My best friend from high school PJ lives in the Empire/Glen Arbor area and introduced me to it when we were teenagers in suburban Detroit, visiting her parents cottage on Lake Michigan in Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. So a highlight of the trip is catching up with her and her family, which we did during a lovely afternoon at her beach gathering and cookout with about 15-20 people that stretched into the night, complete with swimming, Petosky stone hunting (no luck, as usual), grilled corn, brats and s’mores, stargazing in the dark, dark sky.
Empire school house mid-restoration
My visit also happened to coincide with the biennial Empire house tour benefiting the impressive contemporary Glen lake community library in Empire so PJ and I visited four homes in Empire and two perched on Glen Lake. Each was very unique and stunning, from a converted 1910 apple barn transformed into a 3-bedroom home to a 1912 arts & crafts bungalow, as well as an ultra modern site-specific architects’ home (“net-zero energy construction,” polished concrete floors inlaid with local beach sones, loft-style great room, native vegetation garden with non-native outdoor pizza oven) and lovely new-construction 12-year-old cottage (“scandi-modern meets cozy farm house”) in the charming sleepy village of Empire to a dramatic modern home tucked into a lakeside hill with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Glen lake (the deep blue cabinets echoing the lake) and a crazy sprawling 1927 log “cabin” also on the lake, in the woods, with origami wood floor, furniture and fixtures mixed with whimsical decor that reminded me of a Wes Anderson movie, complete with collections of peace sign sculptures, stiletto sandals, felt doughnuts hanging from the wood rafters in the sleeping loft, a portrait of Jimmy Hendrix mounted on the cut-stone floor to ceiling fireplace/hearth. I had a definite case of screened porch-envy after the tour.
All the homes had lovely paintings by well-known area artists, whose work PJ took me to see at three Glen arbor galleries including The Center Gallery, part of Lake Street Studios, which has a succession of one week summer shows of various local luminaries. The current show, of rural landscapes by Margo Burian, was almost all sold after just a few days. Other artists with the gallery, which focuses on local work reflecting the local landscape and culture of the sleeping Bear dunes region/Leelanau County include: Joan Richmond, Jessica Kovan, Amanda Ackerman. Other impressive galleries: Synchronicity and ArborGallery, where the saleswoman was a former art teacher at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, my kids’ alma mater.
View from a house-tour home on Glen lake (interior photos verboten)Not on the house tour: our Airbnb in empire, which worked well for us
We took a slight detour to Pyramid Point where we parked our bikes and hiked into the woods for 20 minutes to a high clearing atop a dune looking out at the water in many shades of blue, some worthy of the Caribbean, aqua, navy, greenish, and turquoise.
Dare I say it? The Heritage trail from Glen Arbor north for 10 miles to the end at Bohemian Road was almost prettier than the more traveled portion from Glen Arbor south to Empire. The trail was mostly level and sometimes went along backroads but the backroads were quiet. It paralleled highway M-22 at times but still, not too much traffic. There were crushed gravel portions but nothing too tricky to ride on. And oh the scenery! Shaded, sun-dappled trails through the woods, wide open meadows with a sea of waving purple wildflowers and wooded hills in the distance, startling glimpses of blue lake between the green leafy trees, the odd white birch among the pines and elms, old white farmhouses, bright red wooden barns.
Lunch was chocolate milkshakes and gelato (mint and mocha) at the fabulous new gelato/bakery opened this month by The Grocers daughter, a fancy chocolate shop. Noah and dirck found a pick up pickle ball game on a court in a small park in Empire, west of M-22. My faith in Michigan cherries was restored at a stand on M-22 just north of Empire. (Previous cherries purchased elsewhere were not as good. Mushy and lacking flavor.)
Tonight we returned, as we have every night we’ve been here, to Esch Beach, just south of Empire. At 6 pm the crowd had thinned! It has a wide sandy beach and sandy bottomed lake bottom, with glorious views of the dunes to the north and the wooded hilly shoreline. It also has a designated dog area – we discovered this trip that Millie can swim and lives to go in the water if you throw her a ball to fetch. Linus and Felix both warmed to the water and beach.
