Strolling through Downtown Traverse City
This past weekend @mrsbozz and I took our last camping trip of the year. This trip was a bit different from the other ones mainly because of the location. Usually, we try to visit relatively remote places, with the exception of Mitchell State Park in Cadillac, MI, we like to escape the chaos of the city and civilization in general.
Since we have an anniversary coming up, we decided to turn this last trip of the year into something a little more special. We usually try to go somewhere on our anniversary if we aren't too busy each year, but in case you haven't noticed, hotel prices are kind of nuts these days.
My wife suggested maybe we get a campsite at Keith J Charters State Park for the weekend which sits literally in the middle of the city for about $38 per night. That's much better than the $150+ per night a hotel would have cost me.
Friday evening after we arrived, we set up camp and then went out for dinner. If you want, come back tomorrow and I will cover all the awesome food we ate in Traverse City. Saturday, we decided to head into the downtown area a bit and visit a couple of the many breweries and taprooms that are spread throughout Traverse City.
Traverse City is pretty well known for a couple of things. The first would be the National Cherry Festival that is held in June/July of each year. The other thing would just be the fact that a lot of rich folks have summer homes there or in the surrounding area. The whole region is really well known for wines with many wineries being spread across the Leelanau Peninsula.
My wife and I actually just went and saw artist Ben Folds in concert (more about that next Tuesday) last night and he mentioned that he lived in Traverse City for a time.
The city itself feels like it is always growing and spreading out. My wife and I were talking as we were walking and we realized that this was a section of town we had never actually visited before. Even the downtown area is split into so many sections that you could spend a whole weekend just in a square block area and be content.
As you can imagine, given the fact that so many wealthy people visit Traverse City each year, there is a pretty good food and beverage scene. I actually can't think of a single bad meal I have ever had in Traverse City. Especially when you visit some of the more local places. There are areas with national and regional chains, but as I said, the true gems are the local places.
If you stick to the downtown area, Traverse City is very walkable. If you look at a map though, you will see that it is sprawled all along the West and East Traverse Bays. For example, I am heading to a conference back in Traverse City next week. Where the conference is located is actually a bit out of town in a smaller village called Acme. To make the drive into the downtown Traverse City area is actually a bit of a pain. Especially if there is a lot of traffic.
They do a good job of mixing the old and the new in Traverse City though. This old canning company was right across the street from one of the breweries that we visited. It also was right down the road from some new townhouses that had just been built.
Since we logged close to two or three miles on this trip, I am going to submit this as a #wednesdaywalk post sponsored by @tattoodjay.
There are three larger towns in the northwest part of the lower peninsula of Michigan that I would consider to be the "gems" of that area. Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Traverse City. Between Charlevoix and Petoskey is an area called Bay Harbor that is basically a several mile long gated community for the ultra rich and famous. People with yachts and sailboats and things like that.
There is a good chance I will never see the inside of that place in my life. My brother in law has been to a couple conferences there before. That's really neither here nor there though.
My point is, if you ever get the chance to visit those cities, I highly recommend it. If you had to pick only one, I'd probably direct you towards Traverse City. They each have their own charm, but Traverse just has a lot more options for you in terms of entertainment.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Loving the time of year where the leaves start changing. Great pictures you got of the start of autumn while you were out.
Thanks, I appreciate it. Things are still a bit wonky here, but I've been too busy to really pay attention. I have a feeling we are going to go right from green to leaves on the ground in a lot of places.
Happy Anniversary looks a beautiful area and some nice fall colors
Yeah hotel prices are crazy these days arent they
Thanks for joining the Wednesday Walk
Have a great day
Thanks! I hope you have a great day too!
I did indeed got out for a nice walk capturing the fall colors
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Hey happy anniversary! We just celebrated ourselves with a bit of a wine tour.
Camping this year was pretty epic but it is the cottaging that atole the show for us.
Awesome how there is camping close to the city like in Traverse. Might have to visit as that is just a few hours west of us.
Cheers Bozz!
Very nice! Traverse is interesting for sure. Not our favorite park and we would likely never camp there in the summer, but if you are looking at hitting the town and you have a rig, it beats the hotel prices!
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Happy Anniversary to you and @mrsbozz!!!!
You know I love food, so I will be back tomorrow to see what you ate, !LOL
Thanks for showing us Traverse City. I've never been.
What is that monuments? And a canon too.
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Thanks! I think it had something to do with the Civil War. I was focused on something else and although I took the picture, I didn't really pay attention!
$150+? Geez. I remember back in my uni days the only place nearby where I'd pay more than $100 for a room was hotels in Chicago. Times have changed.
Anyway, looks like a nice place!
I know right! It's nuts! Actually, I just looked and if I wanted to go to Traverse City this weekend and stay at a Hampton Inn, the rooms are going for $250 per night. I'm guessing a lot of that has to do with the peepers up there trying to see the leaves changing, but still. That price seems to be pretty typical lately. When we stayed in nowhere middle American on our way out to Colorado, I don't think I spent less than $120 per night in those hotels.
Well first off, happy anniversary to you two. Your certainly right about the local joints producing the best places to eat. I know hotel prices are outrageous from traveling a few years ago for AAU basketball. Glad those days are behind me, well expense wise anyways.
Thanks for sharing and it appears Traverse City has many things to offer.
That is one of the benefits of not having kids I guess. I don't think I would have any vital organs left after selling them all for travel sports! My nieces and nephews are all on travel teams and I know it costs their parents a pretty penny!
Happy upcoming anniversary! Traverse City looks interesting, I've never explored that part of the county before. The closest I came was working a month in Wisconsin but never went up that direction. Great pictures!
Is that a Civil War monument you showed there?
Yeah, I should have taken a photo of the plaque that was on the ground, but I didn't. I didn't even bother to stop to look at it either. It's a really beautiful area. Wisconsin is quite nice too from what I have seen. There is actually a whole other downtown area of Traverse that I didn't get any photos of.
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