In Northern Michigan, Summertime Is Pure Magic

29.05.2024 - 00:13 / cntraveler.com

My daughter experienced her inaugural swim in Torch Lake at just five months old, mere steps from the shoreline where, a decade prior, my husband and I had exchanged our wedding vows. Her chubby baby legs kicked vigorously against the bracing cold, accompanied by an ear-piercing shriek expressing her shock. Formerly a deep, fjord-like bay of ancient Lake Michigan, Torch Lake is the state’s longest inland lake body of water, known for its icy waters and brilliant turquoise color.

Michigan, named after the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning “great water,” is a place where life revolves around the numerous small inland lakes and vast Great Lakes. Communities lining these shores burgeon in size as summer residents return, often to cherished cottages that have been in their families for generations. My parents’ cottage, our summer sanctuary for over three decades, resonates with the laughter from fiercely contested gin rummy tournaments and the exuberant chaos of late-night swimming escapades. My dad still captains the boats, teaching all of the grandkids to water ski and sail with endless patience; a new generation learning life on the water.

Lake Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Locally grown cherries are the ultimate summer snack

My childhood memories of this idyllic place are like scenes from an old-fashioned storybook. Summer days unfolded with morning bicycle rides into the quaint town of Alden for breakfast at The Muffin Tin followed by afternoons on the water, and evenings around the fire pit, with marshmallows crackling in the flames under a sky that transformed into a celestial light show. Regardless of my travels, the stars never seem to shine as brightly as they did here.

Northern Michigan is bucolic in July and August when I bring my three children to the shores where I once played: endless rows of cherry trees, rolling vineyards, verdant farmland, and more miles of shoreline than any of the contiguous 48 states. Winding country roads connect one picturesque small town to another: Leland, Suttons Bay, Northport, Elk Rapids, Petoskey, and Glen Arbor, each with its unique charm. A twenty-minute ferry ride will throw you back in time on Mackinac Island, a car-free paradise of horse-drawn carriages, decadent fudge, and Victorian architecture. Towering sand dunes plunge steeply into the cerulean waters of Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, one of the Midwest’s most striking national parks. Kids search the shore for Petoskey stones, fossilized relics from the Devonian period. The Great Lakes appear like oceans, with blue horizons melting into the distance, an endless playground for paddle boarding, water skiing, kitesurfing, and kayaking.

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