337LightKnight

My wife and I just spent 4 days in that area a few weeks ago. We stayed at an Airbnb in Empire two blocks away from Joe's Friendly Tavern. My advice might be a little different as we brought our 2 dogs, so we stuck mostly dog-friendly activities. But it really didn't exclude too many things that we wanted to do.

- There really aren't THAT many restaurants in the Empire area. We tried a few, but nothing really stuck out. I would 100% recommend spending a day in Traverse City. Tons of restaurants there that are great. We got burgers at Slabtown, and it was one of the best burgers I've ever had. But you can spend most of the day walking down Front St. and not run out of food/drinks/shopping/etc.

- Grab some chocolate and/or ice cream at Grocer's Daughter Chocolate Shop in Empire.

- Glen Arbor is great little town. There's a small coffee place called Rinco Bros that's open seasonally that I would highly recommend. Grab some coffee from their window then walk across the street to Cherry Republic. We got some chocolate covered cherries and a few other cherry-themed snacks there, but it's an all-around great shop.

- Old Mission Peninsula (closer to Traverse City): This is wine country. I'd recommend taking a drive along the waterfront to the top of the peninsula. There's a lighthouse there that sits on the 45th Parallel (halfway point between equator and North Pole). There are a ton of wineries, but our favorite Chateau Chantal. Great wine flights and a cool view of the peninsula.

- Leelanau Peninsula (closer to Empire/Sleeping Bear Dunes): Lots of wineries here as well. We didn't go to any during our drive around there, but we did go to Tandem Ciders near Suttons Bay. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but is a cool change of pace from breweries/wineries. I would also second the previous rec of Hop Lot. We didn't go on our recent trip (bc of the dogs), but it's a really cool spot for craft beer. I'd recommend driving to the top of the peninsula and hiking in Leelanau State Park. Not a super difficult hike, and you can walk out to beach/waterfront. Peterson Park near Northport is another good spot for being outside on the waterfront. It's known as a destination for people hunting for cool rocks. I would highly recommend stopping in Leland (Fishtown). It's a really small old fishing village that has a lot of charm to it. You might have to go here to get the Manitou Islands if you plan to do that.

- For Sleeping Bear Dunes itself, obviously the dune hike is something on a lot of people's bucket list of Northern MI things to do. If you want to get the best bang for your buck, you can do the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. It's a loop that highlights all the major lookout points. You can even take some hikes off of some of the lookout points. Sounds like you already have the Empire Bluff Trail in mind, which I would recommend as well.

Enjoy the trip :cheers:

Saahdiq Charles signed with the Titans - 1 year, $2.5M... nice reunion with him and Cush

Detroit metro area resident checking in. I currently live in Royal Oak, so about 20 minutes from downtown. Someone mentioned downtown Royal Oak as a potential destination, which I would certainly second if you had more time. Lots of great restaurants in the downtown area. Ferndale, specifically along Woodward, would be another great place for food if you want to get out of the downtown area for a meal.

We've only popped over to Windsor once since living here. It was for a comedy show at the casino. Can't say I have much to recommend there unless there's a show scheduled or if you'd like to eat at one of the waterfront restaurants.

I would 10000% recommend catching at Red Wings game if you can spring for the tickets! Little Caesars Arena is one of the best venues in the country, and the it's an all-around great sports experience. I'm from Louisiana and didn't grow up with hockey, but I've been to a good amount of NHL games. Red Wings have one of the best fan experiences you can find in pro sports. They should be in the playoff hunt, so the crowds will probably be good and rowdy.

If you're staying downtown, I recommend Buddy's for Detroit style pizza. It's not too far from Comerica Park/Ford Field and is the most popular local place for Detroit style... as noted, plenty breweries around here. I like Atwater Brewery which has a taphouse really close to downtown.

I also second someone's recommendation for Eastern Market. Lots to eat and a fun place to just walk around.

Though it's usually more of a summer time stop, I love Belle Isle. It's still winter time here in March, so I'm not sure what that experience will be like. But you can get Canadian and Detroit skyline views from there.

Enjoy :cheers:

quote:

---

Have we heard anything about Chiles?

---

All indications from MSU fans up here in Michigan is that he's following Smith.

on3

Hadn't seen it posted here, but it looks like Jackson McGohan is now in the portal

If you're willing to extend the drive to around 4 hours, there's much better options... Traverse City, Torch Lake, Sleeping Bear Dunes. My wife (no pics) and I live in the Detroit metro area and love that area. Depending where in Detroit you are, it's roughly 4 hours (takes us under 3.5 from Royal Oak to Traverse City).

There's some good areas on the west side of the state that take 3 hours to get to. I have friends that spend a lot of time in Muskegon, South Haven, and New Buffalo. I haven't been, but they are Michiganders and love it.

Lexington is another small coastal town less than 2 hours from Detroit that I get recommendations for all the time. I feel like you can't really go wrong with most towns on either coast as you move north from Detroit.

Someone mentioned Put-in-Bay in Ohio... if you're looking to do some heavy drinking, that could be an option. I've only been for a couple group outings where that was the goal. I'm sure it will be very busy at any point in August, but then again so will most nice places along the Great Lakes.

She was editor-in-chief of The Daily Reveille while I was in school... a pretty good one at that.