Driving Up the Peninsula

On Monday we decided to take a favorite drive up the peninsula north of Traverse City. It is quite narrow, and frequently you can see both sides of Lake Michigan as you drive through verdant countryside. There are many cherry orchards and vineyards, and, of course, several opportunities to do wine tasting as you go.

We stopped at two wineries along the way and tried out several types of the local wines which were mostly Rieslings and some combinations with cherries. HW2 likes a dry wine, and I like a sweeter wine, but we found several to bring back home. When we looked at the grape vines all around us, there were small clusters of grapes already to be seen!

We drove to the end of the peninsula to see a light house. Michigan is famous for its light houses. This one had the distinction of being exactly on the 45th parallel, exactly half way from the Equator to the North Pole. We walked out from the light house onto the lake shore, and the lake is still low from the drought which has been occurring for several years here.

Then we drove to the west side of the peninsula to have lunch at a small yacht club and managed to have a light lunch of crab cakes topped with a large scallop and a side of asparagus (I ate one spear) and another dish of smoked salmon and smoked whitefish pate. What a treat! On the way home we talked with the kids and grands, and they agreed to come over to the motor home for dinner.

We had to stop in Traverse city for a visit to the Traverse City Pie Company where they make homemade cherry pies, and HW2 found more smoked whitefish pate at a nearby store. We fixed grilled shrimp, saffron risotto, salad with fresh Queen Anne cherries, pate, and finished with cherry pie. Altogether a feast. It could only have been better if you, the reader, had been here, too.