I decided to quit my job and embark on a cross-country journey. After I'm done with the US, I may even venture out internationally. Check here for signs that I'm still alive...
Monday, August 3, 2015
Riders on the Storm
8/2/15
Visited another winery today and some breweries. In between tastings, I visited Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. It's 158 acres with lots of different things to see from various gardens to lots of different sculptures. It was pretty hot, but a good walk nonetheless.
The Mitten Brewing Co - delicious pizza! They also had a really good raspberry cider.
Mad Mom
An Homage to da Vinci (AKA The American Horse)
It's a big horse - 24 feet
some of the story behind the horse
some of the story behind the horse
Neuron
The waterfall - man made and it's a koi pond
Spider
Tools in Their Place
Listening to History
I, you, she or he
Column of the Free Spirit
there's even a marsh there
Marching Band
Beer & Raspberry Cider at The Mitten
After eating dinner at Mitten Brewing, I drove to Traverse City. Along the way, I spoke with the woman at the place where I was staying for the night. She mentioned that a hellacious storm had passed through and their peninsula was without power. I didn't really have anywhere else to stay for the night, so I continued on. Along the way, I think I drove through the storm that hit there. Torrential downpour and high winds that blew my car all over the place. Got re-routed a few times as I got closer due to down powerlines and trees in the road. The damage I saw along the way reminded me of when some hurricanes had gone through the DC area.
Starting Point: Wyoming, MI --> Grand Rapids, MI
Ending Point: Traverse City, MI
Miles Traveled: 200.5
8/3/15
The power came back on in the middle of the night. The place I stayed was actually an older barn that had been renovated. It was on a cherry farm (Santucci Farms). The owners mentioned that the storm ruined some of the cherry crop they were going to be harvesting today (~10% of their tart cherry crop). Visited some more wineries that were open - some had limited power (ie on a generator). In between the wineries, I also went to Mission Point Lighthouse.
Bonobo Winery - new winery next door to the cherry farm. It's apparently owned by a guy who has had several shows on HGTV (I haven't seen them, so I don't know who he is). Good wine, though.
Chateau Grand Traverse - an older winery with a lot of wines (26 on the tasting sheet today; you picked 5 for a tasting). Several cherry wines.
Black Star Farms - lots of wines here, too. A really good ice wine, but I'm not paying $92/bottle.
The view from the patio at Bonobo Winery
View of the cherry trees on the farm that I stayed overnight, and some of the Bonobo's vines
Mission Point Lighthouse
Looking out at Grand Traverse Bay
Yes, there was a swingset on the beach & yes, I swung.
Mission Point Lighthouse
The view from Chateau Chantal
Starting Point: Traverse City, MI
Ending Point: Mackinaw City, MI
Miles Traveled: 139.3
Total Miles Traveled Thus Far: 3842.5 via car, ~133 via boat, 0.62 via aerial tram
~Elizabeth/Lizzi/ET/Country
**I've been using Airbnb some during this trip to find places to stay along the way. If you haven't tried it, check it out for your next trip (even internationally). Usually cheaper than a hotel...(https://www.airbnb.com/)**
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