The Certifiable Wenches

Beautiful Northern Michigan

Originally from northern Michigan, I have been to most of Michigan on road trips, both as a child and as an adult. I thought I had seen every back road, every tree lined highway, every farmhouse, barn, and wild animal, but I was in no way prepared for the beauty of the drive I took this summer with my parents. We made the trek to Cross Village, which is in the upper Northwest corner of the lower peninsula of the state. We traveled across Michigan to Harbor Springs, which is a beautiful lake town. There are so many beautiful houses, boats on the harbor, and the downtown is adorable with many little shops to choose from, as like much of Western Michigan. We then traveled about 20 minutes north up highway 119 to Cross Village through what is called the “Tunnel of Trees”, a heavily wooded area along the water with a winding road carved in. One of THE most beautiful drives I have ever been on, and word has it that it is even more beautiful in the fall and spring. Lake Michigan is on your left, and several awe-inspiring houses are on both sides of the road, with more than enough space in between. These are most residents’ “summer” homes, making one wonder of their means of income. We traveled through the tiny town of Good Hart, where there is a movie worthy General Store, which also houses the Post Office, Realty Office, and the best beef and chicken pot pies I’ve ever tasted.

Once we arrived in Cross Village, we ate dinner at the Legs Inn, which is a beautiful log cabin type restaurant on Lake Michigan that serves several different kinds of foods, one being Polish, one of my favorites. My mom, dad and I all had the Taste of Poland plate, which included Golabki (Cabbage Roll), Kielbasa (Polish Smoked Sausage), old fashioned Polish style sauerkraut, and Pierogi (Polish Style Dumplings). It was delicious!

For those of you who have never had the joy of paying Michigan a visit, plan on it. Sometimes it gets a bad rap for its economy, the city of Detroit, crime rates in Detroit, etc. But there are so many bodies of water and hidden getaways, we vacation in Michigan often. Summers are the best for there is boating, fishing, jet skiing, four-wheeling, but in the fall you can hunt, and in the winters there are several slopes for those of you who ski.