- Get link
- Other Apps
My family is officially hooked on road tripping to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which Good Morning America once declared the Most Beautiful Place in America and CNN listed as one of the Best Places to Visit in 2024. If you live within driving distance, it can also be one of the most covid-safe, relaxing, and affordable vacation destinations out there. There are cheaper places to camp, hike, and swim in Michigan, but this spot offers an incredible value for a setting of awe-inspiring beauty, good vibes, and fascinating history.
Leelanau, a dreamy place named after a mystical poet who once lived there, is also one of healthiest places in America overall. The residents enjoy plentiful harvests of local cherries and other thriving crops, and the countryside and small towns are dotted with outdoor, self-serve fruit and cookie stands, where you can take what you like, leaving money in the box provided (or making a digital contribution) on the honor system. The land, water, and air all feel sparkling clean to city people like me and my family, and although the northern Lake Huron coast on the other side of the state is the absolute best spot for stargazing, the night skies over the shores of Leelanau are dark enough to get a glittering glimpse of the Milky Way and occasionally witness the Northern Lights. Leelanau is a relatively short road trip from most parts of Michigan, with comfortable rest stops along the way and ever-increasing electric vehicle charging stations through the Traverse City area.
Getting There
If the Clare Welcome Center in the middle of the lower peninsula is on your way, it's an essential stop with lots of clean toilets, pretty gardens and sculptures, and a huge gift shop mostly stocked with free informational brochures, maps, and booklets about fantastic sites to visit in Michigan.
If picturesque Traverse City isn't too far out of your way, it can provide a whole blissful day trip unto itself.
Taking a long road trip through the countryside and wilderness might not be everyone's jam, and it might not even feel safe for many people, due to rising hate group activity in our state, which is mostly concentrated in urban areas of lower Michigan but can be more visible in rural areas, where more isolated people are more easily persuaded to display hate symbols and messages on private land along roadsides and on personal vehicles. It is unfortunately true that whether you traverse rural inland Michigan or hug the stunning western coast, between the gorgeous natural vistas and hills of rolling farmland, you are liable to witness some threatening red flags... sometimes literally. On our travels, we have been careful stay aware of our surroundings and look out for each other at rest stops and gas stations. Although Michigan's collection of random pit stops is famously excellent, there is no long route to a remote part of "Up North" that will feel safe and comfortable all the way through. Once you get there, crossing the county line into Leelanau feels like entering Oz.
If you are coming from the direction of the Chicago area, you can follow the western edge of the state all the way up to the Mackinaw Bridge. If you haven't experienced the various lovely little wonders along Michigan's sunset coast, try this tiny, scenic road trip through a string of small-town pearls leading up to Leelanau.
Saugatuck is an artsy, LGBTQ+ friendly sanctuary with lovely dunes and the dreamy Oval Beach--though the traffic and crowds pressing into this quaint wonderland are claustrophobic even on a relatively slow day.
Proceed with caution past the Grand Rapids area in Ottawa County, where political sparks are flying around Holland, Michigan as the far right clashes with local pride in increasing cultural diversity within the population. There are many wonderful places to stop for a great meal or a beautiful experience in this area, but it pays to look into things and create a specific itinerary before showing up.
South Haven and Grand Haven are pricier resort towns with rich but not so Puritanical vibes, where showoffs gather to compete for gazes of admiration over their fancy boats, salon tans, and gym bodies. Of course, you can also waft in like a pale, Victorian ghost child and gawk at the gym, tan, laundry crowd while munching on gas station snacks you dragged down in a cooler. Tried, tested, and approved.
Pere Marquette Park, one of the Muskegon area's many beachfronts west of Grand Rapids, offers wide expanses of less crowded, sugary sand and some open areas where dogs are welcome to run and splash. Urban Muskegon itself is a bit shabby, one of the reasons for less crowding at the waterfront. It also has an excellent water park for those who prefer their aquatic adventures chlorinated.
