Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

The are plenty of reasons that bring people to northwest Michigan -- pristine beaches, towering mountains of sand, restaurants, shopping, hiking and biking. 

We’re no different than everyone else in that respect, and we were drawn to the area in late September in hopes of crisp fall temperatures and changing fall colors.

We found a few fall colors, but we’re still a little early for peak color, especially in this coastal area that is insulated by water and reaches peak fall color later.  We found those cool temperatures, though . . . maybe a little crispier than we bargained on!

We were lucky enough to get one more sunny day, which made it feel a little warmer than it was, and spent some more time playing tourist around Sleeping Bear Dunes.

We stopped in the Visitor Center to check out the displays,

including the 4-panel quilt on display in the Art Room.

It’s a beautiful quilt . . . and a LOT of work!

No visit to the area would be complete without a stop in Glen Arbor.  We had lunch at Art’s Tavern and then did a little shopping – and tasting – at the Cherry Republic.  YUM!

From Glen Arbor, we drove south along the coast, to the Historic Village of Glen Haven. 

The original home of D. H. Day, the land was eventually donated to the state to become the first Michigan State Park, and then later turned over to the federal government, when it was designated as a National Lakeshore.

Our first stop was at the Glen Haven Beach, where we marveled at the amazing crystal-clear color of the water.

The rocks gathered at the edge of the water drew me in . . . just knowing there were probably Petoskey stones in there, I couldn’t resist taking off my shoes and walking at the water’s edge, scooping up handfuls of rocks to find one of the familiar spotted stones.  I didn’t search for very long,though, and only found one partially-complete Petoskey stone, which I threw back into the water.

Good thing I did – you’re not supposed to remove stones from the National Park – I should have remembered that!

If it had been warmer, I would have stayed longer at the beach . . . we took a few pics, though, trying to capture the aqua blue color of the water.

The water was a little chilly . . . but not too bad.

When D. H. Day still lived here, he was the first to introduce fruit trees to the area . . . so glad he did – this is a great area for growing apples, and grapes, and cherries, which the Traverse City region is famous for!

The village even had a canning facility.

The canning facility is now a boat museum.  We stopped in for a quick look.

A lighthouse light, and a boat that looks like it has a mustache!

There’s still a little General Store in the village, which wasn’t open, and a Blacksmith Shop, where there were a couple of volunteers forking on projects.

We noted that they weren’t very talkative volunteers (not like Tom!), but the shop was pretty cool.

Continuing on along the lakeshore, we made a quick photo stop at the Dune Climb (it doesn’t really look that tall or steep, does it?),

and then turned into the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.

The first scenic view is looking back at Little Glen Lake (foreground) and Glen Lake in the distance,

and then an overview of the dunes trail . . . from the Dune Climb all the way to Lake Michigan – it’s even further than it looks!

The next stop – Empire Bluffs and the Lake Michigan overlook.

Just look at that sand and water – BEAUTIFUL!

Fair Warning . . .

he wasn’t even THINKING about making that climb!  Even if he survived the trip down, he’d never make it back up!!

The wind was pretty fierce up there, but the view is amazing!

That’s Empire Bluffs in the background, and you can see the tracks from people who made the climb down to the lake.

One more selfie, from the safety of the observation deck . . . we won’t be counted among the 250 people killed each year while taking a selfie!

We finished up the scenic drive and made one more stop on the way back to the RV, in downtown Empire.  The little town hasn’t changed too much since we were here last (the little grocery store closed), and the beach is as beautiful as ever.

Empire Bluffs from the other side.

Some bigger waves down here.

I am just so drawn to this area . . . I’ll take Lake Michigan over any ocean, any day . . . and not just because of the “no sharks” thing!

We had a great day out exploring Sleeping Bear Dunes . . . it never gets old!