Traverse Northern Michigan, August 2023

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CARLY SMITH PETRUCCI 5TH GENERATION TRAVERSE CITY REALTOR®.

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features 08.23

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT UP NORTH PEOPLE, PLACES, FOOD AND EVENTS.

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TA L E S F R O M T H E T R A I L Avid hiker, nature geek and photographer Kim Mettler shares her favorite sections of the North Country Trail through the lens of her camera, reveling in the grand views and intimate moments that call her back again and again.

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY KIM METTLER

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FRUIT FOR DINNER

Abra Beren’s latest cookbook, Pulp Pulp,, shows us delicious new ways—both sweet and savory— to welcome fruit into our summer meals.

RECIPES BY ABRA BERENS / PHOTOS BY EE BERGER

SWEET SUMMER NIGHTS

From roaring bonfires and fireflies to night hikes and stargazing, here’s our love note to life lived after the sun goes down Up North.

photo by Kim Mettler

BY EMILY BETZ TYRA, EMILY BINGHAM, BOB BUTZ, LAUREN MARMION & ANNE-MARIE OOMEN

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ISLAND TIME

Whether you’re boating Chris-Craftstyle through this archipelago oasis or kayaking to lush island locales, it’s easy to get lost in the timeless magic of the Les Cheneaux Islands.

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY ALLISON JARRELL

7/10/23 1:49 PM

9 DEPART M E N TS 7 | EDITOR'S NOTE

WE’VE MOVED!

412 N St Josephs • Suttons Bay 231-252-4132

9 | UP NORTH

A family fudge shop worth visiting; the sweet nostalgia of the Northwestern Michigan Fair; meet artist Ben Maier; where to find sunflowers this month.

22 | TRAVEL

The truth behind a tiny cottage on Mackinac Island has baffled historians for decades. The answer was in its ancient timbers.

WELCOME HOME!

4545 Gallagher Drive, Traverse City MLS #1911706 | $699,090

521 Randolph Street, Traverse City, MI 49684

Ann Porter ASSOCIATE BROKER

231.944.4959

Ann@AnnPorterTC.com Visit AnnPorterTC.com for more information.

The buzz around town.

62 | ON THE TABLE

Don’t relegate zucchini to your box grater. Celebrate it instead.

64 | LOVE OF THE LAND

Head to the northern shore of Lake Huron for a magical hike through a boreal forest.

27 | OUTDOORS

Take note: Ludington is the newest accessible travel haven for nature lovers of all abilities. photos by Allison Jarrell (top) and Dave Weidner (bottom)

One acre of rolling land Great west side location 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom Main floor primary suite Fully finished walkout lower level Outdoor living room with TV! Guest suite with sauna

61 | SIP

57 | CULINARY NORTH

Hill Top Soda Shoppe’s homemade ice cream is worth runnin’ up its namesake landmark (trust us), plus classic summer dining at The Glenwood.

Follow Us On Social Media

62

facebook.com/mynorthmedia instagram.com/mynorthmedia pinterest.com/mynorthmedia

ON THE COVER Boating in the Les Cheneaux Islands photo by Allison Jarrell

4 T R AV E R S E N O R T H E R N M I C H I G A N

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Traverse

NORTHERN

Crystal Lake Beach Cottage

MICHIGAN A MyNorth Media Publication

Vol. 43 | No. 3 Tranquili ty

Michael Wnek Cara McDonald

PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR DIGITAL CONTENT & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST CULINARY COLUMNIST

Elizabeth Edwards Carly Simpson Allison Jarrell

Elizabeth Aseritis Caroline Dahlquist

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PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

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ive 1273 Crystal Dr

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Your local source for carefully curated perennials, trees, and shrubs.

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Periodicals class postage paid at Traverse City, MI 49684 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Traverse Northern Michigan, 415 Cass St., Traverse City, MI 49684. Advertising rates available upon request. Subscription rate: $29.95 for 12 issues. Single issue price: $6.50.

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Hull’s of Frankfort Open Year Round Family Owned & Operated Since 1956 419 Main Street, Frankfort | 231-352-4642

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AUGUST 2023

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editor's note

M

an, i do love this time of year— when we’re so deep in it that it feels like summer has always been and always will be, and any other season is an impossible and distant dream.

Perpetually barefoot, slightly sleep deprived, I wake before the alarm to the hiss of the neighbor’s sprinklers and the relentless cooing of a mourning dove camped on the powerlines above. Outside, the air smells like a mix of wet grass and the spicy scent of tomato vines. Inside, it’s hot coffee, sleeping boys, too-ripe fruit on the counter. The sunlight is thin and slanting, but hinting at another bluebird day.

These are days when you get so good at summering that you let it inhabit every aspect of your routine, because by now summer has had time to work on you, to change you. Food begs to be grilled; you’ve long let go of the oven and stove. Salads not only make sense, but bewitch. Hair stays wild and vaguely damp. Favorite cutoff shorts live within reach on a doorknob, waiting for after-hours porch sits or trips to the garden. Skin smells like a lemony blend of bug spray and sunscreen. The twilight dog walk shifts from hurried necessity to a nightly quadrille of meeting, chatting, crossing, continuing on. Popsicles seem reasonable, even required, and meal times are completely up for grabs (bedtime left the building ages ago). And beach time: always. At every opportunity. The water will never be warmer, and there’s sand in absolutely everything, anyway.

When you fully immerse in something, you sink into it so deep that you lose touch with the surface. Immersion lets you travel like a local, or learn a language more efficiently, or bury yourself in a good book to become someone in another place and time. We’ve been wired to sink into things and find satisfaction in that. It offers not just the joy of becoming sweetly familiar, but also a deepening of perspective that allows us to get delightfully lost.

August is a month where it’s easy to start to energetically bail after the frenzy of summer’s arrival and its bustling peak in July. But this month, every story spoke to us like an invitation to go deep, and deeper still: a Mackinac Island cottage’s painstaking reconstruction, an out-of-the-way island escape, a personal quest to tackle 100 miles of a single trail, an homage to the sweetness of summer nights.

All beg us to dive in with joyful spaciousness and to see with eyes that are content with the beauty right here, right now.

When I’m this in love, it’s hard to hold loosely without romancing the past or denying that anything else can ever

DEEP SUMMER

by CARA MCDONALD

be as delicious. I know the days are shorter, now, even on the warmest and muggiest of nights. We all ultimately have to resurface into whatever’s waiting for us next— chores, a crying toddler, the first breath of autumn, the Monday morning alarm clock. But for now, I’ll practice diving down and staying there for as long as I can, breath held, eyes open.

Cara McDonald Executive Editor cara@mynorth.com

AUGUST 2023

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7/10/23 1:53 PM

William A. Austin, MD Dr. Austin is a fellowship trained hip and knee replacement specialist. He has traveled throughout the United States gaining expertise in advanced techniques for improved outcomes and faster recovery in hip and knee replacement surgery. As a 5th generation Northern Michigander, Dr. Austin is passionate about bringing the most up to date and advanced care to his friends, family, and neighbors in Northern Michigan.

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es

Up North.

PEOPLE | NATURE | ARTS | NOSTALGIA | BUZZ | WISDOM | CURIOSITIES

A SWEET FAMILY LEGACY

by LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

The delicious story of Marshall’s Fudge & Chocolate Company.

R

photos courtesy of the Marshall Family

H

ow’s an average mackinac island guy make his mark when he’s got a grandfather who served as the first light keeper of the Round Island Lighthouse and a great-grandfather who was not only Old Fort Mackinac’s longest-serving soldier but also its commander during the Civil War? If you’re Jim Marshall in 1952, you go after a sweeter kind of success—serving up handcrafted fudge.

The founder of what was originally Marshall’s Driftwood Fudge, located then on Mackinac’s Main Street and eventually expanded to six locations throughout the Straits area, passed in 2020, but the Marshall fudge legacy lives on through his granddaughter Lori Frohoff, who learned the family craft from her parents, Jeannie and Dean Marshall, who learned from Dean’s mom and dad, Oradelle and Jim. >

top photo: Jim Marshall and wife Oradelle with granddaughter Lori bottom photo: Lori and Pat Frohoff, third-generation owners with daughter Maille, second-generation owners Jeannie and Dean, 2007 AUGUST 2023

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DOWNTOWN PETOSKEY

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Nationwide Shipping Available at Plathsmeats.com 2200 East Mitchell Rd. at the corner of Mitchell & Division Roads PETOSKEY 231-348-8100

Over 100 Years of Family Tradition Baked Fresh Daily 437 E. Mitchell St. Petoskey, MI 49770 Give us a call: 231-753-2044 Wednesday - Monday 7am - 3pm

116 South 3rd Street ROGERS CITY 989-734-2232

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Lori’s earliest memories of her family’s dynasty began in the shop her grandpa opened in the heart of Mackinaw City in 1962. The store stands on East Central Avenue still today.

“I was maybe five years old. I remember being there with my dad and mom, making candy,” she says.

During Lori’s childhood, Marshall’s was only open seasonally; her dad, a CPA, also worked as an accounting professor at Ferris State University.

The moment school ended for summer or Christmas break, the family of four would pack up and move north to Mackinaw.

For nearly a decade until her parents were able to rent and then finally build a home Up North, Lori and her younger sister slept in bunk beds in the shop’s back office; her parents slept in a nook that also served as the family kitchen and dining room.

Showers took place in the shop’s only bathroom. Family life was cramped, but it was good.

“I would be in the store for a minute and then out running around with my sister doing whatever we wanted because, back then, it was like, ‘Just come home before it’s dark,’” she says. “We’d say we were going to go fishing at the marina, but we’d get bored. And so we’d jump on the [ferry] boat because one of the captains would let us ride back and forth to the island for fun. Sometimes we’d try to sneak into the pool at the Grand [Hotel].”

Like her parents and grandparents, Lori runs the shop with her husband, Pat. She’s a former teacher; he’s a Southern California-raised CPA. >

photo courtesy of the Marshall Family

Marshall’s Fudge, Mackinaw City location, circa 1960

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photos courtesy of the Marshall Family

When her parents were ready to retire, they followed in Jeannie and Dean’s footsteps, packing up and moving north to Mackinaw with their then-5-month-old daughter, Maille, in tow.

Today, Marshall’s Fudge & Chocolate Company abides by the same tried and true recipes her grandparents created for their hallmark fudge: sweet cream caramel kisses, peanut brittle, pecan logs, divinity and more. (“All those really old-fashioned candies that people remember from long ago,” Lori says.)

Each small batch is still made fresh every day—always with the finest ingredients, never with preservatives— cooking and cooling in the same copper kettles and on the same marble tables her family has been using for decades.

Some things have changed with time, of course. To get the marble at the right temperature, the slabs no longer need to be cooled with ice in summer or warmed with kerosene lanterns in winter. The shop is open year-round, too, a change Dean made when he retired from academia. And a newfangled website lets anyone in the world order their favorite Marshall’s treats anytime.

Dean, slicing fudge

The early years

A few of the makers have changed in the last half-century. There’s Bud Herholtz, who has been making fudge for Marshall’s since his Ferris State accounting professor recruited him to work for “one summer” in 1975.

There’s also Stacy Santer, a legacy chocolatier who learned the craft at age 10 from her grandmother, founder of The Chocolate Hut, which was passed down to Santer’s mom, also a chocolatier, and then purchased by Marshall’s in 2011.

And finally, there’s Pat. “How long have you been making candy?” Lori asks her husband while speaking to us by phone. “He says about twenty, twenty-one years,” she reports, then laughs. “He’s considered the rookie.” marshallsfudge.com

AUGUST 2023

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Up North Buzz

GREEN MACHINES TO A MOTOR-FREE ISLE

by LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

Making waves with new eco-friendly ferries.

M

ackinac Island Ferry Company (formerly called Star Line) has more than a fleet of high-speed rooster-tailed ferries to crow about. The iconic ferry service is the first in Michigan to become Green Marine certified—i.e., exceeding regulatory standards and taking tangible, voluntary action to preserve the environment.

The company’s effort began small, with more energyefficient lighting, recycling bins on every ship, electric vehicles for company use on the St. Ignace and Mackinaw City Docks and the like. But recently, it’s gone far bigger:

photo by Michigan Sky Media

NEW UP NORTH

Thanks in part to a $3.06 million award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), the company’s ’60s-era Chippewa ferry is trading out its two old diesel engines for two electric propulsion motors—a conversion estimated to cut 14,152 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and 887 metric tons of nitrogen oxides over the boat’s lifetime. The future might hold even more reason for those roosters to strut: If the Chippewa’s two- to three-year project and associated hull refurb go well, Mackinac Island Ferry Company plans to do the same for 28 other boats in its fleet.

