flower scallions.  Jim’s first question was “are the flowers edible?”  You’ll have to ask him about the taste.

Roast Duck and Duck Sausage

Pork Tenderloin blue flowers are scallions

Back to the RV where we all crashed from shear exhaustion and glad to be settled in for the night.

We woke up in the morning and the power was still out.  No shower, no blow dryer, no curling iron, no coffee, no morning news and we had to throw out the food in the freezer.    Jim tried to call the office and power company and got nowhere fast.  He found some other residents who indicated the damage was severe and it could be several days before the electricity could be restored.  UGH!

One of the many things I love about Jim is he does not merely live life; he experiences it to its fullest.  He was not going to let a little power outage stop him and we left to find an adventure for the day.  In the Grand Traverse Bay there is the second larger peninsula called the Leelanau Peninsula and that was our destination for today including Sleeping Bear Dunes.   We didn’t have to go too far to realize this storm had done a great deal of damage and we had been very fortunate not to have been hurt or sustained damage.  The local radio station said that the officials were trying to have the storm declared a national emergency to get help with the clean-up and damage.  The power was still out all over the city and large trees were being removed from some of the major streets.  It reminded me of when Frances hit Ocala after so many years of no direct hits by a hurricane.  All those trees that needed attention but didn’t get it were now getting lots of attention.

Undaunted, we headed north on the peninsula seeing debris and fallen trees everywhere.  The further north we drove the less the damage seemed to be and we were finally in an area that had minimal effects from the storm.  We stopped for coffee and gas and found many others doing the same thing.  The jiffy store employee told me they have been hard pressed to keep up with the coffee demand this morning because of all the folks who had no power.  We experienced the same thing when we stopped for lunch.  This little shop we chose was overwhelmed with more people to serve than they had experienced before and it took a very long time.

We drove on to Leelanau State Park and Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

Charming and much like the other lighthouses in the area.

In the gift shop, we found out that half of the lighthouse building is converted into living quarters with a modernized kitchen and bath and they accept people for one or two week intervals to live there and work on the property as volunteers.  Now who does that sound like might be interested in doing that?

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

View from top of lighthouse

We drove down the west coast of the peninsula and stopped at Leland to a small section that connects N. Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan called Fishtown and Jim got some really good pictures.

Leland, MI

We were headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes when suddenly we were stopped by someone in the road telling us that the road was closed.  As we were driving south, you could tell the damage was getting more severe and concentrated.  It looked more like a tornado or two had touched down and there were huge trees with tops torn off or major branches  twisted and ripped off.  Every direction we went we ran into roads blocked off waiting for crews to remove trees and replace hanging wires.

Trees downed from storm in Traverse City

Time to give up and get back to Traverse City.

One of the things we were told we had to do was to experience the Grand Traverse Pie Company.  Even our waitress at the Peninsula Grill the first night had said to go there for cherry pie with crumb topping.  What a perfect afternoon snack; homemade cherry pie with crumb topping and black cherry coffee!

Traverse City was slowly recuperating but it was going to be a while before they were up to normal.  We ran some errands and decided we were still too full from our snack to care about dinner.  We would just eat some cereal later if we got hungry back at the RV.  What a glorious sight awaited us back at the RV park.  As we drove in, we first noticed the fountains were running again and then we heard someone running an air conditioner.  We had power.

Break out the crown; the queen is back!

We both agree, the stories about our stay at Traverse City will be told over and over and over again for years to come.

We had time on Saturday morning before checkout in Ludington, so we went to the North Breakwall Lighthouse to take some pictures.  Lake Michigan was very rough and the wind was really strong.  In fact, the waves kept breaking against the walkway keeping it wet and maybe even wetting your shoes as you walked by.  In spite of it all, our intrepid photographer got his pictures and I think they are really good.

North Brakewater Lighthouse – Ludington, MI

The drive to Traverse City was just a few hours and we were very pleased what we saw as we drove into the park, down a long winding driveway flanked on both sides by ponds with fountains and beautiful landscaping.  Jim said, “You are going to be living like a Queen this week.”  This park is rated one of the best in the country and only takes Class A & C motor homes and fifth wheels over 29 feet long.  No travel trailers, no pop-ups and no tents.  We registered and for the first time in all the trips we taken, the hostess asked for my first name as well as Jim’s.  It took her about 1/2 hour to tell us about all the things to see and do and I was sure we would never get it all done.  After getting settled on our lot, we took off for our first sightseeing trip because after all, it stays light until 9:30 p.m. and we had a lot to do.

Traverse City has an East Grand Traverse Bay and a West Grand Traverse Bay separated by the Old Mission Peninsula and at the end is the Old Mission Lighthouse.  We stopped along the way for an early dinner at the Peninsula Grill and ate outside in perfect weather.

Early dinner Saturday 8-1 near Traverse City

We saw an interesting appetizer on the menu and, of course, had to try it; Quinoa cakes with guacamole.

Quinoa cake – appetizer at Peninsula Grill

They were made with a mixture of quinoa, roasted corn and black beans and very delicious.  In fact, they looked so good, we each ate one before we remembered to take the picture for you.  Jim’s main meal was a cherry chicken salad and I had tuna nicoise made with fresh ahi tuna.

Ahi Tuna Salad at Peninsula Grill

On to the lighthouse for some pictures but it was too late to get into the lighthouse.

Old Mission Lighthouse

They closed at 5 p.m. so we came back down the peninsula and pulled off to take this picture

Scenic view of Lake Michigan and grape vineyards in foreground

then tracked down a church for the next morning and a restaurant for lunch.  The weather was predicting rain for Sunday afternoon so we decided to just stay at the park and do laundry and read and relax.

By 5 p.m. we were in the middle of the most severe storm I ever remember that was not called a hurricane.  The wind blew with 70-75 mph gusts and shook the RV.  We heard hail on the roof and hitting against the windows while the trees were being bent like paper.  It was extremely frightening and then the electricity went off.  In case you didn’t know this, in an RV park (no matter how beautiful) when the electricity goes off, you have no water because the pump does not work, no air or heat, no lights and only your battery power which you need to conserve and some water in your tank.  It was not a good situation.  The worst part of the storm passed by so we decided we needed to get something to eat and left for downtown Traverse City.  Unfortunately, the RV park was not the only place with no electricity.  As we drove into the city, we noticed tree tops snapped off, and large trees blown over.  All the traffic lights were out making traffic very slow at all the intersections.  There was a lot of damage sustained in the area between the park and downtown.

We decided to turn back and I remembered there was a casino in the opposite direction from Traverse City so we headed there, thinking they might be in better shape.  We were right, but everyone else in he area thought the same thing and they were not prepared for the onslaught of people.  We actually shared a table with a 17 year long resident who said he has never experienced a storm like this in Traverse City.  Needless to say, the food was not good and the service was worse.

We learned that night that our past lives came in handy because we could relax without all the electronic games and conveniences.  We actually played an old fashioned game of Uno by the light of a battery lantern and had fun.