Hearth and Vine | exploRVistas

With the RV-Dreams Fall Rally happening just down the road from us in October, we thought we would publish a list of some of our favorite places on the Leelanau Peninsula. Note that these are our favorites, and if a place isn’t listed, it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth visiting. We have yet to find any place we would recommend avoiding. Anyone else traveling up this way in the future may want to bookmark this list also. Enjoy!

Wineries

We have two favorites in this category: Black Star Farms and Shady Lane Cellars. Both are outstanding. Black Star also boasts a beautiful inn. If you can get in and can afford it, it’s pretty darn nice. We’ve stayed there several times. Shady Lane has a beautiful setting and an awesome patio. As far as the wineries on the peninsula, they are all good. If you possibly can, try to to get to these two. A complete list of the area wineries can be found at the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail website.

Attractions

The best attraction, by far, is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Within the park boundaries, don’t miss the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. When on the drive, make sure to stop at the Lake Michigan Overlook. Special note this year: the drive will be closed for repaving from September 29 through October 5, and the weather could push that back. Go to http://www.nps.gov/slbe/planyourvisit for updates.

To the north of the scenic drive, if you are up to it, climb the Dune Climb. Just make sure you bring plenty of water, if you decide to go all the way to Lake Michigan…a two to four hour trip!

Another attraction is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, on the northern tip of the peninsula. It is within the boundaries of a Michigan State Park, so there is a daily entrance fee for visitors, on top of the lighthouse admission. If you like lighthouses, this one is very nice.

Kilcherman Orchards is a special treat, if they happen to be open. It is located just off of County Road 640 on Kilcherman Road. They have multiple varieties of antique apples….the kind your grandma used to have. And the grower also has an amazing pop bottle collection. We are talking thousands of bottles, all in alphabetical order. He will ask you your name and, in most cases, will show you a bottle with it on it. 🙂

Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor sort of falls into the shopping/ winery/restaurant categories, but it is an attraction in itself. It is hard to describe and delightfully good.

Shopping

There are four towns we would recommend for shopping: Suttons Bay, Leland, Northport and Glen Arbor. All have unique shops. For groceries, we like Hansen Foods in Suttons Bay the best. There is also NJ’s Grocery in Lake Leelanau, and the Leland Mercantile in Leland. The IGA in Glen Arbor is a ways away from where we are at, so we’ve never been in it.

Laundry

This one is a clear cut winner: Suttons Bay Laundromat. Clean as a whistle, and reasonably priced. I challenge you to find a cleaner restroom in a laundromat. 🙂 Located in the same plaza as Hansen Foods, on the south end of Suttons Bay.

Driving Range

Well, I have to throw this one in here: Wild Cherry RV Resort. I know the rally is being held at Lake Leelanau RV Park, but we have a driving range at our place that is perched way up on a hill. The view is fantastic. Stop by anytime. A bucket of balls is $5. And check out our RV park for future reference. It is very nice!

Restaurants

For a burger, we recommend either Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor, or Dick’s Pour House in Lake Leelanau. Both have good menus, with Art’s being a little more extensive. For something a step up from that, we recommend Hearth and Vine at Black Star Farms. It is Mario Batali’s favorite restaurant when he summers on the peninsula. It is outstanding. Even a little more upscale, Martha’s Leelanau Table in Suttons Bay is very nice. In the town of Omena, Knot Just a Bar has delicious lake perch and an outstanding view of Grand Traverse Bay. With that being said, the other restaurants in the area are all very good. People up here take their food seriously.

Bicycling

There are two bike trails on the peninsula. The Leelanau Trail runs south out of Suttons Bay and connects up to the TART trail, once it gets to Traverse City. The other trail on the peninsula is the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. Parts of this trail are still under construction, but the section between the Dune Climb and Glen Arbor is of special interest this year. The area suffered tremendous straight line winds on August 2, and we understand that section of the trail really shows off just how much timber came down. We have yet to ride it, but we are told that it is amazing.

Hiking

The best bang for your buck is the Pyramid Point trail. The hike to the overlook and back is 1.2 miles of moderate hiking on a gravel trail. There is a tremendous view of the Manitou Passage from the overlook.

Beach

The beach on the north end of Bohemian Road is really nice. There is a dog friendly beach at the north end of Good Harbor Road also. Both of these beaches are within the National Park boundaries. The waters of northern Lake Michigan are crystal clear, and some of the beaches are perfect for rock hunting. A good listing of all the area beaches can be found here.

Kayaking

If you like river paddling, we recommend the Lower Platte River. Riverside Canoe Trips will set you up, if you don’t have your own equipment. They rent kayaks, canoes, tubes, rafts and stand-up paddle boards. For a nice secluded lake paddle, we recommend School Lake. It is within the National Park boundaries, so you will need a park pass. You also will have the western shore of Lake Leelanau (the calm side) right at Lake Leelanau RV Park.

