We were now half-way through our planned one month stay in Bellaire, Michigan and were falling in love with the area. The beaches were amazing, there were lots of trees and woods all around us, and the people were all so nice. The little town that we were staying in has the cutest downtown area! It seems very “in the middle of nowhere” but Bellaire has a handful of really good local restaurants, a bank, post office, library, supermarket, hardware store, tattoo parlor, and even a bowling alley! There is also a small movie theater that has two screens and does one showing on weeknights at 6:45 with additional options on the weekend. We treated ourselves to a night out to see Deadpool & Wolverine (one of the few movies we have seen in theaters since we hit the road back in 2022).
By this time, our cherries had been eaten from the first picking trip and we decided to try another farm for raspberries! We visited King Orchards for their U-Pick raspberries. They also have a farm store that sells products made from their crops and has a little bar where you can order their ciders. We did a flight of four and they were all really good. The staff were all so friendly and we felt immediately welcome there. We can’t wait to go again once some of their other crops come in season!
John has been told that he needs to start using some of his vacation days so we decided to take a day and head up to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We loaded up Harley in the car and headed north across the Mackinac Bridge. The drive was really nice and, although it was about an hour and a half to get to Mackinaw City, it felt like no time when we started to see the bridge looming ahead through our windshield.
We found took the first exit after the bridge and found a little park overlooking the bridge and the straits. We hopped out to give Harley a stretch (and to stretch a little ourselves) and got some nice pictures of the bridge in the distance.
From there, we noticed a restaurant called Sposito’s across the street that was advertising Pasties. Eating a “UP Pasty” was one of the things on our summer bucket list and we were pretty hungry and ready for lunch so we made a stop. For those unaware, a Pasty is a pastry that was originally invented in Cornwall England but became a popular staple in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during the 1800’s. These pastries (often filled with meat, potatoes and other vegetables) have a flaky crust that is folded over the filling and sealed on the sides. It was a popular food for miners and other laborers because they were easily carried to work and could be reheated on a shovel or over an open flame on a fire or a lantern. You can find a ton of restaurants that sell them hot and ready to heat or frozen for you to cook at home later all throughout the UP.
They had several picnic tables outside so Harley and I chose a spot to sit while John got our order. We ended up with a Meat Pasty, a Vegetable Pasty, and a Traverse City Cherry Pasty for dessert. They were all REALLY good although John’s favorite was the vegetable and mine was the cherry. Harley sampled the veggie and the meat and seemed to enjoy both.
After lunch, we drove to nearby Castle Rock because who doesn’t love strenuous activity after eating a ton of meat, veggies and dough? Castle Rock, located just outside of St. Ignace, is a large rock formation that offers incredible views of the surrounding areas. There are about 170 stairs and one narrow ramp that guests can take to reach the top. Admission is just $1 per person and leashed pets are welcome so all three of us made the climb (although Harley and I had to stop for several breaks along the way!). The concrete stairs are very uneven and awkward but the view at the top was INCREDIBLE.
After descending the stairs at Castle Rock (and huffing and puffing the whole climb up and back), John decided that he had not subjected Harley and me to enough torture…I mean “fresh air and exercise”…so he drove us to one of the trails in the Hiawatha National Forest. The trails looked to be old blacktop roads so they were pretty easy to walk on and we thought we would go the couple of miles the lakeshore but when we saw how exhausted poor Harley was, we decided to just do the mile long loop and head back to the car. I was pretty grateful for the shorter trail, too. Harley and I were both pretty quiet on the ride home (probably John’s goal!).
During this time, our campground spent a weekend celebrating “Christmas in July”. On Friday night, they had a musician playing live at the communal area near the pool. They built a huge fire and the nicest man ever named Larry serenaded us for a few hours, taking requests and telling “dad jokes”. On Saturday evening, Santa came to visit the park! He rode around the campground on a hay wagon and then did photos with the kids after. A few of the campers decorated for Christmas and we had a few of our decorations with us so we put them up as well. We always love when the campgrounds have different events and themed weekends!
We were very fortunate to meet some lovely people around town in Bellaire and at our campground. A new friend recommended that we attend the Flywheeler’s Festival and flea market at the Antique Flywheeler’s Club in nearby Boyne Falls. According to Wikipedia, a flywheel is a mechanical device that uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy, a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. I don’t understand most of that but we got to see lots of tractors, some old cars, and some cool machinery. They had a blacksmith shop, a sawmill, a craft barn, and so much more and were giving all sorts of historical demonstrations on milling, weaving, blacksmithing, etc. We had a really fun time! Our great purchase of the day was an armadillo made from scrap metal. (I got to see my first live armadillos in the wild over the winter in Florida and, although I know that many people consider them a nuisance, I am absolutely tickled by them every time I see one!)
Our last great adventure of the month was the Antrim County Fair. Much like the Cherry Festival, this even was much smaller than we were expecting but it was still really fun to walk around and see the animals. There was one shelter/barn with a few cows, a few hogs, sheep and goats; and another with chickens, ducks, and rabbits. They had one craft tent and a building with the contest winners (photography, baking, etc). There weren’t any rides or food but it was a nice way to spend about an hour and it was only about a 15 minute drive from the campground. Plus, any time we get to see animals is a win.
And that closes out the month that we were supposed to stay in Bellaire. Of course, true to form, we made a wild deviation from the plan and decided to buy land in the nearby town of Mancelona which changed our plans (and our lives) quite drastically….but more on that next time!
