Circling the U.S. Chapter 21: Michigan Highlights

Our journey through Michigan began in Sault Ste. Marie and ended in Luddington.

Riding Michigan's Lower Peninsula between Harbor Springs and Petosky

Sunday, July 14 - Monday, July 22, 2019

My very first bicycle tour was in Michigan. That was in 1976. I don't remember very much about it. Two college friends and I loaded our bikes onto my Volvo and took off from Providence, Rhode Island, and landed in Michigan. I have no idea why we picked Michigan. We must have had panniers. I'm pretty sure we rode along the northern part of the Lower Peninsula for several days before driving back home. I remember being impressed with the vastness of the Great Lake. And I remember that somebody told us that the Upper Peninsula was stunning. So I've kept that bit of information filed away in my brain and, when planning this trip, looked for a route through the Upper Peninsula.

That plan got waylaid a couple weeks before we got to Michigan by a random email from a high school friend. The last time I saw Mac was at a reunion 15 years ago. He sent me an email because a mutual friend suggested he get in touch with me for information on bicycling in New England. And, by the way, he heard that I was on a big bike trip and if I was going to be in Michigan I should stop by, there's great biking where he lives on the Lower Peninsula. Back and forth emails finally convinced us to head directly to the Lower Peninsula and spend a few days with Mac and his wife, Suzie. We did not for a minute regret that decision. We'll explore the Upper Peninsula some other day.

From Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario, we crossed the International Bridge to Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan. Fifty-two miles was all the riding we did on the Upper Peninsula. It was flat and quiet, but rather boring. We rode to St. Ignace, gateway town to Mackinac Island.

This is a scene from our one day riding on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We've seen lots of fields sprinkled with hay bales but rarely have seen them in production.

The sun setting on Lake Michigan from our campground outside St. Ignace.

On Monday, July 15, 2019, we took the ferry from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island, which has been a tourist mecca since the 1800s.

In 1898 (yes, that's 1898) cars were banned on the island, so it has retained a special quaint quality that draws in thousands of tourists every day. Horse drawn carriages and bicycles take over the paved streets. Rob and I took an early ferry as our way to get a taste of the town before it became overwhelmed by the summer crowds.

That's the Grand Hotel. Whenever Rob and I travel, we like to wander into historic, expensive hotels. Maybe we'll just walk inside to check out the lobby and ask how much a room costs. Sometimes we'll sit on the porch for a few minutes or go into the bar and order a drink. But on Mackinac Island you have to pay $10 per person for the privilege of setting foot on the grand porch of the Grand Hotel. We didn't even get to peak inside the lobby.

We bicycled around the island, about eight miles on a quiet, country road with very few houses.

We agreed it would be fun to return for a lazy romantic getaway when it is not peak tourist season. We checked out a few restaurants and they seemed to have reasonable prices, as did one of the hotels we looked at.

At the end of the day we took another ferry to Mackinaw City, avoiding the long bridge over the Straits of Mackinac which separate Lake Huron from Lake Michigan.

We camped at a private campground three miles south of Mackinaw City that was surprisingly inexpensive - $19 - and quite nice, right on the water. They had a free 9-hole mini-golf course so we had to give it a whirl. Mini-golf is part of our family culture, a game we rarely turn down if we come across it when traveling. I often get the higher score, but not this time. This was one for the record books. Rob hit his ball off the course three times and I got a hole in one.

Tuesday, July 16, we rode south down the western shore of  Michigan's Lower Peninsula. After riding about 20 miles we met Mac, my high school friend. On the way to his home in Harbor Springs we stopped at the Three Pines Studio in Cross Village, a gem of a place that we would never have found on our own. 

These small boxes are made from the quills of porcupines.

The owner took the time to describe the work that went into these boxes. Sadly, the quills come from porcupines that are found as road kill.

Mac and Suzie have chosen to spend their retirement living in the house they bought years ago as a summer vacation home, a short bike ride from Harbor Springs. Inside it is comfortably rustic. The garden is Suzie's handiwork. The back side has a large deck which overlooks Lake Michigan. 

Our first night Mac and Suzie took us to dinner at their yacht club where we sat outside and enjoyed perch with a variety of salads, new potatoes, asparagus, and zucchini. Afterwards we walked around town and along the harbor where very rich people keep their boats. 

Mac and Suzie are part of a homeowners' association that has the right of way to a piece of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Wednesday afternoon we sat in the sun and went for a swim.

So did Epic, their dog.

Our second night we went along with Mac and Suzie to help officiate for a trail run at their local ski mountain. When the slopes are covered with snow, this is their second home.

Suzie took us for a walk on a trail across the street from their house. She especially wanted to show us the interesting lines on the barn in the picture.

When we left on Friday, July 19, Suzie and Mac rode with us as far as Petosky. Along the way we stopped at Mud Lake where Suzie looked out for the resident swan and its nest.

