The Traveling Michigander

So let’s wrap up this Traverse City snowshoe trip, shall we? You can see the first two parts here and here.

I didn’t rise too early on Sunday morning, sleeping in until 7:00. (That’s about as late as I can sleep.) I was ready in plenty of time for the Fairfield Inn breakfast bar. There was a decent selection, and I went with a hard-boiled egg, breakfast sandwich, waffle, and orange juice. Quite a bit more than I normally eat, but I had some snowshoeing ahead.

Fairfield Inn, Traverse City

I left the hotel around 9:00 and went to Peninsula Park on the tip of Old Mission Peninsula. Traffic was incredibly light and the roads were clear of snow – I made excellent time to the park.
�
Instead of heading north from the parking lot to the water like I normally do, I went south, across the road and into the woods. Though I had snowshoes, I really didn’t need them – between a relative lack of snow and a well-packed trail, it was easy going. I stomped off the trail now and then just because I could.

Peninsula Park, Old Mission Peninsula

I followed the trail east to the water, then back into the woods, exiting the forest a final time to walk on the ice-covered bay. Surprisingly, there was one other person out on the ice, so I wasn’t the only crazy one.

Peninsula Park, Old Mission Peninsula

I wasn’t done with Peninsula Park, but I wanted to examine a different side of the trails, one that would have taken me too long to reach on foot. So I checked my handy Trail Atlas of Michigan, a book no hiker / biker / snowshoer should be without, and found an entrance farther south. The terrain was more fields than forest, still an easy hike. There was no one around, though, and that was what I was looking for. And from the looks of the trail, only one person had been there within the last couple of days. I’ll be trying the “hidden” entrance again.

On my way back to Traverse City, I stopped at the Old Mission, a recreation of the original Christian mission on the peninsula.

Old Mission, Old Mission Peninsula

Lunchtime had arrived and I met a friend from my days at Babbage’s (Babbage’s is dead, long live Babbage’s) at The Blue Tractor. This was my second visit to TBT, and I was just as impressed the second time as I was the first. I had an excellent Black, Blue, and Bacon burger, the most important ‘B’ being Bacon. Not a quiet spot – both visits have involved small, loud children – but great food.

After my meal, I headed an hour or so south to Cadillac for my final trail of the trip, William Mitchell State Park. I was not impressed by the trails – it was just a simple loop around a marsh connected to the parking lots by spoke trails. And there was the constant noise of traffic on nearby M115. But, it was a new trail, my third new one of the year, and that was the reason for my stop.

Mitchell State Park, Cadillac

My trip over, I headed home to a freshly baked heart-shaped cookie with chocolate frosting.

My snowshoeing at Ludington State Park concluded, I departed south. After a brief stop in Ludington to take a few pictures of two more lighthouses, I departed for parts north – Traverse City. Like my trip from Lansing to Ludington, traffic was very light. US 10 and US 37 were nearly empty in parts, and I didn’t encounter any significant traffic until just south of TC.

Lighthouse, Ludington

My hotel for this trip was the Fairfield Inn on US 31, just south of South Airport Road. I was given a room with a king bed with a beautiful view of a Cracker Barrel. The room was simple, and also included a refrigerator and microwave for those who bring your own food or have leftovers from the many great restaurants in town.

Fairfield Inn, Traverse City

I made the short trip to the Traverse City Commons for a very short hike on the trails through the hills above Traverse City. There are several different well-marked trails that wind through the trees and hills behind the old Traverse City State Hospital. It was late in the afternoon, and I only saw one other person using the trails, so it was a thankfully quiet walk.

I had read good reviews on the House of Doggs, so that was my dinner spot. They serve many different kinds of two hot dogs, and the hard part was limiting it to two. I first tried the Jazz dog, which had banana peppers, jalapenos, hot sauce, chili, and other wonderful stuff. And, as you can guess, it had some bite. My second dog was the Honky Tonk, covered with cheese and bacon, beautiful in its simplicity. And it had bacon, so I couldn’t pass it up.

House of Doggs, Traverse City

What visit to Traverse City would be complete without seeing a giant viking head made out of snow?

Snow figure, Traverse City

After a short walk around town and by the bay, I stopped by Horizon’s on Front Street to buy a few children’s books – they have one of the best selections I’ve seen anywhere. And my daughter really enjoyed one of them I bought for her, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.

Time for my final stop of the evening, Right Brain Brewery. Located in the Warehouse District, this was a new bar for me. I’m a fan of microbrews, and this one had some unique offerings. For this trip, I had a ginger-flavored IPA and a chocolate-orange stout. No Budweiser or Miller Lite there. Their menu changes constantly, so the next time I visit, most of the beers on the menu will probably be gone.

