Retirement RV'ing: Traverse City 09/21/10

The first place we stopped was at the local Walmart as we needed a few groceries and needed to replace the lost camera. I chose an intermediate Samsung point'n'shoot since they didn't sell the Panasonic brand that we had before. We have 30 days to return it if we don't like it. We then headed for the Traverse City State Park which is a large RV park right downtown. It was a little noisy during morning and evening rush hour but quiet at other times. The black squirrels absolutely own the place. They drove our dogs, Baker and Grindstaff crazy because they could only look at them and not chase them. The TART bike path passes by the back of the park. A short 4 mile ride takes you through neighborhoods, along the beach and marina and into the heart of downtown. We biked all over, stopping to talk with a man about his Irish Setter, another about his Golden Retriever, and still another who was fishing for Salmon that were just beginning to make the river run upstream. Later we met Terry's wife Susan (you remember our remarkable diesel mechanic from Montague) for conversation and drinks at the Mackinaw Brewing Co. We had delightful chat for about 45 minutes during her lunch break. They were celebrating their 1 month anniversary.

'Time to Let Go' statue in the marina park

View from one of the many downtown bridges

Inside channel

Local fishing spot

Shopping time, my favorite time!! This trip has taken us far away from any of the strip malls that I was accustomed to back home. Imagine my delight when we stumbled upon this hat store. They carried some of the most unique looking hats I have ever seen. We spent quite some time in there and David had to take some pictures of his favorites. I took one of David decked out as a pirate :). We especially enjoyed visiting a store called "The Cherry Republic", where all kinds of goods made with cherries are being sold, almost all items were available for tasting, yummy! Jelly, BBQ sauce, salsa, dried cherries, vinagrettes, mustard sauces, sour candy, best of all, chocolate and vanilla covered cherries....... amazing all the things that were made with cherries! They do a great mail order gift business, in case your looking for something special!! Traverse City is known as the cherry capital of the world, since it grows one third of the world's cherry crop! The weather was perfect, very balmy and warm that day and we just went up and down Front Street, having tied the bikes to a post. Many people were out enjoying the weather, as well.