100 days on the loop! Quaint Northport, Climbed Sleeping Bear Dune (part of it) and Suttons Bay, MI

Days 98-100: August 29-31: 100 days on the loop! WOW – in some ways seems like yesterday that we left and as we look at the pins on the map, seems like we’ve gone so far, but so much more to go. All good! What an adventure!!

We arrived in quaint Northport, Michigan on Tuesday, 8/29 – a port many loopers seem to skip but we enjoyed immensely – first because we were looking forward to visiting Carol’s friend Bev who has a beautiful home on Cat Head Bay and second because it was such a well protected, quirky, cute, fun and delicious port! Northport is located near the northern tip of the Leelanau peninsula and has a permanent population of about 500. Originally settled by Chief Peter Waukazoo and Reverend George Smith in 1848, the settlement was called Waukazooville, but the deacon who arrived in 1854 decided to change the name to Northport. I have an image of Dr. Seuss in Waukazooville! The cherry industry was started in 1853 on Rev Smith’s farm and is still one of the largest in the world today.

We arrived in overcasts skies and cool weather around 11:30 am to find a well protected marina and friendly staff. We enjoyed walking the little town and finding cute shops, restaurants and galleries as well as we very well stocked grocery store. Our Looper guides had cautioned that Tom’s Grocery Store wasn’t a great place to provision, but we disagree 100%. It was full service with meats, produce and a full selection of wines, beer and alcohol. Definitely one of the better stores we’ve seen in small towns and highly recommend it.

Bev was kind enough to invite us to her house for a drink and hors d’oeurves with her family (sister, cousins and spouses) before we all (9 of us) headed out to dinner at a fabulous Italian restaurant (Nitollo’s) in Leelanau. The food, wine and company were all fabulous. Fruit flies are a real challenge here this time of year, so we found a new use for our phones – toppers for wine glasses to keep the nasty little critters away. No wine for them!!

Wednesday, Bev let us borrow here car for the day which allowed us to visit a few places we would have otherwise missed. After lunch in Northport, we drove to Glen Arbor to the Sleepy Bear Dunes (a 32,000 acre national park) and did the “Dune Climb”. Pictures just don’t do the size of these dunes justice. We did the smaller climb for beginners and went less than half way across to the Lake Michigan side from the Glenn Lake Side, before we turned around and walked back down. Full round trip is about 3.5 miles and takes 3-4 hours; we did about 1 mile round trip and were quite proud of ourselves! Bev had shared the secret to climbing up – step in someone else’s footprints where the sand is already a bit compacted – good advice!! After our hike, we drove around to the Sleeping Bear Point Trail and coast guard station where we could hike a short way and view Lake Michigan. There was an opportunity to hike a 2.8 mile trail, all in the sand around the dune, but we decided against that….we’re not kids anymore! Even still, it was a great experience!

Now having hiked part of the dune from the land side, when we pass by on the boat in a few days, where the dunes tower 450’ above Lake Michigan, we’ll have a better appreciation. You can actually climb down the dune to Lake Michigan, but it is not for the faint at heart, since you need to climb back up! There is a warning sign at the top that reads “Avoid getting stuck at the bottom! The only way out is up. Rescues cost $3000”…. And they mean cash! Never the less, many make the hike and yes many have paid the fee!

After hiking around the dunes, we headed to Suttons Bay – another recommendation of Bev’s. We found more quaint shops and beautiful waterfront parks. Our next stop was to a beer garden to shake the sand out of our shoes and throats. Hop Lot Brewing Co & Beer Garden was the perfect place. Despite their enticing menu, we limited ourselves to one beer and some smoked white fish spread with crackers and a dozen wings, since the wood fired pizza place in Northport was still calling our name, having missed out on that for lunch (they are only open for dinner). Hop Lot was a great stop with picnic tables, a fire pit, live music and corn hole. We returned to Northport with the sun shining and found a great outdoor table at Mittens. Mittens is the bar with about a dozen taps of craft beer who partners with the wood fired pizza trailer. Mittens asks you not bring in outside food and Wood Fired Pizza asks that you not bring in your own drinks – complete synergy! The evening was topped off by a visit by Bev and crew for a tour of the boat and a beautiful Super Blue Moon – one of the biggest and brightest moons of the year. It’s called a blue moon since it is the second full moon in the same month (nothing to do with the color blue) and a super moon because the moon in its elliptical path is at its closest approach to Earth (its perigee measuring 222,000 miles compared to an apogee, or farthest approach of 250,000 miles) The next super blue moons will be in 2037!

Thursday, 8/31 marked our 100th day on the loop. After breakfast and under beautiful clear sunny skies with completely flat water and winds at less than 5 knots out of the southwest, we left Northport headed to Leland. Passing Bev’s house on Cat Head Bay we gave them a big toot of thanks and look forward to reconnecting with Billy and Mary in Pickwick, TN and Bev in Naples, FL as we continue our trip.

Leland is about a 2 1/2 hour run where we headed north out of northport, around the Grand Traverse Lighthouse point and then south past Cat Head Bay, Christmas Cove Beach, Peterson Park and Onomonee Road Beach.

Leland is another quaint little town nicknamed “fish town” with a whopping population of 410. Leland serves as the departure point for ferry service to north and south Manitou Islands. As early as 1880, commercial fisherman sailed out of the harbor to catch trout and whitefish, building wooden shacks where they processed their catch and serviced their boats. In the early 1900’s, the wealthy from Chicago, Detroit and other midwestern industrial centers began visiting Leland and building their summer cottages, arriving by steamer. This led to the construction of resort hotels and the growth of Leland as a summer resort town. Now the shacks have been converted into shops near beautiful beaches with bright blue water as clear as the Caribbean. We are looking forward to spending a couple days here, then onto Frankfort.