Cool finds, community updates and sweet new businesses.

BENNY’S FROYO AND MO

SEVEN HILLS

207 S. MITCHELL ST., CADILLAC

13795 SEVEN HILLS RD.,

A REASON TO CELEBRATE …

30 YEARS: ROAST & TOAST

Frozen yogurt made with dairy sourced from the family’s fourthgeneration creamery, and a whole lot “mo.” Grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, baked goods and locally raised meat, cheese and milk. bennysfroyo.com

OLD MISSION PENINSULA

309 E. LAKE ST., PETOSKEY

Home to Mission Proper Café (a coffee shop with grab-and-go lunch items, pastries and small plates), Old Mission Distilling (the tasting room has cocktails on draft) and a community center with workspace and games. sevenhillstc.com

What you might not know about the much-loved coffee roaster and shop owned by Bob and Mary Keedy is that it’s also known for its soup menu. The kitchen has a collection of 135 recipes, making four each day. roastandtoast.com

Know of a business that just opened or have a fun community update? Let us know at editorial@traversemagazine.com.

AUGUST 2023

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2464 S. Otsego Ave, Gaylord, MI 49735 989-732-2500

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INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE GOING ON NOW!

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Up North Art Watch BEN MAIER’S ON FIRE

by PATTY LANOUE STEARNS

Functional art for your table.

C

photos by Dave Weidner

eramicist Ben Maier took a gamble last year and bought a pricey Dutch Blaauw kiln for his Traverse City studio, hoping that the state-of-the-art oven would cut his processing time and help his business grow. Ever since, he’s been smokin’ hot.

Maier recently created a 200-piece set of his modern stoneware for Leland’s Riverside Inn—a collaboration between Maier, Riverside Chef Jeff Gong and Fernhaus Studio’s Kelsey Duda. “Riverside uses all local ingredients, and they wanted to honor the food through the dishware,” Maier says.

The 45-year-old ceramicist—who grew up on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City and attended an international study program in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bates College in

Maine—employs the Japanese atmospheric method of firing raw clay. He honed his clay skills as a student in Jamaica; East Lansing; Snowmass, Colorado (Anderson Ranch); and New Bedford, Massachusetts. Maier has exhibited at shows nationwide, and his works have been showcased by Steelcase, JW Marriott and the Mercy Healthcare System, all in Grand Rapids, among others.

Maier opened his gallery 21 years ago and is constantly inventing new techniques for his pieces and partnering with many local retailers. But for Maier, 2023 has been epic.

“I really pushed myself,” he says.

Benjamin Maier Ceramics is at 104 N. Main St. in Leland. maierceramics.com AUGUST 2023

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Up North Events

DIP INTO AUGUST

by ALLISON JARRELL

Events made for sunshiny days.

SUN / 6 From harness racing and livestock auctions, to prize-winning roses and exotic chickens, it’s all a part of the fun at the Northwestern Michigan Fair, a Traverse City tradition since 1908. Aug. 6–12. northwesternmichiganfair.net

SAT / 19 Seafood lovers rejoice! The annual Lobster Fest Fundraiser returns to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Leelanau State Park, featuring a dinner of Maine lobster or filet mignon, a live auction and a special pour of Mawby cuveé to celebrate the winery’s 50th anniversary. Proceeds go toward the continued restoration and preservation of the historic light. $100 per person. MyNorthTickets.com THURS / 24 For four days and nights, nearly 10,000 people descend into Cedar for the annual Cedar Polka Fest, featuring family fun and entertainment with some of the best Polka bands in America. Plus, plenty of Polish beer, sausages and pierogi. Aug. 24–27. cedarpolkafest.org

SUN / 27 Head to southwest Michigan for The Fair Ground Festival, a new annual concert at the Barry County Fairgrounds in Hastings. With a focus on supporting women in the music industry, headliners include The Accidentals, Joseph, The Crane Wives, Ruthie Foster, Patty Pershayla and Kyshona. Tickets start at $50. MyNorthTickets.com

photo by Tess Crowley

Elk Rapids Harbor Days

WED / 2 Elk Rapids Harbor Days has a full lineup of events, including a car show, art & craft show and carnival. The festival runs through Saturday evening, concluding with spectacular fireworks over East Grand Traverse Bay. Aug. 2–5. elkrapidsharbordays.org

SAT / 5 The 47th annual Gem & Mineral Show in Ishpeming brings together rock and mineral enthusiasts and more than 50 vendors showing off gemstones, jewelry, crafts and more. Over the weekend, enjoy two field trips for mineral collection and a treasure hunt for families. travelmarquette.com

WED / 30 Northern Natural Cider House in Kaleva hosts The Accidentals for an evening featuring their eclectic blend of indie folk, pop, bluegrass and rock music. Tickets are $20. MyNorthTickets.com

AUGUST 2023

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Chimoski Bakery of Suttons Bay A small-town bakery that uses some of Grandma’s best recipes.

PAINTING BY APRIL SOUTH- OLSEN CERAMIC VESSELS BY STEVE VACHON

cherry pie cherry muffins cherry cookies cherry danish cherry donuts ... we are all about eating cherries!

We focus on providing you with small-town service and customer satisfaction.

6am-2pm Mon-Sat 720 N St Joseph St, Suttons Bay • chimoskibakery.com • 231.271.2207

FINE ART • UNIQUE GIFTS JEWELRY • FUNCTIONAL ART 302 E. Lake St. Petoskey • 231-881-4745 somebodysgallery.com

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Up North Kids & Family

MOUTH-WATERING, HEART-STOPPING, BUM-BRUISING FAIR FAVES

by LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

Spectator sports for the armchair adrenaline junkie.

Tough Truck

photo courtesy of Northwestern Michigan Fair

B

lue-ribbon hogs, top-of-the-ferris-wheel smoochin’, giant grilled corn cobs dunked in a vat of liquified butter and served on sticks—there are so many must-see-do-and-eats at the annual Northwestern Michigan Fair that our checklist these days has more items than a Gibby’s bucket has fries.

One item at the tippity-top of our fave traditions? For at least a dozen years, Tough Truck has featured gutsy gals and guys driving as fast as they can around a sprint-sized dirt track chock full of sharp corners and jumps—the last one just before a mega-sized mud pit. Helmets are mandatory, neck braces recommended and race vehicles are the driver’s choice: big-wheeled jeeps, junkyard jalopies, Mom’s minivan and, unforgettably several years ago, a flawless Corvette driven by a man in the midst of a divorce. For real.

While finishing fastest is each competitor’s objective, finishing at all is a feat. Big-air crashes, airbag blowouts, sideways topples, full rollovers and the accidental ejection

of vehicle parts—tires, bumpers, entire front-end panels, whathaveyou—are frequent and favorite crowd-pleasers whether racers motor across the finish line or a front-end loader carries them.

As much as Tough Truck makes our hearts go pitter-pat, we can’t miss mentioning a more recent pulse-raiser to the fairground scene, the Super Kicker Rodeo, a bull-, barebackand ranch-bronco-riding show of the caliber you’d expect to see in Cheyenne, Wyoming, not Grawn, Michigan. Hailing from Paris, Michigan, in fact, this fringe-filled production wows with both novice and experienced cowgirls and boys hanging on and flying off the backs of bucking and rearing steeds and beasts, plus equally wild roping and barrel-racing competitions. More drama per hour than “Yellowstone,” for far less than the cost of a streaming subscription. Tickets to Tough Truck (7 p.m. Aug. 10) and Super Kicker (7 p.m. Aug. 12) are $5 per child age 3–12, $12 per adult, not included with fair admission. northwesternmichiganfair.net AUGUST 2023

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Up North Wish You Were Here

photo by Allison Jarrell

HERE COMES THE SUN Drive the backroads long enough, and you’re certain to roll by one of the North’s beaming sunflower fields—each stalk adorned with a crown of golden rays, turning to follow the late summer sun from east to west. These light worshippers usually bloom toward the end of July through early September, depending on how far north you are, but keep your eyes peeled for peak bloom, which can come and go within a week. For a quick photo op, stop by Maple Bay Natural Area or Send Brothers Farm, both in Williamsburg. Or head to Leabo Farm in Suttons Bay, Old Mission Flowers in Traverse City or Hall Farms in the U.P., where you can U-Pick a few stems of sunshine to take home. -A.J.

AUGUST 2023

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travel

SOLVING THE MCGULPIN MYSTERY

by CHASE EDWARDS

M

ackinac island visitors strolling by McGulpin House would notice a squat, whitewashed structure with the simplest of lines, like a Monopoly playing piece; nothing overtly intriguing, nothing grand like the island’s iconic cottages and hotels.

But for more than two centuries, the homely little cottage that sits at Market and Fort streets has held its secrets tight to its ancient timbers. Until now.

Certainly, historians could date it to the 18th century given its French Canadian–style construction typical to that era—squared horizontal pine logs and a steeply pitched roof covered in cedar bark that naturally sheds rain and snow. But when exactly was it built? Date the house (now known as the McGulpin House and managed

by Mackinac State Historic Parks) precisely, and you’d have an intimate window into Mackinac Island in the 1700s. And what a dramatic and colorful century that was. Way back then, the Straits of Mackinac was a wild frontier where Native Americans, the French, British and finally Americans warred over possession of the lucrative Great Lakes fur trade.

Historians postulated that the home could have been built as far back as 1740. If that were the case, it would have been built across the Straits at Fort Michilimackinac most likely by the French. And how would it have gotten to the island? The British (they took control of the Straits in 1780) could have brought it across the ice along with most of Fort Michilimackinac as a defensive move at the end of the Revolutionary War. Or was the McGulpin House built later, after America won the Revolution and the island became part of the new country?

In the end, it was the tree rings in those old timbers that gave up the date. Recently, Zachary Merrill of Great Lakes Dendrochronology determined the home’s construction as late summer or early fall of 1790. Merrill likes to say, “Trees don’t lie, but oral histories do.” In order to accurately date the McGulpin House, core timber samples of the house had to be compared to another building with a known date. “There has to be enough overlap between one chronology and another for it to statistically match,” Merrill explains. Samples from the McGulpin House matched up with another dendrochronologist’s research on Beaver Island at an old Mormon print shop.

photo courtesy of Mackinac State Historic Parks

The truth behind a tiny cottage on Mackinac Island has baffled historians for decades. The answer was in the tree rings.

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Merrill’s study of the McGulpin House started in 2021 by collecting 19 samples focused on the roof timbers. He began with samples from the roof because it was the most noninvasive area of the house. “I didn’t want to affect the appearance or architecture,” Merrill explains. He took each sample back to his office where he sanded them down with 1,000 grit sandpaper and measured the rings using digital measuring software. Some tree rings are so small that had Merrill tried counting the rings in the field—before sanding down the samples—his count could have been off by more than 100 years.

That first summer, Merrill ended up with an inconclusive date for the McGulpin House.

“The dating was there,” Merrill says, “but it wasn’t there enough. I figured with more samples I could get a positive date, something I could stand behind.” So, the following year Merrill took samples from every area of the house he could reach without causing visual damage. He then compared the new samples to the old samples and came up with what he describes as a “robust chronology” for the house, concluding it was built in 1790.

photos courtesy of Mackinac State Historic Parks

FLASHBACK TO 1790

The Revolutionary War has been over for seven years and President George Washington has recently given the first State of the Union Address in the young country’s then capital, New York City. Thanks to the Treaty of Paris seven years before, King George is to keep his hands off the 13 colonies as well as any land east of the Mississippi and north of Florida to the Great Lakes, including Mackinac Island, which had just squeaked under the northern boundary of the new country.

But the Brits are taking their sweet time leaving the island, including Fort Mackinac that sprawls defensively along the limestone bluffs. We can only speculate that one Brit went so far as to build himself a new house, his axe ringing out defiantly into the silence of the clear Straits of Mackinac air.

With nary an American citizen on the island to tattle to the authorities in the new country, the Brit likely got away with his big trespass—at least for six years. The Americans took over Fort Mackinac in 1796 and pushed the British out—but not for good, as it turns out. The Brits retook the fort during the War of 1812.

After America won that war in 1815, the Brits were pushed out, for the last time.

