Northern Michigan and Magical Petoskey

As a child going “Up North” was *almost* as good as Christmas. I’d cry every time we came home (way after I was too old to be crying to come home).

I still believe there is magic along shores. I have never met a person who was disappointed with Northern Michigan. Except I did hear Madonna didn’t like it. But I’m going to consider that a good thing.

Petoskey is one of those magical places. Summer strolling along the shores, feet in the water with a Petoskey stone in hand. The incredible fall foliage of autumn. Winter skiing and snowboarding. Spring lilacs. All the sunsets.

I once brought a group of friends who were visiting from all over the world to Petoskey. We strolled along the empty shoreline wrapped in coats hunting for stones and skipping flat ones across the water. It was a cold and gloomy November day. One of them still told me it was one of the most beautiful places they’d ever been.

And I don’t disagree. I’ve been to some incredible places, but there are few so pure, so clean, so crisp, so welcoming as a Michigan lakeshore town.

Not to mention Petoskey’s adventurous rating is pretty high in the state of Michigan. And you all know I love any place that combines beauty and possible life-threatening activities. The area has one of the only white water kayaking rivers in the state. Not to mention spots like Boyne and Boyne Highlands ski resorts (which each have a massive zip line in the summer).

It also has parasailing (if you want to keep it safe) and skydiving (BRING IT).

But perhaps my favorite time to visit Petoskey is in the fall or spring. When the summer masses are nowhere to be found, the nature pristine, and the beaches quiet. In October, drive out of the town to the Tunnel of Trees and then get lost on some back roads without a care in the world. Or wait until early May, when the town is still settling in from a long winter but the flowers are booming and the air is fresh.

If you go for a visit promise me one thing: you go with a big group of friends. Rent a cabin, get hotel rooms, and enjoy the company. It’s where you’ll forget about your phones, laugh until you cry, making some of the best memories, and leave wanting to do it all over again.

And it’s all because of that magic. The Northern Michigan air that is sprinkled with some out-of-this-world ferry dust that might just have your thirty-five year old husband getting teary-eyed on Sunday evening (don’t worry we won’t judge him).