Fall Color Tours: Traverse City – Northport – Frankfort

Posted on by farlane

Leelanau fall by Jeff Lamb

Leelanau fall, photo by Jeff Lamb

Our next stop (as designed by Travel Michigan) is the region of Northwest Lower Michigan containing Traverse City – Northport – Frankfort. I know this is the second day in a row with a photo from the Leelanau Peninsula … I guess sometimes I feel like hanging around my home. Jeff Lamb likes hanging around here too, especially in the fall, and I think he’s one of the best at capturing the roll of the hill and sweep of the sky that characterizes fall in this part of Michigan. See more in his Leelanau set (slideshow).

Old Mission, MI by Jerry TingThe tour starts at the end of the Old Mission Peninsula at the Mission Point Lighthouse. I’m not sure how you start there – airlift probably. I am sure that you’ll see great color along the winding roads of Old Mission like in this photo Old Mission, MI by Jerry Ting. In addition to being prime fruit growing regions packed with roadside stands and markets, both peninsulas feature great wine trails with about 20 wineries – learn more from the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula and the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association web sites.

Downtown Traverse City has a ton of restaurants and shops to choose from and if you like historic homes, consider wandering the tree-lined neighborhoods of the city and also the Village at the Grand Traverse Commons as there are some gorgeous trees and cool shops to be found there as well! If you want more options, check out the Traverse City CV’s color tours of the region (they also provide regular color reports). One tour they suggested is a northwest Michigan apple tour.

Assuming you’re still with us, lets head north to Leelanau County. M-22 winds along the outside of the county along Lake Michigan through the villages of Suttons Bay, Omena, Northport, Glen Arbor & Empire. From Northport, consider a short jaunt to the beautifully restored Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum at the tip of Leelanau. On the way back stop in at Kilcherman’s Antique Apple Farm (also see this article) for a huge selection of rare & tasty apples and cider. At the southern end of Leelanau County is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. With historic farms and hiking trails & overlooks offering soaring views of fall’s glory, this could be a whole weekend in and of itself. Before we leave, I better put in a plug for my Leelanau.com web site as a travel & information resource and also point you at my favorite trail: the Empire Bluff Trail. One look at a collection of photos from Empire Bluff should be all the push you need to take this short but amazing trail!
Another Autumn at the Tweedle Barn by John Clement HoweHeading south on 22 we enter Benzie County. The photo to the right (Another Autumn at the Tweedle Barn by John Clement Howe) is from the Tweddle-Treat farmstead that’s just off 22 on Norconk Rd). If it’s not to cold, head down to Otter Creek Beach (aka Esch Rd). Further down 22 we pass Crystal Lake and also the 2nd most photographed lighthouse in the world, Point Betsie. A little further south are the towns of Frankfort & Elberta that boast beautiful Lake Michigan beaches and Frankfort pier and make a perfect place to catch the sunset (or some fish). A couple other highlights along the way back to Traverse City are Gwen Frostic Prints in Benzonia and the Homestead Sugar House in Beulah.

Just so it’s clear, these fall color tour entries are produced by Absolute Michigan & Michigan in Pictures using the great information compiled in Travel Michigan’s Fall Color Tours as a starting point. We’re trying to add to what they’ve put together – not rip them off! As always, if you have links to information or photos that we missed, comments or reports, post them in the comments below!

Don’t miss our Michigan Fall Wallpaper series and see more of Travel Michigan’s Fall Color Tours.

Picking Apples, W. Golden Orchard 1894 … or thereabouts

Posted on by farlane

Picking Apples, W. Golden Orchard 1894 courtesy Archives of Michigan

The Image of the Month for October 2007 (link defunct) from the Archives of Michigan begin:

This photo depicts apple pickers in the Old Mission Peninsula. It was taken in the early 1890’s. (The caption on the front of the photo gives the year as “1894.” However, identifying information on the back gives the year as “1891.” The exact date, then, is uncertain.)

Michigan’s “fruit belt” strides the shore of Lake Michigan. The Lake itself plays a key role. It functions as a moderating body, preventing temperatures from getting too cold in the fall and too hot in the summer. It also provides the frequent rainfall that fruit farmers require. This climate combines with rich soil and regional topography to provide ideal fruit-growing conditions.

Michigan’s fruit industry started to boom about the time of the Civil War. By then, Chicago’s growing population had provided a ready market. Transportation improvements (notably the expansion of railroads) provided greater access to this and other population centers.

If you’d like to learn more about apples in the present day, check out the first ever Absolute Michigan Word of the Week: Apples!

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North to Point Betsie … and the Traverse City Film Festival

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

North to Point Betsie

North to Point Betsie, photo by farlane.

The terms of the multi-year deal I signed with Michigan in Pictures allow me to blog one of my own photos every 23 months or so for the purposes of shameless self promotion.

This photo is one of the images we’re using on the new web site betsiebay.net that we launched yesterday. We’ll be doing more photos and video and music. We’re just getting started, but I’m pretty happy with how the site is shaping up!