A little farther north, Pentwater is a quaint, old-timey village with lots of family-friendly summer festivals, fun activities, cute shops, beautiful sandy beaches, and authentic beach town culture with a long history. It's also a lesser-known and quieter haven for the LGBTQ+ community, offering sweet surprises like a "pop-and-pop-owned" vintage candy store.
Here's a beach bonfire I once enjoyed with my husband and a couple of beach babe buddies:
Frankfort is the last great beach town before Sleeping Bear Dunes, but there is another secret star spot for swimming at Esch Road Beach just a few miles south of Empire off M22. From there, you'll start to catch views of the big dunes. Note that you'll need to purchase a pass to enter the Federal Lakeshore, which includes Esch Road Beach.
If you take an inland route past Crystal Lake rather than using M22, make a pit stop in Beulah to visit the bees, play lawn games, taste meads, and enjoy an excellent pizza at St. Ambrose Cellars, or taste a slice of cherry pie heaven at The Cherry Hut.
North of Empire, Lake Michigan's tippy-top beaches tend to be the best for rock hunting, especially for Petoskey stones, found abundantly at and around Petoskey State Park.
The Finest Pearl on the Strand
Overall, the crown jewel of Lake Michigan's sunset shoreline is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I've taken in the sights, scents, sounds, and splashes of California's Bay Area, the Jersey Shore, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mediterranean, and they are all glorious in their own ways, and... truly there is nothing in the world quite like Sleeping Bear and no town just like Empire, which is tucked between the big dunes to the north and south.
There is a giddy, secret club energy among travelers and locals alike. Depending on where you enter the village, you might be greeted by a John Lewis quote about making "good trouble" painted neatly on a garage door. "Choose Kindness" and "In This House" and rainbow flags are everywhere, and you can't go anywhere without strangers smiling and greeting you heartily. Year-round residents and long-distance visitors all drift around with the same dreamy attitude, apparently high on the clean, freshwater sea air.
Empire has a few of its own restaurants that provide outdoor seating and takeout options; you'd think they wouldn't have to be any good as long as they're the only sandwich / pizza / ice cream place in town, but they are! The most decadent culinary establishment is the Grocer's Daughter chocolate shop, where you can buy a made-from-scratch-with-only-the-finest-ingredients fudge pop stuffed with figs and honey and walk down to the beach savoring it.
The art galleries and shops are cute, sometimes comically expensive, but a pleasure to browse. (I'm talking about you, Nature Walk, with your irresistibly cute aesthetic, your $100 baseball caps, and your merciful smattering of commoner-priced items such as essential oils, quirky greeting cards, and hippie-hearted decals.)
For those who can't afford to get their whole sugar fix at Grocer's Daughter (but you must go there, even if you must scrape your pennies together for just one ecstatic taste), nearby (cash-only) Tiffany's Cafe serves ice cream in waffle cones made fresh by hand at the front door. The sugary scent is magical, and the Tiffany's decor is sweet on the eyes. The first time I visited, I was charmed by the bright palette of paint colors that look unusually specific, turquoise and mango, or more specifically like the patina on copper and the glow of pawpaw jam, along with butter yellow.
Then at night, I realized that these two vibrant shades don't just reflect those two Michigan treasures but also two of the most vibrant colors that appear regularly in the sunsets over the Lake.
There are no big hotel chains or resorts in Empire; the citizens so far have found clever ways to prevent the construction of any tall buildings in town. You can camp beautifully in Sleeping Bear, but for those of us who prefer to roll out of a bed with fresh sheets and mosey on down to the beach in flip-flops, Empire has vacation rentals including a clean motel, Empire Lakeshore Inn. We had a lovely experience staying there in 2022. The next year, we stayed at the cozy and sweetly haunted Cottonwood Inn B&B, which I highly recommend for families, history buffs, home-cooked breakfast enthusiasts, spooky spirit seekers, and travelers who appreciate a small business that is truly run with love.
