The Little Finger of Michigan's Mitten

When Tim and I crossed the Mackinac Bridge, we left behind the Upper Peninsula to enjoy the sights in Michigan's little finger.  

If you've ever looked at a map of Michigan, you'll notice that the lower portion of state is shaped like a mitten, but its northwest corner, the Leelanau Peninsula, extends 30 miles into Lake Michigan.  It's often referred to as Michigan's little finger.

That's where we found the resort town of Petoskey on the shores of Little Traverse Bay.

Petoskey lends its name to stones which are an oddity of the area.  Found throughout Northern Michigan along the beaches, Petoskey stones with their distinctive hexagon pattern are the petrified remains of prehistoric coral colonies.  Glaciers polished their rough edges leaving smooth stones behind.

Ernest Hemingway on vacation with his family

Petoskey is also where Ernest Hemingway, between 1899 and 1921, vacationed with his family as a youth.  He spent much of his time swimming, fishing and wandering through fields and forests, all of which provided Hemingway with the inspiration and setting for some of his best short stories, combined and published as The Nick Adams Stories.  There is a good exhibit about Hemingway's ties to the city in the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Station, now the Little Traverse Museum.  In addition, we followed with interest the trail of Hemingway plaques scattered throughout Petoskey's downtown; each spoke of the author's connection to the city.

My favorite was the one outside the Carnegie Library, a favorite haunt of Hemingway's.  Today the Carnegie Building connects the library with the old United Methodist Church and acts as the home of the Crooked Tree Arts Center.

The Perry Hotel is another vital presence in the heart of Petoskey's historic downtown.  Petoskey was a village just 20 years old when Dr. Norman J. Perry built this hotel in 1899.  Built of brick, a novelty at the time, the Perry advertised itself as the only fireproof hotel in town.  It certainly has a beautiful veranda.

Just up the road from Petoskey is Traverse City, the Cherry Capitol of the World.  We missed the city's National Cherry Festival at the end of June, but we had a taste of its flavor at the Cherry Republic on Front Street in the historic downtown.  Cherry jam, cherry scones, cherry chocolates, cherry pie and even cherry wine.

My personal favorite was their Cherry Conservancy Wine which made good hostess gifts for our overnight stay with friends.

No visit to the Little Finger would be complete without a look at the sand dunes that pile up against the west side of Leelanau Peninsula.

Tim and I spent a day at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, Michigan.  Here's a sampling of what we saw.

Miles of sand dunes, some taller than 450 feet, line the shore of Lake Michigan.

Scads of sightseers slid their way down to the shore.

Tim thought about joining them.

I, on the other hand, was not even tempted!  I'll just stay right here on the Little Finger of Michigan.