Scenes from Leelanau Peninsula

When we left Sleeping Bear Dunes our hearts were heavy-leaving such beauty behind was difficult.  But we knew we had more adventures ahead of us. The sky was overcast and grey-that made it a tiny bit easier to leave the gorgeous blue waters.  As we ventured north we started seeing more of the Michigan beauty that we had experienced around Sleeping Bear.  We were driving down the road when we spotted this handmade wooden gate blocking entrance into the forest-it looks like a path into a little magical spot doesn't it ?

And the Shetland Schoolhouse built in 1871 and still standing- a nice pop of color in the middle of green and grey today.

I don't know what kind of cows or animals these are but I felt like I had stepped back about 300,000 years in time-seeing their long shaggy coats.  Seriously , I expected a Viking warrior to come running out of the woods to protect his herd.

When I read about Leelanau Peninsula one of the stops I knew we wanted to make was at historic Fishtown in Leland-and I was not disappointed.  It's an old active fishing shanty town and the fog and grey weather just made is more authentic.

Can't you just imagine hearing the clop clop clop footsteps of the fishermen home from their being out on the sea, walking along the dock ?

This net strung out along the dock was so beautiful, almost mystical when I started thinking about the fishermen who had used it and the fish caught in it.

I knew we had to stop at the Village Cheese Shanty and pick up some cheese-the raclette is local-which is what we bought.  We also tried the Northshore sandwich-excellent and highly recommend it. It's a large sandwich and we split one which was quite filling and oh so delicious.

Another stop I knew from my research-Carlton's-it was recommended by another Roadtreker too-they said try the smoked whitefish and we did-ohh so good.  Plus we bought some smoked whitefish pate and Stone Oven dried baguettes for the road.  That turned out to be our dinner for the evening with a bottle of red wine.

A little whimsy outside a shoe store-perfect !

The Leelanau Peninsula continues to warm our hearts and surprise us with every turn in the bend.  We are heading to the state park for some camping-really looking forward to that.

Happy Trails my little fishermen and fellow travelers-Safe Travels.