Spring
time of year
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The road takes us along the coast of Lake Michigan. We stop at pull outs to take in the view. There are so many black flies (midges?) it’s kind of incredible. They are all over the ground, dead and alive, in the water and the are. The best thing to do is find a breeze where they get blown away. The views are beautiful regardless.
North Point Nature Preserve, Charlevoix, MI. Pretty stop, bad bugs.
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World’s Largest Cherry Pie, Charlevoix, MI (from 1976 to 1987). The pie was made with 4,950 lbs. of Michigan cherries, 3,850 Ibs. of cherrv juice, weighed a total of 7 tons and took 5 hours to cook.
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Fisherman’s Island State Park, Charlevoix, MI. This is not an actual island but a park on Lake Michigan. Down by the beautiful, clear green water the breeze was strong enough to keep the bugs at bay. We found quite a few Petosky and Charlevoix rocks.
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We’ve entered farm country with rolling fields, beautiful flowering trees, cherry orchards and farm stands.
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King Orchards Fruit Stand where we got a cherry pie , cherry and raspberry jam and an oatmeal cherry cookie, all made with their own fruit. We had a lovely picnic by the orchard with a view of Lake Michigan past the trees.
The cherry pie turned out to be the BEST cherry pie we’ve ever had.
8
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Dune Climb, Dune Trail, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Glen Arbor, MI. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan’s eastern coastline was established for its outstanding natural features, including forests, clear freshwater beaches, climbable dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena. We hiked about 2/3 of the way to a view of Lake Michigan. A unique, fun climb up through the dunes. Best of all, no more bugs.
8
difficulty: 6.5
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Glen Arbor Historic Village, Glen Arbor Township, MI. It feels a little like an Amish village on a lake which, when you think about it, it kind of is.
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Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Glen Arbor Township, MI. There are some beautiful overlooks and one dune crawl/climb that costs $3000 if you can’t get back up on your own and need to be rescued.
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Empire Beach to eat our cherry pie from King Orchards Fruit Stand with a view of the beautiful Lake Michigan. Definitely the best cherry pie we’ve ever eaten.
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Baymont, Beulah, MI. Many of the other hotels in the area had terrible reviews. This one is really nice, has great reviews and even offers breakfast until 10am.
Price: $143/night
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