We traveled 24 miles from Traverse City to Elk Rapids on 6/20 and stepped back to small town Americana at its best. In our 7 days here, we’ve had 5 days of rain and NOAA which usually forecasts weather in technical terms ran out of descriptions and simply noted “the ugliness continues.” However, Elk Rapids is a great port to be waylaid. The marina is the best of our Loop of 7,500 miles as evidenced by its friendly and very attentive staff, sparkling restrooms complete with fresh flowers, comfortable boaters’ lounge and all this for $1.18 per foot including great Wi-Fi and cable. There is yoga every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday morning at 7am in the Pavilion and Acoustic Sunset performances every Sunday night.
You can reprovision at the Village Market, and while you’re up there, have lunch at Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen. You’ll think you’re back in bayou country with spicy Jambalaya and Gumbo, accented with Mardi Gras décor and a Blues downbeat. Siren Hall Restaurant also has a tasty and creative menu. You are bound to need something at Gil-Roys Got It Hardware store. Elk Rapids has cute shops and even has a movie theatre and we enjoyed seeing Water for Elephants on a rainy afternoon. There are great walking trails along Traverse Bay and the beaches here are dog-friendly. Mollie enjoyed racing, swimming and doing what terriers do best—digging.
We take sunny blue sky days for granted in Denver; here when the sun comes out for the weekend, everyone rejoices. We had a perfect alignment of weather, place and people. We attended the Art Rapids Art Show, the Town Hall Ice Cream Social and the Elk Rapids Yacht Club pot-luck dinner. We met so many boaters and felt so welcome here that we joined the yacht club ($20) as we will be here annually every June and September.
On 6/27, we headed back to Northport at the tip of Grand Traverse Bay. Our car is here so we can reprovision easily after we come back from my nephew Kyle’s wedding in Seattle. We love the Pacific Northwest and it will be a chance to sample another seaside area and see our family again. Mollie will be vacationing at Sun Dog Kennel which has couches and lots of TLC from Tracy.
You can reprovision at the Village Market, and while you’re up there, have lunch at Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen. You’ll think you’re back in bayou country with spicy Jambalaya and Gumbo, accented with Mardi Gras décor and a Blues downbeat. Siren Hall Restaurant also has a tasty and creative menu. You are bound to need something at Gil-Roys Got It Hardware store. Elk Rapids has cute shops and even has a movie theatre and we enjoyed seeing Water for Elephants on a rainy afternoon. There are great walking trails along Traverse Bay and the beaches here are dog-friendly. Mollie enjoyed racing, swimming and doing what terriers do best—digging.
We take sunny blue sky days for granted in Denver; here when the sun comes out for the weekend, everyone rejoices. We had a perfect alignment of weather, place and people. We attended the Art Rapids Art Show, the Town Hall Ice Cream Social and the Elk Rapids Yacht Club pot-luck dinner. We met so many boaters and felt so welcome here that we joined the yacht club ($20) as we will be here annually every June and September.
On 6/27, we headed back to Northport at the tip of Grand Traverse Bay. Our car is here so we can reprovision easily after we come back from my nephew Kyle’s wedding in Seattle. We love the Pacific Northwest and it will be a chance to sample another seaside area and see our family again. Mollie will be vacationing at Sun Dog Kennel which has couches and lots of TLC from Tracy.
