Since Steve was willing to humor me for "my thing"--ice cream--I was more than willing to go along with "his thing"--cheese. On Wednesday afternoon we checked out a place we had read about called Leelanau Cheese, where you can watch the cheese-making process and also do a wine tasting. Immediately when we turned into the farm, we were greeted with this lovely view of their terraced vineyard:
I don't really enjoy wine, but Steve liked what he tasted, and we both were fascinated by what we learned about the cheese- and wine-making processes. And even I had to admit that the cheese we sampled--a mild Raclette--was really excellent. Unfortunately it was also about $16/pound, so we didn't take any home with us. Instead we headed into Traverse City. I'd been told that Kilwin's, a chocolate shop downtown, also had fabulous ice cream, and it was true--their toasted coconut flavor (the one both my friend and her mom had recommended) was YUMMY.
We did a little window shopping, then walked along the lake a while. One of the things I just couldn't get over every time we saw the water was the dramatic color changes. You'd see green water, and then this clear line where it changed suddenly to a brilliant blue. I tried to capture it in photos, mostly unsuccessfully:
Here we used my Gorillapod (hence the odd angle) to get a better shot of the two of us together than simply holding the camera out in front of us:
Then we went to Pirate's Cove for a friendly putt-putt challenge. To protect my sweet hubby's ego, I won't tell you about how I schooled him. (I will admit that it was about 95% luck!)
After our game, we drove up Old Mission Peninsula. The lighthouse at the end was a bit anticlimactic--not the big tower-type lighthouse we were expecting--and it was closed to tours for the day.
But the drive was totally worth the trip: vineyards and orchards everywhere, overlooking views of Grand Traverse Bay. On the way up, I gaped at this spot and told Steve we had to stop for pictures on the way back. Unfortunately my photography skills didn't do it justice:
Back in Traverse City, we grabbed a simple fish-and-chips dinner, then picked up the fixings for s'mores and returned to the house. To my complete consternation, Steve didn't eat a single s'more--but he built an awfully nice fire for me to roast marshmallows over. And thanks to the citronella candles we bought, we didn't get eaten up this time.
Day 4: North to Mackinac...
2 comments:
this is great. My sister and her fiance are planning a traverse wine tour honeymoon in October. Would you recommend it?
Just wanted to say you and your little baby belly look great!
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