Right Brain Brewery, Traverse City

Back to the hotel room for a little relaxation after a hard day on the trails, and to dry out my boots and gloves. I had a thankfully peaceful night with no noisy neighbors, and no idiots that can’t figure out how to close a door quietly. I was ready for the next day of snowshoeing…

Fairfield Inn, Traverse City

A trip north to the in-laws was in the cards for us last weekend. They live about 25 minutes southwest of Traverse City in an area filled with beautiful forests, lakes, hills, and trails. Alas, I didn’t spend much time enjoying the great outdoors, but Andrea and I made a trip into Traverse City to enjoy some of the city’s wonderful ambience.

The highlight of our brief trip was Amical, Andrea’s favorite restaurant. And, I suppose, mine too. They have one of the best appetizers ever, olive twists. On previous trips, I have gone to Amical just for the olive twists – they are worth a their own trip.

Our oh-so-brief stay included a visit to Jacques Torres, a chocolatier located conveniently next to Amical. We got a box of a dozen chocolates and some chocolate-covered Cheerios. No, I had never heard of them either. The chocolate chip cookies looked great, and I’m planning on having one on my next trip.

The last stop downtown was to the Traverse City visitor’s center on Union Street. Even though I have all the magazines and brochures I need about the area, I still like to stop. You never know what new and exciting things have popped up since the last visit. And it has a public bathroom – you can’t put a price on that.

As an aside, I visited one time and one of the volunteers working at the visitor’s center asked if I was the maestro. I don’t have any nicknames, so I said that no, I wasn’t the maestro. He took me around the corner and showed me a life-size cardboard cutout of… me. It was actually the conductor of the Traverse City Symphony Orchestra, Kevin Rhodes, but we look oddly similar.

As we were leaving town, we stopped at the Meijer to pick up a “Best of” Nick Jr. DVD for my daughter (I had remembered the portable DVD player, but forgot the DVDs, which doesn’t do a lot of good), though she ended up not needing them. The 3+ hour car rides went surprisingly well, with no meltdowns. This was due, in a big way, to Andrea’s purchase of Laura Berkner CDs. Elena really seems to like those. Anything to make the car ride easier is okay with me.

The long Thanksgiving Day weekend took us to northern Michigan. While most of the trip was sedate and the our greatest challenge was trying to keep a 2-year old happy on a three hour car ride, I managed to get away for a few hours at the Lake Ann Pathway about fifteen minutes from Traverse City.

The old saying “Half the fun is getting there” is crap. But in this case, it applied, because just before reaching the park from US 31, the road twists and turns and it’s incredibly fun to risk death for the sake of a little driving heaven. It made me miss my sporty BMW 3 series that I had to give up when our daughter was born.

Note to lawyers: The comment about driving recklessly only applies to me, Scott, the author, and is no way intended to encourage others to drive in a haphazard fashion. Especially with coming snow and ice and hail and brimstone and whatever else happens to us in Michigan. So if you’re a poor driver, or even an average driver, obey posted speed limits, and don’t tell anyone I wrote this post.

Back on track again…

Once I got there in one piece, I realized a simple truth: Happiness is an empty parking lot. When I hike, I don’t want anyone else on the trails. I don’t want to acknowledge that other human beings exist on the planet, and it’s only grudgingly that I give a hello to passers-by. (I smile and all that, but I don’t mean it.) When I’m in the woods, I want to be alone, which is why I enjoy the Rose Lake trail so much – close to home and relatively very few people.

A river runs from Lake Ann along the southern edge of the trail system, close to trail level in the east, and significantly below it as the path continues uphill and overlooks the cedar-lined river. I love the sound of running water. To me, that is the sound of being outdoors and away from civilization. Okay, I should be more specific, as water running in a sink or a flushing toilet doesn’t do anything for me. There would probably be some psychological issues if they did. I like the sound of fast-moving water over rocks, how’s that?

Unfortunately, a section of the trails was under siege… er, “forest management”… and it looked like a battlefield – churned dirt, downed trees, and forest debris littered the area by the trail. I half expected to see wounded German soldiers is spiky helmets calling for medics, that’s how bad it looked. I understand the necessity of managing Michigan’s forest, but hopefully the forest will be looking healthier next year. If not, Michigan has been trying to be a destination for movie filming – maybe the remake of Red Dawn could make use of it.

The pathway meanders over rolling hills and by several small lakes. There are a few different loops to accommodate short and long hikes. I went for the medium-length walk, but next time, the long one. By long, I mean adding another mile or so to the length of the hike. But the next time I hike might be in winter, so I’ll need my snowshoes and a signal flair.

The Lake Ann Pathway isn’t an extensive system, but I like it for what it is, an easy walk through typically beautiful northern Michigan scenery. If only those Germans wouldn’t have bombed the forest.