End of story? Not quite.

There’s much historians still don’t know about the McGulpin home. Did the builder flee to Canada, sail back across the pond to his Mother Land or did he switch his allegiance to the new country? And for that matter, what was the Brit’s name? It wasn’t McGulpin. He was a baker for the American Fur Company, who purchased the home in 1817. Secrets all, that the old house has yet to give up.

VISIT THE MCGULPIN HOUSE

History lovers make the most of their island time with a Historic Downtown Mackinac pass, which includes entry to the nearby Biddle house (featuring interactive demonstrations and Dendrochronologist the Mackinac Island Native Zachary Merrill American Museum),The Richard took samples from & Jane Manoogian Mackinac every accessible Art Museum and Mackinac at part of the home, Work at the Benjamin Blackcomparing them to each other and smith Shop. All open May 12 similarly aged through Oct. 8. From June 3 to buildings.

Aug. 19, this ticket also includes the American Fur Co. Store & Dr. Beaumont Museum and McGulpin House.

A new McGulpin House exhibit opened this summer and includes a short video program about architectural styles on the island as well as updated educational panels providing context in terms of what was happening on the island in 1790. mackinacparks.com Chase Edwards is a freelance writer and Northern Michigan native.

AUGUST 2023

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outdoors

THE BEACH WITHIN REACH

by SARAH BENCE

This lakeside town is an emerging accessible-travel haven for nature lovers of all abilities.

Stearns Park Beach

photo by Dave Weidner

I

n the sweet coastal town of ludington, one of Michigan’s best assets is opening up to people with various disabilities: the outdoors.

Ludington has become a more welcoming and accessible outdoor destination, thanks to efforts by both local disability advocates and the Friends of Ludington State Park, a nonprofit organization supporting the park.

According to Patrick O’Hare, president of the Friends of Ludington State Park, the organization is always looking for ways to enhance the park, and it just so happens that a number of those projects involve improving accessibility.

One such project was obtaining an all-terrain, electricpowered track chair in May 2022 for state park visitors. The off-road track chair can handle uneven trails, snow, sand and even water. In its first season, it was used 58 times. “The response has been overwhelmingly very positive,” O’Hare says.

Some of that encouraging feedback included a comment shared by Jennifer McDonald Murphy, whose husband used the Ludington track chair. “I cannot begin to describe the feelings my family had seeing [my husband] truly happy for the first time in years. Driving along the beach he said, ‘I never thought I’d hear the waves again.’”

Jamie Spore, Ms. Wheelchair Michigan 2016, is an accessibility advisor to Friends of Ludington State Park, as well as other Ludington businesses. Born with spina bifida, Spore is a lifelong paraplegic wheelchair user and has been a passionate advocate when it comes to accessibility for all.

“The new track chair has been an amazing addition to Ludington State Park,” says Spore, who has taken it for rides on the Logging Trail and the path out to Big Sable Point Lighthouse. “Before the track chair … I had never been able to go on the Logging Trail, because of inaccessibility. It’s a beautiful trail!”

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outdoors

• Accessible playground: Also at Hamlin Lake Beach, there’s a playground featuring ADA-accessible ramps, a poured-in-place rubber surface and an accessible sidewalk.

• Lake Michigan beaches: There are two beach access points that are wheelchair-accessible and barrier-free in Ludington: the beach access by the Beach House in Ludington State Park and Stearns Park Beach. Both have vinyl decking and loanable beach wheelchairs.

• Waterfront Park: This 5.3-acre park has an accessible paved scenic path and a wheelchair-accessible playground on the shores of Pere Marquette Lake.

• Cartier Park Pathway: A paved, ADA-accessible one-mile loop within the popular 80-acre woodland park area.

• Ludington bicycle trail: A paved, ADA-accessible two-mile path that connects to the Sable River Trail.

Hamlin Lake Beach Kayak Launch • Ludington Area Jaycees Mini Golf Course: This mini golf course includes a wheelchair-accessible course.

HOW TO RENT THE LUDINGTON TRACK CHAIR For information on accessible attractions in Ludington, Reserve the chair (free) at friendsofludingtonstatepark.org. including restaurants and transportation, reach out to Pure Clicking the “track chair” link at the top of the page. There’s Ludington at pureludington.com or 231.845.5430. also a video posted on the website explaining how to use the track chair.

Sarah Bence is a freelance writer and occupational therapist The response (and demand) has been so encouraging the based in Michigan. Follow her travel blog @endlessdistances Friends of Ludington State Park are already fund raising for on Instagram. an additional track chair; not only would this allow use of a chair while the other one is charging, but also having two track chairs would mean that two people with mobility challenges could use the chairs and enjoy the state park together.

ACCESSIBLE STAYS Beyond their new all-terrain track chair, there are many Ludington State Park Campgrounds other accessible attractions in Ludington: The park offers wheelchair-accessible camping—there • SeeCoast EnChroma® Viewer: This new viewer is loare five barrier-free campsites at Pines Campground cated along the Skyline Trail at Ludington State Park. It’s and one at Beechwood Campground. The sites include designed to show a broader spectrum of colors for people features like an asphalt path to restrooms and electrical with red-green color blindness and is the first viewer with outlets, heightened poured-concrete fire pits and picnic the EnChroma® feature anywhere in Michigan. table overhangs for wheelchair access.

• Beach wheelchairs: Wheelchair users can rent special wheelchairs equipped for sand from the Beach House and Cartier Mansion Bed & Breakfast the Hamlin Lake concession stand. They are free and firstThis stunning B&B was recently renovated, in consult come, first-served. with local accessibility advocate Jamie Spore. The Edison • Universal kayak launch: Located at Hamlin Lake Suite in the carriage house is fully ADA accessible and Beach, the universal kayak launch includes a 30-foot includes a roll-in shower and accessible sink. graded gangway and transfer area, enabling wheelchair users to launch their watercraft.

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Roaring bonfires and fireflies and camping out and … Here’s our love note to life lived after the sun goes down Up North

Sweet Summer Nights

digging for night crawlers • late-night hamburg and fries at J&S Hamburg • moths dancing on the porch light • fireflies • finding a marshmallow stick • campfires • thunderstorms • s’mores • crickets chirping • drinks on the deck • walking through a pitch-dark campground • sleeping outside without a tent • fireworks • kick-the-can • ghost in the graveyard • beach bonfire • sweatshirts over swimsuits • staying up for the second show at The Cherry Bowl Drive-In • coming home to a glowing porch • flashlight tag • bug zappers • coyotes howling • frogs croaking • owls hooting raccoons clanging • skunks skulking • night hikes • star gazing • Tigers game on the radio • waves heard through a window • sunsets • double scoop cones anglers’ voices across the water • watching for satellites • northern lights • loons • foghorns • falling asleep to the clanking of rigging at the marina lighthouse beacons • moonrises • two-tracking • driving with windows open • burning rosemary on the grill to ward off mosquitoes • campfire songs stargazing from the back of a pickup • barefoot bike riding

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IGHT SWIMMING There is no time to think twice. You’ve got about one nanosecond to shimmy out of your suit and hit the water, lest the mosquitoes carry you away, or maybe worse, your neighbors up late at the cottage next door catch a peek. But once you’re in, you’ve entered another world, my friend. On a clear night, you’re practically swimming through the stars: black water blurs into black sky, and there you are in the middle of it all, wearing nothing but your sun-kissed skin, cutting through the cold water like a warm spoon through ice cream. It’s sexy even if you’re all alone, shocking even if it’s your hundredth time, and the closest you’ll ever feel to flying. The sensation of pure freedom in exchange for just a few millimeters of swimsuit fabric. Now that’s a good deal.

—Emily Bingham

COA STAL CAMPING

photo by Todd Zawistowski

One feel-good bonus to the back-to-basics wave washing over America the Beautiful is the revival of the family camping trip. And we know we’ve got a plethora of pretty special places on our shining freshwater seas to pitch a tent.

A few highlights: D.H. Day Campground, Glen Arbor; Fisherman’s Island State Park, Charlevoix; Wilderness State Park, Petoskey; Ludington State Park. —Emily Betz Tyra

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COOL RUNNINGS Frankfort-ites run to the Cool Spot, Cedar natives howl at the Blue Moon, Bellaire folks get in line at Ruthie’s Dairy Twist, the Benzonia brood beelines it for Hill Top Soda Shoppe. As for Traverse City West Siders jonesing for a pull from the soft serve machine, Shirley is their siren. The Dairy Lodge’s sassy blond mascot has been perched on the sign’s igloo since Al Hepler began running the place in the 1950s.

Back then, the kids called her Shirley, after Al’s wife. Shirley became a brunette when the sign was repainted decades later, and a ruckus arose when the sign’s original painter, Mel Timmerman, updated the sign a few years ago, restoring Shirley’s blond locks. Today, West Siders unite behind their queen, painted an icy blonde on one side and lush brunette on the other, and the neighborhood spot’s malts and sodas, flurries, sundaes and the ultimate classic: the twist. Pick your pleasure at the window at 405 N. Division, Traverse City.

—Emily Betz Tyra

SCIENCE S ATURDAYS My dad snuck in astronomy lessons on weekends, hauling out the telescope—needed or not—so we could explore constellations, see Mars and Venus, or look at the moon.

My favorite lessons were with the whole family down on the deck on Grand Traverse Bay, wrapped in blankets with heads cocked back and eyes glued to the dark sky searching for shooting stars, or what he called meteors. We made

it a game to spot the fiery flash first.

But when Perseids came in August they came faster than we could call them, so we just sat back and enjoyed the fireworks. Perseids is one of the more famed and favorite astronomical events because of its consistency. Every 130 years the Swift-Tuttle comet rotates the Earth, but every year, the Earth rotates and rams into the debris path left by the comet. The rubble, ranging from the size of sand grains to small pebbles, crashes and burns into the Earth’s atmosphere, streaking across the sky. The Perseids run from the end of July to mid-August, but their peak, with 60 meteors streaming by per hour, happens August 12–13 in the wee hours of morning.

—Lauren Marmion

FIRE RITES Beach, park, backyard, riverside, woods after a long summer dusk. The chill announces: autumn is as near as the dark—though not yet, there is time. You stare kindly at the ash-filled basin. You bend to the paper and maple kindling tenderly as an old lover.

You strike the match, touch it to old news. Flame reaches out, catches, gathers, flies skyward. Light flickers against the dark, pinning it to trees or starry sky. You add split birch, slow-burning oak. Now

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wait. Watch the coals build, feel opposites; intense heat, chill leaning on you from nightfall.

Smoke wings against you, stains your hands with soot, your hair with blue-scented feathers.

Step back, settle into the bent lawn chair. Call.

They come—friends, children, elders—dragging branches and carrying tokens of thanks— filled red coolers, water, wine, stories. The fire gods accept, ascend to fight the night, and you, safe for now, let them warm body, mind, spirit against the coming cold. For hours, you sit inside the wavering pool a bonfire shapes and watch mystery unfold at your feet, opening its heart, lifting itself into its own ending, its own dust, until at last you fall asleep in smoldering, spent light. —Anne-Marie Oomen

but, as with any foreign language, it’s best to start early to make it a native tongue. I did, taking pointers on the lap of my uncle, fidgeting nervously, staring blankly at the suits and bowers, foolishly telling my older brother to “pick it up,” sifting through the sea of diamonds in my small fingers until—finally—I realized I had a God-sent hand and the confidence to go it alone. —Emily Betz Tyra

Northern Michiganders love their Euchre, and while we play it anytime, anywhere— huddled by the woodstove at deer camp, after pancakes on winter mornings, on beach blankets under an umbrella—it is best played snug on a screened-in porch on a late summer night. The cool night air eternally refreshes, the peanut M&Ms in the bowl provide brain food and the mosquitoes are locked outside (suckers!). Anyone can learn,

photo by Todd Zawistowski

photo by Dave Weidner

SUMMER IS FOR EUCHRE

THE ENLIGHTENMENT OF HUNGER We crouched around the fire, stomachs yowling, doctoring the blisters on our feet with Duct tape and a pocket knife. He mentioned karma, and my heart skipped. Did you say caramel? The best thing about going hungry is the bourbon goes faster to your head.

We bushwhacked five miles—or was it 50?—walking in circles looking for a lake where the trout were rumored to be as long as ax handles. By dark all we found was a swamp guarded by angry mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls. I brought the camera and a bottle but forgot the canned goods and the bug spray back at the truck.

