We are still in Pandemic dining mode — eating outside — and Parsons Fried chicken completely fit the bill on a Saturday night in Chicago. We went to the new (l think) location in Andersonville early, around 6 pm and the place was still busy enough for a 45 minute wait but no problem. It was a lovely Summerish-fall night so we sat on benches on the huge patio and had some drinks before what turned out to be excellent very crispy and not greasy or undercooked fried chicken (hot wasn’t too hot and there was also not-hot). Excellent hush puppies too and apparently slushy alcohol drinks (which we didn’t know about at the time.) The place was also refreshingly affordable.
We stayed smack dab in downtown Dodge City which gave us a whole new feel for a place we have visited dozens of times while staying nearby with family in the small unincorporated town of Wright, where my husband grew up. The occasion was sad, a belated memorial service for the family matriarch, who died last November shortly before her 97th birthday. But we offspring and in-laws, 33 people including 12 of 15 grandchildren (ages 25 to 39) and 5 great grandchildren, gathering from all over the country, were so happy to be together at long last to honor Evelyn (with masks on in the small country church during a memorial mass) and to catch up, Covid be damned.
Most people stayed at the new Holiday Inn Express, just south of the main drag, Wyatt Earp Blvd, and it was surprisingly contemporary, almost cool. But we opted to stay a five minute walk away in a cool old western bungalow near the Boot Hill museum, on an old red brick road. Great place, well-decorated in not too kitschy western decor, very comfortable beds and a great front porch with a table and old metal chairs where we ate breakfast looking down across the city, the sound of an occasional car rumbling by on the brick streets, a few people next door at the cool modern brewpub and up the hill at the distillery in a Spanish style brick building with a red tiled roof that used to be the city hall/police station..
Sadly Red Beard Coffee was closed, but we ate tacos at our favorite Mexican road house, Tacos Jalisco, which was as busy as ever with Hispanic and Anglo families. Good tacos (el pastor, carnitas, carne asada) and flan! We had a big family dinner at the venerable Cowtown Steakhouse.
I squeezed in a quick visit to Boot Hill antiques on the third floor of an old building downtown. Tons of great stuff packed into dozens of vendor’s stalls, lots of vintage tablecloths, Roseville pottery, old blue glass tumblers, turquoise jewelry, and that was just the stuff I liked in particular.
I wished we had brought our swim suits. The elaborate new waterpark looked very inviting although I’m not sure when we would have had time to visit. We had a little walk downtown on a very quiet Sunday, admiring some of the old buildings in fairly good shape and the beautiful old Spanish-style cathedral.
Near Beulah, Mich., Arcadia Dunes on Lake Michigan are a less-touristed alternative to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
This charming, lesser-known summer vacation spot is a Michigan classic
The Beulah area captures nostalgia for Michigan’s vacationland.
By Betsy Rubiner Special to the Star Tribune
AUGUST 27, 2021 — 7:30AM
BETSY RUBINER • SPECIAL TO THE STAR TRIBUNE
As I bicycled beside a shimmering lake in the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, I was looking for the perfect photo op to capture the “Up North” spirit I loved as a Michigan kid.
“Stop! This is it!” I called out to my husband and 29-year-old son early in our ride on the Betsie Valley Trail.
Humoring me, my guys duly stopped to pose beside a white birch tree set against a dazzling backdrop of lake, land and sky in many shades of blue: the water’s glassy turquoise, the opposite shore’s navy blue and the powder blue of a cloudless sky in late July.
Here was the Michigan of my lost youth, yet I’d never been to lovely Crystal Lake, the state’s ninth-largest inland lake (about 8 miles long and 2 ½ miles wide) but a pipsqueak compared with nearby Lake Michigan.
During our last summer trek here, we stayed 20 miles to the north, near the gateway to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, with its 35 miles of giant dunes. So in March, when I started planning a post-pandemic (or so I hoped) vacation with our far-flung adult kids and first grandchild, I looked for a vacation rental near Sleeping Bear.
My search landed us in a white lakefront cottage with an alluring wraparound enclosed porch in the village of Beulah. Dating to the 1930s or earlier, the four-bedroom cottage was worn and musty inside. Outside, it was perfect, with a glorious Crystal Lake view and a huge fenced-in yard for our dog and Frisbee flinging. We happily spent most of our week outside.
Beulah proved a fine base camp for revisiting the national lakeshore and discovering other dunes, trails, beaches and villages. With a year-round population of about 200 that swells during the summer, Beulah was also refreshingly low-key. Tourists played pickleball in the park, swam in the clear water beside the sandy public beach and fished from the public dock. There was the occasional Jet Ski, pontoon boat or speedboat pulling a water skier, but the lake was not overrun.
