7/20 & 7/21 - Petoskey, Michigan

Yesterday we moved 100 miles south to Petoskey, MI, on the shore of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay.  It’s in the most northwestern county of lower Michigan, as far north as you can get without crossing the Mackinac Straits.  The bridge over the Straits opened in 1957, replacing the ferry crossing which was the only way to get to the Upper Peninsula without driving through Ontario or around the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan.  We have a cousin who is petrified of crossing the bridge so I hope there wasn’t a high wind warning on Sunday like there was yesterday.  RVs and trucks were instructed to keep their speed down to 20 mph.  Jim said he didn’t feel the wind at all.

This does not give one a feeling of confidence starting over the bridge.

High up on the Mackinac Bridge. We have a certificate given to Jim's Grandma Smith when she crossed the bridge on the first day it was open for traffic, Nov. 1, 1957.

Today we roamed around Petoskey, visiting the Little Traverse Museum, the marina, and around the downtown area.  It’s a spectacular little town…..only little in the winter with approximately 6000 permanent residents.  The town entertains around 400,000 visitors a year now so summer traffic is heavy.  It’s been a coastal resort community since the latter half of the 19^th century with tourists increasing as transportation improved.  Among its many lovely houses are Victorian and Arts and Crafts styles which give it a slightly similar look to some of Asheville’s oldest neighborhoods.  The whole place is spotless with not a shred of trash anywhere.  Not every house is immaculate…..there are some unkempt yards and a few houses in dire need of an overhaul…..but there is zero trash. 

Two of Petoskey’s many lovely homes.  

The history museum had several interesting exhibits.  One was of Ernest Hemingway’s connection to the area.  His parents built a cabin on Walloon Lake near Petoskey so he spent summers here as a child and young adult.  His first books were set here including his “Nick Adams” stories.

This carriage in the museum looks like it has a dead cat in it.  The “dead cat” is actually a fur muff with a tail.  It was rather startling.

The town started a Winter Carnival many years ago in an effort to keep tourists coming all year round after snow removal equipment made it possible for people to get here.  This picture of the “Winter Carnival Royalty” was a real surprise.  Tom Harmon was the Winter King in 1941.  If I didn’t know this was taken in 1941 I would have thought it was Ted Cruz’s brother.  The resemblance is striking.

Petoskey is known as the town with million dollar sunsets.  We’ve only been here two evenings but neither of them had an unusually good sunset.  The campground does have a dynamite view of Little Traverse Bay which lasts a whole lot longer than a sunset.  There have been waves crashing on the shore since we got here so it sounds very like the ocean. 

Petoskey also has the Little Traverse Wheelway, a 26-mile-long paved path for walking and biking which stretches along the coast from Charlevoix in the south to Harbor Springs north of Petoskey.  It has beautiful views of the lake and is a fantastic place to walk, although we nearly got run over by speeding bicycles the first time we crossed it to get to the water. 

Tomorrow we’re moving 165 miles south to Cedar Springs, just north of Grand Rapids.  No more water views for a while.