Four States Fall 2018 - 4 - U.P., MICHIGAN - Highway 2

In the morning we enjoyed a family breakfast. Then all went our separate ways toward home. Mike and I were the exception, as we continued north with the ultimate goal this day being Marquette, Michigan. As we traveled 100 miles north, the leaves on the trees got a little brighter with fall colors.

We drove toward the Mighty Mac(kinaw) Bridge that spans over the Straits of Mackinaw between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. You've seen similar photos before on this blog, but we love this bridge and have to keep showing shots. This day it was foggy at the top of this 5-mile long suspension bridge.

On the next 164 miles, we had two stops in mind. The upper peninsula (U.P.) is known for its meat filled pies called pasties (their version of an Italian calzone). They are a half moon shaped pie crust style dough filled with variations of meat, potatoes, onion, and rutabaga, or just vegetables for veg heads.

The recipe was imported from Great Britain in the 1840s. Experienced miners from Cornwall, England immigrated to the U.P. to work the copper mines there. They brought pastie-making skills with them to make lunches to take down into the mines. No working mines exist these days, but this tasty treat lives on.

There are dozens of pastie shops along U.S. 2 which hugs the Lake Michigan coastline. We had tried many of them over the years, with mixed reviews. Our friend Dixie recommended Hiawatha, as she has a friend that owns it and knew for sure that theirs are baked to perfection. Our taste buds were watering, but alas, when we arrived at this first stop, it was closed. A huge disappointment.

We continued down the road to a little place we had frequented before in downtown Manistique.

Marley's is a quaint but hip little hole in the wall with a tiny kitchen. This is the entire kitchen.

Furniture is a conglomeration of old tables and chairs. Some have been modified to accommodate purse storage. I love it!

They also have many games to play on cold winter days. A scrabble game is set up vertically on the wall with magnetic letters. This way you can totally embarrass yourself in clear view of the entire bar. Again, love it!

We ordered lunch. I'm not sure what, at this point. But for all you old time Michiganders, Mike ordered a Stroh's. When is the last time you saw that label in a bar?

After a grab and gobble lunch we headed down the road to our second stop.

Four States Fall 2018 - 3 - Mom's 90th Birthday

Most settled into the hotel for a quiet respite. Laur and I went to pick up the cake at the bakery and stopped by a local deli to purchase some French-origin raclette cheese that Mike and I wanted to take home.

About 4pm, we headed to the old Traverse City state asylum complex. Mom had worked as an accountant at the state asylum building in Kalamazoo. She had come to this one for a conference sometime back and wanted to see it again. It is now converted into a condo complex and shopping arcade. There are restaurants and tasting rooms there, too. We didn't go inside, but she enjoyed the outside view. She didn't remember it being so huge.

BD dinner was in Sutton's Bay at North Country Grill, about 15 miles up the Leelanau Peninsula. Prime rib and lobster tails are their specialty. Most of this crew had been here a number of times and really enjoy it. Kevin caught up with us here.

Here we all are:

 

And here's Tom with his usual triple order of tails!! I love lobster as much as Tom, but I limit myself to only two.

After a luscious dinner we went back to the hotel for dessert, gifts, and a "look at the past" Power Point presentation.

The cake was a little purple-ier than we expected, but mom loves iris flowers and we were trying to re-create that look when we ordered over the phone. We also had a choice of three Moomer ice cream flavors (a T.C. based company).

The presentation was about 20 slides. Some were actual photos from throughout mom's life. (A friend of mine made the really cool 90th BD banner, also with purple highlights.)

Here's baby mom. So cute!

Mom (and me) in Thailand riding an elephant and checking out a Men's Club.

Mom (and Lauren) whitewater rafting in Alaska.

And some were imaginary, spoofy things that she "had done." We got a little laugh at the start. We had mom at a young Shirley Temple birthday party and she commented, "I don't remember any of those girls." We explained that some of the photos (like that one) were Photoshopped with her picture added in. That was a good laugh. Anyway, here's mom getting accounting advise from Warren Buffet.

