Around Traverse City

Hi Blog!

On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, we crossed the border back into the United States into Michigan. Our summer in the Canadian Maritimes has come to an end. It was a grand adventure and we look forward to future visits.

Our first stop was Bay City, Michigan to have our motor home serviced. Buster got a clean bill of health, so were able to continue with our adventures. Next, we stopped in Traverse City to visit our friends, Dick and Gaila Mallery. They have a large property and invited us to camp right in their driveway. We arrived on Thursday, September 20, 2018. Once we got parked, it didn't take Baxter long to discover the beautiful stream that runs through their property.

Baxter also admired the numerous bird houses and bird feeders.

On Friday, Dick and Gaila took us for a grand tour of Traverse City. By 1847, a small but growing community was forming on the banks of the nearby Boardman River. In 1852, the little sawmill town was christened Traverse City, but until the first road through the forest was built in 1864, it remained a remote outpost, accessible only by water. 

We took a drive down Sixth Street in the city’s historic Central Neighborhood. We stopped to admire the immense 32-room Perry Hannah House, built by Traverse City founder Perry Hannah in 1893. It’s a true showcase, with its beveled Tiffany doors, copper-clad turrets and intricate wood paneling. A different wood was used in almost every room -- appropriately enough for a man whose fortune came from the forest.

After the lumber boom ended, the local economy turned to manufacturing and agriculture – potatoes, apples, and eventually cherries. But the city’s biggest economic windfall came in 1885, when it was designated as the site of the Northern Michigan Asylum, which became one of the city’s major employers and eventually housed a population several times larger than that of the town itself.

Today, the 480-acre site of the former mental hospital is known as the Village at Grand Traverse Commons and has been redeveloped into a unique “village” of shops, restaurants, apartments and galleries. Developers are preserving both the castle-like Italianate century buildings that once housed staff and patients, while its lovely wooded campus has become a favorite place for hikers and cyclists.

During the summer months, Gaila works part-time at a yoga studio located inside The Village. After a quick tour of her office, we strolled through the Mercado and treated ourselves to some Michigan cherry products.

After our tour of the Village, we decided to stop and pick up some scones at one of Gaila's favorite bakery/markets, Oryana Community Co-op. What's not to like about a place that uses local, sustainable, organic, fair trade products and has red chairs!

As we began our walkabout in downtown Traverse City, Dave stopped to play us a tune on a random piano located in a little pocket park.

Traverse City has adopted Michael Moore, the documentary filmmaker, left-wing activist, and author, best known for his work on globalization and capitalism. In 2005, Moore founded the Traverse City Film Festival held annually. In 2009, he co-founded the Traverse City Comedy Festival. Mr. Moore also helped spearhead the renovation of the historic downtown State Theater.

Since Michael Moore's new documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9," was premiering in Traverse City this weekend, we decided to go see the film. Fahrenheit 11/9 is a 2018 American political documentary about the 2016 United States presidential election and the subsequent presidency of Donald Trump. In addition to getting to see the premier, this gave us a chance to check out the State Theatre.

The State Theatre is located on East Front Street in downtown Traverse City and was founded and built by Julius H. Steinberg in 1916 and named the Lyric Theater. It showed the first talking movie seen in Northern Michigan in 1929. It was destroyed by fire in 1948. It was rebuilt in 1949 in an art deco style and renamed the State Theatre.  In 2005, the theater was revitalized before being used during the Traverse City Film Festival. Walking into the theater was like walking back in time. We sat in the balcony and watched the stars in the ceiling, which were meticulously designed to represent the night sky in Northern Michigan:

 

After the movie, we retired to Right Brain Brewery to sample their wares.

After solving all the problems of the world, we retired to the Mallery Estate for a good night's sleep in anticipation of our day of sailing tomorrow. Stay tuned.