The Leelanau Peninsula

Leelanau State Park

Saturday we took M-22 all the way up to the end of the Leelanau Peninsula to Leelanau State Park to see the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.  I think there are a total of 29 lighthouses along the Lake MI coast. 

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

This lighthouse was a bit different in that it is actually just a house with a light on top.  There was also a beautiful white hydrangea plant next to an outbuilding.

White Hydrangeas

 

We walked down a trail to Lake Michigan where I bravely stuck my foot into the very cold water.

On the drive up the peninsula, we stopped for lunch at Knot Just A Bar in Omena where I had a perch sandwich an George had cod.  Several friends told us we had to try the perch before leaving and it was very good.  We sat outside on the patio and looked out onto the water where there were people boating and enjoying various watersports. 

Leelanau Cellars Winery

Leelanau Cellars Winery was on the other side of the restaurant so we strolled through there after lunch.  I like their Pinot Grigio and Sweet Red but today I spied their Pear Wine.  My knitting friend back home, Priscilla, told me there was a winery up here that had a great pear wine but she couldn't remember the name so looks like I just stumbled upon it.  I bought a couple of bottles....one for me and one for Priscilla.

Pear Wine, Leelanau Cellars

45 North Winery

After leaving the lighthouse, we took a different route down the west side of the peninsula and stopped at 45 North.  Why the name 45 North?  Because they sit squarely on the 45th parallel. This is the winery that hosted the wine tasting on the Manitou Thursday night.  We bought a bottle of Chardonnay, two bottles of 45 White and a bottle of Peach Cremant.

45 North

Foot Golf

Sunday we played the Summit course at  Shanty Creek Resorts with Jan and Tim and found out quickly that it would be helpful to have mountain goat qualities to play the thing.  The back nine of this course also sub-ed as a "foot golf course".  This was not good for my game.  If you ever encounter one of these, go somewhere else.  Basically, its soccer on a golf course with big holes for the soccer ball....and I mean a big hole on the green as well.  Unfortunately for us, a big family with lots of kids "teed off" in front of us with their soccer balls and we all stared at each other in bewilderment.  They looked at us in somewhat the same manner then, what appeared to be the daddy, said that they would jump over to hole 3 and get out of our way. 

Okay, so we tee off and all appears to be well except that they clearly did not understand golf etiquette and were very noisy.  At some point, they must have back-tracked and ended up behind us and were "hitting into us"  with their soccer balls and continued the noise.  I realize it was their big family day out but, as any golfer knows, this is a major distraction.  Fortunately for us, once we made the turn, there was no foot golf on this nine plus we stopped for Bloody Mary's and our attitudes greatly improved.  The front nine was even more of a billy goat course than the back (we started on 10) but somehow I started playing better...perhaps the fact that there were no more soccer balls flying around.  Shot a 96 so no more complaints.

After golf, we stopped at a brew pub in town called Short 's.  The guys had a beer and Jan and I had a Soft Parade Shandy which is a beer/ale/fruit/lemonade combo and it was very refreshing.  Once home, we all sat outside by the pond at our lot and enjoyed a nice afternoon breeze.  Did I mention that the weather was perfect today???