Charlevoix: First trip "up north"

Where: Charlevoix, Michigan
When: July 2 - 5, 2015
With: Dave

Upon moving to Michigan, I have learned of a magical region that the Michiganders refer to as "up north".  "Up north" is so revered in this state that mentioning it usually elicits a hushed "ooooo" from your listener. In their opinion, it is the prettiest place in the world. Period.

"Up north" refers to the northern parts of Michigan, usually along the coastlines of the Great Lakes. The waters are meant to be turquoise, the towns quiet, and the rolling hills covered in farmland. The tradition of going "up north" reminded me of the "down the shore" concept in New Jersey. Family lake houses are a treasure down from generation to generation, and summer Fridays are spent sitting in traffic on the highway heading north to spend every weekend possible there.

I was excited to check this place out. While we do not have a lake house in the family, that means we're able to explore all the regions we want. For the long Fourth of July weekend this year, we decided to pick the town of Charlevoix. 

Main reason for picking this town is that it sits between two lakes. Lake Michigan, out to the west, and Lake Charlevoix to the east. The drive was about 4 hours with little traffic, so made for a nice easy trip.

First impressions of Charlevoix were, I'll admit, underwhelming. It's certainly a tiny town, with one main street of shops, bars and restaurants. Our hotel was more of a motel and our "lakeview balcony" was covered with bugs and the view blocked by trees. However, Dave and I are really good at not letting mediocre first impressions stop us from having fun. 

First we took a trip down to Lake Michigan. My first Great Lake! Definitely looks more like a calm ocean than a lake. 

Then we did what we do best: grabbed some drinks with a lovely view to soak it all in. The bar we picked had a view of the inlet between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix, so we watched the bridge go up and the boats go by. So peaceful and relaxing. Our impressions were already starting to improve.

We decided to walk along the inlet out to the  Charlevoix lighthouse. This was where we got to see Charlevoix's "welcome" sign for incoming boats. Charlevoix just calls itself "Charlevoix the Beautiful". I appreciate its confidence in itself. 

The lighthouse at the end of the inlet. Fun fact: Michigan actually has the most lighthouses of any state in the country. Who knew?

Sitting under the lighthouse. 

Ok, we're starting to be sold. 

Towards sunset, we hopped in the car to drive a couple miles up the coast to Mount McSauba, a park that was meant to have the best views of the sunset. 

The coastline was serene, and there wasn't another person in sight. Shocking for being a main place to watch the sunset!

The sunset was spectacular. The clouds formed a haze at the horizon, so the further down the sun dipped, the darker and redder it became until it just blended away into nothing. Never seen anything like it. 

The next day, we took the car out to do some exploration of the area. First of all, who knew that Michigan had started dabbling in the area of wine? They have an entire "trail" of wineries to visit in the area. We started off at the Mackinaw Trail Winery. It was a newer winery, still working on its grounds, but had a beautiful tasting room and pretty tasty wines. They especially had some great fruit flavored dessert wines. 

Next, we went to the Walloon Lake Winery. No lake to be seen, but a really nice outdoor tasting area. Plus a golden retriever that comes to hang out with you while you drink. Amazing. 

After the wine tasting, we headed to the town of Petoskey, which is the larger and more well-known town in the area. This is where Ernest Hemingway used to summer with his family, and the town doesn't look like it's changed much since then. Their main downtown is still lit by gas lamps, and there's tons of cute restaurants and bars here. 

A beautiful little park has been created right in the middle of it, along the old train tracks. 

Upon returning to Charlevoix, we tried to head to Lake Michigan to catch another gorgeous sunset. But it was way too cloudy this time. Instead, I just dipped my toes in to make my first Great Lake visit official. 

Another interesting "up north" factoid is that breweries are a huge thing. Michigan is actually 6th in the country for most craft breweries. We stopped into the Bridge Street Tap Room to cap off our evening, and marvelled at all the Michigan craft brews that were offered. 

As we sat outside on the main street eating breakfast the next morning, we were completely sold on Charlevoix. Didn't take too long. 

 For this Fourth of July, we spent the day outside on Lake Charlevoix. First, we drove to its southern tip at Boyne City where we kayaked, ate burgers, and watched local Fourth of July festivities in full swing. Then we headed back to Charlevoix where we had drinks at the home of one of Dave's coworkers (got to see what living in Charlevoix was really like). 

To end the evening though, we booked ourselves on a catamaran ride through the lakes. It was such a perfect end to the day. The crew was friendly, it was BYOB, and the lake was so peaceful. It was just easy. 

First we toured Round Lake (the smaller lake that opens up to Lake Charlevoix) and floated past the crazy mansions people have. I have never in my life seen a boat garage. Seriously??

Then we headed out into the much larger Lake Charlevoix. 

The crew took some epic photos of us.

Then we floated back into Round Lake to catch the bridge out to Lake Michigan. 

While we waited, we appreciated more of the crazy houses in Charlevoix. 

Waiting for the bridge to go up! It only does so on the half hours. 

Fun to see the bridge and inlet from the different perspective. 

When we got out to Lake Michigan, we were both...confused. Where was the horizon exactly? 

The water and the clouds were one, and the boats in the distance looked like they were disappearing into a fog. 

I kept joking that I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings and about to go "into the west" where the elves go to die. "I will diminish now and go into the west". We weren't sure if we were making it back from this parallel universe. 

The view back towards Mount McSauba from night one. 

For it being the Fourth of July, the streets were pretty quiet when we did eventually make it back. We were pretty sure that's because Charlevoix doesn't do Fourth of July fireworks like its neighboring towns. While we didn't see fireworks, we were happy being able to stroll the peaceful town. 

We decided to hit the road early on Sunday since the traffic would get bad. But before we left, we were told we had to see the hobbit houses. The what? Yes, hobbit houses. There's a neighborhood where all the houses have thatched roofs, rounded side, and pristine gardens. It felt like being in the Shire. Maybe I did almost go into the west? 

Well, what an amazing first "up north" experience. And what a way to spend the Fourth of July. I am incredibly excited to keep exploring this area in my new home state.