Mac and I knew each other as part of a group of friends and went to the senior prom together. After high school, I lost touch with my graduating class, only returning for my 30th reunion 15 years ago, where Mac and I reconnected. There I learned that he was living in the midwest and was an avid ski racer. He even coached the sport. I scoffed at what I considered to be an oxymoron. How can you be an avid skier in the midwest with mountains no bigger than hills? 

As Rob and I travel around the country we have been impressed with the beauty we find everywhere, the fulfilling lives people create for themselves in parts of the country that we prejudge as places where we would not want to live. Mac came to Michigan for college and found it to be a place he wanted to call home. Suzie grew up near where they presently live. They met as fellow ski racers. Their lives are full with sailing, downhill and cross-country skiing, mountain and road biking, beekeeping and gardening. 

We spent three nights and two days with Suzie and Mac. They took us to bike shops so we could outfit our bikes with new chains and tires. Mostly, they shared their lives with us. We were touched by their generosity and happiness. Those two days will remain a highlight of our year on the road.

After shopping at the farmer's market in Petosky, we stopped off at the Roast & Toast for drinks.

After leaving Mac and Suzie we stopped at this waterfront picnic area for lunch.

We continued following the Lake Michigan shoreline and eventually came to downtown Charlevoix where we stopped for a walk and beer. Then on to Fisherman's Island State Park where we knew we would have a place to camp because Michigan state park campgrounds aren't allowed to turn away bicyclists. They did indeed have a site for us even though they were full. We were tucked behind the main office, a short walk down a path through the woods to an isolated spot all by ourselves. Another shorter path took us to the lake where we went for a swim.

Dinner that night was the bounty purchased at the Petosky farmers' market - sauteed squash, snow peas, and dried cherry tomatoes with fresh pasta and some spices from home. We also had corn on the cob, no butter, just salt. We found out that you really need butter to get the salt to stick, but it was still delicious.

We passed many cherry orchards in Michigan. It was the height of the season so we ae lots of fresh cherries.

On Saturday, July 20, we went for a swim in Elk Rapids. This is one of the nicest Great Lake beaches we've found so far - lots of sand, no rocky bottom.

One of the things I’ve noticed in my travels is how many places around the world - unlike New England - have free public places to swim with public changing and washrooms. We’ve been able to swim just about every day that we’ve been on one of the Great Lakes and it hasn’t cost us a dime.

While we were changing after our swim people began clearing out of the water; a storm was imminent. We walked back into town and found an internet cafe. As we were locking up our bikes, an elderly couple stopped and the woman asked, “Do you have cover for the rain?” I said, “Yes, this cafe.” And the cafe served us well. I enjoyed a cup of Earl Gray tea with cream and Rob had a berry smoothie. I worked on my blog while Rob read a book. The rain came down hard and we were glad we’d gotten most of our miles out of the way early in the day. We had about 15 to go so we could wait out the storm. The rain conveniently stopped just as the owner of the cafe was getting ready to close at five o’clock.

On our way to Traverse City we passed wide open Michigan farmland..

And wild flowers lining the bike paths.

Saturday night in the middle of July, of course the state park campground in Traverse City was full. They couldn't turn us away but that didn't mean they had to give us a site with a picnic table. All we got was a piece of grass behind a row of campers, the low-rent district as it were. But as we were leaving the campground office a woman invited us to pitch our tent where she and her family had five campsites for their 45th annual reunion. Evelyn and her husband let us borrow dry towels for our showers, gave us beer, and milk in the morning for our oatmeal and tea. We joined their family campfire and were treated to smores. And we were able to get our camping fee refunded.

You never know what interesting sculpture you'll pass as you're riding along.

I will remember Michigan for its plethora of bike paths.

Day 45: Sunday, July 21, 2019    65 miles to Empire, MI

Just a day of beautiful riding on well-maintained bike trails and roads. We left Traverse City along a paved bike path that took us to Suttons Bay, a beautiful town where we stopped at a local cafe for internet and light breakfast. Then we continued to follow US Bike Route 35 10 miles across the peninsula to Glen Arbor. From there we followed another bike path through Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore with a few steep hills to tackle. Our biggest challenge of the day was finding a place to rest our tired selves. The national park said they were full and would not accommodate cyclists and there were no Warm Showers hosts available. We finally found a campground run by the town of Empire that was very nice, but 6 miles out of our way with several hills to tackle before we arrived. But that allowed us to have a 60+ mile day.

Another farm scene.

On Monday, July 22, we spent several hours in the town of Frankfort. The town has a beautiful waterfront park and a sandy beach where Rob swore he saw a sign in one of the hotels saying that rooms were free for bicyclists. The downtown had lots of choices for eating and browsing. We enjoyed a beer outside while I did some writing. Then Rob popped into a bakery and bought a cinnamon roll topped with chocolate which we shared sitting on a bench by the town harbor.

