Cherry Capital of the World

 Traverse City

Thursday morning the crew was up early as we had a 7:15 am departure schedule so we could make the 7:30 am bridge opening. It was a pretty breezy day and right on the edge of our Go-No-Go conditions. Based on the wind direction I determined that the majority of the trip would be doable but the beginning would be pretty rocky. Well it was just that. Traverse City is at the bottom of Travers Bay which starts out pretty wide but then narrows quite a bit.

So once we were in the cut it was smooth cruising. Sailor Sue performed her magic in the galley and whipped up a top notch breakfast for the crew. There is something about breakfast on the Flybridge that makes eggs taste even better. Even John commented how great it tasted. On the way it became overcast and we had a few intermittent sprinkles. We arrived at port at 1:00 and had time for a quick walk into town with John and Megan to enjoy some of the sights before they had to catch their ride back to the airport. 

It was a sad goodbye but we had so much fun during their visit. The rest of the day Sue and I got caught up on some chores mine involved doing some detailed exterior boat cleaning. 

Oh, what is that you say? The cliff hanger? Oh yeah I almost forgot. Well its good news. The pressure held so for now it appears the leak has been found and fixed. Thank God.

Time will be the true test. Shortly after that piece of good news I noticed the dinghy felt a little soft and found one of the fill valves leaking. And on it goes. 

Traverse City turned out to be one of our favorite stops given the wide variety of things to do and see. The marina is situated right downtown with everything a short walk. There are many shops, restaurants and even an circa 1950’s movie theater that has been full restored. We didn’t get to see a show but heard it was something to see. They have a great farmers market on Wednesdays and Saturdays so we were able to Stock up on fresh local produce. As the title states Travers City is considered the Cherry Capital of the world. Supposedly the Michigan climate is ideal for growing them. We learned all about the different type of cherries and why the sweet ones are so expensive in the store. Turns out the sweet variety have to be hand picked and not shook off the tree like the tart varieties.  We just missed the Cherry Festival that draws thousands for the weekends festivities. The flagship Cherry Republic store is in the center of town. 

On Friday a Harbor Host was kind enough to drop off a car for any loopers to use so us and another couple we were able to get to a Meijer’s Grocery, think high class Super Walmart. We also took a drive to see Torch Lake which supposedly rated as the #2 most beautiful lake in the world by National Geo. It is about 20 miles long but only a couple miles wide. It is over 300 feet deep in places. What makes it so famous is when the sun is out bright you can see seven distinct shades of blue.

Unfortunately it was not real sunny the day we were there but it was still pretty. 

We Traverse City was supposed to be a one night stop but we liked it so much we stayed longer then the weather turned for the worse on the water and we wound up staying 6 nights which was a great thing because we really enjoyed the town. One day we went to an area called the Village Commons. The Commons is a converted insane asylum that was built back in the middle 1800’s It is now shops and restaurants along with a tour of the old buildings.

 

We went back Saturday evening and had a great dinner. The Dr that originally built the Asylum had a novel approach to treating the insane. He believed the patients should be surrounded with the beauty of nature, each patient should have some type of daily task or job to promote self worth and they would be locked “out” of their rooms during the day forcing them to connect with others. He also had a self sustaining farm that raised all the produce and meats for the Asylum. The men that were able worked the farm. Back then they were still using things like trepanning and blood letting. The center was responsible for determining that many of those things were not effective and began to head in the direction of medications. 

Traverse City also was a connector to Michigan’s TART trail which is a multi use trail that goes for hundreds of miles connecting many of the nice small towns. We made full use of the trail during our stay. There was also a very active group of Loopers at the marina that were very disciplined with Docktails every night. As a results we got to meet a whole new group of Loopers. The house pictures were taken on 6th St which is a brick paved mature tree lined street with beautiful stately homes. They range architecturally from Victorian, Tudor to Arts and Crafts. I must have walked that street half a dozen times. Our time at this port seemed to fly by making the Cherry Capital one of our sweetest stops!

Sunrise!