Visible from both the Lakeshore and the Cottonwood is a new development of gorgeous, fancy summer homes in a field of gentle hills, marshy pools, expanses of milkweed shimmering with monarch butterflies, and stands of birches. The neighborhood is constantly overrun with murders of cackling crows, who seem like they are always gossiping and laughing at what the humans are up to. At night when the crows sleep, the coyotes come out and yip and woo in the woods, enhancing the jovially haunted feel of the place.
If you look carefully on the residential roads of Empire, you'll spot a few haunted-by-the-living houses tucked among the picture-perfect gingerbread cottages that appear to be occupied by hoarders of alarming collections of things like rusty animal cages. It's a slightly thrilling juxtaposition that reminds one of the Cottonwood's own ghost story of a beautiful historic property inherited by madmen. If you're one of those people who recognize Spooky Season as running from July 5 - October 31, Empire just might be the vacation destination you'll enjoy on both sunny days and dark and stormy nights.
Mostly, the vibe in Empire is laid-back and relaxed. It's one of those special spots in Northern Michigan that is uniquely welcoming to visitors of all ages, cultures, ethnicities, nationalities, gender identities, and family structures. It's a great place for kids to play and for adults to chill; bottles of Chianti are openly passed around among elders reclining comfortably in beach chairs; cannabis culture is present but polite; and beach bonfires are enjoyed tidily, though sometimes by large groups of revelers with coordinated beach chairs, in the beach's metal firepits. Nonsmoking areas are respected, and everyone cleans up after themselves using the trash and recycling receptacles that are readily available. The Empire beach is probably the cleanest and friendliest stretch of public coastline I have ever experienced.
A short and scenic forest drive to the north, the town of Glen Arbor is another paradise of bright, beautiful inclusivity, smaller and more intimate than the fabulous Traverse City to the east.
Water Safety and Ecological Care
Empire is a family-friendly place, but families do need to take personal responsibility in order to enjoy the natural wonders safely. There are no lifeguards at the beach, and there is no flag system to alert swimmers about rip tides and weather hazards. We were highly aware of this because a couple of years previous to our first visit, my husband lost a niece and a childhood friend to drowning accidents in Northern Michigan. Everyone who plans on playing in the Great Lakes should get familiar with basic water safety and respect the advice of local park rangers, who are trying to protect both human life and the fragile ecosystems of the Federal Lakeshore.
One of the most popular ways to wreck yourself in Sleeping Bear is to throw yourself off the sandy cliff at the famous Pierce Stocking Drive lookout. The locals know how to time this activity with the tides to access an ephemeral strip of shoreline that can be used to walk to North Bar Lake, where a friend can pick you up, but tourists frequently screw up and either drown or rack up thousands of dollars with arduously dramatic Coast Guard rescues. Don't do it. Even if you know how to steal the thrill with your life and wallet intact, bajillions of humanimals sliding down the face of the dune (and even worse, crawling back up) has eroded this sacred land formation with an ugly scar (horrifying when viewed from a distance over the lake), destroying natural habitat and the future of the lookout for everyone else. If you want to throw yourself into a hot struggle with a dune, there are designated trails and recreational areas nearby, such as the Dune Climb, where you can do so safely and without spoiling the Most Beautiful Place in America.
Meanwhile, you can still dizzily watch masses of other people fudge around and find out.
Families with small people should be especially vigilant. In the waters of the Great Lakes, young children who want to go in deeper than a shallow wade should have a strong adult within arm's reach at all times.
Visitors are on their own to keep track of weather conditions. While the wind remained strong and constant in the direction of the shore, we helped our daughter to ride the bigger swells atop a floaty donut. On some days, the tide pushed in so forcefully that it actually threw large underwater rocks at our legs, resulting in cuts and bruises. Water shoes help protect your feet, but look out for those boulder-chucking conditions.
