The Mitten

Michigan's Lower Peninsula

(Sightseeing and genealogical research)

August 26, 2017 - September 7, 2017

Wow - I'm really behind on this blog.  It'c currently October 17th!!!!  I've been very busy doing genealogical research around the state and I tends to get focused in on that when I get started.  So, to catch up...

We crossed the mighty Mac (i.e. the Mackinaw Bridge) into the lower peninsula (LP) of Michigan.  It's the part of Michigan that most people are aware of.  The part that's surrounded by 3 of the great lakes and looks like a mitten.  I was born and raised here but not in the pretty part. The northern part is definitely the pretty part.  Having never really spent any time around Lake Huron we drove along the eastern coast to a state park campground right along the water.  Once again the weather was perfect, sunny and warm.  There is a circle auto tour around each of the great lakes but you quickly realize that you are often thwarted from seeing the actual lake you are driving around. It's beautiful just the same and we were getting into the beginning of the fall colors.  I found it strange to actually see towns whose names were so familiar to me growing up.  I moved to Washington right after college so I never really spent any time in the state as an adult so even today I can't tell you where Saginaw is as compared to Cheboygan.  I've looked at the map so often now I now have a pretty good sense of where everything is.  

The walk from the campground to the beach on Lake Huron.

Lake Huron on a beautiful calm day.

Some friends from Florida were unexpectedly in Michigan and we had made plans to visit them in Petosky so we didn't spend much time on the eastern shore of the state, instead driving to the western shore to meet them after only two days. They had just driven from Whidbey Island where they were seeing family!

Petosky is a wonderful little town - very much a tourist mecca.  We were here is 2003 and it's changed a lot in the past 14 years - much more upscale.  One of it's most striking features are the large number of big homes in the city.  I don't know if they were 2nd homes for wealthy people back in the day or a lot of wealthy people lived here (and still do). Here's a small sampling.

Gorgeous aren't they? 

Petosky is the county seat for Emett County and thus the home to all those great county records.  My ancestors lived in Harbor Springs which is just a short drive away.  It's transformation since 2003 was also apparent.  I went to the high school where my Grandmother graduated and found they had pictures of almost every graduating class back to the late 1800's.  I say almost because one of the ones they were missing was 1915 - the one I was looking for. One of the women in the office found an old yearbook from 1917 and in the back I found her name listed as an alumni.

Class of 1915 - Freda Earl!

Our friends arrived with their two dogs and the following day we set out to do a little exploring.

Bodie on the left, Sidney on the right.  I think they are too cute for their own good.
Bodie is a cairn terrier and Sidney is a toy schnauzer.

We saw a sign advertising a tour of Kilwin's Chocolate Factory so that tour became one of our objectives.  Who would pass up a tour of a chocolate factory? 

Here we are all suited up for the tour. Robin, Lee, Doreen and Laura.

Pouring out fudge onto the marble table.

Bagging carmel popcorn.

Whenever I see one of these I immediately think of Lucy and Ethyl wrapping candy in the chocolate factory!  Hilarious! 

After the tour you get to sample some of their dark and milk chocolate.  Yum!  They also make wonderful ice cream.  I can easily recommend their toasted coconut!

We also checked out some of the shops in town.  Found a wonderful kitchen/home store, a great bookstore and a wonderful coffee shop.

There's lots to explore if you feet can hold out.

Sunset over Little Traverse Bay from the campground.

The four of us moved on the Bellaire, Michigan (another county seat where I could research) for the labor day weekend.  It's a much smaller town but still very pleasant.  I found some good stuff at the courthouse which is always rewarding.  I also scoured one of the cemeteries near by and found the headstone of my great grand-uncle.

There were goats at this campground which is sort of out of the ordinary.

Barney meets a goat who immediately butted at him.

Not much to do here but we did go into town and ran into hundreds of cyclists who were eating lunch in various places around the town.  They were on a 4 day ride up to the Mackinaw bridge. I can no longer remember where they started but they ride 60-90 miles a day!!!  If only I was that fit.

From here our friends left us to head back home to Florida.

Goodbye Robing and Lee!

Goodbye Bodie and Sidney!

We've traveled with Robin and Lee many times, including a visit to the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, earlier in this blog. We always have a wonderful time and spend a lot of it laughing.  We were sorry to see them go but we'll see them again when we get to Florida.

We moved on to Traverse City from Bellaire.  This is another tourist mecca.  The whole NW portion of the mitten is basically a tourist mecca, both in the summer and in the winter during ski season.

We didn't take any pictures in Traverse City because it was rainy and chilly so we really didn't get and do anything. The state campground there is really nice, especially at this time of the year by which I mean, early September after the kids are back in school. They have about 400 sites so I can only imagine what it's like during the summer.  No thanks!

On to Northport next to see my former college roommate!