Friday, 11 August – Petoskey MI

Rained hard through the night but looks brighter come morning.

We are ready to leave camp by 9.30am except for one small problem - the front curb side (kitchen) slide only came in 75% of the way and then nothing…..  just an ominous click!  Kim pulled the motor off, tickled it a bit, worked his magic and it’s all working again.  At least if we were going to have a problem it was a good place to have it, plenty of time, lots of room, cell and internet and in a town that has some repair services if needed.

Next we go back to NAPA to return the radiator hoses we didn’t use, but don’t feel bad for them, we re-spent half of the $75 credit anyway.

We cross back over the Big Mac bridge, lots of traffic going north and it’s just crawling.  Everybody wants to come to the UP today.  Then we wanted to go HWY 31 instead of SH75 but there was a detour so that wasn’t possible until much further on.

We arrive at Petoskey and although we did intend to go a bit further today, it looked such a cool place we tried our luck for a site at Magnus Park, on Little Traverse Bay and just four blocks from town.  They have four sites we can choose from and I check them out as it is only 11.30 and checkout is not until 3pm so they may still be occupied.  We chose site 66, nice and roomy and easy to get into.  It had rained for about ten minutes on the way here and there was quite a lot of water on the ground.

We are getting ready to go for a wander, Kim has a hankering for McD’s again!  Then dang-it, we see the free trolley going past our site.  Better check that out for later.  Anyway we walk a few blocks towards McD’s where I leave Kim to satisfy his urge and I go the other way into the township.  It is humming, there are cyclists everywhere and bikes parked at the many breweries and similar establishments.   I counted up three breweries, two tap rooms and three wineries.  I learn later there was an organised race today, but there is a bike trail – Little Traverse Wheelway which shadows the lake shore for 26 miles between Charlevoix in the south and Harbor Springs in the north and it was getting a full workout today.

 

Petoskey is recognised by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the ‘Best Small Towns in America’.  Most of the shops are artisan or boutique which is refreshing (just one JC Pennys), heaps of cafés, delis, fudge/chocolate and icecream shops too!

Downtown Petoskey

US Post Office

I take the round trip, plus a bit more on the free trolley, firstly around town, The Hotel Perry in the Gaslight district, Bayfront Park Marina, Bay View Auditorium and Crooked Tree Arts Centre then back into town.  My favourite bit was the historic Bay View area where I saw the most amazing grand old homesteads.

Grand old houses

Hemingway’s Perry Hotel, was lovely too.  It was built in 1899 and back in 1916 Ernest Hemingway hiked and camped his way from Illinois to northern Michigan with a friend and stayed at this hotel, paying 75 cents for the room.  There is a sculpture of young Ernie, in his early 20’s.  He spent months in Petoskey recovering from WW1 wounds and diligently working to become “a writer”.

The Hotel Perry

The Hotel Perry side view

Ernest Hemingway

Had a lovely afternoon, I must have spent 3 or 4 hours out and about.  When I got back I thought I should try my luck at finding a Petoskey Stone on the beach and I did, pretty much as soon as I got there, but only the one!  They are 2 million year old prehistoric fossils, unique to the Traverse area and the Petoskey Stone is Michigan’s official state stone.

My Petoskey Stone, looks just like the brochure!

We catch the trolley back into town for dinner which we enjoy at Duffy’s Garage & Grille then we wander a bit more through the town before taking a seat in the gazebo to listen to the music in the park, a talented duo doing some of their own work.  There is live music every Wednesday and Friday during summer.  Another lovely day!