This beach is a great location for many water sports including boating, wind surfing, and body boarding, and we watched many experienced recreators taking advantage of exciting conditions.
Calmer days at Lake Michigan are gorgeous times to rest and be rocked like a baby or to snorkel in the clear, fresh water.
Empire at Night
The night life in Empire consists of everyone rushing to the shore like it's the first/last sunset on earth to witness the unreal shows, which range from fantasy unicorn candy colors on clear, calm days to bronzy oranges and reds when wind blows sand off the dunes.
After dark, the nights are peaceful enough to sleep with windows open, lulled by the sounds of distant waves, singing night bugs, tiny tree frogs, and coyote lullabies layered softly upon a profound absence of city noise--even a total absence of fireworks, when my family slumbered peacefully there just days before the 4th of July!
Beyond the Beach
Beyond Empire's beach, where you might be content to stay and play all day, every day (and where one or two people we saw were apparently "sleeping rough" in the prettiest place imaginable to be doing such a thing), there are plenty of other things to do in the area. There are hiking and biking trails that range from easy to extreme as well as scenic drives, all leading to spectacular overlooks.
The tiny town of Empire itself can be thoroughly explored on foot, and it's packed with an eclectic mix of art galleries, grownup-flower-child shops, restaurants, and sweets vendors.
The dining options in Empire are all casual (pizza, burgers, wraps) but solidly satisfactory. We tried a little of everything and had a pleasant experience at all of the restaurants, including this trippy moment at Joe's Friendly Tavern, when we realized that the painting of the restaurant inside the restaurant depicted a painting of the painting of the painting in the painting. Whoa!
About 15 minutes north, Glen Arbor is the spot to find more elevated dining and shopping experiences, especially at the famous Cherry Republic complex and, across the street, the iconic Cottage Book Shop, stuffed with nothing but the cream of all literary crops, plus specially curated novels set in Michigan and a delightful selection of souvenirs and gifts.
I highly recommend road tripping through Michigan to The Most Beautiful Place in America if you get the chance (or flying into the adorable Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City if you are bougie!).
🌲🌳🍄💮🏰🐉🌊📚🐺🍃
If a trip to the Most Beautiful Place in America with its quaint Cottage Book Shop isn't in the cards for you at this time, you can take a restorative journey into the shady woods of your imagination by reading one of these books of deep-forest fairy tales by Michigan authors and others. Ordering through Bookshop.org is a great alternative to Amazon that benefits brick-and-mortar book shops and helps them weather the economic storms that can be harsh on small businesses.
My Fairies & Folks, Monsters & Muses shelf in the Magic Nutshell Bookshop features works by Molly Greeley, Traverse City author; Mary McMyne, who wrote The Book of Gothel from her former home in Northern Michigan; and of course myself, Jean Michelle Miernik, local Michigan author of Leirah and the Wild Man, a feral adventure involving travel, danger, and the crashing waves of an inland sea, and The Grove of Thorismud, a sensually claustrophobic gothic horror romance crowded with sizzling taboos and a very complicated relationship with the competing court next door.
Poetry lovers and history buffs can now read the privately published writings of the sly, brilliant, and tragic genius behind the fantastical place name Leelanau (originally spelled Leelinau). And you can find more literary adventures and bodacious beach reads at the Magic Nutshell Bookshop, which shares profits generously with authors and local bookstores:
Above on the How to Be a Legend shelf, follow Detroiter Jessica Nabongo, The Catch Me If You Can, on her photogenic journey to becoming the world's first Black woman to visit every nation in the world.
Fun Feminist Fiction includes (b)romances by Michigan authors Lyssa K. Adams and Christina Mitchell.
On the Family Sagas & Mama Dramas shelf, scroll to find the Birchbark House series of children's chapter books by Louise Erdrich, set around Lake Superior, and the Detroit-area classic Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Comments
Post a Comment