Traverse City Travel Blog

It's time to carve out good times. Celebrate Halloween all month long in Traverse City! From ghost tours to corn mazes to races in your Halloween best, here are plenty of ways to celebrate Halloween in northern Michigan.

Craving cool days and warm apple cider? A town steeped in food and farming culture, Traverse City offers incredible opportunities to connect with your food – even to the point of picking it yourself! These three fall afternoon trips are perfect for finding bright foliage, perfect sips, and great

Fall color in Traverse City is on the way! Hints of the the season's display are noticeable, but peak is still a few weeks away.

The 2022 Ironman 70.3 Michigan in Frankfort was notable for many reasons. It brought about 1,500 of the top athletes in the U.S. and ten countries to our little corner of northern Michigan. It was time for Frankfort to shine and demonstrate northern hospitality. But it was also time for women to

’Tis the season for fall color! Experience the magic of a fall foliage tour right here in Traverse City. With incredible hues of reds and oranges, the drive is a sight to behold. The orchards, vineyards, forests, and villages create a beautiful landscape that highlights the meaning of fall. 

“Walk a mile in my shoes,” is a common refrain when talking about viewing life from other perspectives. For many, walking a mile can be painful or maybe impossible. Many people in northern Michigan face physical challenges every day and are unable to enjoy life to the fullest due to the barriers they face. But times are changing. Barriers are coming down in northern Michigan that makes taking advantage of the resources of the area accessible to everyone. 

I don’t have a culinary degree, but I do feel qualified to teach a master’s degree class on the subject of burgers. Recently, my wife and I embarked on a two-year-long effort to taste the top 22 burgers in Michigan based on a report by Thrillist. The concern at the time was that none of the burgers on the list were from Traverse City, yet this place is considered a “Foodie Town.”

After that two-year quest, we can report that many of the Thrillist burgers deserve to be on the list. Others? Not so much. At the same time, we concluded that the list was sorely lacking without important Traverse City burger joints.

Is it possible that Traverse City can compete with the most beautiful wine regions of Europe and South America? After all, they have steep cliffs that hug stunning, meandering rivers and grapes that grow in volcanic soil. 

But northern Michigan has its own story to tell. We have the magnificence of the Great Lakes and soil created 12 thousand years ago by receding glaciers. We have over 40 wineries that compose the Traverse Wine Coast. 

Visitors to Traverse City come for a wide variety of reasons, and visiting anglers agree that fishing is one of the best reasons! Traverse City is located right at the doorstep of the famed Grand Traverse Bay, and this protected waterway is one of the best deep water fisheries in the country. How deep is it? Boaters need not go very far from shore to find 300 feet of water, and the really deep spots reach over 600 feet deep! 

On a slightly overcast but pleasantly warm day in July, I set sail on the Inland Seas 77-foot schooner with the Inland Seas Educational Association. I arrived in Suttons Bay as a mere resident of Northern Michigan but emerged from the boat as a Great Lakes scientist.