I have somewhere I want to take you.
Four nights in Traverse City. Lake Michigan. Fall color. Hiking. Wine. Little towns. And us.
We’ll stay right in downtown Traverse City, then spend the weekend wandering dunes, bluffs, vineyards, lighthouses and little towns along the water.
Our downtown home base for four nights — close enough to step outside and wander Front Street, grab coffee, walk to dinner, and come home without getting back in the car.
We point the car north, leave the normal world behind, arrive in Traverse City in the afternoon, settle into The Flats at Front + Union, and walk out for our first dinner downtown.
Our big hiking day. Around seven miles of dunes, woods and Lake Michigan views, finishing at Empire Bluff as the sun drops toward the water.
Farmers market in the morning, then we follow M-37 north toward Mission Point Lighthouse and spend the afternoon among vineyards overlooking Grand Traverse Bay.
We follow M-22 north through Fishtown, Northport and all the way to the lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula, with one more stop in Suttons Bay on the way back.
No rush. Coffee on Front Street, one last look around, and then we point the car south again.
Seven miles.
Four overlooks.
One ridiculous sunset.
Friday ends at Empire Bluff, looking west across Lake Michigan near sunset.
Comfortable, outdoorsy, delicious, occasionally windy, and intentionally not over-scheduled.
Friday includes proper trails with sand, roots, damp ground and bluff views.
October means cool mornings, comfortable afternoons and chilly, windy overlooks near the lake.
Old Mission gives us a lighthouse, vineyards, wine and plenty of time to stop somewhere simply because it looks good.
Bluffs, overlooks, shoreline drives and the northern tip of the Leelanau Peninsula.
We’ll be based downtown, so several dinners, breakfasts and coffee stops are easy walks.
That is, in fact, the whole point.
I wanted your birthday present to be something we get to keep after the weekend is over.
Not another thing to put somewhere. A few days away together. New places. Long views. Good food. A little wine. Probably sore legs. And a bunch of memories that are ours.
So pack some layers and your hiking shoes.
I love you.
— Joe