Lakes Trip 2019: Driving Up the Michigan Coast

July 3rd we made our way up the rest of the Lake Michigan Coast to end up on Mackinac Island. We had a bunch of planned stops, but ended up making entirely different stops. First off, we stopped in Charlevoix for lunch, where we found out that they are famous for their Mushroom Houses (all designed by architect Earl Young, they look like hobbit houses):

Charlevoix was a charming little town

This was art by the library, but we all really liked it

Next, we headed to Petosky, with the aim of looking for Petoskey Stones. Unfortunately, the line to get into the State Park Beach was super long, so we decided it was not worth the time. But, on the way, we had spied Kilwin's headquarters and factory store, which offered free tours, so we decided to backtrack 15 minutes and go there instead:

We decided to skip the official tour with the goal of getting to Mackinac Island earlier, but took in the process through the windows (and bought a little chocolate):

Pulling taffy

 We made it to Mackinaw City in time to catch a ferry just before it left (note the city is spelled with a w and the island with a c, but they are pronounced the same):

First look at the famous Mackinac Straits Bridge, known as "Mighty Mac"

First look at the Grand Hotel, which was built in 1897 and has the largest covered porch in the world

Scenic views as we pulled into harbor

I'll save a longer post about Mackinac Island for tomorrow, since we spent 2 full days there and saw a ton.

Lakes Trip 2019: Sleeping Bear Dunes

Leaving from Grand Haven, we had an uneventful drive up to Sleeping Bear Dunes, stopping once for a cute little mini golf course we spotted from the road. We did do the challenge at every hole, which made it even more fun:

We arrived at the Dunes in plenty of time to get to the Visitor's Center and take the scenic drive before checking in to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was super foggy and we could not see much on the drive:

On the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive

This is supposed to be the prettiest spot on the whole park, where you can look out over Lake Michigan and see the eponymous Sleeping Bear Dune and her two cubs (Manitou Islands)

The fog was unbelievably thick

After checking in, we drove north and hiked to Pyramid Point, where it was still a little foggy, but the views were much better. The original plan had been to hang out there until sunset, but biting flies drove us back to the car for plan B and we instead drove to one of the park's many beaches to catch a perfect sunset over Lake Michigan:

View of decommissioned lighthouse from Pyramid Point

You could see the actual lake from here (still a little hazy, but much better)

There was no one else here, but a conveniently placed forked tree branch to balance my camera

Beach #1, which was pretty but covered in vegetation, including a fair amount of poison ivy

We watched the start of the sunset here, but we were also looking straight into the sun, so we decided to hop over to a different beach that had also been recommended

Beach #2 had a much better view

 

We went back to the scenic drive briefly the next morning to see if we could see more (and in particular the dune that gives Sleeping Bear its name). It was less foggy (and we did indeed see the bear):

Same shot, less fog

Still can't really see the lake through the morning haze

One of the two cubs

This is the sleeping bear, which has been severely eroded due to logging