July 6 - July 17, 2023 Traverse City

 We took Beauty and the Beast up to Traverse City State Park for some fun and relaxation. We got our usual camp spot on lot 29.

Thursday night we settled in and slept on our new mattress that we got from Spine Align in Holland. All I can say was I slept better than a baby! Definitely a better mattress than we have at home.

Friday we went for our daily walk and then headed downtown on our bikes to enjoy the Cherry Festival.  We purchased some good sauces.  Then we headed to the beer tent. It was such a lovely day! 

We then headed downtown and looked in a few shops (Kurt’s favorite thing to do - not!). We went to Cherry Republic and did a little wine tasting and food tastings.  Kurt did enjoy that!

We walked to Amical for an early dinner. What a FANTASTIC dinner. Their early bird special included a glass of house wine, soup or salad, a smaller portion dinner (a perfect amount) and ice cream or sorbet.  

To end a perfect day, we rode our bikes back to the camper and sat by the fire.

Saturday was spitting a bit of rain in the morning. In the afternoon, we went on the Brown Bridge Nature Loop Trail. It was a very easy hike and perfect weather.

Woodland Horse Tail

Sunday we rode our bikes for 18 miles on the Lelanau Trail. Beautiful day!

Monday we went wine tasting at Black Star and Château Fontaine. We ended our day at Knot Just A Bar for dinner.

Tuesday we took a ride out to Empire to go on our favorite hike!

We started at the parking lot and went toward the lake and then to the farm. We would go the opposite way if we did it again.  An absolutely perfect day and hike!  Not too hot at all!

After hiking, we stopped at Rove Winery and did a little tasting. Superb!

Wednesday we took a bike ride around Broadman Lake. A nice ride!  The Gamba’s, LeFebre’s and Emma came Wednesday night.

Thursday the rest of the gang came! We helped with some set up, had dinner and hung out together.

Friday was a beach day and steak dinner! The steaks were amazing!

Ryland loved playing in the dirt!

Saturday was a game day.  We went to Pirate’s Cove, but Ryland was too small to ride the Go Carts. Henley went with her dad and then it was time for Ice

Group photo

Sunday everyone packed up except Kurt and me. Chuck and Laura joined us for wine tasting before they left.

Monday we packed up, went to Discount Tire to replace a tire on Beauty, and then headed home. We got home to find out we could not get to our house because they were paving the road.  So we parked at the church down the road and walked home. We will bring Beauty and the Beast home in a couple hours.  

All in all - a great vacation!