Pages

Monday, October 16, 2023

A little getaway; part 1

As you know, last week Bob and I had a mini vacation. We went to Traverse City, Michigan and stayed in a little cottage on Little Silver lake.  It's a cottage we've stayed at twice before.  We like it because it's a charming little place outside of town.  It's quiet, but only 10 minutes from town.  
We left Friday morning and had plans to have a leisurely drive there.  It usually takes about 2 1/2  hours to get there from our house, but we took the route along the lakeshore (Lake Michigan) and enjoyed the drive. We planned a few stops along the way.

Our first stop was to a place we had never heard about, but our son Andy saw something on it and told us we needed to check it out.
Did you know there were sequoia trees in Michigan?  I thought they only grew in California.



You can see it was a cold and windy day!  Here we are on the shores of Lake Michigan just outside of Manistee.
In 1948, three 6 inch sequoia trees were brought to Michigan from California. 3 trees grew and have thrived there.





Here is the largest one.  It is 116 feet tall and the trunk is 5 feet in diameter.  Can you see Bob next to it?
The largest Sequioa in CA is 311 feet tall, this one has more growing to do!




Back on the road!  The color wasn't great yet, but we saw some splashes of it.







Bob pulled over so I could get a photo of this old barn with sheaves of corn in front of it.





About 1/2 hour north of Manistee is Arcadia, which has a well know spot with a great view of the lake.  




Look at the color of the water!





Then we drove on to Frankfurt and Point Betsie Lighthouse. 





We walked down to the beach.




The water was beautiful.





A view of the lighthouse from the waterfront.






One more view of the beach before we left.
Then it was on to the cottage.  I'll share more of our time there later.

21 comments:

  1. The color of the water is beautiful. And I had no idea about the trees! The barn with the sheaves, I wonder if that is an actual working place, or decorations for fall?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The lake must be huge like the sequoia. I only saw the lakes on a map and they looked very big.
    It must have been a nice gateway. I am impatient to see the following pictures !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like a great start to your mini vacay. Lovely pictures. It's been years since hubby and I've been to Traverse City, might have to put that back on our list. Had no idea about the trees, but found it very interesting!! Glad you had a good time, and welcome back.
    Traveling Suitcase

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful Mari!!! Have a beautiful day friend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that area! It's been quite a few years since I've been to Traverse City! I love the big waves on Lake Michigan! I bet it was cold and windy though! Did you climb the 120 some odd stairs at Arcadia?

    ReplyDelete
  6. That Sequioa tree with Bob standing beneath, was huge. Can you imagine having one of those in your backyard? It's beautiful! You saw some very pretty water sites as you drove onto your cottage destination but it looked cold:) I hope you had good weather while at the cottage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What an interesting story about the sequoia trees in Michigan!

    SO MUCH BEAUTY!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Stunning pics Mari! I have been blessed to visit Michigan several times and it is so beautiful. That is one impressive sequoia! Have you ever been to Muir Woods? They are insanely huge there and it feels like a magical unreal fairyland. Lol
    I think my favorite is seeing Lake Michigan. The color of the water is so gorgeous. Looks like it was a wonderful beginning to your trip. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a beautiful drive! I love the ocean (that's why we go to Maine every year) and enjoyed your photos.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mari, those views are amazing! I'm so glad that you two had that time away. The Sequoia trees are gorgeous. I'm glad you asked if we could see Bob. I would have missed that detail otherwise, but it certainly puts it in perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lake Michigan is truly amazing. And the sequoias! Incredible! I know how you love these scenic road trips with no set-in-stone schedule, but rather time to meander and discover, and take pretty pictures, with a delicious meal and a warm bed waiting for you at the end of the day! I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a beautiful location for a getaway with your sweet one! Love the water pictures!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice that you got to go on a little getaway.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That lake looks rough and cold.
    What a lovely trip you had
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  15. I never knew there were sequoias here in Michigan. So cool! I love that we live near all of the Great Lakes. Lake Huron which is about a half hour North of us is a bit more rockier than Michigan. Glad you had a nice getaway. Whenever we went to Traverse City, we stayed in Acme. Janice

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great pictures. The color of the water is beautiful, and you have a couple of lovely skies as well.
    The sequoia tree is huge. I had no idea they grew anywhere but California either.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You find the best Michigan treasures to share with us, Mari. Great photos. The Sequioas are pretty amazing! I'm looking forward to your next post!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  18. I keep telling my husband we need to visit Michigan. I've been there before but he has never and he's a former Coastie, so he'd enjoy the lighthouses, etc. It's such a beautiful state - I don't get why more people do not travel there. Best kept secret I guess...

    Thats crazy about the Sequoias - I know they are hardy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I enjoyed all your pictures! I have been to the Sequoias few times. We camped there once, and a bear went right by our test. It was so close, I could smell it and I was so scared. It got into a box of pots and pans and then dropped it, and it ran away. There is a grove of trees about 30 miles from us at a park. The beach is so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  20. The water is such a gorgeous color. It's truly stunning. Looks like a very fun vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am sooo behind on blog reading, but I wanted to tell you how beautiful these beach pictures are with the fall colors around them! And that sequoia tree is fantastic! I'm pretty sure I have never seen one in person. What an amazing trip this is so far! I'm off to catch up on more!

    ReplyDelete

My blog is award free and tag free - but I love your comments!