This weekend Chris and I headed up to Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City for a few days.

We hit Sleeping Bear Dunes first rather than driving to Traverse City, getting a hotel, and driving about 30 minutes East to the park.

The weather was fantastic.  70's and sunny!  There was no rain (though even the morning of the weather was saying showers), and hardly anyone at any of the trails.

So we stopped at Sleeping Bear Pointe first to hunt around a bit and enjoy the beach.  I wanted to walk through the ghost forest part of the way through the trail, but honestly I forgot how much I hate walking on those sand dunes...
So we spent some time on the beach, listening to the water crash into the shore and enjoying how quiet it was (though admittedly I fidgeted quite a bit with my phone and camera while Chris drank the nature in).

I made sure to swing by Deering's Market and snag some tasty chocolate milk from Shelter Farms (rich, and like liquid ice cream) as well as some fantastic chocolates from the Grocer's Daughter. Then it was off to Traverse City to secure a hotel room and enjoy the evening.

I've not spent a whole lot of time in Traverse City.  Mostly just driving through it to Old Mission Peninsula or Leelanau Peninsula. So I had no idea that all of the radio stations and mini-shops were pretty much stuck in the 80's.  Maybe it's for the tourists, maybe it's for the locals.  Really, I'm thinking the tourists enjoy the cheesy shops on Front Street.

Old Mission was nice, but by the time were were driving on it the wineries were closed and so I was more or less interested in finally seeing the lighthouse at the park.

After being attacked by bugs we headed back to Traverse City and watched the sunset over the bay near the hotel.

Overall great day, even if downtown Traverse City itself was a little disappointing and the hotel was overpriced and crappy (and it's the off-season!).

For more photos of Sleeping Bear Dunes from the whole weekend, visit the flickr set here.

For more photos of Traverse City (Old Mission, and more as well) from the whole weekend, visit the flickr set here.

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