 Mom after a secret moon mission.

 And mom singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

We all had a great time for this very special birthday event. Mom was queen for a day!

Four States Fall 2018 - 2 - Tripping in Downtown T.C.

First, a freebie breakfast in the hotel lobby. Coffee was good and they had crispy bacon...rare to get at these hotel buffets.

We all refreshed and decided to take a walk through downtown Traverse City. A really nice man on a nearby park bench gave us parking advice. He said if there is a silver button on the meter, just push it and you get 30 minutes free parking. And then he proceeded to throw two quarters into our meter!! I think his current hobby is to inform visitors on this generous issue, as a big T.C. ambassador. I agreed to send him this pix but, darn, lost his email. Thank you, kind sir!

It was a casual stroll with the ladies using walkers leading the way. We managed four blocks before heading back to the car. We mostly window shopped with an occasional person darting into an interesting store. The Cherry Republic store was the exception. We all bought something from the cherry influenced and infused products. Among us we bought cherry candies, wine, candles, salsa, and more.

Along our way we found this Little Free Library. It was a miniature of the Traverse City State theatre with the film festival featured on the marquee. So cute!!

After that, we hit the road up the Mission Peninsula (on the east side of Grand Traverse Bay). At that point, it started to rain lightly, but it did not dampen our spirits. Our first stop was Chateau Chantel's tasting room. We all tried our faves and some new options of wine and hard liquors produced by that winery.

As we shared and compared tastes, we enjoyed the views of the vineyard and the bay in the distance.

Next we checked out the Harbor View Nursery and  lavender shop. It was actually just a little shed along the road, but was so glad we stopped. The aroma was fabulous here. We all bought products of various types. Mike and I bought lotion and lavender infused shortbread mix. As an aside, we made this back home and it was scrumptious. A definite must stop in the future.

We couldn't wander the fields because of the rain, but took a quick run out to their drying barn. Heavenly aromas here, too.

Our last stop of the morning was lunch at the Old Mission Tavern. We actually weren't very hungry, so most had a light snack. Mike passed altogether. I had a cuba libre (Myers's rum and coke with lime) and a shrimp cocktail appetizer.

This tavern is also a gallery for local artists. After lunch we wandered that area. Here's my sis acting all sexy-pouty!

Four States Fall 2018 (State 1) - 1 - TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN - Family Trip

On our trip to Iceland in March, my sister and I brainstormed as to what special event to do for our mom's 90th birthday celebration. She hasn't been out much past city limits these days, so we decided on a mini-road trip to Traverse City. Lots of planning and coordinating to get the four siblings and spouses together, but we did it.

On Tuesday morning, all but Kevin headed up north to the meeting spot. Mike and I usually stay at the Park Place Hotel, but wanted a more direct view of the Grand Traverse Bay for mom. This time we chose the Cherry Tree Inn, located a bit out of town and on the more eastern side of the bay.

All of our rooms had a lovely view of the hotel beach below, even though it was too chilly for a dip.

Before getting to the hotel, Mike and I stopped in downtown Traverse City at the Park Place Hotel for lunch with Mike's cousin Barbara and her beau. We had a good visit with them. When we arrived at the Cherry Tree, Bob and Lorraine were already there. Mom, Tom, and Laur came along shortly. Brother Kevin had to work and did not arrive til the next day.

Those that were there met in mom's room for a good family chit-chat. Memories and laughter were abundant. Lorraine brought all kinds of fun things to share. Crazy wigs (bro Bob in a wig below, just the orange part!!), jewelry, toys, and a lovely selection of scarves. From those, all the gals got to choose one based on "seniority." As second choice, I got a lovely blue and rust "impressionist" style scarf. It will go with lots of outfits. Thanks, Lo!

Mom, Bob, and Lo went out for dinner and the rest of us hunkered down for the evening. Tomorrow was the big celebration day.