Whatever preconceived notions you have when I say the word “lake,” I want you to forget all about them when it comes to Lake Michigan. The third largest of the five Great Lakes, it’s 321 miles long, 118 miles wide, and is truly like no other body of water you’ll visit! Stretching along the lake in Michigan’s northwestern Lower Peninsula is one of three US national lakeshores – Sleeping Bear Dunes. I met up with park ranger Merrith Baughman to learn about the kind of people (and creatures) who have made their way through these dunes through both history and today. 

When you visit Sleeping Bear Dunes, there are two stops you don’t want to miss. The first is Stop #9, Lake Michigan Overlook. The observation platform is a whopping 450 feet above the water, and it quite literally looks like you’re peering down a sheer cliff of sand. You actually can’t even see the shore because it’s so steep. IF you choose to climb down, coming back up will feel like climbing a 34-story building.

A climb you can actually do is the Dune Climb! Despite the name, there are actually multiple dunes you can climb over to reach Lake Michigan, but most people just do the first dune for a view of Little Glen Lake. From what I learned, this is practically a midwest rite of summer, and most kids will roll down. And in the winter? You’ve got the perfect sledding hill.

Did you know Michigan was known for its cherries? Somehow, I didn’t either! The northwest lower peninsula is actually the largest producer of tart cherries in the country, and Traverse City is often nicknamed the “Cherry Capital of the World”! Luckily, I visited the town of Glen Arbor to visit what’s known as the Cherry Republic. There I met its founder and owner, Bob Sutherland, while he showed me around the 275+ cherry products.

One of the reasons Traverse City has become such a foodie hot spot over the years is thanks to the local farms that produce some of the freshest ingredients. One of those farms is taking it a step further. When it comes to Farm Club Restaurant, about 70-80% of what they grow comes from the nearby Loma Farm, which they also own and operate. When I spoke with co-owner Nic Thiesen, he explained that it gives them true creative control from farm to table. Servers at the restaurant are even expected to spend time on the farm so they can better understand the menu and explain it to guests. Not to mention – there’s a brewery onsite as well!

If you travel to the west side of Traverse City, you’ll come across The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. With restaurants, shops, and residential space, it’s become a great place for the local community. Rewind just fifty years, though, and you’d be looking at the Traverse City State Psychiatric Hospital. For nearly a century, this area was used as a mental asylum, housing 3,000+ patients at its peak in the 1960s. When the hospital closed down, Ray Minervini Sr. began one of the largest historic rehabilitation projects in the country, focusing first on what’s known as Building 50. I met with his son, Ray Minervini Jr., to learn all they’ve done to restore Building 50 and how they’re applying the same ideas and goals to other leftover buildings.

Cheese lovers rejoice! When you visit Traverse City, head right on over to Leelanau Cheese to enjoy their mouthwatering raclette cheese. As current co-owner Gary Smith explains it, everything starts with dairy sourced from local Northern Michigan farms before being naturally cooled in a perfectly humid, manmade cave. Someone goes into the cave for 5-6 months and washes each cheese with a brine solution daily. The result? A cheese that is as delicious melted as it is solid. And don’t take my word for it. They recently won Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards in Trondheim, Norway. There, they competed with over 4,000 other cheese companies and placed in the top 100! 

With all this talk about Lake Michigan, I finally had to get on it for myself! I boarded the Wind Dancer Tall Boat with owner Tawny Hammond to enjoy the wide-open waters. The 63-foot-long schooner is big enough that it has a galley, a salon, a sleeping berth, and a head (bathroom). Tawny grew up on Lake Michigan. Since both her grandfathers loved boats, she grew up around boat building and has always wanted to preserve the schooner’s history in Michigan.

While on the boat, I had the chance to meet with Anishinaabe elder Tom Binesiwegiizhig (Peters) to learn more about the people on whose land Traverse City exists. According to oral history, they go back to the Eastern Coast of Turtle Island. They moved west under the guidance of their spiritual leaders and stopped when they found wild rice growing on the water. A group of 5 Anishinaabeg bands signed the Treaty of Washington in 1836, ceding nearly 14 million acres of their land to the United  States.

When Carter and Todd Oosterhouse were kids in Traverse City, they spent many a day working on a nearby cherry farm. Through the years, they grew up and moved away. Carter went to Los Angeles, where he made a name for himself on shows like “Trading Spaces” and “Million Dollar Rooms” while Todd went to Austin, where he worked as a general contractor. When Carter learned the owner of the cherry farm he and Todd used to work at was selling, he pitched his brother on starting a winery, and soon Bonobo Winery was born. I met with both brothers as well as Carter’s wife, actress Amy Smart Oosterhouse, to chat about how they keep their winery as eco-friendly as possible. From the lack of pesticides and herbicides to maintaining biodiversity, they grow all sorts of varieties, from sauvignon blanc to chardonnay.