DAY 4
Today Kurt and I traveled up the Old Mission Peninsula (north of Traverse City) – one of my favorite places in the world. It’s all vistas, grapes, wineries and great big expanses of water as far as the eye can see. I love it.
We stopped for lunch at Bryant Park (which is at the base of the peninsula) with Jimmy Johns overlooking the East Grand Traverse Bay. Saw a cruise ship pull in. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Kurt and I looked it up and it’s this German cruise ship that cruises around the Great Lakes from Chicago to Montreal with European tourists. We ended up bumping into them (before I looked it up) at the tip of Old Mission Peninsula. They must have docked and took a tour bus around. I think we also bumped into them at one of the wineries. I think this is something that happens about once a year (if that) and I wish I had known more about it BEFORE they departed. Oh well. I can’t seem to find anymore about it online (which is weird).
After lunch we started our journey up Old Mission Peninsula.
Our first stop was 2 Lads winery. The view was gorgeous. They’re one of the newer wineries (maybe 5 to 7 years old) and I could tell. Kurt liked them and bought a bottle. They weren’t my favorite.
After that we went to one of my favorite wineries – Chateau Chantel. They’re views are beyond breathtaking and they do the whole wine tasting thing right by charging you only $3 for 5 tastings then rebating your money back if you buy any bottles, which we did. I get charging for the tastings since this has become the thing up here but I like the nod to comping the tastings if we’re actually buying bottles, which we usually do. We also bought some nibbles and a couple glasses of wine (a riesling for Kurt, their sparkler for me) and sat outside. It was another gorgeous day. Vistas as far as the eye could see. Took loads of pictures. Left just as tour bus (probably the Germans) descended.
Went out to the Old Mission Lighthouse and was surprised and happy to see that the water is definitely up. You used to be able to really walk out there but now it’s all covered by water with trees and other vegetation jutting out here and there. I love seeing the water up.
Kurt and I had dinner at the Peninsula Grill. Sat outside again. Another gorgeous sunny day. The food was amazing. We had a relaxing time, sipping some local wine and enjoying the evening.
We watched the sunset this time from Bryant Park at the bottom of the East Grand Traverse Bay. Also got to watch the German cruise ship leave.
Even though we were tired, I joked about going to the casino and we ended up at the Turtle Creek Casino just outside of town after driving around a bit in the Grand Traverse Resort. I thought they had a casino, too, for some reason. Drove some really dark and deserted roads to the casino and then it was all lit up. Played only slots. Won then lost some.