Hospital

Munson Medical Center in Traverse City is a nationally ranked facility. They will take excellent care of you in an emergency. There is also Leelanau Urgent Care in Suttons Bay.

Major Services

Most national chains are located in Traverse City. With that being said, the town is extremely busy. We try to avoid going there unless we absolutely have to, as it is not what we consider ‘relaxing’. But there are times that we need to venture into town, and they always seem to have everything we need. Traverse City also has unique shops downtown, along with several craft breweries.

A note about the weather

Early October weather on the Leelanau Peninsula is quite often different than what is found inland. This is due to the moderating effects of Lake Michigan. Frosts and freezes tend to come later here. As a result, the trees change color a little later than they do inland. That being said, come prepared for crisp, cool nights. Layering is recommended, as is rain gear….not so much for the rain, but for the wind. More often than not, there is a fresh breeze blowing up here.

We hope this list is helpful to those of you coming to this area for your first visit. Once you are north of Traverse City, slow your pace down and take it all in. Above all, have a wonderful time. The fall colors should be tremendous! In our opinion, Leelanau is a pretty great place to be. 🙂

It is remarkable how a simple answer to a question can be the impetus to overcoming an obstacle. So it was with Site 94 at Wild Cherry Resort. A project to build an upscale Class A site had reached the point of laying the pavers. None of us had ever done that sort of work before, and not much was happening as a result. When our newest work campers, Rod and Mary, showed up in mid-June, the question was asked if Rod knew how to do pavers. Mary replied “Yes he does”, and Rod was immediately appointed to be the foreman. 🙂

First day on the job, Rod started rounding up the tools needed and put us to work. Here he is manning a rake, with Paul on the compactor.

Jim S. (the owner) started running sand with the Truckster.

As the week wore on, the crew kept at it. I missed part of the work when we made our previously scheduled trip to St. Louis. Our goal was to have the site finished for the July 4th weekend.

Rex, our longtime mower, kept the rest of the park looking great while we were tied up on the site. Rex celebrated his 91st birthday last week with happy hour at his and Nellie’s place. The only thing that keeps Rex from mowing is an invitation to go salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. 🙂

After the pavers were laid, we spread a sand/concrete mix over the top and Rod shook it in with the compactor.

We then swept off the excess and Rod sprayed the site with water to set the mix and the pavers in place.

The site also features a lower patio, which Mary did the landscaping on.

From left: myself, Dave, Rod, Mary, Rex and Paul….

…and the owner of Wild Cherry, Jim.

After working our tails off, we welcomed the first motor home onto Site 94 on July 2nd. 🙂 Time to play!

One of the many things we took in since then was Paddle for Pints, which I have previously posted about. A few days later, Diana’s cousins Reed and his wife Emily, and Nancy and her husband David came over from Luzerne to visit.

We took them to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and hiked up to Pyramid Point. Here is Reed and I looking out towards North Manitou Island. After we completed the hike, we had a nice lunch at Hearth and Vine at Black Star Farms.

And then there are evenings on the patios of the local wineries, which feature local musicians.

Here we are with Camilla at Aurora Cellars, listening to Drew Hale.

Mary noted on a later visit that Drew has a Zac Brown influence. I also detected a little Keith Urban in his voice.

And here is singer/songwriter Blake Elliott at Shady Lane, an event we also attended with Camilla. Blake is often compared to Traci Chapman but, per Robert Downes from Northern Express, is as “hard to pin down as liquid mercury”. Crazy good, for sure!

And here are The Accidentals at Blustone. We showed up later here with Rod and Mary after listening to Drew Hale again with Paul and JoAnn. Camilla is out in the crowd already. 🙂 If you haven’t heard of The Accidentals, chances are you will someday. Fresh out of high school and Interlochen, their list of accomplishments is amazingly long. The girls play 12 instruments between the two of them. Best described as indie/folk/bluegrass….uh, well…they really defy description. 🙂

And it is cherry picking time!

Before the mechanical shakers came in, we were told we could pick some for ourselves. Here is Diana picking some black sweet cherries. Oh, my….they are delicious!

And while Jim S. and a few others were picking cherries, I was driving the Truckster around, picking up golf balls. Always a nice way to spend an hour. 🙂 I’ve also been tackling a fence painting project, along with my normal duties on my work days. Diana has been very busy with the office, which is a huge job. As is evident, we are working hard and having fun! We are fortunate to be part of a great group of people, both workers and seasonal residents. The weather is outstanding…low humidity and temperatures just below 80 for highs.