Today I drove 188 miles traveleing from Ludington, Michigan to Traverse City, Michigan.
Day nine of my Michigan road trip was a fun and scenic day.
I traveled from Ludington to Traverse City following M-22 for most of the day.
You can see all the stops along the way in the complete video below.
If you like shorter videos click HERE for today's highlight videos.
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Hello fine people, It was another gorgeous day in Michigan. I left my hotel in Ludington shortly before 7:00 this morning. I drove 25.7 miles to the town of Manistee, Michigan. It was here that I viewed my first lighthouse of the day. There would be many more to come. This is the Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse. It was quite cold on the beach at this early hour.  It was 26.1 more miles up scenic M-22 to my next stop at Inspiration Point just north of Arcadia. I spent most of the day on M-22. At Inspiration Point I climbed about 50 steps only to learn there were many more to come. No way my feeble body could handle more, so I had to leave without seeing the view from the top. Below is what it looked like from the parking lot.  Weary from my climb it was back in the car. I couldn't rest too long as my next stop was only 9.5 miles away just outside Elberta. This is the Elberta Bluffs Lake Michigan Overlook. It is looking down on Frankfort, Michigan, which will be my next stop. That is the Frankfort North Breakwater Lighthouse out in Lake Michigan.  I drove around Betsie Lake and into Frankfort, another quaint Michigan town.  Below is once again the Frankfort North Breakwater Lighthouse out in Lake Michigan but this time from ground level in downtown Frankfort.  A closer look at the Frankfort North Breakwater Lighthouse can be seen below.  Below I'm driving down Main Street in beautiful downtown Frankfort.  Only five miles north of Frankfort is the Point Betsie Lighthouse. I was ahead of schedule and got there before their 10am opening time so I couldn't go into the lighthouse itself.  I continued my northern trek on good ole scenic M-22 and in only a few more miles I was in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  My first stop here was the Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse. It was a poor excuse for a lighthouse but I did enjoy watching the waves crash on the beach there.  About five more miles north I came to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. Along the pretty drive there are a few overlooks of the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  The overlook below is also from the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. It is the North Bar Lake Overlook.  After exiting the scenic drive I had to drive 24.1 miles to get to my favorite stop of the day in Leland, Michigan. This village is also known as Fishtown.  That's the Falling Waters Lodge on the left. I had reservations there in 2020 and had to cancel due to the pandemic. I had a reservation a month ago and had to cancel due to the scooter mishap. I tried to reschedule for this trip but it was so late they were sold out. Below is the view from the deck at the lodge.  Structures line both sides of the Leland River. These include vernacular wood-clad former and current commercial fishery buildings, most of which were constructed by the fishermen before 1930.  Next I continued my drive up the Leelanau Peninsula to the very top of the peninsula.  Below is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. This was my favorite of today's many lighthouses.   The light marks the Manitou passage, where Lake Michigan elides into Grand Traverse Bay. In 1858, the present light was built, replacing a separate round tower built in 1852. The lighthouse is located inside Leelanau State Park.  Next it was a 36.7 mile drive to Traverse City. I was going to visit the downtown park along the lakeshore but it was full of amusement rides and such for the annual Cherry Festival. I couldn't get near the place.  The picture below is from the dash cam as I was driving down Front Street, the main thoroughfare through the town's business district.  This whole town is just packed with people. I snapped a quick picture of this picturesque building on Front Street and then got out of town.  I'm staying at a Sleep Inn about seven miles east of Traverse City in the town of Acme.  The hotels in this town are outrageous. I don't think I've ever paid $300 a night of an ordinary Sleep Inn.  I picked up a pizza from That'sa Pizza next to the hotel. They sure were busy. There were 3 people in line ahead of me. They all had ordered multiple pizzas with bills way over $100 each. My little $20 order was hardly worth their time. The pizza was good though. I haven't had one in a long time. I grabbed the picture below from Google Maps. There wasn't any snow on the ground today.  That completes today's adventures. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Tim |
Nearly 6 hour unedited dash cam video including all the day's activities in Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs and Mackinaw City. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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