Solo Vacation--more details than probably anyone wants to read
Traverse City Vacation
Day Two: Dunes
The day didn't start well as I let myself sleep in a bit and didn't get downstairs in my hotel for breakfast until 8:30. By then the lobby was packed with people in line for food and everything was picked over. There were only 2 bagels left, no muffins or banana bread, and no cups left! So I grabbed a bagel and some cereal, didn't even wait around to toast the bagel, and went back to my room and made my own coffee. So I made the best of it, but that will not be happening tomorrow.
I packed myself a little picnic lunch and hit the road for Sleeping Bear Dunes, which is really not far from Traverse City (I remember it being farther in my mind, but perhaps because a half hour car trip can seem much longer as a kid). I have really been enjoying my scenic solo drives, breathing in the northern Michigan air and taking in all the lovely scenery. The dunes were not too busy when I arrived around 10:00-10:30, but that definitely changed when it got closer to lunchtime. I started my excursion with hiking the Dune Trail, which is accessible from the main Dune Climb. The weather was ideal--it was around 60-65 degrees and sunny, and the area at the base of the dune was actually pretty chilly with the wind. I became grateful for this later as it helped to keep me cool, but the trail was not nearly as cool as the base of the dune. The hike was a 3.5 mile round-trip climb across the dunes to Lake Michigan, over many hills and all in sand. This is quite the strenuous climb, and definitely took everything out of me to complete. But when I got to Lake Michigan, I found a little pice of driftwood away from the trail where I could sit alone in peace and took some time to breathe the lake air, listen to the waves, and admire the sand before me covered with beautiful white rocks. In this moment, I felt completely at peace. I pondered that this moment was what this vacation was all about. I felt refreshed, renewed, and remembered my own self-worth. I was excited to get back to my job search, which was the goal of the trip, but I tried to not think too much about that and enjoy the moment.
I hiked back and passed/was passed by a family with kids several times, occasionally making chit-chat with the grandparents and the kids. By the time I got back to my car, I was SO hungry, so I had a little picnic at the base of the dunes. Again, bliss.
I then headed north a bit to Glen Haven to visit the maritime museum and general store. The maritime museum was an old coast guard rescue station with boathouse and residence. Glen Haven also had a museum near the general store with all kinds of old boats in it. Not my favorite types of museums, but seeing the old boats was somewhat interesting, I suppose.
Next I headed south back to the Piers Stocking Scenic Drive. There were some beautiful views of Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes there. Somewhere during this drive was when my camera's battery died. I was devastated, and my camera charger was not something I even thought to pack. I missed a few great photo ops during the drive. The scenic drive has one scenic view (#9) which has a very steep 450 feet drop to Lake Michigan. There are warning signs everywhere telling people not to descend the bluff because it is quite dangerous, causes erosion, the ascent back up the bluff can be extremely strenuous to impossible for some and can cause exhaustion, and may people have to be resucued either in the attempt or when they become lost trying to find alternate routes back to the top. There are times when I have a bit of a rebel streak when it comes to climbing and hiking and I like the challenge of hiking places where I probably shouldn't, but this one crossed the line for me. I saw the other people trying this and thought it was a very bad idea.
After the scenic drive, I headed up M-22 toward Leland, which was recommended to me as a good place to visit. On the way there, I passed by Good Harbor Vineyards and decided to stop. Why not? I had never been to a winery and had planned to do that on Monday, but why not give it a shot now? I'm so glad I did--what fun! I got a little souvenir wine glass for tasting 5 wines, all of which I really enjoyed, and ended up buying 2 bottles--a Harbor Red and a Cherry Wine. So tasty!
I made it to Leland soon after that, found a place to park, and explored the town. It was a great recommendation! I loved all the little local shops (and I did get a chance to buy a couple of disposable cameras so that the picture-taking could continue). They also had a little fishing village which was a series of shops in old shanties by the bay that sold things like pottery, fudge, linens, hats, and of course, fish. After exploring the shops, I found a very nice restaurant called the Bluebird Restaurant and Tavern. It was very unassuming-looking from the outside, but very nice inside the dining room with lovely views of the river. The waiter was very nice (and cute!), and I had one of the best meals of my life! Open salad bar, tender char-grilled pork loin with a cherry garnish sauce over rice and asparagus on the side, as well as bread and cinnamon roll! Oh my gosh! I felt terrible that I couldn't eat it all becuase it was so much food and I couldn't even box it up. But it was amazing.
I then drove across to Suttons Bay and back down along the coast of the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. Again, a wonderful drive. It's times like these when I cannot believe more people don't take vacations alone. I have so enjoyed doing my own thing and really appreciate the time to soak in my surroundings and reflect.
I cleaned up at my hotel and then headed out to Moomers, another recommendation by a friend, for some ice cream. It sat outside the city on a farm (you can even see the cows! Could this be where the cream comes from?) OH my gosh, another win! Moomers was voted best scoop of ice cream in 2008 by viewers of Good Morning America, and I can certainly see why. My scoop of black cherry ice cream was creamy and sweet and perfect, in a homemade waffle cone (they had just made it! it was still warm even!). Aboslute perfection.
By then, it was after 10pm, so I dragged my tired feet back to my hotel for the night. Who knows what the next day will bring?