Several years ago, my brother and his family lived in Detroit. I thus visited the Motor City many times. While we spent much of our time just hangin’ out in the suburbs, we also explored vast expanses of urban sprawl for which Detroit is famous (and/or infamous). Thereafter, whenever someone mentioned “Michigan,” my brain conjured images of concrete, steel, and asphalt.
But this stretch of our Long Long Honeymoon has opened my eyes. The vast majority of Michigan could not be more different from Mo-Town. Most of the state is blessedly rural. The western coast is fantastic, as Lake Michigan is practically an ocean. As you travel north, summer camping just gets better. We’ve been rewarded with idyllic weather (sunny days, low humidity, cool nights) and spectacular coastal views.
We’ve also found charm and culture. Traverse City is hailed as the Cherry Republic (and to think we started our journey in Key West, the Conch Republic!). But the area near Traverse City is wine country. On nearby Old Mission Peninsula we discovered one of Michigan’s best wineries: Chateau Grand Traverse.
This family winery was founded back in the mid-1970s by Ed O’Keefe. The Michigan countryside reminded O’Keefe of German wine country. So why not grow the same grapes here that flourish in Germany? At the time, naysayers believed such grapes would not survive the Michigan climate. But O’Keefe (and his grapes) persevered, and today his winery produces award-winning Rieslings, amongst other varietals.
Wine tasting at Chateau Grand Traverse is FREE, as are hourly guided tours. I’m a red wine drinker, so I favored the outstanding Pinot Noir. But I did sample the Lot 49 Riesling that has won international awards and is certainly one of the finest white wines ever to pass this man’s palate.
Chateau Grand Traverse also produces several wines flavored with native cherries. The Cherry Festival Wine was surprisingly good. Upon Kristy’s insistence, we also departed with a bottle of Grand Traverse Select Sweet Traverse Red, a sweet (but not too sweet) red wine blend.
The winery has RV parking. If you want to step out of the RV for a night or two, there’s a fabulous Winery Inn on the property. The Inn offers rooms with private balconies overlooking the vineyards. It also has laundry facilities, which were especially helpful for us. Best of all, the daily towel service includes a bottle of wine of your choice!
If you find yourself wandering this part of Michigan (and if you enjoy fabulous summer camping, you should), stop at Chateau Grand Traverse. We loved it.
Special thanks to Ed O’Keefe Sr. and the staff at Chateau Grand Traverse for their hospitality.
Also thanks to fellow Airstreamer Nick Martines for steering our Long Long Honeymoon in this direction!
Damn it get’s better with time “the moon that is!!! I would never in a million years thought of Michigan as wine country. Yet a stellar episode of “The moon”! I don’t wish to pour over fine episode but you two popped the cork on another fine one!
So for now I’ll put a cork in it and age for a bit! So let me just roll out a happy travels to ya and raise a glass of cheers to the both of you!
Nice post.
I’m just a tad envious.
I know, I’m living in Europe fer heaven’s sake, and need to zip it, but sometimes there’s no place like home, even if Michigan is only kinda close and well, in another country, but you know what I mean.
See, my ultimate road trip would be to hit all the micro breweries in a place like say, Ontario (we have something like 22?) and try and sample at least two a day.
OK… maybe one.
Thing is, there’s always that issue of drinking and then driving, so the hope would be that there would be some sort of RV parking on the premises.
That would be the best of all possible worlds.
They didn’t call me “one beer Bob” in University for nothing.
I suppose the sampling could be kept to a minimum and then we could head off to the nearest RV park, but there’s all that self control to think about.
Hm, maybe I see a coffee table book in my future? Now there’s an idea.
They still have those don’t they? (books I mean)
I could get a “Canada Council” Grant. (bit of an inside joke there, but apparently they give those things out like candy at Halloween.)
Happy Trails.
Best to you both.
Bob.
Thanks Matt, I raise my proverbial glass back to you! I like this one too. 😀
Bob (or should I say One Beer Bob), I love the idea of a microbrewery tour. Or, alternatively, a wine tour. You could probably make a book or documentary about it.
It would be especially cool if you just parked your RV outside each brewery – no driving required on anyone’s part.
On this trip I have been consciously going for the wine instead of the beer. Heresy, you say? While my love of beer has not abated, I’m currently trying to shed the excess belly that frosty stuff has gifted me. Twenty years of devoted beer consumption has wrapped a decent sized spare tire around my midsection. For some reason, wine doesn’t have the same effect on me. So my evening beverage of choice is usually a little vino.
Funny you should mention Hemingway. You were in the area where the Nick Adams stories were set.
Thanks for reminding me. It’s been a while since I read any of those stories. I downloaded some to my iBooks tonight!