It is good to be back on the water again!!!!! After a week’s worth of inside boat projects at Northport Bay Boat Yard (we recommend them highly) and some reprovisioning and more projects at Northport, we headed off on 6/14 to explore Grand Traverse Bay. This 35 mile long bay is grand indeed with its clear Caribbean blue water surrounded by rolling hillsides filled with cherry trees and vineyards. This is cottage country where Michigan comes to play and visit the quaint port towns of Northport, Sutton’s Bay, Omena and Elk Rapids. There are plenty of anchorages but since our dink is with the Dinghy Doc trying to find that pesky hole, we will port hop for awhile.Traverse City commands a position as the “cherry” on top of the bay which is only fitting as it annually hosts the National Cherry Festival in July. From its Clinch Park shoreline complete with beaches, pavilions, a steam engine train ride and tall ships to the walks and bike trails alone the Boardman River, Traverse City is a great place to explore. This is a small city with a lot of vitality with loads of visitors to its shops (check out the bargain book section at Horizon) and restaurants. There are plenty of dog-friendly ones and Mollie liked searching for some tasty morsels.
The locals are very friendly and rightly proud of their town and many give credit to Michael Moore, the filmmaker, even if they don’t agree with his politics. He refurbished the State Theatre for his Traverse City Film Festival and now it is open daily and run by a non-profit and volunteers. In our six days here, we saw Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris (his best since Annie Hall and who knew Owen Wilson could act), the l960 classic Fall of the House of Usher ( no one does eyebrows better than Vincent Price) for only 25 cents and an encore performance of the Met Opera HD broadcast of Madam Butterfly.
The Balloon Festival filled the sky with color and created a party atmosphere in the park. We met so many great people and even reconnected with Loopers, Pat and Ted from South Shore and Jim and Lisa from Kismet. Lots of dogs here too and here’s Mollie with a basket full of Border Terriers, Elvis and Priscilla. We even attended the Grand Traverse Kennel Club and watched dogs show their stuff on the Canine Good Citizen test—do we have a lot of work to do!
