🌞Sunny beautiful day to celebrate Tim! I made us ham & cheese omelets which we enjoyed outside with our coffee & tea. Gave Ruby a good cleaning, flushing & packed her up for today’s a travel day. Before leaving I cut a variety of colors of lilacs and wildflowers to put in a vase. We pulled out at 11am & it was 82* already! 11:20 at Blarney’s EZ Mart for our Diet Coke’s!🥤The drive out of town was beautiful. 🏡 Homes were beautiful with lots of flowers and decorated very nicely. We decided to take the back country roads and with doing so took this narrow road along Lake Michigan and through the Tunnel of Trees 🌳 up to Cross Village. 12:31pm we arrived at Legs Inn Polish Restaurant for lunch. High five ✋ again for as we got up to the hostess we got the last table and the couple behind us were told it would be a 45 minute wait. This place is indescribable! Starting with the gnarly door with an antler rack as a door handle, the stove legs that trim the roofline, timbers and stones then as you walk inside….well there’s timbers, limbs & driftwood carved into creatures and furniture throughout every room! We enjoyed a drink then I had a delicious Pierogi dish and Tim had the “Old World Sampler”, consisted of Polish Hunter Sausage, homemade Bigos and Pierogi’s. The waitress then talked us into sharing the Polish Berry Szarlotka which was amazing. Then we took a walk through the restaurant leading us outside to the big garden area and benches over looking Lake Michigan. What an amazing view! Then we strolled across the street to the Peninsula’s Gift Shop then over to the newly opened Petoskey Brewery where we in enjoyed a 🍺 Cranium Crush (Raspberry Waffle Cone Cream Ale) & a Michigan Cherry Craft Hard Seltzer 🍒 outside on the patio area. Time to get back on the road again! What a sight to see… as we crossed this huge suspension bridge! $8.00 to cross over to the Upper Peninsula on the Mackinaw Bridge…”The Mighty Mac”! 🌉 We are now in the Upper Peninsula! 3:10 we stopped at the visitor center and the 2 gentleman working there were so helpful! They both kept giving us maps, brochures of things to see and showed us pictures on their phones and so much more! What a great experience from Yuppers who love the area. 3;30pm arrived at Straits State Park. Site #79 right across from Lake Huron. Big level site! Electric only site. Got all set up then took a walk to the waters edge, gazed at the bridge, tried the water and yup brr cold. We walked around both camp loops and met a couple with an Airstream who Tim had to stop and talk to them about it. They were gracious enough to show us the inside. We enjoyed happy hour with them after learning they were all nurses who used to work at Palm’s West Hospital and lived in Loxahatchee for years (right where we live). We knew some of the same group of nurse’s and doctors! Talk about a small world. We came back to the RV and finished a post for the blog then grilled hamburgers along with green beans and carrots. We sat outside till dark …which is like 10pm. Across the water on the other side of the bridge, where the Trolls are we watched the Sunday evening Fireworks. Chilly night! Traveled only 67 miles today.
Lilacs ~ are treasured for their colorful flower panicles and sweet fragrance that perfumes the warm spring air. This easy-to-grow classic shrub is a delightful addition to the landscape or in the garden. Most lilacs grow best when planted in full sun or an area that receives several hours of direct sunlight each day. Lilacs come in a range of hues, from pretty pink to purple. Lilacs are bushes that may, depending on the variety, grow to over 25 feet tall. Lilacs produce stalks of fragrant flowers that can be white, pink, red, blue or purple, although most people envision the purple flowers when thinking of lilacs. There are 26 known species of lilacs with over 4,000 different cultivars.
Blarney Castle Oil and Propane has been a Michigan-based, family-owned business, since 1933. There are more than 140 EZ Mart convenience store locations. They offer Propane and Home Heating Oil service as well as Commercial Fuel and Bulk Lubricant sales. Big convenience store & also sells a big variety of beer & alcohol. The first station, Blarney Castle #2 (named so because the first Blarney Castle is in Ireland) in Bear Lake Michigan, circa 1933.
Left Petoskey out of downtown Harbor Springs on M-119 through the Tunnel of Trees to Cross Village. Not only will you end up in a quaint little off-the-beaten-path town, but quite possibly get to experience one of the most scenic drives of your life! This drive is on a narrow, windy roads, right off the coast of Lake Michigan. Like the name, you literally are driving through a tunnel of trees. The breathtaking, narrow, 20-mile stretch of road runs along sharp twists, jaw-dropping views and beautiful hardwoods hugs Lake Michigan. The sunlight filters through the leaves, and openings in the trees deliver breathtaking views of the crystal blue lake. The drive can be a little tedious, as it’s only a two-lane road with a decent amount of traffic (especially in peak season). Many people choose to drive this route with their personal vehicle, but there are also cyclists who enjoy bike riding along the scenic road. Note that there is not a separate bike lane or shoulder for cyclists and the road is fairly narrow to share with cars. Driving is definitely a safer option.
Cross Village is a tiny, quiet town with only a few shops and restaurants. In recent years, the small town has been gaining popularity, though – secret’s out! The top tourist attraction in Cross Village is the Polish restaurant, Legs Inn. This old-style pub is warm and cozy, perfect for lunch on a brisk fall day. They also offer seating in their backyard garden during warmer months – if you’re lucky enough to get a spot out there, you’ll also have sweeping views of Lake Michigan! Plan to get there early to get your name on the waiting list. Unfortunately, over the past few years, Legs Inn has become much more popular. Across the street from Legs Inn you’ll find Peninsulas Gift Shop. This small shop has a wide variety of gifts, Michigan souvenirs, and pieces from local artists. It’s a perfect spot to stop and shop while waiting for your table at Legs Inn!