He smiled as I talked of celestial payback for egregious indiscretions, rising at last when the talk finally turned from cheeseburgers to making a bid for the trailhead in the dark.

Surprise! A last season leftover not long from the freezer. It was sealed in a baggie wrapped in newsprint and a sweater, a back strap of venison the size of a python when uncoiled, still cool to the touch. We savaged the meat into hunks and huffing on our haunches like happy baboons speared them over the flames on sharpened sticks. You talk about enlightenment. I’d rather talk of blistered hunger, campfires, meat, juices running down the chin, and basking later in the fullness of Eden lost somewhere in the Northwoods under the stars. —Bob Butz

T H I S T R AV E R S E C L A S S I C WA S O R I G I N A L LY F E AT U R E D I N T H E A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 I S S U E .

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Fruit for Dinner Abra Beren’s latest cookbook, Pulp, is like having dinner with a close friend.

It’s tender, generous, invigorating. In it, the acclaimed Granor Farm chef pays homage to Michigan’s fruit producers, with a special nod to Leelanau County, where Berens spent eight years cooking and farming at Bare Knuckle Farm in Northport, which she co--founded in 2009. “Fruit is inextricable from my cooking,” she writes. “It shows up in dessert, yes, but, maybe more interestingly, throughout the meal … It’s possible there is so much fruit in my cooking because I’m from Michigan. The mitten state is the second--most agriculturally diverse state in the union, due in large part to the tremendous amount of fruit we grow.”

.

Here, Berens shares a few of her favorite dinner recipes featuring August’s abundant apricots and melons.

Recipes by Abra Berens / Photos by EE Berger

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grilled chicken w/apricots, red onion + basil One of the first big meals I ever made with my friend and mentor Rodger Bowser was a dinner celebrating a local farm that raised incredible heritage chickens. While the chickens were the star, the apricot salad that went along with them was a scene stealer.

1 whole chicken (4 to 5 pounds) ¼ cup neutral oil 3 garlic cloves, smashed salt ¼ teaspoon chili flakes 1 lemon (about 1.5 ounces), zest and juice 1 orange (about 3 ounces), zest and juice 1 red onion (about 4 ounces) olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 pounds apricots, halved and pits removed 5 sprigs basil

1. Break down the chicken into quarters: Set the chicken, breast sideup with legs pointing at you. Cut between the leg and the bottom of the breast and start to separate the two. Flip the bird over and pop the hip joint of the chicken by lifting the leg quarter up until you hear the ball-socket joint break apart. Cut around the oyster meat (a.k.a. the chicken love handle) and remove the leg. Repeat on the other leg.

Then return the now legless bird to breast-side up. Cut down the center of the breastbone (between the chicken cleavage) and, cutting as close to the bone as possible, lift the breast away from the rib cage.

Cut around the base of the wing so that the wing and breast stay connected as you separate them from the center cavity. Repeat on the other side. Save the center carcass for making stock, etc.

2. Place the chicken quarters into a dish or sealable bag. Add the oil, garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, chili flakes and citrus zest to the bag and smoosh around to coat the chicken. Refrigerate and let marinate for at least an hour and up to two days.

3. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium. Remove the chicken from the marinade (squeezing off any excess oil). Grill skin-side down until the skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken to a cooler part of the grill and continue cooking until it is cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), about 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cut the onion into 1-inch-wide petals and toss with a glug of olive oil and big pinch of salt and pepper. Grill over mediumhigh heat until soft and slightly singed. Remove the onions to a medium bowl.

5. Toss the apricot halves with a glug of olive oil and a big pinch of salt and black pepper. Grill, cut-side down, until the fruit is slightly soft and has good grill lines. Remove from the grill and add to the bowl of onions.

Add the citrus juice along with another glug of olive oil. Let cool slightly.

6. Just before serving, tear the basil into large pieces and add to the onionapricot mixture. To serve, pile the salad on top of each piece of chicken.

photos by Liam Kaiser

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Fru grilled melon with tahini, chili oil + sesame seeds The dense flesh of melon allows it to take some heat on the grill without falling apart. Even the moisture-rich watermelon can take a good sear—just make sure that your grill (or frying pan, if not grilling) is ripping hot. You want to sear the fruit quickly before the flesh of the melon is cooked through.

Salt and melon are a classic combination—prosciutto-wrapped melon for example. Cream and melon are just as classic. This recipe draws on each of those combinations for something new. Most of my summer dinners are a smattering of simple small plates that come together well. I would pair this dish with some grilled fish, a tomatomozzarella salad and something green, maybe arugula with lemon and some garlic bread crumbs. Or I’d just eat it on its own and be pretty happy, too. Black sesame seeds are a bit hard to find, but make this dish extra easy on the eyes.

½ cup tahini 1 muskmelon (2 pounds), rind removed and cut into 2-inch-wide wedges olive oil ¼ cup chili oil (see note below) salt 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

1. In a small bowl, whisk the tahini with a couple tablespoons of hot water until smooth, light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

2. Drizzle the melon with olive oil.

3. On a hot grill, sear the flat side of the melon until charred, about 2 minutes.

Flip and sear the other side. Remove the melon to a serving platter.

4. To serve, spoon the whipped tahini all over the melon, drizzle with the chili oil, sprinkle with salt, and scatter the sesame seeds all over.

To make chili oil: In a small saucepan, toast 1 teaspoon chili flakes over high heat until fragrant and starting to darken, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add ½ cup neutral oil, and let steep for a minimum of 10 minutes.

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Frui

melon, cucumber + chickpea salad This is one of the rare times that I find it worth it to scoop melon into balls. The visual of the spherical melon, round cucumber and little chickpea BBs is top-notch. The only downside is that it makes the salad a little hard to eat, especially for young ones at the table, so be warned.

2 pounds English-style cucumbers, tipped and tailed (cutting off the top and bottom) 2-pound melon, any variety, scooped into balls or cut into chunks 2 cups chickpeas, cooked (or one 15-ounce can) Salt and freshly ground black pepper ¾ cup buttermilk 1 cup fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, hyssop, etc.), leaves picked from stems and roughly chopped ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted Olive oil

1. Using a wide knife, whack the cucumber with the side of the blade to smash the cucumber into irregular chunks.

2. On a serving platter, lay out two-thirds of the cucumber, two-thirds of the melon, and scatter two-thirds of the chickpeas evenly over the top. Season the whole platter with salt and black pepper and drizzle the buttermilk liberally all over. Sprinkle two-thirds of the herbs and almonds over that. Repeat with the last of the cucumbers, melon and chickpeas. Season with salt and black pepper again. Finish with the last of the herbs and almonds, then drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit,

by Abra Berens, © 2023. Published by Chronicle Books.

Photographs © EE Berger.

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I SLAND TIME GET

LOST

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V A N M O R R I S O N sings about sailing into the mystic

as we near our destination (and the end of my road-trip playlist). We turn down an unnamed dirt road, marked only by a single campground sign, and plumes of terracotta dust begin escaping from beneath my tires. My lack of four-wheel drive briefly rises to front of mind, tickling my anxiety. But relief comes swiftly as we arrive at a small cottage at the end of the road, a placard that reads “Loons Point Office” hanging from the knotted wooden rafters.

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AFTER

a two-and-a-half-hour, blue-sky summer drive, Traverse Northern Michigan Managing Editor Carly Simpson, Digital Content & Social Media Strategist Rachel Soulliere and I have arrived at the Loons Point RV Park & Campground, nestled on the eastern end of Cedarville— our home base as we explore the Upper Peninsula’s Les Cheneaux Islands over the next couple days. I sense a collective exhale as we exit my snug, luggage-laden Mazda. We’re wrapped in a cool bay breeze and treated to a panoramic view of the sprawling, cerulean Cedarville Bay, glistening under the midday sun.

Holly—a petite woman with a big, beaming smile—is a literal ray of sunshine, greeting us warmly inside the cozy office and getting us signed in. She makes small talk as we browse brochures and loon-embroidered shirts and caps. I sign the receipt, and Rachel teases that my last name will be changing soon.

“Oooh, is this a bachelorette party!?” Holly pokes with a grin. We laugh and dash her hopes … but it’s not not a girls’ weekend. While we’re here on assignment, the trip feels like a celebration of new friendships forged by a shared passion: exploring and sharing the wild places that call to us.

Holly hops up into her golf cart and shows us to our tent site. “If you ladies go out tonight, just call me and I’ll come and get you!” She laughs as she zips away, but I’m fairly certain Holly would’ve answered our late-night call, had we felt the urge to don tiaras and “Bride’s Crew” swag and hit a local bar or two.

That’s the magic of Les Cheneaux. Sure, it’s a slice of pure Up North paradise, with its 36 islands and classic wooden boats cruising the ribbons of blue in between. But it’s the people who make this coastal haven so welcoming. Holly’s gracious energy and infectious smile. Our guide, Mark Clymer, who’s earned the title of friendliest city government official I’ve ever met. Our intrepid kayak tour guide, Sue Bakkila. And the woman who connected us with all of these incredible people—Anne Fleming of Little Traverse Conservancy, which protects so many of the precious wild places left in the eastern U.P. and lower peninsula.

Our mission this weekend: to explore as much of this archipelago oasis as we possibly can. After settling into our campsite, we stop to grab lunch before meeting up with Mark, at the now-closed but much beloved Narley Whale Fish Market. And I can’t help but smile when I see a sweatshirt for sale that reads: “Who has more fun than us! Cedarville, MI.” There’s no doubt in my mind, as I wait for my whitefish lunchbox, that the folks who call the islands home, or who take the time to visit this hidden gem destination, do, in fact, have the most fun. Here’s how they do it.

Top: Clark Township Supervisor Mark Clymer captains the Tomorrow. Opposite: The view from the circa 1940 Les Cheneaux Yacht Club.

Right: Rachel Soulliere takes in the island panorama from a 1930 Dodge Watercar.

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CRUISE THE ISLANDS “So, are you guys stress-free now?”

Clark Township Supervisor Mark Clymer lofts that question back at us as we dart past multicolored boathouses in his 25-foot 1930 Dodge Watercar, the striped mahogany hull mirroring the fluffy white clouds above.

The long answer? My stress melted away three islands ago.

We’re discovering in real time what Les Cheneaux residents already know: It’s hard not to smile while making waves on a classic wooden powerboat. As Mark shares some of the islands’ history, I take in the vintage details of the Tomorrow—from the winged chrome mermaid with windswept hair at the bow, to the cluster of antique gauges adorning the dash.

In Les Cheneaux, wooden boats aren’t just a vessel for waterlogged summer days, they’re a way of life. Hessel— the islands’ second anchor city, just west of Cedarville—is home to the first Chris-Craft dealership in the world, E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works, Inc., which opened in 1925. A true pioneer, Gene Mertaugh built the first boathouse out of scrap lumber and navigated his Chris-Craft inventory up Lake Huron via compass.

Today, the shop partners with community organizations to host the annual Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show every second Saturday in August (Aug. 12 this

year)—the largest show of its kind in the world. Expect to see more than 150 classic boats (and 10,000 boaters) gather this month in Hessel.

And for those of you who want to get on the water but don’t have a boat of your own, not to worry. You can book a day-long excursion, including a ride on a classic wooden boat, with MackTours, or check out Island Charters for fishing trips (everything from big-lake fishing to fly-fishing) and custom tours from Mackinac Island to Les Cheneaux to Drummond Island. You can also take a five-hour Les Cheneaux Lighthouse Cruise, offered by Shepler’s Ferry, that boasts views of six lights, as well as a look at the archipelago’s many channels.

TIP

TAKE LUNC H TO-GO

Mark suggests heading to Cattails Cove on Cedarville Bay for the freshest fish basket around (choose from walleye, perch, whitefish or bluegill). Soak in the view from the waterfront patio, or take your food to-go and enjoy lunch out on the water. Mark recommends Liberty Beach on Hessel Bay or boating around Government Island.

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GRAB DINNER AT THE CULINARY SCHOOL After spending the day boating, we hustled to ensure we’d arrive on time for our reservation at Les Cheneaux Culinary School, and quickly found ourselves unwinding on the restaurant’s sunny patio, a gentle breeze blowing in from Hessel Bay. This vocational school serves up delicious farm-to-table dishes sourced from local producers, and they won us over right off the bat with their citrus salad sprinkled with fresh dill, and a house-milled country loaf with sour butter. We sipped margs and lemon drop martinis, and filled up on main courses—red curry with local veg and roasted half chicken with linguine—sadly leaving zero room for dreamy desserts like honey panna cotta and blueberry galette. The school’s menu changes seasonally; we’ll definitely be back for dessert.