Speaking of deals and promotion and Michigan in (moving) Pictures, the Traverse City Film Festival is in town this week and we’re covering some Michigan film news including an Absolute Michigan exclusive video with Michigan filmmaker Rich Brauer.

Rev. Peter Dougherty House on Old Mission having one heck of a yard sale

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Reverend Peter Dougherty House, Old Mission Peninsula

The Dougherty House, Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society

Memorial Day Weekend is the start of many things in Michigan: summer, countdown till school is out, and the yard/garage sale season. On the Old Mission Peninsula just outside of Traverse City, there will be an amazing one at the house of one of the area’s first white settlers, Rev. Peter Dougherty. Once Upon a Time in Old Mission by Walter Johnson explains:

The earliest picture we have of Old Mission comes from the diaries and letters of Rev. Peter Dougherty, a missionary sent here by the Presbyterian Board of Missions in 1838. The Indians here and at settlements along the Lake Michigan shore were Ottawas. There were gardens on the Peninsula, maple trees scarred from sugaring, indicating centuries of human occupancy, and a village at Old Mission. They lived in permanent dwellings built of cedar poles and bark and also wigwams made of evergreen boughs. None of the dwellings had windows, and all of them allowed smoke to escape through a hole in the roof. Chief Ahgosa’s shanty was a little south of Prescott Lake.

According to the terms of the Treaty of 1836, the government was to provide the Indians with missions and schools and Indian reservations. The site of Mission Harbor was personally selected by Henry Schoolcraft between the present School Road and Swaney Road.

Having spent the winter on Mackinac Island, Mr. Dougherty arrived at Mission Harbor near the present Haserot Beach in May, 1839 in a Mackinaw boat. Arrangements were made for opening a school, and Mr. Dougherty’s house was finished before fall, built with logs cut near the border of the harbor and covered with shingles and boards brought from Mackinac. The house was on the shore directly east of the present larger Dougherty house. The second house was the first frame house built in Grand Traverse County, later owned by the Rushmores and used as an inn. In the fall of 1841 there was a schoolhouse and four dwellings. The schoolhouse was used for religious services until the mission house could be built.

Today and Saturday, The Peter Dougherty Society is holding an estate sale to benefit the restoration of the 1842 Dougherty House (article in the Traverse City Record-Eagle). Plans call for an archeological survey of the property, renovation of the house and to open it to the public with  exhibits and tours that will explain its place in the history of not only Grand Traverse, but also as part of the westward expansion of the country in the mid- nineteenth century. While the most historically significant artifacts are being saved for when the house is restored, it sounds as if there are thousands of artifacts spanning over 150 years.

If you’re in the area this weekend, you might want to check this out, and you can also read A Short History of the Dougherty House from the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society.

Mission Point Lighthouse, Lake Michigan

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Mission Point Lighthouse, Lake Michigan

Mission Point Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, photo by JSE_Imaging.

Speaking from experience, I have to say that the Old Mission light is one of the hardest to take a picture of. Probably all that fencing.

The lighthouse was established on March 3, 1859 and sits at the tip of Old Mission peninsula (the eastern peninsula that forms Grand Traverse Bay). Lighthouse guru Terry Pepper has a page on the Mission Point Lighthouse that includes an account of the taking of lands around the light from the Ottawa.

Wikipedia’s Mission Point Lighthouse entry is pretty limited, but it does have a link to an article that says the Old Mission light was a twin to the now destroyedMama Juda Lighthouse in the Detroit River (a/k/a Mamajuda).

Morning on Mead Creek

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Morning on Mead Creek

Morning on Mead Creek, photo by alumroot.

Alan writes: Mead Creek State Forest Campground in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Late August 1993. It was already getting cold at night which led to the lovely mist over Mead Creek. Be sure to also check out his Michigan photos – lots of cool Michigan reptiles & amphibians!

On an unrelated note (unrelated because I was not at all clever about finding a photo that would make it related), the first-ever Water Festival, a celebration of water & music happens from noon to ? in Mackinaw City. If you’re nearby, check it out!

Sunflowers

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Sunflowers

Sunflowers, photo by Leadmine.

Douglas Tesner writes:

Sunflowers bask in the sun along U.S. Route 32 just north of Yuba, Mich. near the Grand Traverse County Maple Bay Park & Nature Area. Sunflowers are just one of the many cash crops that are rotated in the area. (AP Photo/Traverse City Record-Eagle, Douglas Tesner)

The Men’s Ward at Building 50

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Mens Ward at Building 50

Men’s Ward Facade, photo by mstephens7.

Building 50 is an amazing and rambling building that is part of the old state mental hospital in Traverse City, Michigan (which is now being redeveloped as The Village at Grand Traverse Commons).

View Building 50 B&W Enhancements (Set) and check Michael’s blog for more Building 50 pics and information

Michael lives in Indiana but spends as much time as possible in Traverse City.