notes from up North.

I’ve spent the past five days “up North” with my family.  It’s our annual vacation and we decided to spend it in the Traverse City area of Michigan.  A drivable, modest vacation like this one seemed appropriate in a year when simplicity makes sense.  Yet I’ve felt very fortunate to be here.   The weather has consistently been in the mid-70s, people are exceedingly cheerful and everything is accessible for a family of four with parents and a dog in tow.   We’ve spent days at the water’s edge and evenings around the campfire with spikes of excitement in between that include kayaking and sand dune climbing.  

At the moment I’m sitting in downtown Traverse City at a modern coffee shop called morsels, http://www.morselsbakery.com, where the pastries are bite-sized, of course.  You can buy just one morsel for .89 if you have that much willpower, four for $2.99 or a dozen for $8.49.  The names are clever and the flavors delightful.  ginger or mary ann? is ginger cake with candied ginger bits and orange glaze.  devil’s in the details is cream-filled devil’s food cake with dark chocolate ganache. I’ve learned that the business was started by a young couple who wanted to leave the corporate world to spend more time together.   Both former architects, they now wake at 4 to “make the morsels,” toddlers in tow.

If you’re an audiophile like my son, Sound It Out Records, http://www.sounditoutrecords.com, can’t be missed as their selection of records is the best in the area - second only in my personal experience to Shake It Records,  http://www.shakeitrecords.com, in my hometown of Cincinnati.  Everything seems to be a value here.  $5 for a giant bowl of corn chowder with big pieces of crab.  In nearby Sutton’s Bay where we’ve rented a home, you can find waffles loaded with Michigan cherries or blueberries for $5 at the 45th Parallel Café, http://www.suttonsbayarea.com/restaurants

The Parallel Café gets its name because, yes, we are located half way between the equator and the North Pole. 

We’ve had as many questions as discoveries this week, particularly about the area.  Traverse City is loaded with adorable early-20th century homes painted to perfection located on lovely tree-lined streets.  Yet other than tourism, we can’t find the industry that supports the comfortable community.  Obviously the place is hopping in July and August yet what happens the rest of the year?  Is the community close-knit and consistent or are they wealthy snow birds who flee to Florida?  Do they still meet at the Organic Green Leaf Café in the morning to discuss politics?   

Lake Michigan is dotted with towns like Traverse City and Sutton’s Bay up and down the waterfront.  Perhaps the residents in these enclaves experience two communities.  The summertime community may be one of work, a time to gather money while the rest of us play.  The other nine months may be the “real” community, uncluttered by necessary tourists and a time to own the streets and the beach that you call home.   I simply can’t travel to a destination without wondering what it would be like to live there full time.  If you’re curious about Northern Michigan, find out much more at http://www.michigan.org or http://www.michiganvacations.org.