CAMP BY THE WATER A private beach dotted with white Adirondacks. A dock made for soaking in sunsets (and impromptu swim sessions). Cornhole with a view of the bay.

We couldn’t find a single thing not to love about Loons Point Campground. Walking down the dock at sundown, taking a quick dip in the bay and drying off later by the bonfire was the perfect way to end our first day in Les Cheneaux. Tucked between towering conifers, we had frontrow seats to dark skies dotted with the kind of mesmerizing starry display you can only find in the North’s quiet wilderness.

Top: The breezy patio of the Les Cheneaux Culinary School is the perfect perch for a summer bevvie. Above: From the moment you arrive, the culinary students serve up plenty of smiles with their farm-to-table fare. Right: Carly and Rachel share a dockside laugh before jumping in. Opposite page: A family of kayakers takes a break on the beach at Government Island during our guided trip with Woods & Waters; Carly propels our tandem kayak while I pause to focus on steering (and documenting).

TIP Les Cheneaux is home to plenty of rustic camping options, too—like Search Bay Nature Preserve west of Hessel, or Government Island (the only public island in Les Cheneaux) that can be reached by kayak, canoe or motorboat. The island offers hiking trails and leave-no-trace camping.

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K AYA K T O GOVERNMENT ISL AND … AND BEYOND We rose early the next morning, fueling up with bagels, coffee and tea at Les Cheneaux Coffee Roasters before our 8 a.m. guided kayak trip with local outfitter Woods & Waters. Leaving at daybreak is necessary, owner Sue Bakkila says, so we can enjoy Lake Huron while she’s calm(er).

This slower-paced tour allowed us to really take in more of our surroundings—nesting eagles and osprey, picturesque cottages, wild forested shorelines. With our time constraints lodged at the very back of our minds, we opted to extend our trip to Government Island when Sue offered, and I’m glad we did.

Conquering the ever-increasing undulating waves and floating over calm, crystal-clear turquoise waters as we landed on a remote, cedar-lined beach was about as cool as it gets.

TIP Woods & Waters offers numerous trip options, including a nightly sunset paddle and a full moon paddle. This summer, they’re also hosting special events like star gazing and star lore with historian and author Mary Stewart Adams on Aug. 10, and a free stand-up paddleboarding session at Hessel Beach on Aug. 19.

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Left: Gorgeous apple trees greet visitors as they walk up to the charming Applecore General Store.

Bottom: Les Cheneaux Distillers offers an array of cocktails to choose from, plus beer and wine all crafted in-house.

SHOP THE CUTEST GENERAL STORE Running short on time, we made the hard choice to limit our shopping spree and ventured over to the ridiculously charming Applecore General Store. Owner Amy Polk’s idyllic one-stop shop, surrounded by apple trees, of course, was a sensory treat. We perused nature-inspired prints by artist Katie Eberts (you might recognize her work from the annual Aldo Leopold Festival held each June in Les Cheneaux), and sniffed local handmade soaps from Cedar Shore Soaps (I walked away with a luxurious juniper spice sugar scrub that Amy makes herself with Les Cheneaux Distillers’ gin botanicals). Be wise and budget more time than we did—Applecore is made for lingering.

SIP SPIRITS AT A DISTILLERY We’ve earned a drink! … and some food. That was our first thought after setting foot on solid ground. For a late lunch, we headed to Les Cheneaux Distillers in Cedarville, and while all of our drinks and meals were delicious, the real winner was the Boot Bloody Mary (served with ALL of the pickles). When you head to this intimate micro-distillery for spirits, beer or even a glass of small-batch wine, make sure to order some Potato Mashers for the table (and don’t skip the Green Goddess dipping sauce).

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TAKE A HIKE Conveniently, our last stop was situated right across the road from the general store.

Anne Fleming at Little Traverse Conservancy recommended hiking the 207-acre William B. Derby Nature Preserve, and this magical boreal forest didn’t disappoint. The preserve sits along the northern shore of Lake Huron and is excellent for birdwatching (it’s even a designated stop along the North Huron Birding Trail). It’s also a popular stopover point for kayakers looking to have lunch among the cedar trees.

During our 1.5-mile trek, we were enchanted by prismatic mosses and lichen that painted the forest floor, interrupted only by massive moss-covered boulders that stood tall, like ancient guardians of this whimsical woodland (check one out on page 64). This globally rare shoreline topography is also home to an array of scarce plant species. One such wildflower, the lesser-fringed gentian, greeted us with its vibrant blue-violet petals as we took a midhike break to gaze out over Mackinac Bay.

TIP Mark your calendar for next year’s Aldo Leopold Festival, May 29–June 2, 2024. Leopold, one of the country’s most influential naturalists, spent several months a year with his family in Les Cheneaux, at their cottage on Marquette Island. The festival celebrates his legacy with an array of nature-based events including paddling excursions, orchid and wildflower tours and birding trips.

Beyond the festival, there are countless outdoor rec opportunities in Les Cheneaux; head to Little Traverse Conservancy’s website (landtrust.org) for more info on preserves and trails waiting to be explored.

The William B. Derby Nature Preserve features a gentle hike through a whimsical boreal forest; the lesser-fringed gentian.

Allison Jarrell is the associate editor of Traverse Northern Michigan.

She’s looking forward to her next Les Cheneaux visit.

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Tales Trail F ROM T HE

STRETCHING 4,800 MILES ACROSS EIGHT STATES FROM NORTH DAKOTA TO VERMONT, THE NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL IS THE LONGEST IN THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM—AND MICHIGAN HOSTS THE MOST MILES OF ALL EIGHT. AVID HIKER, NATURE GEEK AND GIFTED PHOTOGRAPHER KIM METTLER SHARES HER FAVORITE SECTIONS OF THE TRAIL THROUGH THE LENS OF HER CAMERA, REVELING IN THE GRAND VIEWS AND INTIMATE MOMENTS THAT CALL HER BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN. STORY AND PHOTOS

BY KIM METTLER

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photos by Liam Kaiser

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It all started with a challenge: To tackle 100 miles within a calendar year.

Participants in the North Country Trail Hike 100 Challenge trek sections of the trail at their own pace and choose locations that best suit them. My passion is pairing my wanderlust with the lens of my camera, so photographing my journey was a natural fit. I started at a section near my Boyne City home, then pushed farther north. From a tiny sphinx moth on a wild iris to sweeping vistas of Lake Superior along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, the trail’s grandeur enthralled me, and I couldn’t resist the allure of discovering more. So, I set out on several day trips and weekend adventures, venturing deeper into the wilderness.

Unlike other long-distance trails, the North Country Trail (NCT) is often regarded as more suitable for section hikers rather than thru hikers. Section hikers do shorter portions of the trail, allowing them to fully immerse in the scenery of each region. Here are a few of my favorite spots.

THE JORDAN VALLEY PATHWAY AND WARNER CREEK PATHWAY, SOUTH OF BOYNE CITY Conveniently located a few miles from my front door in Boyne City, these two sections along the Jordan River have quickly become my go-tos. The Jordan Valley Pathway greets you with panoramas of the river valley below, filled with lush greenery stretching as far as the eye can see. Towering hardwood trees, including sugar maple and oak, create a shady canopy, while delicate spring ephemerals like trillium and lady’s slipper orchids dot the forest floor. The melody of the Jordan River provides a soothing soundtrack, and the river banks are teeming with life, from deer foraging in the distance to migrating warblers flitting through the trees with boundless energy.

The Jordan Valley Pathway is an 18.5-mile loop that overlaps the NCT for about 12 miles and is considered one of the top overnight backpacking loops in the Lower Peninsula. Warner Creek Pathway is a 3.8-mile loop through the Mackinaw State Forest, with roughly two miles overlapping the NCT. This shorter route is a popular year-round destination for hikers, snowshoers and cross-country skiers.

Nice to know: The largest tributary to Lake Charlevoix, the Jordan River was Michigan’s first designated National Wild and Scenic River. It’s also a blue-ribbon trout stream— a gem for fly fishing.

Clockwise: I use the Avenza Maps app for navigation. On the North Country Trail website, you can download map sections from the Avenza app or printable PDF maps, both available at no charge; Hikers in the Jordan River Valley section get to cross the 45th Parallel—the halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole; Our misty hike near Boyne Falls.

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DOBLESKI ROAD TO KUZMICK ROAD, NEAR BOYNE FALLS It was a gray, drizzly day when two friends and I embarked on this seven-mile section of the North Country Trail. The mist only added to the allure of the journey, and we were determined to make the most of the day we had planned. The trail here is adorned with a kaleidoscope of spring wildflowers, bravely displaying their colors. Dutchman’s breeches danced in the breeze, their white and yellow blossoms resembling miniature pantaloons, and vibrant marsh marigolds added bursts of yellow to the damp landscape. At times, the trail merged with country roads, requiring a walk alongside passing cars. The surrounding scenery of farmhouses and expansive fields provided their own charm and a contrast to the serene forest path we encountered early on.

As we trudged through muddy stretches, tackled challenging hills and navigated road walking, our hearts were filled with a sense of accomplishment and a deeper appreciation for the wonders that can be unearthed on even the gloomiest of days.

Nice to know: Petoskey stones can be found in places other than Lake Michigan’s shoreline. I could not believe my eyes when I stumbled upon not one, but two Petoskey stones along this section of trail! These ancient treasures, with their distinct fossilized patterns, were like precious gems hidden among the rocks, connecting us to the geological history of the region.

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SKYLINE TRAIL, PETOSKEY Regularly hiking the four-mile, out-and-back section of the NCT known as the Skyline Trail near Petoskey is a thrill that never fails to captivate. The trek begins with a steep descent along numerous switchbacks through a dense forest of towering row pines, the air filled with the refreshing scent of evergreens. A short distance from the trailhead is a spur trail with an observation deck. From this vantage point, you’re rewarded with a panorama of natural wonders, as the shimmering waters of Little Traverse Bay sparkle beyond the Bear River Valley in all of its pristine glory. The Skyline Trail offers not only a physical challenge, but also an opportunity to connect with nature, leaving a lasting impression long after the hike is over.

Nice to know: The Jordan Valley 45° Chapter of the North Country Trail constructed a 12x13–foot shelter in 2017 with six bunks and a deck with a partial view of the Bear River Valley. The cabin is at Mile 612.5 of the NCT but only a 0.6mile walk from the Skyline trailhead. Use of the shelter is free but there is a two-night maximum stay.

Above: Spotted! A sphinx moth on a wild iris; The Skyline Camp near Petoskey is a free shelter for hikers; Don’t forget to look down—the forest floor is covered in pretty scenes like this.

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LAKEVIEW TRAILHEAD, NEAR WILDERNESS STATE PARK “Who, who, who, who cooks for you?? Who cooks for you all!?!?” The call of the barred owl accompanied me this afternoon at the Lakeview Trailhead, located just south of Wilderness State Park near the tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

This roughly two-mile, out-and-back section was truly impressive, thanks to a fairytale ambiance. As you depart the parking lot, headed south, you’ll find yourself immersed in a dune forest, where the path gently winds through a series of moderate hills. The surrounding woodlands offer a tapestry of evergreen and hardwood trees, while the forest floor teems with ferns, intricate fungi and lush foliage. Along the way, you’ll encounter a tranquil creek and a vernal pool (and maybe even a barred owl).

For an extra treat, a spur trail unveils a magnificent overlook of Sturgeon Bay, showcasing the aqua-blue waters of Lake Michigan set against the foreground of towering dunes.

Nice to know: Wilderness State Park is a designated Dark Sky Preserve, making it an excellent destination for stargazing and experiencing the wonders of the night sky away from urban light pollution.

Above: The NCT goes through more than 14 miles of Wilderness State Park.

Five of those miles pass by the forested sand dunes of Sturgeon Bay.