I have a habit, perhaps bad, of spending much of my time when revisiting a place trying, often unsuccessfully, to remember where I went last time. Fortunately I have this blog to remind me.
Which is how we ended up in the small pretty village of Northport, while driving north of traverse city in the Leelanau Penninsula along the famously scenic highway M-22 (so famously scenic that it has inspired its M-22 bumper stickers, shot glasses, tees and stores.) The Tribune, a sweet looking restaurant in a former small town newspaper office, was closed (due to it being a Wednesday) but we found good sandwiches nearby at The Bohemian Cafe, next door to a little BBQ place, which, in turn, is next to a shop selling, oddly, beautiful kimonos imported from Japan via the internet.
Like the village of Empire, Northport has retained its small town charm despite becoming gentrified or tourist-fied. There are some high end stores but not too many and not too high-end (although a floor mat made of lobster-catching cords, thick and plastic coated, was $120 at one tasteful store.) And the place still has irreverent and idiosyncratic touches – a sign next to a bunch of old silver knickknacks at an antique/junk shop reading “dead peoples stuff ” and a vending machine with a sign boasting that it’s the worlds first (or only?) goat cheese vending machine. (There was goat cheese in the machine, which we assumed is refrigerated). The waterfront was quiet, lined with lawns, parks, flowers, a marina. The residential streets were quiet too with old cottages and lots of trees and gardens. (This is not the case in other towns like Suttons Bay or even Glen Arbor, which are bustling with tourist attractions.)
Goat cheese vending machine (perhaps the world’s only)
We saw major Michigan celebrities on the Heritage trail in Glen Haven, Mi today — big burley young men in Michigan Wolverines shirts who turned out to be U of M football team players. Other mere mortal tourists watched them and tried to avoid being seen gawking. This was perhaps the most unexpected sight on the trail, which we rode for 20-some miles (round trip) from Glen Arbor to Empire.
Uncle Noah with Felix and Linus
It’s a really nice wide paved trail that winds mostly through the deep green woods (with the occasional white birch) but offers a few glimpses of Lake Michigan (at Glen Haven, which has some old historic buildings with big old boats on view and a hotel in the making) and Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, past the Dune Climb, a wide steep mountain of sand that many tourists were huffing and puffing their way up and then running down, arms akimbo. The heritage trail is largely flat until just past the dune climb when it becomes hilly, often steeply so, much of the way to Empire.
Our pretty Airbnb in empire…Nancy’s garden. Much nicer than the dump we rented last year in Beulah, which has a glorious view of Crystal Lake. No lake view this time but gorgeous landscaping and gardens in a sun-dappled clearing of thick woods.
Lunch was a sublime chocolate milkshake and Sour strawberry sorbet shared with dirck and newly available at the venerable GrocersDaughter chocolate shop. There’s also gelato and baked goods in a new building that opened last Saturday. Why bother with a mediocre sandwich when you can have a chocolate milkshake instead? It’s a little confusing figuring out where to get what. The gelato / bakery is in a separate new building, also including the milkshakes but the well-reviewed fudgesickles are sold at the original chocolate shop.
In Glen Arbor we rode about 10 miles north along another segment of the trail, this one on a road through the woods along Glen Lake but there were few cars. We got a few peeks through the woods to get a glimpse of big summer houses perched on the lake.
Heritage trailGlen haven Empire beach
I should add too that in Glen arbor, Anderson IGA is now an upscale market with everything from local cherry jams to Dots pretzels. A branch of Lchaimdeli, based in Beulah, just opened. The bagels are good. And there’s a new store with well-chosen charcuterie fixins called Inn and Trail Gourmet. Old standby Cherry republic is good for meals and snacking on free samples of dried cherry everything. And Esch beach is a sandy swath of beach that kindly welcomes dogs. Our lab Millie plunged in, waves be damned, twice in what looked like an attempt to rescue dirck who did not need rescuing. But she didn’t plunge in when I was swimming. Hmmm….
