If you're looking for a lovely escape from Chicago for a long weekend away, look no further than Traverse City, Michigan. Just a 5 hour drive from the city, with chances to stop in some great coastal towns like South Haven on the way, this is a great idea for a summer vacation with the family or a romantic getaway with your partner. Gorgeous nature, wineries by the dozen, excellent farm to table dining and first-rate shopping is just a short drive away!
We stayed at the phenomenal Bayshore Resort during our stay, and it was the absolute ideal spot. Close to downtown, with our balcony sitting DIRECTLY on the beach of the Grand Traverse Bay. There is absolutely nothing like waking up and gazing through your sliding glass door and seeing rolling waves just steps away from you! Watching the sun rise was the best. The water was calm as glass as we watched the gorgeous colors peak over the Old Mission Peninsula and reflect over the Grand Traverse Bay. The nighttime view of the stars was such a treat, but more to come on the biggest highlight of our view later.
View from our balcony at the Bayshore Resort! Amazing!!
The Bayshore also boasts attractive rooms and an indoor pool and hot tub that make for a fun stay for families any time of the year. The staff was wonderfully helpful throughout the entirety of the stay and it was so lovely to be able to walk right downtown!
Getting acclimated
 | You’ll want to get a lay of the land when you get there, so pick up a free map while you're downtown or at your hotel. Do a little |
meandering downtown and participate in one of the great free events like the art walk or farmers market to talk with some locals about their recommendations. Do a little shopping and take a chance on a restaurant -- most I experienced were fantastic.
Founder of Traverse City, Perry Hannah, had this house built for himself when he was 70. Now it's a funeral home!
We had the media relations manager of Traverse City Tourism, Mike Norton, show us around in the Old Town area which we wouldn’t have found on our own. We learned a little about the history of Traverse City (named for the original settler’s long canoe journey across the wide- mouthed bay). We visited the historic Perry Hannah house, built by the founder of the city in 1893 (same year as the World’s Colombian Exhibition, just to give you a historical time frame). This enormous 40-room Victorian house is now the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home, and their guides were happy to show us around (as they were in between services!). The house has elegant wood design everywhere - cherry, birch, beech, oak, dark oak, curly maple, birdseye, walnut and Brazillian mahogany were all incorporated in the design -- quite befitting from a man who made his fortune in the lumber industry.
Delectable dining
Falafel dish I got for lunch at Roaming Harvest
As far as dining goes, I will suggest checking out The Franklin on the main drag in the downtown area. Especially if you can sit outside on their glorious rooftop and overlook one of the main intersections. Their food was divine and we had a fantastic evening there. Roaming Harvest is a real treat for people who appreciate farm to table dining in a casual atmosphere. The owner, Simon Joseph, started the food truck movement in Traverse City which at the moment congregates at The Little Fleet bar and makes for a unique outdoor dining experience.
Time for wine!
Me and the "Skool Buzz" on my Traverse City Wine Tour
You simply MUST partake in a wine tour during your stay. The peninsulas are simply crammed with wineries, white wine being their specialty for this particular climate. I recommend booking a tour bus to help you from vineyard to vineyard (after all who wants to drive back home from a winery?). It’s wonderful to have a bunch of people to mingle with and a driver who knows the area well. I couldn’t recommend Traverse City Wine and Beer Tours enough. Jody, the owner of Traverse City Wine and Beer Tours was so cheerful, friendly, and helpful and even listened to my request for their eye-catching tie-dye bus! In 4.5 hours, we managed to visit 5 different wineries all on the Old Mission Peninsula. We stopped at Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery, Bower's Harbor Vineyards, Black Star Farms, Peninsula Cellars, and Bonobo Winery. This was definitely a highlight of the trip!
The Brys Estate, one of my favorite stops on our wine tour
Breweries Galore!
Traverse City is a great place for people who love beer and wine! We sculpted our own brew tour and visited some great spots including Mackinaw Brewing Company, Brew (cute coffee-house vibe and a great place to chat up locals!), 7 Monks Taproom with it’s incredible offshoot Low Bar (with it's speakeasy style setup that you have to take an elevator downstairs to find). They serve outstanding cocktails like the Boss (a bottle full of cherrywood smoke, mescal and cognac). Finally we stopped and North Peak Brewing Company and tried their Diabolical IPA and delicious vegetarian nachos (at that point we were in dire need of food).
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons
| The Village at Grand Traverse Commons is worth seeing (albeit a tad bit creepy to me). This historical site on 480 acres is a massive old asylum preserved and restored into a “village” of shops, restaurants, apartments and offices. The castle-like architecture is something to behold, and the unique |  |
shops are worth checking out. I’d also recommend stopping into Trattorria Stella for some unbelievable house-made pasta and to also try some local wine you may have missed on your wine tour. Our lovely server also included with our check some thoughtful suggestions for places to check out nearby.
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. Cool or creepy? You decide.
YUM! House made pasta with cream sauce and chicken with spinach at Trattoria Stella in Grand Traverse Commons
Me at the Grand Traverse Commons shops
Which brings me to my final segment about….
Beautiful and unexpected nature
Our server at Trattorria Stella recommended we check out Sleeping Bear Dunes, particularly the Empire Bluff Trail. Only about a half hour drive from Traverse City to the west, it was well worth going out of the way for. The 1.5 mile round-trip hike has some spectacular views of the dunes and the lake that just can’t be served justice in these pictures.
Our biggest nature surprise was on our last night in Traverse City. We were lucky enough to catch a spectacular northern lights show right from our balcony of the Bayshore Resort over the Grand Traverse Bay! So unbelievably unexpected!! We tried in vain to capture some of it in photos or video but we couldn’t with the equipment we had with us. But here’s a photo I found that is very similar to what we saw.
Our biggest nature surprise was on our last night in Traverse City. We were lucky enough to catch a spectacular northern lights show right from our balcony of the Bayshore Resort over the Grand Traverse Bay! So unbelievably unexpected!! We tried in vain to capture some of it in photos or video but we couldn’t with the equipment we had with us. But here’s a photo I found that is very similar to what we saw.
I still can't believe we saw the Northern Lights from our balcony!!
Traverse City is a magical place filled with history, natural beauty and a thriving dining scene. I highly recommend you visit, and since there was simply too much to do in one long weekend, I am sure I will be back again soon.
Photo support by Andrew Jessop of Keystone Visual
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