Manistee, Michigan
August 13, 2021 - Finally updating the blog; Laurie burned through a ton of data (accidentally - see hangups/hiccups below) and we’ve had to save the remainder for the “essentials” - work and school! Goes to show how much we take our internet at home for granted….
We rolled into Manistee - staying at Orchard Beach State Park - on a early Saturday afternoon (July 24). We’re all getting pretty efficient at camp set up, but had a minor issue at this spot which involved no working electrical. But the rangers were super efficient and had it working within the hour. Owen had already done his due diligence on the park and discovered that there was a trolley that stopped by that afternoon, for anyone interested in a 45-minute tour of the city. Tom and I were tired from being on the road but we obliged and we were so glad that we did, as it gave us a really good overview of the city and took us to parts that we might not have discovered on our own. It definitely helped us plan out the next few days. And as we were the only ones on the trolley at that time, it was like our own private little tour with our guides, John and Jim.
Side-trip excursion: It’s worth noting that prior to arriving in Manistee, we had stayed at a Harvest Host location the night before (Iron Fish Distillery). We had a little time to kill before we could arrive in the State Parks (check in isn’t until 3 pm), so we were close enough to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area that we thought we could tag that area in the morning before heading down to Manistee. That required an early wake-up time (6:30 am), and it was drizzling a bit, so we threw the rain gear into the Jeep. As we got closer to Sleeping Bear Dunes, we also got closer to the storm. By the time we arrived at the “Scenic Drive” area, we were enveloped in a downpour! It was also kind of funny because we were the only ones out there at 7:30 am on a Saturday morning! The rangers weren’t even out to take our admission fees. For me, this was reminiscent of a Conn family adventure, for sure.
We drove into the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes parking lot (again - solo), except for a couple of rangers gathering up garbage and recycling. It was still pouring, but because we live by a mantra of “There’s no bad weather, only poor clothing choices” we suited up in our waterproof jackets and went hiking. Now these sand dunes are MASSIVE - many miles - and boast some pretty impressive inclines and declines. The rain was a warm rain, and actually compacted the sand, which made them easier to climb. We had the place to ourselves, and actually, had quite a bit of fun. We figured we hiked about 2 miles, but never did make it to the lake - it was still pretty far away, and we encountered a number of false summits. At times it kind of felt like we are on the planet of Tatooine…(so.much.sand)…
Hungry and wet, we decided it was time for breakfast and found a great spot in town at the Good Harbor Grill in Glen Arbor, MI. Tucked into a small community, it was a busy and popular spot. After that, we headed back to the RV, where the sun was just starting to come out. We broke down camp and headed to Manistee. On the way, we also had time to swing through Traverse City, a picturesque Marina town situated on the west arm of the Grand Traverse Bay (part of Lake Michigan). We made lunch (in the RV in the Walmart parking lot), unhooked the Jeep, and headed to a park at the marina to have our lunch there, and walked down Front Street - another fun area with shops, restaurants, etc. Places such as “Peace, Love and Donuts” and the “Arcade Cafe.” We’ve been told that Traverse City is a must see, and while we didn’t see too much of it, it does seem like a great place to visit. Finally - on to Manistee!
Manistee is known as the “Victorian Port City” and is historically recognized for its prominence with the early lumber trade industry. Supposedly the US government “went to war” with Manistee in the 1800s as they were concerned that there was too much clearing going on with the forests. There are beautiful Victorian homes and buildings throughout Manistee, and the tour is a great way to learn more about them and the families that built up the city.
Manistee is also located on what is known as the Gold Coast of Lake Michigan (east side of the lake). While we couldn’t access the beach at our campground due to the erosion, there were a couple of beautiful beaches within a 5-10 minute drive of us including
North Beach - More private, smaller (with some gorgeous homes on it)
Fifth Avenue beach: This seemed to be the “main” beach with the most traffic, parks, bathhouses, and places to buy ice cream treats (of course we did), and we spent the majority of our beach time here
The beaches are amazing - clean, pure sand bottoms and the lake isn’t even that cold. We’ve been extremely fortunate with the weather on this entire trip so far. And really, no bugs!!!! The sunsets from our campground were also quite special.
There is a good downtown district, with a mixture of gift shops, coffee shops, restaurants, book shops and a museum. We particularly liked The Outpost - combination of a great coffee shop and lots of great outdoor wear and gear. There’s also a riverwalk that goes for about a mile on the RIVER where one can dock their boat. We had dinner one evening at TJ Pub’s (one of the oldest establishments in Manistee) and during our hour-long wait, enjoyed the walk along the riverwalk. There were a couple of other restaurants right on the water that we didn’t get to, but those looked fun as well (these were Bluefish and Fillmore, for posterity….)
Per a recommendation of other campers we met, we headed down to Luddington (about 30 minutes from Manistee) to go to the Historic White Pine Village as well as the Maritime Museum. The White Pine Village offers a living-history tour of late 19th century - early 20th century pioneer homes and establishments. All the buildings (some original) contain thousands of artifacts and archives detailing life at this time, and also the agricultural and lumbering industry. The Maritime Museum was really well done, and had exhibits highlighting the car ferry industry, the lighthouses, and of course, lots of information about shipwrecks, of which there have been over 5,000 in the Great Lakes in total. Of course, we had to make an ice cream stop after our museum visits and found the perfect stop - The House of Flavors (chocolate chip cookie dough for Owen, black cherry for me, and strawberry for Tom). We also went on a quest for a boogie board here, as Owen wants to body surf the Lake Michigan waves - and we’ll likely find many other places along the way to put it to use.
We got pretty comfortable in Manistee, as we stayed for 5 days and it included a lot of beach time, work and school time, exploring and even some Olympics viewing by the bonfire a couple of nights. Also - lots of laundry. Right across the park from us was the Beech Hemlock Nature Trail, which offered up about a 30 minute trail run for Tom and I, and even allowed us to see about 10 deer on the trail.
Owen wants me to note that I had to get a new phone while in Manistee because I had cracked the screen pretty badly right before our trip (not to mention it was 8 years old) and it was time for an upgrade. However, I mistakenly used our “RV Wifi” to do the update and transfer all my photos, videos, apps, etc - and it used up 75% of our data for the month. He is not letting me live it down, because it has severely cut into his YouTube time.
Other than that, a pretty successful stay in Manistee.
People met along the way: Friendly couple from (near) Detroit camping with their grandkids. When I pulled out the Jiffy Pop, they mentioned they hadn’t seen that since the 70s.
Hiccups and hangups: No electrical at first, but quickly remedied. Laurie using up 75% of the data plan for the month (and it just kicked off) - Owen keeps reminding me of that.
Dates of stay: July 24 - 29, 2021
According to Owen…
Manistee was fun. We went to the beach on 5th Ave. On the first day we got to Manistee, we rode the trolley around town.