Day 3.4: Traverse City, MI

For the first time in a long time, we didn’t set an alarm and slept in, though Arielle got up briefly to watch the sunrise over the lake before going back to bed. We got ready slowly and then drove about twenty minutes to Noah and Kit’s house, which is closer to downtown Traverse City than the peninsula cabin. We were excited to get to spend some time with Scout and Ezra, their young children, though we first went out to explore with Noah. He took us to the nearby Mari Vineyards, where we each sampled five wines, all of which are locally-produced. Abe tried the 2016 Gewurtztraminer and the 2017 Bestiany Ramato, and Arielle tried the 2017 Troglodyte Rosso and the 2017 Cabernet Franc. We both tried the 2016 Scriptorium Riesling, the 2017 Late Harvest Riesling, and the 2017 Troglodyte Rosso. Arielle enjoyed most of hers while Abe was reassured that he doesn’t particularly like wine aside from Moscato and Manischewitz. Noah is far more sophisticated and ended up getting a glass of the 2017 Nero, which he enjoyed while we stood outside by a high table and marveled at the view.

We then drove downtown to a cluster of food trucks outside a bar called The Little Fleet. Abe ordered the last portion of BBQ tofu with cornbread and mac and cheese on the side from Cordwood BBQ, where Noah got a pulled chicken sandwich. Arielle was very excited about getting cheeseburger fries with Beyond Meat from Glendale Ave, though it took more than half an hour for the food to come and then it had the sauce she had asked for on the side on it instead. She still enjoyed it, and the weather outside was really great.

We returned to the house to relieve Kit, who had to go out, and spent the next few hours playing with Scout and Ezra. We had a lot of fun playing soccer and later went for a walk along Lake Michigan, which is just a block from where they live. We took advantage of the warm, sunny day and shot some basketball, pushed buttons in our car, and just hung out outside for a while.

Kit returned home and we got to catch up a bit, and enjoyed Noah’s delicious tofu broccoli stir fry for dinner. We said goodbye as the kids were going to sleep and drove back up to the cabin to turn in for the night.

Approximate number of miles covered: 19