Featured Blog Posts – August 2011 Archive (31)

Wild mushrooms gathered and sold by Ken Harris at farmers markets around Northwest Michigan. Find recipes for wild mushrooms in the September issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine.

With our September Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine still fresh in our hands and on…

In these last few days before I leave to begin my second year of college, I find myself trying to soak up the loveliness of Leelanau county in the late summer. Studying late for an exam, or slogging to the library in the oppressive dusk of a February evening, I can recall the feeling of a warm breeze and the slight chill of clear Lake Michigan waters at my feet, and face the present with hope of the future. I am luckier than many people in that I have access to a perfect place to make these…

When Good Morning America viewers recently named Leelanau Peninsula’s Sleeping Bear Dunes the “Most Beautiful Place in…

Summer time Up North is all about warm weather, days at the beach and family cook outs. But-as most of us know-we're not always good about making time for those seasonal pleasures. Sometimes the warm-days are spent inside in the office, days at the beach can be interrupted with unexpected trips to the grocery store and getting the entire family together for a meal is like solving a puzzle. 

My family owns a cabin on Lake Matinentda in the tiny town of Blind River about 80…

The last time I went to the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, it was the first weekend after I had moved to Traverse City. Whether as a joke or an ill-informed fact, a friend told me that before the vast building became the state hospital, a Duke had lived there. Its common name eluding me, the Village was never a…

When Good Morning America made Mario Batali the defacto spokesperson for The Number One Most Beautiful Place in America (if you haven’t heard yet…

If you didn't know any better, you may think that the "Torneo Annuale di Bocce" put on by the Italian culture club C.I.A.O is just an excuse for a lot of really good food. The July 16th tournament begins with nothing short of a banquet, each competing team bringing a dish to serve "al famiglia stile" or family style. Tables are groaning under the weight of plates of pasta, fresh salads glistening with olive oil, and impossibly lovely desserts. My own father, a member of the team "Cinghiale"…

Ed Reynolds, CEO of Quantum Sails, on photo shoot on West Grand Traverse Bay. Traverse Photographer Todd Zawistowski in foreground.

I don't want to wish away the time here, but have spent some time this week getting out reporting and doing photo shoots for stories that will run in…



I've been looking forward to the first annual Seersucker Ride and Pincord Picnic ever since my sister and I joined the Tweed Ride in May (see my earlier blog). And now my schedule is overbooked, and I can't attend after all. Drat.

It promises to be a highlight of the summer…

                Chef Mario Batali did it, so did comedian Tim Allen. Madonna’s family chose the area to build a winery. Executives, retired auto workers, professional musicians, foodies, cherry farmers, wine makers, bakers, entrepreneurs and…

Do you have your tickets for the Harvest Stompede yet? This year's race and wine tour are quickly approaching!

The annual Harvest Stompede takes place September 10th & 11th, 2011. The weekend features a spectacular  race through Leelanau's vineyards followed by a self guided…

Cyclists in the 2011 Cherry Roubaix road race (the race was also the Michigan state championship road race this year) push east on Bodus Road, in Leelanau County.

I'm fresh from my second stint as a road marshal in the Cherry Roubaix road race, which happens as part of the weekend…

It takes a village to build a trail. Here, several of the people who contributed to the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail push shovels into the dirt to signify the groundbreaking.

It was a big day at Sleeping Bear Dunes dune climb Friday as Senator Carl Levin joined about 150 others to share the…

Thought I'd work at home in Glen Arbor today--you know tuck in and get a whole lot of magazine writing done. So here's my day in not so sleepy Sleeping Bear Dunes country so far:

7:30 a.m. went for run on Alligator Hill and crossed paths with a nice sized bobcat--think, cougar sized but with a bobbed tail.

8 a.m. Jumped in Lake Michigan--aaahhhh

11 a.m. Interviewed Senator Carl Levin at the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb where he was helping to launch the new Sleeping Bear…

Sack races, bouncing balls, hula hoops, musical chairs, sticky fingers and smiling faces. It all adds up to one thing: Kids Day at Harbor Days! The weather was perfect for the kids this year as they ran back and forth between the games and activities set up just for them, and the Elk Rapids harbor where they could cool off in the water, regaining energy to keep the fun going. It was my second time to Elk Rapids, my first time to its waterfront and festival, and a day I won't soon…

There has been so much buzz throughout the Leelanau Peninsula since Good Morning America announced the Sleeping Bear Dunes as one of the top 10 “America’s Most Beautiful Places”. 

We were tipped off by our friends at Traverse…