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PICTURED ROCKS CHAPEL BASIN LOOP, NEAR MUNISING “WOW! WOW! WOW!” The sheer excitement that my hiking companion and I experienced as we peered through an opening in the trees to the brilliant blue sky and Lake Superior shoreline was palpable. The reward for this moderate hike is some of the most specular views in the entire state of Michigan. This scenic trail winds through verdant forests, along majestic cliffs and beside the crystal-clear waters of Lake Superior, leading to awe-inspiring vistas of the famous Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where towering sandstone cliffs painted in hues of red, orange and blue, rise dramatically from the water’s edge. On the wooded portion of the trail, a Narnia-like realm envelops you, as the forest transforms before your eyes. The brushy low-growth canopy gives way to expansive open woods, towering maple trees reaching for the sky and a tapestry of blush-colored

hepatica and delicate yellow trout lilies carpeting the ground in the spring. As you traverse the loop, you’ll encounter woodland paths, creeks and hidden waterfalls. The hike begins and ends at the Chapel trailhead parking lot, 14 miles east of Munising. The entire loop is 10.4 miles over generally level terrain, making it either a long day hike or an easy overnight outing, with 4.7 miles overlapping the North Country Trail along the lakeshore.

Nice to know: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and its glorious 73,000 acres are managed by the National Park Service. In 1966, it was the first of the country’s four national lakeshores to be established.

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PRESQUE ISLE RIVER WATERFALLS LOOP, PORCUPINE MOUNTAINS Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, located along the northwest coast of the Upper Peninsula, is hands-down one of my favorite places to hike in Michigan, and it includes 23 miles of NCT terrain. I first fell in love with “The Porkies” during a two-week artist residency when I lived in a secluded cabin near the heart of the park. My lodging was deep in the woods under a dark canopy of trees, so I found myself in search of open sky each day. This 2.3mile loop is on the western edge of the park, with approximately one mile overlapping the NCT. It begins and ends near where the mouth of the Presque Isle River meets Lake Superior.

There, a timber suspension bridge grants a vantage point to photograph kettle formations, sculpted by the swift current of the river. The east and west trails are both nicely groomed but can be challenging at times when nature’s artistry reveals itself in the form of tree roots that shape the trail into grand staircases. Each path meanders through cedar and hardwood forests to follow the banks of the river and provide spectacular views of three waterfalls: Manabezho Falls, Manido Falls and Nawadaha Falls.

Clockwise: One of many epic views from the Chapel Basin Loop; Taking a riverside rest in the Porcupine Mountains; Spotted! A barred owl; Hey! I’m Kim. I hope you find a few gems for yourself along the NCT.

Nice to know: The Porcupine Mountains were named by the native Ojibwe people because their silhouette had the shape of a crouching porcupine. It’s Michigan’s largest state park, covering 60,000 acres, of which nearly 35,000 acres are old-growth forest, accounting for one of the largest remaining tracts in North America.

Kim Mettler, owner of Michigan Barefoot Memories, is a nationally published lifestyle, portrait and commercial photographer and writer. mibarefootmemories.com

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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THE DRAMA IS IN THE DETAILS

H

ow do you pick a favorite Victorian cottage on

Mackinac Island—a place graced with dozens of them? I truly love them all, though Brigadoon on Main Street has always stood out to me. The home was built by George Arnold, the founder of Arnold Line ferries (now Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Company). Not coincidentally, Arnold built his home across from his dock. I love to imagine Arnold, prominent citizen that he was, strolling confidently to work from his gorgeous Queen Anne home—surveying the stunning and wild Straits of Mackinac that he’d conquered to make himself a wealthy man.

On my island trips, I walk slowly past, head turned to gaze at Brigadoon’s domed turret and gracious veranda, while horses and bikes dart by narrowly missing me. But never did I think I would get to go inside. Lucky me! In the process of writing this issue’s story on the restoration of Brigadoon after a devastating fire, its generous owners, Jay and Janet Stingel, gave me a personal tour of their home. To see the historic details—the carved woodwork, antique furniture, puddled drapes and much more firsthand—was truly unforgettable.

In Brigadoon those details are original. But what if you have a vintage home that is begging to tell its story even when the original elements have been lost over the years? In our feature “Storied Style,” Erica Harrison, a former designer for Ralph Lauren, shows us how to channel another era in her renovation of a 1910 bungalow. Hint: It’s all about the details, as you’ll see in the special two-page spread she put together for us called “Get the Look.”

Lastly, our story "Curating the Maximalist Cottage" is a lesson in what to do when you are overwhelmed with collectibles you can’t part with. Designer Wendy Buhr gives us the answer: artfully display them. Taken together, these three features are a deep dive into the power details have to bring out the drama in our homes. After all, while some of us prefer subtle drama and others bold, as George Arnold might have said, who wants boring?

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in love with

BLOSSOM BLISS A contemporary take on fine-art tiles makes the perfect statement piece with a nod to Mother Nature.

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THE HOME trends universe has been immersed in neutral subway tiles forever, so these bloomingly brilliant beauties immediately caught our eye. Each handmade tile in Motawi Tileworks’ latest series, Blossom Bliss, possesses subtle variations of color and texture, unscripted touches from the artisans who work in the company’s Ann Arbor pottery studio. The flower motif, created by print

and textile artist Cary Phillips, comes in orange (shown here), pink and light blue.

The 6-by-8-inch Arts & Crafts–style tiles make lovely stand-alone statements (each one has a notch in the back for hanging), but we love using them for a bolder impression, embedded in backsplashes and other installations. Purchase directly or find a store that carries Motawi tiles at motawi.com. $132.

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my favorite space

PORCH, PERFECTED Designer Carrie Long transforms an under-used porch into the best room in the house.

by E L I Z ABET H E DWAR D S

THIS BEAUTIFUL retreat-like sunroom was once a decrepit covered porch used for housing the garbage. Its full renovation included enclosing it with large picture windows and adding forced air/heating and radiant heated tile flooring that makes the space extra cozy.

Designer Carrie Long kept the existing woodpanel ceiling and accentuated it with warm LED tray lighting along with a pair of contemporary hand-blown oval sconces by Fuse Lighting.

The room features four Kardiel lullaby rocking chairs in gray velvet, a fun twist on relaxed seating, and an upholstered ottoman with matching velvet accent pillows from Romo.

An early 1900s art frame was repurposed into a mirror, adding light, depth and color play to the room. A vintage chrome and glass side table is just right for setting down morning coffees or evening cocktails. The Stark rug pulls the abstract accents, gray tile floor and white walls and window treatments together.

The expansive windows and a new glass door to the outdoor porch connect the indoors to the rolling backyard that’s home to a small herd of deer.

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Carrie Long, founder of Carrie Long Interiors, is a Michigan-based designer who has worked in places as diverse as Israel and Australia. She specializes in high-end primary and secondary residences, as well as custom furniture.

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house and home

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SAVING BRIGADOON AN ICONIC MACKINAC ISLAND HOME RISES FROM THE ASHES AFTER A DEVASTATING FIRE.

By E L I Z A B E T H E DWA R D S Photos by CHRISTINE MAGEE

F

or nearly 125 years , brigadooon , a lovely cream-colored home on Main Street with a signature domed turret, has been a treasured piece of the island landscape—a setting accented with historic treasures, including dozens of other Victorian cottages, Fort Mackinac and the elegant Grand Hotel. At four stories and 20 rooms, all loaded with ornately carved oak woodwork, the Queen Anne–style Brigadoon is a veritable monument to the wealth of the man who had it built: George Arnold, founder of the Arnold Line ferry (now owned

by Mackinac Island Ferry Company).

In 1989, Jay and Janet Stingel purchased Brigadoon turnkey from the home’s previous owners. Though virtually the entire house was original to Arnold’s era, Brigadoon had become a bit tattered over the century. The Stingels’ loving restoration included new wiring and refinishing the beautiful woodwork and furnishings through-

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AT FOUR STORIES AND 20 ROOMS,

ALL LOADED WITH ORNATELY CARVED OAK WOODWORK, THE QUEEN ANNE–STYLE BRIGADOON IS A VERITABLE MONUMENT TO THE WEALTH OF THE MAN WHO BUILT IT: GEORGE ARNOLD, FOUNDER OF THE ARNOLD LINE FERRY.

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Previous spread: After the fire, the Stingels received letters and emails from around the world—including one all the way from Saudi Arabia—expressing their sympathy and concern for the beloved landmark. “Other people would stop and prop their elbows on the wall out in front and watch the work, and some even cried,” Janet says.

Above: In their 1989 redo of the home, the Stingels had chosen Victorian-inspired shades of rose for the furnishings.

This time, working with Sharon Grzech of Petoskey-based Pumco Interiors, the couple opted on a blue and pale-green palette to reflect the island’s woods and water.

Right: The beautifully intricate underside of the dome was recreated by John Fehner of Mertaugh Boat Works.

The Stingels have left it open on the interior, and even had it lit, to show off the craftsmanship.

out the home. For the next 32 years, the couple spent glorious summers relaxing on Brigadoon’s veranda, basking in the breezes off the Straits of Mackinac while watching horses clip-clop and bicyclists mosey past—motorized vehicles having been banned on the island since the year before Brigadoon was built.

At around 6 p.m., May 30, 2021, that blissful lifestyle went up in flames. The evening was just chilly enough for a fire in the living room hearth where the Stingels were enjoying a glass of wine when they noticed strangers racing up to their porch yelling that the roof was on fire. Not really believing, the couple ran up to the home’s third floor and as they rounded the corner in the hallway Janet recalls hearing crackling in the walls. “I knew then that we were in trouble,” she says. The couple grabbed their two dogs and some random belongings and fled outside to see a terrifying blaze devouring the cedar shingles along the main roof gable—flames that were headed for that signature dome.

Within minutes, Mackinac Island’s fire department, including their two fire trucks—motorized emergency vehicles are permitted on the island—screamed to the site, and additional firefighters were immediately dispatched from St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, the closest cities across the water. The crews worked furiously for 90 minutes and amazingly had the fire put out by 7:30 p.m.

It didn’t take the Stingels long to count their blessings: no one (or animal) had been hurt. The wind was quiet that evening so the NHC • MYNORTH.COM

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The parlor table and ornate chair are original to the home, as is the piano. The new drapes “puddle” at the bottom—a style in Victorian homes used to help keep drafts out. The water-damaged oak woodwork, including the ionic columns, were restored to their former beauty.

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Landscaper Jack Barnwell of Jack Barnwell Design recreated the original landscaping that had been largely destroyed in the process of putting out the fire and by the heavy equipment used for reconstruction.

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With the exception of the matching pewter chandeliers, the kitchen was a total loss and had to be completely renovated with the help of Preston Feather of Harbor Springs.

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Left: Restored by Hensler Furniture Restoration, the Eastlake Victorian dining room set and buffet are once again ready to welcome dinner parties—as they have since George Arnold’s time. A number of years ago, Janet found the chandelier in an antique store in Florida. Made in 1899—the same year Brigadoon was built—its grape motif even matched the dining room’s antique beveled glass window. Hearing how special it was, a Mackinac Island firefighter jumped on the table, cut it down and whisked it to safety. Firefighters also nailed plywood up on the outside of the beveled window to protect it.

Below: Refinished after the fire, the gracious stairway made it through the blaze. ServPro of Gaylord—fire and water damage specialists—transported dozens of antiques, including the dainty Eastlake Victorian chair in the lower right of the photo, to Hensler Furniture Restoration in Saginaw for refinishing.

fire didn’t spread as it could have along the close-packed line of historical buildings on Main Street. And given that the fire broke out over the primary bedroom, it was beyond fortunate that the couple wasn’t asleep when it happened. Then there were the heroic Mackinac Island firefighters who, well versed in the importance of saving historic island artifacts, carried out valuable paintings, an antique chandelier and other heirlooms.

Still, the devastation was staggering. The entire roof—dome included— and third floor were a total loss, and water damage from the hundreds of thousands of gallons sprayed on the home had ruined the interior. The renovation would cost more than a million dollars.

Cost aside, the logistics of rebuilding a historical home on an island where supplies are moved from the ferry to the site by horse and dray were mind-boggling.

Nevertheless, the Stingels were determined to restore Brigadoon—and did so by pulling together a team of contractors and craftsmen that was consummately tailored to the needs of their restoration.

Job one was to hire a crew ASAP to get a roof on the home before winter set in. That issue was solved when a friend, Steve Seibert (then the vice president of construction for the Saginaw-based contracting company Wolgast Corporation), called the Stingels and offered assistance. “We have a restoration division,” Seibert explained. “We do this on a daily business.”

That said, Wolgast had never done a project on the island with all its logistical complications, but the company was game. Beyond having to barge all of the heavy equipment and supplies across the Straits, every move had to be planned minutely so that the work NHC • MYNORTH.COM

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It starts with a place.

