Traverse City. Cherry Festival.

Thursday & Friday

Woke up to a cool & rainy day. Left for Traverse City to pick up the mail & get groceries. After that we drove to the Leelanau SP located at the very tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. A scenic drive along the west shore of the Grand Traverse Bay. Not much of a day as far as the weather goes; cool, overcast & sometimes rainy. The Grand Traverse Lighthouse, built in 1858, is located in the park.
Friday morning we took a nice walk along the accessible trail. The weather’s a little nicer. Still windy but with occasional sun.

Saturday & Sunday

Saturday morning we drove to Traverse City to see the 83rd Annual Cherry Festival. We got to T.C. about 9:30am with the intent of first doing laundry & grocery shopping. To our surprise, people were already showing up for the Festival. The shoreline was already packed with boats. We changed our plans and found a perfect parking spot just off Grandview Blvd. about five blocks from the center of all the activity. Some other RV’s were already in the same area and by 10:00 all spaces were taken. There is a paved multi-use trail running along the waterfront; the perfect way for us to get around. After taking Gopher for a nice walk, Carol & I went to see what was going on. There was a sand volley ball tournament in progress. Children were trying their hand at making their own cherry pie. Every product you can imagine that’s made from cherries was for sale; salsa, juice, candy, pastries, bread, on & on. There was a Carnival Midway, wine tasting tent and live entertainment at night. In the afternoon was an air show. We don’t recall ever being to an air show before. When the show was over about 3:00, we left to do the laundry & shopping. About 5:00 we went back downtown and were quite surprised to find another spot large enough for us to park. Fireworks start at 10:30. We’re so far north that sunset isn’t until 9:30. We were taking a walk on the Path about 9:00. Someone set off a few small firecrackers. Poor Gopher went crazy. Cowered down, turned and pulled straight to the camper. After recalling the problems we had with her during the 4th of July we spend with Suzanne, we decided to skip the fireworks and head to the Turtle Creek Casino parking lot. Our “campsite” for the night.
On Sunday we went back to TC for the Arts & Crafts show and to just revisit the festivities we saw on Saturday. Early afternoon we went to the Traverse City State Park for the night.