On the 2 ½-block main drag, we found the obligatory ice cream/fancy coffee shop and gem store selling jewelry made with Petoskey stones (a beloved local fossil), plus Five Shores Brewing, offering live music on Friday night, and L’Chayim Delicatessen, serving real-deal bagels and a mean pastrami sandwich.
Another bonus: Beulah is the midpoint of the 22-mile Betsie Valley Trail. We frequented the mostly flat 10-mile portion stretching to the town of Frankfort on Lake Michigan. First we rode west on newly resurfaced crushed limestone along Crystal Lake, past cottages with patches of caramel-colored sand dotted with beach chairs, kayaks, inflatable floats, volleyball nets and docks, to a small nature area where I found my photo op.
We proceeded to Frankfort on a smooth paved trail lined with hot pink sweet peas and other wildflowers, passing through sun-dappled woods and green fields near the squiggly Betsie River, which widens into a small lake. We stopped in unassuming Elberta (pop. about 165) for peach ice cream at the funky Conundrum Café and admired the Life Saving Station, a restored blue-trimmed 1887 building with a cupola once used to spot distressed ships on Lake Michigan. (It now hosts weddings.)
Around Beulah
Although we swam in Crystal Lake, we showered soon afterward to prevent swimmer’s itch, a rash caused by parasites carried by waterfowl and snails. More often we chose Lake Michigan, which has a less-itchy reputation. Sandy-bottomed Esch Beach was our favorite, followed by the bigger, busier beach in the pretty village of Empire. The Frankfort beach was a close third, located near another popular photo op, the Point Betsie Lighthouse, built in 1858.
While we enjoyed Sleeping Bear’s Dune Climb and Empire Bluffs Trail, we appreciated the relative solitude of the less-touristed Arcadia Dunes. At the C.S. Mott Nature Preserve, we hiked a mile through the woods to Mount Baldy Dune, where, from 126 feet, Lake Michigan looked like a vast ocean.
We ate most of our meals outside at the cottage on a wobbly picnic table, enjoying the local bounty — fresh corn, tomatoes and blueberries; whitefish (grilled, smoked or mushed into an addictive pâté) from Frankfort’s Port City Smokehouse; and farm-fresh brats and burgers from the Market Basket grocery store/farm stand in Beulah.
Peach pie from the Elberta Farmers Market was the group favorite, followed by cherry pie from the Cherry Hut in Beulah, an endearing 1922 mainstay where waitresses in crisp blouses and cherry-red skirts serve cherry pie à la mode, cherry floats and cherry hot fudge brownies.
One night we splurged on dinner at the Manitou, a local favorite with a North Woods supper club vibe. I’m glad I booked ahead. At 5:30 p.m. on a Monday, it was packed with families and older couples, perhaps drawn by early bird specials of Great Lakes whitefish and yellow perch.
With the region located along the Eastern Time Zone’s western edge, our days were long and full, followed by our main evening activity — lounging in plastic Adirondack chairs and watching the sun sink below the horizon, the sky over the lake ablaze with color.
Getting there
Beulah is a 650-mile drive east of the Twin Cities around Lake Michigan’s northern end. Drivers can also take the four-hour S.S. Badger car ferry from Manitowoc, Wis., to Ludington, Mich. Delta Air Lines offers one direct flight daily between Minneapolis and nearby Traverse City, Mich., from May to late September.
Betsy Rubiner, a Des Moines-based travel writer, writes the travel blog TakeBetsyWithYou.
Near Beulah, Mich., Arcadia Dunes on Lake Michigan are a less-touristed alternative to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
We have discovered some new delights in the Des Moines area. PepperHarrow Farm is a lovely private farm at the southern edge of Winterset, the charming town famous for its covered bridges. The farms sells beautiful albeit pricey bouquets at the Des Moines farmers market. But for the same price ($25) you can book a visit to the farm to cut your own, which we did, using a gift certificate D gave me back in the dead of winter. On a muggy August afternoon, we happily spent an hour or so in wandering through fields of dahlias, lisianthus , delphiniums, zinnias, and many other flowers I don’t know the names of. I came home with four arrangements worth, so happy.
En route we stopped briefly at Middlebrook, an aspiring “agrihood”/new development in Cumming, Iowa. There isn’t much there yet besides a pretty old farmhouse and a shed with some vegetables for sale (honor system.) Friday night festivities feature live music and food trucks, which sounds fun. The agrihood concept is intriguing- apparently it involves buying a lot and building and having space to grow things, with some community support.
Today, toward the end of a 26-mile bike ride to Easter Lake and back in DSM, we dropped in at a new cheerful bar downtown in an old (1900, if the date on the old tiled floor is accurate) brick building near the Polk County courthouse that used to be a bail bonds office. Now it’s Secret Admirer, a cute bar with a great back patio, serving beer, wine and specialty drinks, including Pimm’s Cup, one of the few drinks I love because it reminds me of my pals in England.
