Days 38 – 40: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

 

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore is characterized by rugged bluffs rising as high as 480 feet above the lake, and many are covered with  grass and trees – not just sandy dunes.   They were created by a series of glaciers over 11,000 years ago.  The park’s Platte River Campground was full when we arrived, so our first night was spent at a nearby condo park, Indigo Bluffs.  From there we drove north along the coast with George and Jan to Glen Arbor where we enjoyed looking in art galleries and stopping for an afternoon snack.  A shop featuring “everything cherries” had dried cherries, chocolate covered cherries, trail mix with cherries, cherry salsa, cherry BBQ sauce,  etc.

On Sunday afternoon, we drove back north to Traverse City where George had planned to see a miniature 1/4 scale steam locomotive train owned by the city.  He had read about the train previously and learned that a man had built it in the 1940’s (except for the boiler), and it had been subsequently owned by two other individuals before being sold to the city.  This Sunday was the last day the train was running before closing for 2009.  George talked with the engineers extensively, and then we boarded the train for a circle tour of the park on the 15 inch  gauge rail.   It was surprisingly like the full grown thing with steam spewing up, typical chug-chug steam locomotive sounds, and whistle tooting at crossings. 

TART, Traverse Area Rails Trail, was right beside  the train track so we rode our bikes along the lake enjoying views of boats on the lake, including tall ships that were part of the Schooner Festival taking place through the weekend.  The beaches were crowded with people – quite like a view of a Florida beach.

On Monday we bicycled with George and Jan to the shore of the Platte River where we had great views of the dunes and watched fishing boats coming in.  We also saw a few kayakers.  For lunch we all headed north to Leland, a charming fishing/tourist village on the lake.  Jan told us the view from our restaurant was one of the most painted scenes in Michigan – a view of the river with docks and shops on both sides of it.  We browsed in shops (while the Georges waited) and took lots of photos before heading back toward the park and stopping at a kayak rental store for ice cream which we enjoyed sitting by the river.