All Blog Posts Tagged 'empire' (3)

Ah Leelanau County! You were in bloom this weekend from your lacy cherry blossoms in the north to your little green-coneheads of asparagus shooting up from the sandy soils of the south. I took my own blossom tour driving to and from my son’s soccer game in Northport, then continued on down to Empire (the little village on M-22 in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore) for the Asparagus Festival. When the village’s homespun marketeers launched the Asparagus Festival several yea… Continue

A couple years ago, when the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) opened its downtown Traverse City terminal and expanded its routes, my Up North life took a big leap for the better. I’d always figured I’d pretty well hacked out a good life here in the Northwoods—a house with a view of Sleeping Bear Bay (okay, from the driveway) and a job doing what I love in downtown Traverse City. But that winter commute really started wearing on me. So when I heard that B… Continue

I’m letting the best-kept Nordic secret in Leelanau County out of the bag here: Reindeer Run Nordic Center near Empire. It’s run by Kevin Kelly, a wild-man skier who is a national parks firefighter by vocation. (Read about Kevin). Kelly is starting a homespun Nordic center in the pines outside of Empire. If there's snow, it’s always great for classic and Kelly tries to keep a skate trail groomed. The main trai… Continue