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From our very first glimpse of the Great Lakes in Ontario we were surprised at how high the water was. This remained true throughout our travels. Many beaches were nonexistent. One sign we saw said that the last high water was in the 1980's. It made me wonder why people didn't build their docks and stairways with that water level in mind.

I took this picture to remind me of all the cattails we passed everywhere we went in Michigan (and later in Wisconsin).

One more thing about Michigan before we move on to Wisconsin is the apparent lack of tea drinkers. On our way to meet Mac Rob and I stopped at a country store in the middle of nowhere to get a cup of tea and pastry of some sort. The owner said he didn't have tea. How can you sell coffee but not tea? How hard is it to buy a box of tea bags and have hot water available? But he had no tea, and no hot water. Fortunately, we had tea bags and he had a microwave. 

Sadly, this was the beginning of a trend that continued into Wisconsin. No tea in convenience stores and no tea in motel rooms. Just coffee. I could never live in a place that doesn't serve tea.

 

From the Travel Log:

Day 38: Sunday, July 14, 2019    58 miles to St. Ignace, MI

The most exciting thing about today was crossing the International Bridge from Ontario to Michigan. Then we had 52 miles of boring riding to St. Ignace. We passed a couple gas stations and a ball field along the way. We ate our lunch sitting on the asphalt in the shade in the parking lot of one of the gas stations. Thankfully the road was flat and quiet so the riding was easy. But after about ten miles it got pretty boring. All we saw were trees, nothing else. Okay, maybe one farm. We didn't even come to a grocery store before we arrived at our campground. But the campground was very nice and reasonably priced. We had a spot with a water view, went for a swim and had pizza and a salad delivered right to our campground. We asked our neighbors if they had any beer to share and they didn't but they went to the store down the road and bought some and came back to give it to us before heading off into town for their own dinner. We keep meeting wonderful people.

 

Day 39: Monday, July 15, 2019   15 miles around Mackinaw Island and to Mackinaw City

We took the ferry from St. Ignace to Mackinaw Island, then another ferry to Mackinaw City, avoiding the long bridge over the Mackinaw Straits which separate Lake Huron from Lake Michigan. Mostly we spent the day wandering around Mackinaw Island which has been a tourist mecca from the 1800s. In 1898 (yes, that's 1898) cars were banned on the island, so it has retained a special quaint quality that draws in thousands of tourists every day. Rob and I took an early ferry so we arrived before the streets got too crowded. Horse drawn carriages and bicycles take over the paved streets. We walked around town for a while then bicycled around the island, about 8 miles. The scenery was nothing spectacular but the town was very picturesque and we both agreed it would be fun to return for a lazy romantic getaway when it is not peak tourist season. We checked out a few restaurants and they seemed to have some reasonable prices, as did one of the hotels we checked out. Lots of fudge shops.

We camped at a private campground three miles south of Mackinaw City that was surprising inexpensive - $19 - and quite nice, right on the water. They had a free 9-hole mini-golf course so we had to give it a whirl. Rob hit his ball off the course three times and I got  hole in one.

 

Day 40: Tuesday, July 16, 2019:     45 miles to Harbor Springs, MI

Originally our plan had been to bike across the Upper Peninsula but a few weeks ago I received an email from a high school friend who I hadn't been in touch with since our 30th reunion. He was looking for advice on bicycling in New England and a mutual friend had told him to contact me. Mac lives in Harbor Springs in the northern part of the lower peninsula and over a long email conversation he convinced us that we really wanted to ride down the western shore of the lower peninsula and take the ferry from Luddington to Wisconsin. So today was a day to reconnect wih an old friend. Mac met us about 20 miles into our ride and along the way we appreciated the benefits of riding with a local. We stopped in at an art gallery that was just off the main road and learned how quill boxes are made. 

Mac and his wife Suzie live on Lake Michigan just a few miles outside Harbor Springs. They took us to dinner at their yacht club where we sat outside and enjoyed a dinner of perch with a variety of salads, new potatoes, asparagus, and zuchinni. Afterwards we walked around town and along the harbor where some very rich folks keep their boats. We could see why Mac and Suzie chose to spend their retirement living here. It's a beautiful place.

 

Days 41 & 42: Wed/Thur, July 17/18, 2019:    Hanging out in Harbor Springs

A couple days of rest, time to visit with Mac and Suzie, go for a swim in Lake Michigan, work on our bikes, replacing chains and tires, checking brakes.

 

Day 43: Friday, July 19, 2019     36 miles to Charlevoix, MI

Fisherman's Island State Park

What a beautiful time we had with Mac and Suzie. We were glad they both decided to ride with us as far as Petosky, ten miles away. We passed many amazing houses along the water that would make a wonderful retirement home for Rob and me, but I think we'll hold out for something on the ocean. That will be after we figure out how to join the one percent.