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didn’t block the daylong crowds on Main Street. “We had to work on island time,” Seibert explains. “Even the trash had to be picked up early in the morning before tourists were on the street.”

Fortunately, enough of the dome remained intact after the fire for it to be replicated. Jay figured correctly that the wooden boatbuilders at Mertaugh Boat Works, the Hessel-based company where the Stingels keep their two vintage boats, had the needed skills to build a new one. “A dome is more like a boat than a house,” explains Geoff Hamilton, Mertaugh’s general manager. “Everything on a boat is curved.”

Working with a small team, Mertaugh’s master craftsperson, John Fehner, constructed the 2,450-pound dome that measures 12 feet in diameter. To assure that the dome was as historically accurate as possible, it was fabricated from custom-cut, roughsawn cedar from the Upper Peninsula. “It’s not off-the-shelf lumber from Home Depot,” Hamilton says.

To place the dome atop the turret, the Stingels hired Midwest Helicopter Airways of Willowbrook, Illinois. On an October day five months after the fire, pilot Kurt Hanneman transported the dome from St. Ignace (where it had been trucked from Hessel) and laid it neatly on top of the turret—a process that took just 15 minutes from start to finish. The restoration was far from complete, but the turret was on and the crew from Wolgast was closing in on the completion of the roof.

Brigadoon’s interior would be protected from the elements through the long winter while work continued.

On a May night in 2022, almost a year to date after the fire, the Stingels lit a fire in their living room fireplace, confident that the home’s two chimneys—both re-built by a Straits-area mason—were safe and sound. Nevertheless, as they poured themselves glasses of wine, Jay called the Mackinac Island fire chief and joked: “Don’t drink tonight, we’re starting a fire.”

In the upstairs bedrooms, a pair of metal beds, a pair of sleigh beds, a brass bed and matching chandeliers were all restored after being severely water damaged.

FIREWISE ADVICE: To make it easier to navigate your insurance claim, Janet Stingel recommends shooting a video of your house and its contents—open closets, drawers, bathrooms, cupboards, everything. The video does not have to be professional, but it will document the level of fixtures, finishes and the contents of your home should they need to be replaced.

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house and home

STORIED STYLE

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A FORMER DESIGNER FOR RALPH LAUREN CHANNELS THE SPIRIT OF A 1910 BUNGALOW IN A TOP-TO-BOTTOM RESTORATION THAT BALANCES VINTAGE STYLE WITH MODERN GLAM. B y C H A S E E D W A R D S / Photos by NICK JOHNSON

W

h e n t h e ow n e r s o f a n o l d vac a n t

bungalow tucked into their large Northern Michigan property went searching for the right person to restore it, they found her in Erica Harrison, principal at the Detroit-based interior design firm Hudson & Sterling. For more than a decade, before she launched the company in 2016, Harrison worked as a concept designer for Ralph Lauren. “I was basically his storyteller,” she explains.

“I would create a world that he would walk in to, where his imagination could create a design—of Chamonix in 1920, or it might be the Sedona of the 1940s or Santa Fe, 1910. I would create the aesthetic, the mood and the feeling of the time period using lighting, furniture, clothing, books and even the plaster on the walls to create the concept.”

At Hudson & Sterling, Harrison bases her work on the skills and vision she honed at Ralph Lauren, scouring antique stores and modern design houses that specialize in authentically vintage home elements to find just the right pieces. “We create spaces that have a conversation and tell a story,” she says, adding that her firm excels at “creating a space that feels new but also like it’s been there for a long time.”

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Previous spread: The couch and chair fabric are from House of Hackney, Rose Tarlow and Schumacher. The chair to the left of the fireplace is custom-designed and covered in Hishi by Robert Kime—a designer known for his historically authentic textile designs. The rug is a bleached ivory basket weave jute area rug from World Market. The white tulip chair is by John Derian. The original period Swiss lithograph is from Chairish.

Harrison’s design philosophy is well tailored to the bungalow homeowners, who wanted to celebrate the heritage and aesthetic of the building and “not rip everything down and turn it into a white box,” she says.

At the same time, Harrison’s new clients wanted the Caretaker’s Bungalow (so named because it once housed the estate’s caretaker and his family) to be outfitted with modern comforts.

Built in 1910, the 3,500-square-foot cabin had been vacant for the past 35 years. By the time Harrison—who eventually became not only the designer but also the general contractor—went to work, the roof was caved in and the structure had been invaded by animals and insects. Adding insult to injury, sometime around the 1960s the walls had been painted “crazy colors” and the floors were covered in a hodgepodge of shag rugs and tacky linoleum.

Job one for the former Ralph Lauren employee was calling an exterminator. Fixing the roof came next. After that, Harrison oversaw new wiring throughout the home and the bracing of the floor so that it could hold the weight of new appliances.

One of the goals of the renovation was to use only wood from the time of the bungalow’s construction. To that end, Harrison searched the homeowners’ property for period wood, pulling it from an old barn and from what she describes as rundown little huts.

While she had most of the wood stained a rich, dark shade, typical of the early 1900s, Harrison opted to paint the kitchen—both walls and ceiling—white to give it a light, airy feeling. “I love color and I love texture and I love warmth and wood,” she says. “But there

The table is from Restoration Hardware and the French bistro chairs are from Cafe Tables. “I wanted the table and chairs to ground the kitchen, but not be super heavy,” Harrison says. “The bistro chairs felt light and welcoming—like the heart of a home.”

The chandelier over the table is Italian mid-century Murano handblown glass by Seguso from Chairish. The retro refrigerator is iio and the Nostalgie 30-inch dual fuel liquid propane freestanding range in antique white with brass trim is from ILVE. The handmade Moroccan tiles on the floor are by My Moroccan Tile. The vintage pink flowers still life pastel painting is from Chairish.

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“I WOULD CREATE THE

AESTHETIC, THE MOOD AND THE FEELING OF THE TIME PERIOD USING LIGHTING, FURNITURE, CLOTHING, BOOKS AND EVEN THE PLASTER ON THE WALLS TO CREATE THE CONCEPT.”

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Get the Look!

DETAILS round out the story that designer

Erica Harrison tells with her interiors. Here she singles out some of the individual elements that build the drama in this 1910 bungalow.

1. Odile Bistro Chair Wisteria 2. Hishi fabric Robert Kime 3. Painting Beyond Pollock Morgan Falconer, Phaidon 100 A Way of Living: The Art of Willem de Kooning Judith Zilczer, Phaidon 100 4. Sweet Clarity tea House of Waris 5. Cocotte, 7-quart Staub Cast Iron

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6. Blue Elements high-handle 12 oz. mug

by Royal Copenhagen Amuse 7. Faded Peony mug Ralph Lauren 8. Artemis large tassel velvet cushion House of Hackney 9. Adélaïde dinner plate John Derian 10. Modern Farmhouse Brick Clé Tile

11. Los Cotorros Cutting Board Jan Barboglio 12. 1955 Pablo Picasso Polychrome Bird Ceramic Plate Chairish 13. MARY (candle), Cedar and Gaiac Trudon 14. French wine glass Crate and Barrel 15. Beatrice napkins Cabana NHC • MYNORTH.COM

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has to be a little bit of a departure from that in order to give some lightness.”

Like the entire bungalow, the kitchen is a blend of old and new. Sanded and repainted, the original hutch is now ready for another century. Harrison had the original sink restored but left a circle of rust near the drain for authenticity. The brass drain plug and faucet, however, are new. The floor, laid with handmade Moroccan tiles, has the weathered but ornate look Harrison was looking for. “There’s a smokiness to them,” she says.

During a photo shoot, Harrison realized that the space behind the stove felt empty, so she moved one of the antique paintings she’d collected for another room to fill the space. “It fits so perfectly above the stove,” she says. “It provides this beautiful warmth and almost a conversation.”

Authentically old woodwork welcomes guests in the foyer, as does the Piaf single sconce from Visual Comfort & Co. and the antique Oushak rug.

In the bedrooms, Harrison mixed bedding from The Company Store and Pendleton with pillows in fabrics from House of Hackney, Schumacher and Rose Tarlow.

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Painted blue years ago, the original pedestal bathtub was sandblasted back to its former glory. The sink is by Waterworks, the chandelier from Lumens and the light over the sink from Circa. The tile is Fireclay and the rug is from LoLoi Rugs. The artwork is from Chairish.

Of all the rooms she’s ever designed, the bungalow’s living room is Harrison’s favorite. “The living room makes you want to play a game, to sit down and have a glass of wine, or some tea,” she says.

Many of the furnishings are antique finds— among them a gilded early last-century mirror for the fireplace mantel, assorted early 19th-century artwork and a wicker couch “with horrible weird cushions.” Harrison sanded down the couch to bring out the grain and made new cushions for it.

She also repainted the original red brick fireplace blue: “Blue makes it look modern but like it still has some heritage, too,” she says.

While the restoration, which also included two bathrooms, four bedrooms and a laundry room, ended up being a far bigger project than Harrison ever imagined, its wrap was bittersweet for the designer who had become so invested in its story. “I was happy it was done,” she says. “But I actually felt really sad when I left it.”

“WE CREATE SPACES THAT HAVE A

CONVERSATION AND TELL A STORY .”

NHC • MYNORTH.COM

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house and home

CURATING THE MAXIMALIST COTTAGE

DESIGNER WENDY BUHR HELPS HER CLIENT MAKE STYLE SENSE OF A COTTAGE BRIMMING WITH FABULOUS, ECLECTIC COLLECTABLES. B y LY N D A T W A R D O W S K I W H E AT L E Y / Photos by JACQUELINE SOUTHBY

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ot much in the style and design world

intimidates Wendy Buhr; she’s been a part of it since birth. The owner and lead designer of Ella’s Interiors was raised by a builder who flipped houses and an antique dealer who owned a shop that teenage Buhr was often entrusted to run. By age 17, Buhr was working for an interior designer in Chicago. In 1999 she launched Ella’s, a vintage clothing and jewelry shop in downtown Traverse City that has since spawned Ella’s Interiors headquartered in the same building.

Along the way, loyal boutique customers have become clients of Ella’s Interiors and vice versa. So, it wasn’t unusual when a frequent customer had a small request: she wanted Buhr’s help selecting new lighting for the dining room in her little cottage in Leland. “I went out just thinking I was going to help her with some light fixtures,” says Buhr.

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Opening spread: In the living room, Buhr had niches built to artfully display the homeowner’s collection of railroad lanterns passed down to her from her father.

Opposite: “For every house [Ella’s Interiors touches], we make our own pillows out of traditional woven fabric from cottage industry makers, people who weave and embroider,” Buhr says. “For example, In Laos, the colors they use are so vibrant—bright pink, indigo, green. That’s what I wanted in her home because that’s her personality.”

The lights are hand-blown from Kuzco Lighting.

Right: Buhr had the pretty pink pantry built to store and display the homeowner’s collections of linens and dishes.

The Indonesian doors give it a storybook feel even when closed. Below: The newly reoriented and rebuilt kitchen is outfitted with cabinetry painted in Cooking Apple Green

by Farrow & Ball. The custom hood is by Darin Fetter. A bleached white oak floor replaced the former cherry floor.

“And all of a sudden, we were going from room to room tearing the entire cottage apart.”

Normally, Buhr doesn’t blink in the face of an interior design challenge. But she admits she was daunted by the size and lack of light in the home, as well as the sheer number of collectibles—some even spilling out and around the modest cottage. There were art collections, clock collections, fishing rod collections, linens and dishes—hundreds of pieces each.

Job one for Buhr was opening up the cottage to its lake view and providing more light in the rooms. Buhr started, she says, “by blowing out the kitchen and dining room,” then added a four-season porch, whose walls

“I WENT OUT JUST THINKING I WAS GOING TO HELP HER WITH SOME LIGHT FIXTURES, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, WE WERE GOING FROM ROOM TO ROOM

TEARING THE ENTIRE COTTAGE APART.” NHC • MYNORTH.COM

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Your inspiration. Your legacy.

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2911 N Garfield Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 231-933-6089 • FerraroGroup.net 40 N O R T H E R N H O M E & C O T T A G E A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3

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Left: Stunning handmade Pewabic tile faces the new gas fireplace on the screened-in porch. All of the rugs in the home are antique, sourced through Ella’s Interiors.

