It’s our third day and I still haven’t convinced the kids to go cherry picking with me. If they don’t go tomorrow, I may need to go on my own. After all, this is, according to a number of signs I’ve seen, the cherry capital.
Indeed, there seems to be a U-Pick cherry or blueberry operation around every bend in these parts of Northern Michigan.
But cherries are king in Traverse City: Cherry salsas (tried it), jams, dipping sauces, salad dressing, chocolate sauce (bought that) and whole lines of cherry wines (bringing home several).
Still, I want some fresh cherries and I’d like to pick my own, preferably with the kids seeing exactly where those maraschino’s are from.
I’m leaning toward King Orchards, largely because they have a website and I can see that, in addition to having cherries left to pick, they have apricots in and they’re ready for picking too. And if I pick 25 pounds, they’ll wash and pit them for me for free.
I can’t blame the kids for their anti-cherry picking stance.
It’s admittedly hard to resist the draw of the beach, especially when the weather’s in the low 80s and the water’s in the mid-60s. Our beach of choice today was in Traverse City proper, Clinch Park Beach, right off the main strip.
Our local find today was in view from the beach: Mackinaw Brewing Co.
The iFarmer sent me on a mission to buy a growler for later and pop it into the cooler when I checked out the downtown. I ended up leaving the brewery with two growlers, one filled with a magnificent full-bodied Summer Amber and the second filled with the brewery’s Peninsula Pale Ale (haven’t tried that yet).
After our beach adventure, we hit the water park, ordered room service and are settling in for the next couple of days. Time for some R&R.
Virtual Farmgirl 