“All Summer Long”

Cheboygan
August 12 – August 19, 2021

We left the Upper Peninsula and arrived in the mitten or the hand (the lower part of Michigan over the Mackinac Bridge (pronounced Mack-in-aw). The bridge was very scary while driving in a camper.

We stayed in Cheboygan, Michigan on Lake Huron which is just south of Mackinac City. I really liked Cheboygan. The city had a small but good farmers market where we purchased great veggies. The city also boasted a good bike trail called the North Eastern State Trail which we rode almost every day and conveniently located near the park – and of course a brewery.

As a child (ages about 5 – 8), my father was stationed at Wurstmith Air Force Base near Oscoda Michigan. We were a couple of hours away, so we took a day trip. The base itself closed years ago and has now been taken over by the city of Oscoda, but there is a small (very small) museum that we visited.

On or way back, we rode on highway 23 that hugs the coast. This was a drive that my family and I took from Oscoda to Alpena where we went shopping. I remember the trip and the local landmarks including Paul Bunyan and his blue ox on the south side of Alpena. Steve and I stopped in Alpena for lunch at Austin Brothers Brewery.

The major attractions of the area are Mackinac City, Mackinac Island and Fort Mackinac. I loved the fort. Fort Mackinac (pronounced Mack in ack – I know it is hard to keep it straight) is a former British and American military outpost as well as a fur trading village. The fort was well preserved, very informative and had lots of exhibits. We even saw a reenactor who made tools right at the fort.

I was not a big fan of Mackinac City or Mackinac Island. The city was a collection of tourists shops – mostly fudge, ice cream, and popcorn. The Island was accessed by ferry and the island was very picturesque, but it also had the same type of tourists shops. I counted over 17 fudge stores alone. The island is home to the Grand Hotel (the one from the movie “Somewhere in Time”). There are no motor vehicles on the island, only horses and bikes – lots and lots of bikes! Because of the horses, the island is very stinky (lots of horse – you know what). We rode bikes and saw the sights, the Arch Rock, the butterfly exhibit, the hotel and we ate lunch at the Great Turtle Brewery.

We took another day trip over to Charlevoix and Petoskey. Both of these little towns were super cute and we really enjoyed shopping and walking through the town. Charlevoix had homes designed by Earl Young called Mushroom Houses – just look at the pictures and no further explanation will be needed. There are over 20 Mushroom Houses in Charlevoix. On our way back to Cheboygan, we stopped in at the Mackinaw Trail Winery for a glass of wine and a snack.

We were only in the area for a week, but we were busy the whole time. Next up is Suttons Bay Michigan which is located smack dab in the middle of the Michigan’s wine country.

“All Summer Long” by Kid Rock. I am not a huge Kid Rock fan, but he does write about northern Michigan and Steve likes the song.