July Vacation in Michigan 2009

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We took our annual trip to Traverse City this year.  The weather was not too great in the beginning.  Thankfully we had wi fi at the condo so we could at least entertain ourselves.  We did get a few good days in and we went canoeing on the Manistee River and hit the beach and pool.  We went to Leland and ate at The Cove.  It was really good.  They have the best parmesan garlic crusted whitefish and they have Chubby Mary’s which is a bloody Mary with a smoked chub fish in it.  Yum!  We saw the Leland fireworks which is always great since you are so close to where they light them off.  We also took in one evening at the Cherry Festival.  The kids rode the Ferris wheel, we ate nachos as big as our head and cherry pie and ice cream.  Later we sat at the beach and watched the Traverse City fireworks.  Very nice!  Ken had two weeks off work this year so we added a trip up to the Upper Peninsula Michigan.  I have always wanted to go and see Pictured Rocks.  We camped out at Muskellunge Lake in our tent.  The kids loved it.  It was a really nice state campgrounds.  The bathrooms were super clean.  We also went to Tahquamenon Falls.  They were prettier than I expected.  With the falls and the tall tall trees you almost feel like you are in Seattle rather than Michigan.  I’m glad we went.  They have nice decks to walk out to the falls and great views.  Definitely bring your bug spray because the mosquitoes were thick.  Also, right at the fall is Tahquamenon Falls Pub and Brewery.  We were so happy to have found this restaurant.  We ate dinner there and Ken had Black Stout beer and I had a Peach Wheat.  Very good.  This was our version of camping!  LOL.  The next day we drove to Pictured Rocks and took the 3 hour Pictured Rocks cruise.  This was the whole reason I wanted to drive the many miles up there and it’s a definite must see.  The 500 million old sandstone rocks are really beautiful.  Again, it’s unbelievable that is is in Michigan.  What a amazing state.  Unfortunately the weather turned really cold and we started to get lots of rain.  So the many hikes I had planned to see some waterfalls were cut as well as our tent camping.  We just weren’t equipped for this weather so we packed it up and headed to the cabin for the remainder of the week.  The weather greatly improved there and we had four nice peaceful gorgeous days on Rollway Lake.    All and all we had a great vacation despite the weather difficulties, but as just as John Sheridan says “If you aren’t having fun it’s your own fault” and how true that is.