Traverse City-a cherry
Throughout the years I have enjoyed many happy days in Traverse City, Michigan at a friend’s home watching their adorable, toddler boys mature into handsome, sensitive, intelligent young men as well as having absorbed glimpses of life on Grand Traverse Bay in all seasons.
On the fifteen mile ride from Cherry Capital Airport to their lakefront home I inhale the fragrant and delicious, crisp, fresh air as we ride through the rolling hills of Old Mission Peninsula complete with cherry orchards and vineyards which lie above sweeping views of the Bay. I know that by the time we pull in the driveway, my shoulders will have relaxed, my pulse slowed and my anxieties calmed just by merely being there.
For the past nine years, the first week of July is the Traverse City Cherry Festival, a seasonal celebration of the region’s bounty encouraging vacationers to visit this pristine and very liveable, mid-western town complete with a top tier movie house, State Theatre, recently renovated with significant financial support from filmmaker Michael Moore, microbreweries, great little restaurants, small wineries, terrific windsurfing and big waves. What more could you you need? Nice people and little traffic compared to the busy streets of metro Boston to which I am accustomed make for a reasonable and relaxed sense of place. If you have not been to the Great Lakes of the USA, you must make a beeline to get there.
Living on the east coast for most of my life, I have been spoiled by easy access to the Atlantic. A trip to Cape Cod National Seashore, the farm coast of Rhode Island or the rocky coast of Maine can be accomplished in one day. The ocean with its power is thought to be the “it” of water destinations, but now having gotten to know the big lakes, I must admit, they have all of the charm of the sea without the salt.
Upon opening the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine I was so pleased to see a feature on North Star Organics, a family run, organic cherry orchard in Frankfort, Michigan. In typical Martha editorial fashion, the spread is so inviting that you want to embrace the whole atmosphere of the photo shoot as if it were the family picture that we all dream about when we reflect on our own family idiosyncrasies. But more importantly, I was really happy to see a major lifestyle publication showcase an aspect of a truly special place.