Legs Inn Restaurant ~ Mark Smolak and his brother, Chris, run one of the state’s most iconic eating establishments with their parents, George and Kathy. This unique eatery is on the end of M-119, also known as the scenic “Tunnel Of Trees.” Stone on the outside and wood on the inside, this unique restaurant features stove legs on the roof — thus Legs Inn — and has been open during the late spring, summer and early fall for generations. The decor is one-of-a-kind: a log cabin motif with tributes to the Odawa Indians, who settled this area meshed in a strange but wonderful way with Polish heritage. There are plenty of Legs Inn gift items to take home too. The Smolak family settled here in 1921 and began construction then, and opened this place featuring delicious Polish cuisine. People keep coming back. Stanley was a Polish immigrant who creatively worked on the inn using local timber and stone with local “Odawa” Ottawa Indian craftsmen. Beer lovers will appreciate the large selection of 100 varieties of beer from around the world and from America’s finest microbreweries. There are also Polish vodkas, craft beer, wine, and spirits. The Luksusowa Bloody Mary and Wyborowa Martini are both Legs Inn signature drinks.
Petoskey Brewery just opened a second taproom in Cross Village. So now there’s one at either end of the “Tunnel of Trees road!
The Mackinac Bridge ~ also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper & Lower peninsulas of Michigan. It spans the Straits of Mackinac, a body of water connecting Lake Michigan & Lake Huron, 2 of the Great Lakes. Opened in 1957, the 26,372-foot-long bridge is the world’s 27th longest main span and is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The Mackinac Bridge is part of (I-75) and the Lake Michigan and Huron components of the Great Lakes Circle tour across the straits; it is also a segment of the U.S. North Country National Scenic Trail. The bridge connects the city of St. Ignace to the north with the village of Mackinaw City to the south. Envisioned since the 1880s, the bridge was designed by the engineer David B Steinman and completed and opened on November 1, 1957 only after many decades of struggles to begin construction.The bridge has since become an iconic symbol of the state of Michigan. It remains the longest suspension bridge with two towers between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The length of the bridge’s main span is 3,800 feet which makes it the third-longest suspension span in the US. The structure took 48 months to complete with over 3, 500 workers and $99,800,000 dollars. Its total length is 5 miles, or 26,372 feet. The main towers are 552 feet above water.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P.—is the northern and more elevated of the 2 major landmasses that make up Michigan. With the exhaustion of readily available minerals, the area’s economy declined in the 20th century, largely becoming dependent on logging and tourism.
The Upper Peninsula contains 29% of the land area of Michigan but only 3% of its total population; at the height of the mining and timber era in the early 20th century it had as much as 11% of the state’s population. Residents are nicknamed Yoopers (derived from “UP-ers”) and have a strong regional identity, enhanced by the perception that the rest of the state neglects them. Because of the surrounding waters and northern latitude, it receives more snow than most of the eastern U.S. The heavily forested land, soil types, short growing season, and logistical factors, make the Upper Peninsula poorly suited for agriculture. The region is home to a variety of wildlife, including moose, wolves, coyotes, deer, foxes, bears, bobcats, eagles, hawks, and owls.
The Upper Peninsula has a distinctive local cuisine. The pasty (pronounced “pass-tee”), a kind of meat turnover originally brought to the region by Cornish miners, is popular among locals and tourists alike. Pasty varieties include chicken, venison, pork, hamburger, and pizza, all of which many restaurants serve. Maple Syrup is a highly prized local delicacy. Fresh Great Lakes fish, such as the lake trout & whitefish and (in the spring) smelt are widely eaten. Thimbleberry jam & chokecherry jelly are a treat.
The Upper Peninsula is rich in mineral deposits, including iron, copper, nickel, and silver. Small amounts of gold have also been discovered and mined. In the 19th century, mining dominated the economy, and the UP became home to many isolated company towns. For many years, mines in the Keweenaw Peninsula were the world’s largest producers of copper. The mines began declining as early as 1913, with most closing temporarily during the Great Depression. Mines reopened during World War 2 but almost all quickly closed after the war ended.
Since logging of white pine began in the 1880s, timber has been an important industry.Stands of hemlock & hardwood in the western reaches of the forest experienced larger scale selection-cutting beginning in the mid-20th century. Because of the highly seasonal climate and the short growing season, agriculture is limited in the Upper Peninsula, though potatoes, strawberries and a few other small fruits are grown.
Tourism has become the main industry in recent decades. In 2005, ShermanTravel, LLC listed the Upper Peninsula as #10 in its assessment of all travel destinations worldwide. The peninsula has extensive coastline on the Great Lakes, large tracts of state and national forests, cedar swamps, more than 150 waterfalls, and low population densities. Because of the skiing, camping, boating, fishing, snowmobiling, hunting, and hiking opportunities, many Lower Peninsula and Wisconsin families spend their vacations in the UP.
Records of 390 inches of snow or more have been set in many communities in this area. The Keweenaw Peninsula averages more snowfall than any other location east of the Mississippi River. Because of the howling storms across Lake Superior, which cause dramatic amounts of precipitation, it has been said that the lake-effect snow makes the Keweenaw Peninsula the snowiest place east of the Rockies. Hancock is found frequently on lists of the snowiest cities in America.
Straits State Park ~ has 255 campsites. Straits State Park was established in 1924 as a simple day park with the entrance located at the corner of Paro and Hombach street. In the mid-1940s the park was redesigned to allow for approximately 32 tent campsites along the shores.
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