We gladly returned to the Weko Beach area in Bridgman, Michigan for a family get together at the end of a holiday weekend so Weko Beach was more crowded but still lovely. And the day after the 4th, we had more of the hot sandy beach and refreshing Lake Michigan water to ourselves. With my sisters house at capacity we stayed overnight at an Airbnb in Berrien Springs, a farming community (where produce sold at the green market in Chicago’s Lincoln Park comes from) that is due west. We took a pretty rural road (snow road) back to Bridgman about a 25 minute drive that appeared to be a bike route. (Good to know.)
It was hazy this morning so we explored St. Joseph and Benton Harbor as well as the Red Arrow highway south which is dotted with antique stops, restaurants and produce stands. We had good sandwiches at the Whistlestop, ready-made not the made-to-order because a storm overnight knocked out power for awhile. Excellent chicken salad sandwich, turkey club and lavender lemonade, light on the lavender. On our way out of the area, we stopped at Oink, a cheerful ice cream shop with kooky decor (ice cream scoopers hang down from the rafters) and excellent flavors (Michigan pothole, as my sister recommended, chocolate with small Reese’s pieces; lemon cheesecake bar).
We did learn that many stores are closed on a Tuesday (and probably Monday too) so we’d like to return on a day when ARC, a gallery in Benton Harbors “arts district” is open, as well as the shop Alchemy on red arrow.
Weko beach with Nora And HankIce cream scoopers line the rafters at Oink
Word has it things Benton Harbor is becoming a hipster outpost among the small charming lakeside communities here in southwest Michigan, an easy 90 minute drive from Chicago.
My sister Jill, who moved here from Chicago, was excited to show us all the cool stuff she’s found here, which would take several days (more time than we have this trip) but we got a good start. We had a very good lunch at the lively, art-infused Mason Jar cafe in Benton Harbor (excellent sandwiches, burgers, scrambled egg concoction and fresh lemonade).
At the Mason Jar
Weko beach in the small town of Bridgman is a broad expanse of perfect sandy beach lining Lake Michigan, great for swimming, with a sandy bottom, long stretch of shallow water and surprisingly not-frigid water. (Is it a bad thing climate-wise that the frigid Lake Michigan of my childhood is no more?) Beyond the beach are wooded dunes, what looks like a primo campground and more densely green Michigan woodland. Just south of this beach is Warren Dunes State Park where we hiked up at dune, through the woods, up an even steeper dune (hand and foot style) and then across and down the dunes with the dazzling blue lake and sky in front of us. (Note to self: next time wear hiking books, not sandals. The sand was hot on our feet and we could have used more treds going downhill in the woods on packed sand). We returned to the park later to take Millie, our lab, to the dog beach, which she enjoyed. Busy place with lots of sunbathing humans and frolicking dogs.
Lunch was at Full Circle Cafe, a popular local spot in Stevensville with a good cobb salad and sandwiches below a high stamped tin ceiling and an old-fashioned counter. We did a little shopping at local farmstands including Alex’s Veggies in Stevensville and Michigan Local Harvest on the Red Arrow Highway in Sawyer, picking up some fresh strawberries, asparagus and rhubarb and other fruit from other places (not yet fresh in Michigan). We hit a little traffic returning to Chicago on a Friday late afternoon but nothing terrible and was such a nice rural/beach getaway from the city.
With four hours to kill between puddle jump flights (Des Moines to Detroit, Detroit to Ithaca) we discovered all kinds of dining options to make a former a Michigan native and her Kansan happy. Leo’s was the latest discovery, a favorite in Royal Oak Michigan. During our outbound four hour layover, we tried both Papa Joes (perhaps the smaller of two outposts) and Plum Market/Zingerman’s (which had a much bigger but pricey selection, compared to Papa Joes).
The gift shop was also full of Michigan goodies from Cherry Republic to Sanders to Made in Detroit tees.
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 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.
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.)
TakeBetsywithyou 