Since food is always part of our travels I will share this small cafe the owner of the resort told me about. The owner is an old friend of his and has quite a story to tell. The end of the story is he and his son went to Iraq as contractors and made enough money to open this place. He fixes a mean breakfast among other dishes. We love finding this type of place in our travels.
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park begins about 10 miles from us. We have visited one of their northern beaches several times but finally made the drive further south to visit the dunes themselves. Here are some photos of same including the countryside and some of the buildings that are along the coast and inland.
Glen Arbor is a medium size town along the way and just south of it is a place called Glen Haven. It was founded by a early pioneer who made his money in logging in the late 1800s but recognized that the area would one day be a tourist attraction for folks from the east. The buildings of his are now owned and managed by the park district. They lie right on the shores of Lake Michigan. This is the old 'store' that now serves as the park visitor center.
Just inland and south of Glen Haven is this house and barn that was owned by one of the wealthy early pioneers. The property has been purchased by a private party and is being restored to some of its former glory. We were intriqued by the barn.
A bypass takes you up toward the dunes on a winding road which begins with this covered bridge.
At the top of the drive you reach the dunes themselves. The wind was blowing pretty strong the day we were there which was a bit hard on our eyes and caused us not to linger very long. It is LONG way down to the water and signs warn those who think about 'running' down the hill that is is a hard climb up. We were not tempted. The second photo is of a different view of the barn we admired earlier.
Not too far south of the dunes is the town of Empire. We frequently see the town mentioned on the news and in the paper with things happening in Empire so had to pay it a visit. It was time for lunch and there was only one place to choose from. We noted the menu in the window and had to try the Root Beer. In case, like us, you have no idea of what a 'growler' is - it is a gallon jug. They make a great burger and offer a 'surf and turf' of a burger and fried smelt. I can vouch for it. Never had smelt but it is like white bait in Europe.
The caption of these two photos could be one of those "You know you are in small town America when ....." type entries.
Back to Suttons Bay and just outside our park is this small garden. The sign led us to think it was like the plots in England where people in the neighborhood leased a plot to raise a few vegetables and we thought about checking on a plot as Becky misses being able to raise vegetable. We have since been told it is for those who the courts sentence to 'Community Service'. Well maybe next time ..... On the plus side, they do a great job and the flowers and veggies are looking marvelous.
Suttons Bay has a small museum and educational center for the 'sea'. One of the things they do is a night cruise with retired professor of astronomy as 'host'. We decided it was too much to pass up so booked aboard. The night started out cloudy and we were afraid it was going to be a bust but the skies cleared on the way out of the harbor and we had a marvelous time. Hope you enjoyed your trip with us!
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