Someone’s gotta keep you animals in check when it comes to the sun.
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It’s def. a quantity over quality thing tho. There are some good spots, but it’s more of a white wine area. If you are both really into wine (mainly red), you might not be as impressed with the wine. The wineries are really cool and tastings are cheap, but as @Tron said, Mighigan is a Beer State
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put her on the beach in front of lake michigan, she would never know it wasn’t the ocean. also, fresh water all day. also, northern michigan in the summer might be the greatest place on earth.
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Here’s a 5 second pitch: in the summer time there’s not a more perfect place in the world than Up North.
For all the reasons mentioned TC is wonderful, though our family typically goes to Harbor Springs. When I first went Up North i didn’t “get it” right away. It was kinda cold. Wasn’t really sure what we were going to do every day. The golf was cool.
Then it just clicked that we were delightfully removed from our usual lives. Spending as much time outside as we could at all hours of the day. The nights were as fun as the days as a family and everybody was so damn happy. Our family kinda developed a spiritual connection with Lake Michigan and our times on those trips are some of our happiest memories together.
TC has more of an east coast money influence these days than other towns Up North. That’s not all bad, as it brings other elements and opportunities for activities, dining, etc. slightly different vibe than Harbor Springs/Petoskey or Charlevoix, but not a bad one, and for some it would be just right.
If you go, definitely make a reservation at Stella. It’s a wonderful Italian restaurant in an old refurbished mental institution that’s been converted to shopping and dining, all local businesses.
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the illustrious Charles Shaw returned home to michigan and is once again in the wine biz there. So you could go get some wine from a gui who’s no longer allowed to use his own name to market wine (divorce settlement blah blah)
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Stella is great, but if you’re at all a foodie and enjoy farm to table, you really have to go the Cook’s House.
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Hard to think of a place better than the northern lower peninsula in the summer, especially Traverse City. Long days & great weather really stirs up the locals after 6 months of gray and snow.
Plenty to do in town, but Traverse City puts you within striking distance of the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore, Leland, Charlevoix (Belvedere Golf Club), or even Mackinac Island if you’re up for a 2-hour drive up the Lake Michigan shoreline. Added bonus; its not New Jersey.
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Easyyyy…I ride hard for the south jersey shore. Cape May is an incredible vacation spot. Anything north of Atlantic City is another story.
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I have not done a Jersey Shore trip. We have done the OBX about 10 times. I would happily pay good money to go back to TC 9 out of 10 times over the OBX.
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Except Asbury Park, which is awesome. And Brigantine, but that is directly north of AC.
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Found this for folks who at least are open to trying Michigan wines. Michigan is definitely a better beer state than wine state at this point.
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Frankly, it will always be a better beer state. Unless something dramatic happens to the beer (or climate).
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Spending a day wine tasting in the TC area = 
The actual wine (especially if you like red) = 
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You could spend a nice day hitting some good cider places in that part of the state, but they’re a bit more spread out. Tandem up in Sutton’s Bay is good. Down by DG you have Vandermill, Farmhaus, and Virtue (which is a great place to spend an afternoon, even with the kids). Those are the only ones I’ve been too, but it looks like there’s a lot more on the map.
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Blustone in Lake Leelanau has a sparkling Riesling that’s great on a warm summer afternoon. And the ambiance is great. Follow it up with some pizza at Dick’s Pour House.
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Let me amend my statement.
TC area Rieslings:
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The Sex at Mawby is delightful
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Sounds very much like a Finger Lakes situation. Predominantly whites, with all the reds mostly meh. But, some incredible dry rieslings.
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Reading up to this point I didn’t know this was a wine reply and just thought it was a wildly un-PC comment for a second
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