We had another beautiful weather day, low 80s, a breeze, plenty of sunshine so we hopped on our bikes and hike the Betsie Valley Trail for a 10 mile ride from Beulah to Frankfort on mostly flat trail hugging the lake and then into the woods and back out again to Frankfort.
Dinner tonight was at The Manitou, a backwoods suppler club that was surprisingly busy at 5:30 pm (Linus dining time although there really is no great time to dine out with an 18-month-old…he kept his parents busy.) Most of us had fresh fish, whitefish, trout, perch, walleye. I never can remember one from he other but for the record I think I like whitefish and trout best, both are dry, not oily. We also had delicious whitefish dip and smoked whitefish at lunch from the Port City smokehouse in Frankfort.
Climbing up an enormous sand dune is tiring. But the view from on high of Lake Michigan to the west and Glen Lake to the east of Sleeping Bear National Park is worth the exertion. On a Wednesday the park was also not overrun with other tourists, even if it’s high season.
We also dropped by Cherry Republic, sort of a station of the cross in northern Michigan, to get some dried cherries and cherry jam. In the afternoon we discovered Esch Beach, south of Empire which turned out to be a keeper: sandier bottom than Empire Beach, beautiful setting with a high dune to the north, dog-friendly.
We took M-22 south from Frankfort to head home, a scenic two-lane road hugging Lake Michigan and dotted with farm stands. We also passed Arcadia Ice where we had good ice cream cones yesterday after our bluff hike, M-22 led us to M-31, also more interesting that 131 through Grand Rapids which we took on the way up here as a detour due to road construction.
In Pentwater, a pretty town, we stopped to picnic in the small park along a marina in town and eavesdropped on that appeared to be the results of a fishing competition. (Someone won for “best of species.”) sorry to leave up north but hope to return (to a different rental house) maybe next summer.
Elberta ‘s Farmers Market turned out to be about six tents pitched along the village’s small waterfront park and was full of great stuff, tomatoes, corn, green beans, blueberries, broccolini, peppers, peach pie, goat milk soap, I bought it all and there was a lot more including meats, tea blends, beeswax.
I checked out some of the shops along the main drag in Beulah because today was not a beach day…very windy and cloudy but it never rained and by 4 pm there was bright blue sky. The wind returned tonight but all in all I we were extremely lucky with the weather – and we missed 100 degree heat in Iowa. (It’s been in the 89s and sometimes 70s here.) we really like Beulah. It feel less touristy than other nearby towns (except Elberta) and more of a real community. There are a few cute shops, several stone/Crystal/gem stores. There was a street party tonight with live music but we were too busy to go.
later dirck and I ended up riding on the wonderful Betsy Valley Trail from Beulah to Elberta, across the water from Frankfort and a world apart, much more humble, low-key, hippie, so of course I preferred it. We stopped for homemade peach ice cream at the Conundrum Cafe, a funky place that appeared to be for sale. The other fun place is the Cabbage Shed, a bar and restaurant that has love music. next trip.
dirck, Millie and I went on a beautiful short hike in the woods at Arcadia Bluff to Mount baldy, a high dune with spectacular views of Lake Michigan and the coastal bluffs.as dirck noted, it felt like we were on Big Sur. Tonight we had another outdoor meal late in the evening after Linus went to bed and sat outside on plastic Adirondack chairs watching the sun set and the wind blowing and the waves crashing onto the shore.
we found more spectacular views from atop a ridge of dunes on the Empire Bluffs Trail and more people too, compared to yesterday’s hike at Acadia bluffs, where we saw a handful of other hikers. The weekend crowd appears to have arrived and it’s almost as hard to urn left onto two-lane Highway 31 as it is to turn left on the Sunrise Highway in the Hamptons.
The weather has gotten cold – 66 degrees at 4 pm – and very windy which ruled out a last swim in the lake but it’s fine for everything else outdoors, so no complaints. We visited a much better -appointed house in empire that may be available for renting next year. No lake view but no decrepit stairs or sleeping quarters, which rules this place out next summer. We do like being so close to the small village and it’s handful of shops and places to eat and drink. And of course this lawn and view and dog-friendly situation can’t be beat. (No dogs at the Empire house.)
A storm huffed and puffed last night but there was no blowing down this house, which has stood its ground for decades. For once I took comfort in how old this cottage is. I figured it had withstood many a storm blowing over the late. Fortunately there was not e wind than rain so the cottage didn’t get more musty and the sun was out by midday. We went to lovely Empire Beach about 20 miles north in the pretty village of Empire where I hoped to stay this year. A maybe next year.
Tonight my best friend from high school Polly and her husband Jamie who live in empire right now while their house in Glen Arbor is getting a makeover came over for a hike in the woods at Railroad Point Nature Center and then dinner of grilled whitefish (an Emma specialty) and white bean & avocado salad (a Noah speciality) and cherry pie. lovely get together up north!
TakeBetsywithyou 