This part of the world doesn't seem to have any Warm Showers folks available to host us. We did find out that Michigan state parks are not allowed to turn away bicyclists so we planned accordingly, which gave us a leisurely day today. After leaving Mac and Suzie we continued following the Lake Michigan shoreline and eventually came to downtown Charlevoix where we stopped for a walk and beer. Then onto Fisherman's Island State Park. They did indeed have a site for us even though they were full. We were tucked behind the main office, a short walk down a path through the woods to an isolated spot all by ourselves. Another shorter path took us to the lake where we went for a swim.

That morning in Petosky Suzie had wanted to stop at the farmers market where Rob and I picked up cherry tomatoes, two ears of corn, snow peas, a cucumber, summer squash, carrots, fresh pasta, and dried cherry tomatoes. Dinner that night was sauteed squash, snow peas, and dried cherry tomatoes with the fresh pasta and some spices from home, and corn on the cob, no butter, just salt. We found out that you really need butter to get the salt to stick, but it was still delicious.

 

Day 44: Saturday, July 20, 2019  58 miles to Traverse City

We were on the road this morning by 7:20 and it paid off. We arrived in Elk Rapids before 12:30 and had a picnic lunch by the children’s fishing pond. Rob wanted to find a cafe so I could work on my blog, but I wanted to go for a swim first, All morning the sky had been overcast; it looked like the heavens might open up at any time. We found the town beach to be one of the nicest we’d found so far - lots of sand, no rocky bottom to navigate. One of the things I’ve noticed in my travels is how many places around the world - unlike New England - have free public places to swim with public changing and washrooms. We’ve been able to swim just about every day that we’ve been on one of the Great Lakes and it hasn’t cost us a dime.

While we were changing after our swim people began clearing out of the water; a storm was imminent. We walked back into town and found an internet cafe. As we were locking up our bikes, an elderly couple stopped and the woman asked, “Do you have cover for the rain?” She was wondering about rain gear. I said, “Yes, this cafe.” And the cafe served us well. I enjoyed a cup of Earl Gray tea with cream and Rob had a berry smoothie. I worked on my blog while Rob read a book. The rain came down hard and we were glad we’d gotten most of our miles out of the way early in the day. We had about 15 to go so we could wait out the storm. The rain conveniently stopped just as the owner of the cafe was getting ready to close at five o’clock.

We weren’t worried about finding a place to spend the night. We were headed to a state park campground in Traverse City where they can’t turn away cyclists. We arrived and checked in and had a site in the low-rent district without a picnic table but as we were leaving the campground office  a woman approached us and invited us to pitch our tent where she and her family had five campsites for their 45th annual reunion. Evelyn and her husband let us borrow dry towels for our showers, gave us beer, and milk in the morning for our oatmeal and tea. We joined their family campfire and were treated to smores.

 

Day 45: Sunday, July 21, 2019    65 miles to Empire, MI

Empire City Campground

Just a day of beautiful riding on well-maintained bike trails and roads. We left Traverse City along a paved bike path that took us to Suttons Bay, a beautiful town where we stopped at a local cafe for internet and light breakfast. Then we continued to follow US Bike Route 35 10 miles across the peninsula to Glen Arbor. From there we followed another bike path through Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore with a few steep hills to tackle. Our biggest challenge of the day was finding a place to rest our tired selves. The national park said they were full and would not accommodate cyclists and there were no Warm Showers hosts available. We finally found a campground run by the town of Empire that was very nice, but 6 miles out of our way with several hills to tackle before we arrived. But that allowed us to have a 60+ mile day.

 

Day 46: Monday, July 22, 2019  43 miles to Arcadia, MI

Random Kind Strangers Curt and Marci

We planned to ride about 60 miles today, to Orchard Beach State Park, but got waylaid by a bicyclist who rode up alongside me and offered us a place to stay in Arcadia. Rob and I figured we could still get to Luddington by Tuesday evening to catch the ferry to Wisconsin on Wednesday morning so we accepted and spent several hours in the town of Frankfort. The town has a beautiful waterfront park and a sandy beach where Rob swore he saw a sign in one of the hotels saying that rooms were free for bicyclists. We had a beer while I did some writing then Rob popped into a bakery and bought a cinnamon roll topped with chocolate which we shared sitting on a bench by the town harbor. We spent over an hour in the library where I got frustrated trying to figure out why my phone stopped working. It still doesn't work. Ten miles and two big hills later we arrived at Curt and Marci's summer home on the water where they treated us to a dinner of barbecued chicken and ribs. Unfortunately, the dinner also came with hosts who wanted to engage in a political discussion of why we should vote for Republicans (a conversation they introduced).