Below: The custom window treatments in the relaxing room match the wallpaper.

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can automatically change to either all-screen or all-glass depending on the weather.

Meanwhile, Buhr turned the garage into a staging area, removing everything from the house, then grouping and cataloging every piece of each collection. She worked with the owner to select specific art pieces to act as a springboard for each room—its textiles, finishes and furniture— then brought in multiple cabinet makers to build functional but beautiful storage and display options that treated the collections as one would art installations.

In all, Buhr expanded the home’s footprint by only about 400 square feet, but completely transformed the space from something that felt cluttered and closed in, to a joyful retreat with loads of personal character and enough room to dance about. “Some people want cookie cutter,” Buhr says. “But our clients are about telling a story, having individuality, interest. They don’t want their homes to look like anyone else’s.”

Above: The lemony-yellow in the new butler’s pantry joins the joyous chorus of color in the home.

Opposite: The homeowner wanted to keep the home’s original knotty pine paneling so Buhr turned it into a backdrop for her extensive art collection.

N H C

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resources Designer Wendy Buhr, Ella’s Interiors Contractor Maple Hill Builders Antiques, Pillows & Throws Ella’s Interiors Counters Cadillac Cut Stone Genesee Cut Stone Bathroom Vanities Olive Creek Furniture Custom Closet & Other Pieces Gary Cheadle, Woodbine, Inc. Custom Range Hood Darin Fetter Cabinetry Wolverine Cabinet Co. Flooring Villagio Wood Floors

Read Northern Home & Cottage anywhere! FREE Digital version available here: link.MyNorth.com/nhc0823

Window Treatments The Shade Store Doors Thomas & Milliken Millwork Hardware Armac Martin, Rocky Mountain Door Hardware Plumbing Fixtures WaterWork Plumbing

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T he Cu l i nary North local restaurants . craft drinks . seasonal cuisine

“

This August, don’t relegate zucchini to your box grater.

Celebrate it.

photo by Dave Weidner

—CULINARY COLUMNIST STACEY BRUGEMAN

HILL TOP’S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM P. 58 CLASSIC SUMMER DINING: THE GLENWOOD P. 60 THE BUZZ: WILD BLUEBERRY ALE P. 61 MAKE THESE ELEGANT ZUCCHINI BITES P. 62 AUGUST 2023

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T he Cu l i nary North Served D I N I N G OUT

RUNNIN’ UP THAT HILL

by CARLY SIMPSON

If I only could, I’d be at Hill Top Soda Shoppe getting a scoop. Every. Single. Day.

photos by Dave Weidner

W

hen chris and victoria mekas first opened Hill Top Soda Shoppe in 2005, the couple could often be found in their Benzonia ice cream kitchen until 3 a.m., sautéing pecans in butter and salt, toasting organic coconut and swirling peanut butter through rich chocolate ice cream. It was a nonstop churn at the summit of South Street, keeping up with the growing demand for their homemade scoops.

Today, Hill Top Soda Shoppe is a year-round destination. For many vacationers, it’s their first stop on a trip North; for locals, it’s their go-to spot for a morning coffee and doughnuts, baked fresh each day. Victoria’s mom now helps in the kitchen, filling endless tubs with the ever-popular butter pecan and decadent flavors like salted caramel, minty chip and strawberry—exclusively made with Michigan berries.

“Nothing beats Michigan strawberries,” Victoria says. “We fill our freezers each June with plump berries from Grossnickle Farms in Kaleva so we can make it all year—or until it sells out.”

The Mekas keep things as local as possible, sourcing their cherries from Putney’s in Benzonia, blueberries from Smeltzers in Frankfort, peaches from Beeman’s in Onekama and milk and cream from Country Dairy in New Era. Even the illustrated pint labels pay homage to the region, showing off local icons like Point Betsie Lighthouse, the Garden Theater and Cherry Bowl Drive-In. The Inside Scoop: Hill Top Soda Shoppe shares a space with Victoria’s Floral Design (which the Mekas also own, in addition to Perks coffee shop and Lynn & Perin Mercantile in Frankfort). Yes, there are lush bouquets and houseplants. It’s also an unexpected Christmas wonderland filled to the brim all year long with thousands of ornaments—find classic snowmen and reindeer, shimmery mermaids, chubby corgis and, of course, a few tempting ice cream cones.

Hill Top Soda Shoppe 7117 South St., Benzonia hilltopsodashoppe.com

Chris and Victoria Mekas

Pints and quarts are available to go at the soda shoppe.

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AUGUST 2023

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T he Cu l i nary North Bite

SAVE ME A SLICE

by CARLY SIMPSON

Built in the early 1900s as a lodge for Chicago-area tourists who flocked to Onekama by steamship, The Glenwood has a rich history of welcoming guests to the shores of Portage Lake. Today, dining tables on the spacious front porch overlooking the water are highly coveted, especially at sunset. (You’re going to want a reservation.) House favorites include almond battered shrimp that’s fried golden and dipped in cherry mustard sauce, filet mignon served with both a blue cheese cream sauce and crumbled blue cheese, and fresh perch that’s battered, fried and then towered high. But experienced diners know to always save room for dessert, which co-owner Donna Ervin bakes fresh. “Our old-fashioned dessert tray has anywhere from ten to fourteen desserts daily,” she says.

Donna’s favorites: cherry and key lime pie. The seasonal dining destination is open through Sept. 3 this year.

4604 Main St., Onekama; glenwoodrestaurant.com

photo by Allison Jarrell

Dessert at The Glenwood is a summer tradition.

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T he Cu l i nary North Sip SEASONAL SIPPER

WILD BLUEBERRY ALE

by LYNDA TWARDOWSKI WHEATLEY

This August brew is worthy of a road trip. from tap to glass, a marvel that enjoys almost as much fanfare as the pub’s backyard waterfalls. What used to be Tahquamenon Falls State Park’s bestkept secret, known largely to locals (and tourists with lucky timing), has become a big driver for beer hounds eager to try the renowned ale. Tip: If you plan to head up to Tahquamenon during the dog days of summer, you’ll likely see as many swarms of folks as you will mosquitoes, but trust us, a pint of this fabulously fruity yet subtly sweet and smooth ale is worth spilling a little blood. Oh, and those waterfalls in Paradise are pretty good, too.

M

aybe you can’t capture summer in a bottle, but Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub Master Brewer Lark Ludlow comes darn close. Every August, she sends the sun-baked sweetness of the Yoop’s freshest ankle-high forest fruit—the wee and wild blueberry—cascading on a wave of bright wheat ale

tahquamenonfallsbrewery.com

THE BUZZ AROUND TOWN WORKSHOP’S 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY + LUMBEERYARD LIVE MUSIC

photo by Dave Weidner

The Workshop Brewing Company is a year-round destination for music lovers, with live shows every Friday and Saturday, DJ dance parties on the patio on Thursdays, open mic on Tuesdays and a (legit) jazz jam on Wednesdays. The Traverse City brewery is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month—watch for a special brew on tap.

The Workshop’s second location, Kingsley Local Brewing, recently opened its Lumbeeryard with outdoor seating and eats from Papano’s Pizza and Cast Iron Kitchen. Plus, live music, open mic night, karaoke and a summer must: cornhole. traversecityworkshop.com

A taste of the North's craft beverage scene.

BONOBO WINERY’S END OF SUMMER DINNER SERIES

TOWNLINE CIDERWORKS’ FRIDAY MUSIC SERIES

Delight in a multi-course dinner and live local music while enjoying panoramic views of West Grand Traverse Bay from Bonobo’s patio on Old Mission Peninsula. Each week’s menu highlights seasonal fare paired with Bonobo wines, focusing on the lightness and brightness summer brings. Every Wednesday from Aug. 16 to Sept. 6. bonobowinery.com

We love this Elk Rapids area cidery for its expansive outdoor space with views of the orchards where the apples in your glass were grown. Friday night’s music series (6–8 p.m. thru Oct. 20) is especially fun. And, the always popular wine slushies are back, but only until Labor Day weekend. townlineciderworks.com

Get Your Michigan Brewvine Passport A mobile passport packed with deals and specials at your favorite breweries, wineries, cideries and distilleries. mibrewvine.com

AUGUST 2023

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T he Cu l i nary North On the Table

DINING IN

DUE RESPECT

by STACEY BRUGEMAN

This August, don’t relegate zucchini to your box grater.

Celebrate it instead.

Z

ucchini is one of those garden offerings that doesn’t get the love it deserves. All too often, we talk about burying it in things, about keeping up with it by shaving it into breads and burgers. I was recently flipping through the section of my cookbook collection from Greece and was reminded that in Greek cookery zucchini isn’t just a featured ingredient, it’s often the headliner. A recipe spotlighting the young fruit of this trailing garden plant even dons the cover of one particularly celebrated Greek title.

There’s a reason. Summer squash works especially well with hotweather herbs, like fresh oregano, basil and mint. It benefits from the acidic nature of sour Greek cheeses, such as xynomyzithra or anthotyro. For those of us who don’t live within striking distance of Detroit’s Greektown, combining easy-to-find (and easier to pronounce) cheese like feta, a good Parmesan Reggiano and whole-milk ricotta works just as well. This August, as the invites to all those patio parties keep rolling in—you know, the girls’ night that your crew has been talking about all summer, that tennis mixer, the new-cottage open house—don’t bury the lede, as we say in journalism. Celebrate it by making these elegant handheld bites as your dish to pass.

Stacey Brugeman is a 20-year food and beverage journalist.

Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, Eater and on Instagram @staceybrugeman.

Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @dzwphoto.

Sarah Peschel, @22speschel, is a stylist and photographer with an appreciation for all things local agriculture, food and drink.

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^ Zucchini Coils Makes 24 bite-sized appetizers to pass 1 small yellow onion, diced 4 Tablespoons olive oil 1 egg ¼ cup crumbled feta ¼ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano ¼ cup whole milk ricotta ¼ cup chopped fresh mint, plus additional for garnish Pinch red pepper flakes 1 14-ounce box puff pastry, thawed but still cold 1 pound of yellow, variegated and/or green summer squash Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Maldon flake salt, to taste 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. To make the filling, add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet set over medium heat and sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the onion to cool. Meanwhile, crack egg into a medium sized bowl and gently whisk. Add the feta, Parmesan, ricotta, mint and cracked red pepper and stir to combine.

Once the onion has cooled, scrape it into the bowl, fold together and set filling aside.

photos by Dave Weidner // styling by Sarah Peschel

3. Pour 1 Tablespoon of olive oil into a small bowl.

Using a pastry brush, paint the bottom and sides of the 24 openings of a mini muffin tin. Working on a lightly floured surface, cut each piece of puff pastry into 12 equal sized pieces, for 24 total pieces. Roll a piece of pastry until large enough to fill the bottom and sides of a mini muffin opening. Drape a piece of the pastry into each opening, gently pressing the sides into the pan to secure. Use a small spoon to evenly divide the filling among the 24 pastry cups, spooning the filling into the bottom of each one.

4. Trim the 2 ends off each zucchini. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut the zucchini into long ribbons that are a scant ⅛th of an inch thick, about the thickness of an Amazon box. Place one ribbon inside a pastry cup, pressing it against the sides of the cup and then working it into a coil as you get closer to the center of the cup. Press the now-coiled ribbon down into the filling to secure. Repeat with all 24 cups. Use the remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil to generously brush the tops of the zucchini coils, letting a few legs of the oil drip down the outer edge of each coil. Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake until the pastry has puffed and the tops of the squash are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the coils with freshly ground black pepper, flake salt and remaining julienned mint to taste and allow to cool slightly before serving. – S.B. AUGUST 2023

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love of the land

get there

photo by Allison Jarrell

WILLIAM B. DERBY, JR. NATURE PRESERVE If you read our feature on the Les Cheneaux Islands (pg. 40), you already know that the northern shore of Lake Huron— including this preserve, protected by Little Traverse Conservancy—is a wildly special waterfront. Hike the 1.5-mile loop through this biodiverse boreal forest, and you’ve stepped back in time. Scattered between towering cedar and fir trees lie massive boulders blanketed in every shade of green moss, left behind from the glacial melt more than 10,000 years ago. -A.J.

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TRAVERSE NORTHERN MICHIGAN

AUGUST 2023

SWEET SUMMER NIGHTS

FRUIT FOR DINNER

HIKE THE NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL

EXPLORE THE LES CHENEAUX ISLANDS

VOL. 43 / NO. 3