A Challenging Day

August 21, 2026

Six days into our journey and I wasn’t feeling quite myself.

Terry enjoyed a pot of coffee and then we hit the road, heading on up the Michigan coastline. We attempted to eat a decent breakfast at a couple of cafes in Ludington, but the wait time was longer than we wanted. We should have known as it was a Saturday. McD’s to the rescue!

We then stopped at Traverse City as there was an item I was interested in purchasing but wanted to check it out in person before I committed to the item. More on that later.

There were so many people in town walking around, enjoying the beautiful late summer day. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it.

So, we made our way to Charlevoix, a charming town on an isthmus between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix where we stopped for a midafternoon snack of beer (Terry) and wings.

Then we set up camp for the night at our Harvest Host, the Blu Dot Vinyard, which used to be home to a horse farm. In fact, we parked on the oval that used to be a racetrack. A couple of horses grazed in the pasture nearby and there was a lovely breeze blowing that seemed to rejuvenate me. I worked on writing several posts and finished my second book of this trip.

The vineyard came alive that evening with a crowd of wine/beer and music lovers when a live band began playing. Terry and I grabbed our lawn chairs and parked ourselves in the shade with the others and enjoyed music by the Jelly Roll Blues Band.

We met another traveling couple parked next to us, the Bufkin’s, and swapped scenic travel recommendations. Then we munched on a huge pretzel with cheese and watched the clouds roll in.

The next day held several delightful surprises!