Normally, the primary event in our August is the 4H fair – my duties include the logistics of transporting Hurricane Dolly and required accessories from the barn to the fairgrounds, establishing our beach head command post in the exact perfect viewing location near the show ring, as well as participating on the barn isle decoration team, and sourcing fuel from the concession area for both Hurricane Dolly as well as the Team Dolly GPS (aka – my daughter…).
Since the “event that shall not be named in this ride report” caused one of the longest running small town fairs to “reschedule” to 2021, I ended up with a few days to kill with vacation time already approved and my work calendar kept uncharacteristically clear, what better activity to engage in than some two wheel therapy, right? Right.
Day 1 - We departed Monday afternoon and made our way west towards the Lake Michigan shoreline. We’d join DeOppressoLiber and his better half there, along with Designflaw06 for dinner. Best laid plans were adjusted due to our later than anticipated departure. Designflaw06 called and after leading DeOppressoLiber and party on his signature West Michigan guided tour decided to head south. After hanging up, I flipped over to the radar display and figured out exactly why he the return to home button.
Of course, there was a single advancing finger of heavy rain reaching east from the lake, over Manistee, and along our flight path. We pressed on, embracing the inevitable with a roadside stop to zip vents closed and deploy aqua-barriers to the ECM (electronic counter measures) equipment.
Then it happened. With Designflaw’s southward movement, the storm front broke up in the confusion and effort to follow the rain prince south. It split in half right over M-115, leaving us a damp surface, clouds and a clear sprint into Manistee. Thank you, oh great rain prince of the west…
Day 2 - Tuesday’s ride plan included following the scenic and (almost) famous M-22 route north along the Lake Michigan coast to the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, then along Grand Traverse Bay to Traverse City, then north again Mission Point Peninsula and the Mission Point Lighthouse. We did this ride back in June and experienced a short portion of it in what I can only describe as white-knuckle, hurricane force
wind and rain event that forced us to abandon our trek and flee inland towards that evening’s lodging in Petoskey.
Weather on this day was superb. No other way to describe it – sunny, mid-70’s and not a cloud in the sky. It was so unfortunate that Designflaw couldn’t join us on this glorious day, but our rain gear would remain securely stored this day.
Not even a hint of a cloud in the sky. We missed Designflaw on this day, but the clear skies made up it…
The ride north was enjoyable – clear skies continued all the way to Northport, where we turned south along the bay to find sustenance. The VI Grill in Sutton’s Bay had parking curbside available and we snagged that quicker than a blue-hair piloted Mercedes in auto-park mode… The fish-n-chips was spectacular – food porn, extrememarine style, included below.
We pressed on after lunch – through Traverse City and north towards the Mission Point Lighthouse. The peninsula is home to wineries and orchards – it was a very scenic ride north along the narrow penninusual. There are points where you can see both sides of Grand Traverse Bay. The lighthouse was closed, but the beach was open and busy. We made the return run south and worked our way out of Traverse City towards Petoskey and day two’s LZ. We hit a bit of construction traffic on the way out of town and our out of state visitors got a first hand taste of the “entitled-tourist” Lexus pilot who insisted on nudging through a red light into our lane. She attempted to join our merry party of 3 motorcyles in the P2 position, to which we rejected her advances through strategic lane space maneuvering. Lexus out of the picture, we ran the final stretch of our day north along US-31 through Charlevoix and into Petoskey.
That Bandit 1250 comes with concierge fueling service…
The third day of our journey saw us on our own for the day. DeOppressoLiber and his better half would spend the day on Mackinaw Island taking in the sights there. Our plan took us north across the mighty Mac – Mackinaw Bridge and into the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. There were 2 destinations for the day – the first being Tahquamenon Falls – the 3rd largest waterfall east of the Mississippi River. The upper falls spans nearly 200 feet wide and has a vertical drop of 48 feet. The average flow rate can reach as high as 50,000 gallons per second during peak times in the spring; the flow rate was listed as 5800 gallons per second the day we visited. The water has a unique color due to the tanic acid released into the water by the decaying vegetation in the swamps of the drain basin.
To get to the viewing platform was at the bottom of a set of stairs. The sign at the top displayed a warning about the steps – ignored by many. Upon return, my option of the warning was that they severely under stated the number of steps between the top and bottom. We were fouled by a second sign that again, understated the number of stairs. In both cases, the rewarded view of the falls were well worth the efforts.
We refueled at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery & Pub – the mushroom burger and fries were top notch for pub food. Gratuitous food porn inserted for BikerGeek here…
On the road again, we worked our way east and then north along Whitefish Bay to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Edmond Fitzgerald memorial located at Whitefish Point. I vagely remember the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald from elementary school and the song by Gordon Lightfoot being performed at a school concert of some sort.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum provides a glimpse into the challenges and harsh conditions Lake Superior presented to the cargo shipping industry in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. There’s a lighthouse light glass on display; the placard stated it weighed 3,500 lbs and rotates on a liquid bearing surface of mercury. The mechanism that rotated it was similar in design to that of a grand father clock. If you’re ever in the area, it’s worth the side trip IMHO.
We burned south on M-123 back to St. Ignace for the evening. We had dinner at the
MI Patio Grill – sorry, no food porn this time…
Day 4 was our RTB – return to base – day. We had breakfast at a small diner in St. Ignace – Bentley’s B-M-L Café. Small, but great food and service. They have a sweet roll that fills the plate!
We rolled south over big Mac and then followed US-23 south along the Lake Huron shoreline. Just south of Rogers City, we took M-65 inland and south through the scattered small towns of northern Michigan. We stopped at the Lumberman’s Monument that’s just west of Oscoda, MI on the Au Sable River. From there, we continued south to Frankenmuth for a late (much later than planned) lunch at Slo Bones BBQ – great food there as well!
We jumped on the slab and headed for home. In Flint we turned east and DeOppressoLiber and his better half continued south to Toledo and then east towards Mass the next day. The weather was spectacular and the company wasn’t half bad either!
