Tag Archives: up north

Back to glorious northern Michigan where we are staying this time in a lovely mi casa, su casa, a farmhouse in the woods (Airbnb) outside the village of Honor, close to our favorite Beach (Esch), two towns we’ve stayed in before, Beulah and Empire. The Airbnb is shockingly expensive (I’m embarrassed to say how much) especially since one room is unexpectedly uninhabited (sadly because our son and daughter in law had to cancel). But it is nice to have such a great place after some dodgy ones in the past.

We visited some golden oldies: the empire bluff trail (always spectacular views from on high of the dunes and the varegated blue/green water of Lake Michigan and Esch Beach, which had fun waves. Lunch was at a new place my brother and family discovered in Benzonia- the eatery at up north fields, a cute little food hut with open air dining my area in a flower garden. The brisket Mediterranean bowl was pricey but good. Didn’t like the chicken one as much.

Near us, we chanced upon an adorable bakery in a tiny cupboard outside the Honor village center at the edge of Indian Hill road, off Highway 31. It’s called the baker’s burrow, run by mother daughter bakers. We got a delicious looking blueberry muffin.

The weather turned oddly cold and moody, but thankfully no rain. Still, not a beach day so we drive along scenic M22, stopping at a small gallery with ceramics, Good Harbor Gallery, at a rural intersection north of Maple City where I found a wedding gift! we drive through traffic and tourist clogged Leland and it’s famous fishtown to the pretty village of Northport, where a farmers market along the lake was concluding.

Back south, we met up with the grandsons and parents for the annual port Oneida fair at six historic farms, offering lots of old timey kid friendly farm and craft activities, although the kids favorite was an earlier outing to feed alpacas in Frankfurt. In one farmhouse, the 70s cult novel Jonathan Livingston seagull was allegedly written. (I thought it was an east coast ocean seagull.)

Also happened to learn from an old friend about my family’s rabbinical and yenta roots in Traverse City!

When the young baker at the farmer’s market in the tiny village of Honor told me she was returning to school soon, I almost asked which college. Turns out she’s a first grade teacher…who makes a mean cinnamon roll. She was one of the few food vendors at the Tuesday market. The rest were selling low key crafts. We did buy some red haven peaches and tomatoes from what appeared to be native Americans.

We rode our bikes twice on the Betsie River trail along Crystal Lake, which was a different series of colors each day, ranging from coral blue to navy blue.

The trail is about 18 miles round trip and very pleasant, mostly flat with a variety of surfaces and terrains, starting with crunchy crushed gravel as we peddled past waterfront cottages with pretty gardens and the lake, then pavement through the woods, dotted with the occasional white birch (my favorite), then through a marsh wetlands/Betsey Lake past Elberta into the tourist town of Frankfort, with its restaurants, T-shirt shops, and occasional classy decor/gift shops. There is also a L’chaim sandwich shop in Frankfort, where we shared a hearty Ruben sandwich.

In Empire, we made an obligatory stop at the Grocers Daughter for gelato. Esch beach was calm and packed, with warm water and sunshine on our first outing, then windy and less packed, with frigid water and white caps after a stormy night.