Wineries and Waterfall Near Boyne Mountain Resort

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

My wife and I will be staying at Boyne Mountain Resort July 22nd through the 29th. I have been doing some searching on the Internet for things to do in the area. I have read about and seen pictures of waterfall in upper Michigan. I also read about the many wineries near Sutton Bay and Traverse City. We also plan to go to Mackinac State Historic Park and do a Bay Breeze walking tour inThe Bay View "Soul Stroll”. Does anyone have must see recommendations for the area?

Thanks,
Mike

[Gracey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gracey]

Legs Inn - To some, Cross Village, MI, simply marks the end of the "Tunnel of trees", a 27 mile drive up M-119, a paved Ottawa Indian trail, from Harbor Springs - One of those "Yuppie" coastal villages filled with quaint, albeit expensive, "boutiques."


The drive itself is a nice one, listed in one of those National Geographic books detailing "America's Best Scenic Drives." It takes about 45 minutes to slowly wind up the two-lane (barely) road from Harbor Springs to Cross Village. There are no stops between the two communities. Along the way you will be literally traveling through a "Tunnel of Trees," as the upper branches of the trees on either side of the road have met above you. Every now and then you get a peep of Lake Michigan through the trees, or the roofline of a VERY expensive, and LARGE, house. The homes are vacation retreats of the rich and not-so-famous (some famous people too, but they don't flaunt their presence when in the area). The drives to these houses are all gated, private, and labeled appropriately - for your own good, stick to the road.

In the spring and summer, the forest along the roadside is carpeted in trillium. In the fall, the oaks, maples, birches, and cedars host a festival of color.

Arriving in Cross Village, you can't miss the Legs Inn. From the road, it looks like some cheesy dive, or a favorite hangout for the hunting crowd, complete with neon signs and bulletins in the windows, a tepee next to the fieldstone Inn, and a bunch of cast-iron stove "legs" along the roofline. All this in a dinky little town.

Time to turn around and head back right? Wrong!!!. Walking into the Inn is a unique and interesting experience, as the eclectic and outrageous bombarded your senses. Most of the interior furnishings are built from carved tree stumps, twisted vines and branches, logs, roots, and driftwood, all shellacked and painted to portray any number of animals borrowed from Woodland Indian and European tradition. The bar is made of a giant log, and many of the table benches inside are also made of logs, although smaller in size. Even the doors are made of massive native trees.

Once you are done gawking at the various sculptures and have finished identifying what was made from what, be prepared for your next shock - the food.

Between the authentic Polish cuisine (they've even got cooks in the kitchen conversing in Polish), the extensive beer selection (over 100, from all over the world), and the freshly caught whitefish, you won't be able to be dragged out without sampling a few of their dishes. The prices are very reasonable for what you get too.

Behind the Inn lie exquisite gardens on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. If weather permits, you can even eat your meal outside.

Be sure to read up on the history of the Legs Inn in the front lobby - there are newspaper clippings displayed which detail the history of the original proprietor, Stanislaw Smolak (1887 - 1968), who built the Inn and all of the wacky innards using locally "recycled" wood (dead and washed-up trees). The fieldstone for the Inn was collected throughout the neighboring farms. The local Indians were so impressed by Stanley and his respect for nature that they made him an honorary member of their tribe, and named him "Chief White Cloud." The Legs Inn is still owned and operated by Stanley's family - Stanley's nephew George Smolak and his wife Kathy




My husband and I have to hit this restaraunt at least once or twice each summer. We go into Harbor springs multiple times. The shopping is to die for, the ride from Harbor springs to Cross village is breathtaking! But we own a cottage on a small lake outside of mackinaw which we will eventually retire to and we truly appreciate the beauty of the northwoods and not all people are like that. The view from the bluff of the restaraunt is awesome so walk outside into the garden area so you can look. Mackinaw city is a typical tourist town. Nothing great there. I love Mackinaw Island but it is very touristy also. Have fun exploring Michigan. IMHO the northwest coast of Michigan is the best part of our state.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

Thanks Gracey, for your reply. My wife and I will try to make time to travel down the tunnel of trees and hopefully the weather will allow us to sit in the garden enjoying a good lunch. I hope we get a chance to stop at Legs Inn I will take a few pictures to post if we do. What is trillium?

Mike

[Gracey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gracey]

You'll miss them, they normally cover the woods like carpeting over memorial weekend. They are a wildflowers. We have them all over our cottage property.
http://www.nawwal.org/~mrgoff/photoj...trillium1.html

I'm not to familiar with Boyne Mountain area, except I do know they have a polish festival during the summer and heard they have an abundance of morel mushrooms growing in that region. My in-laws had a home in Harbor Springs at the bottom of Boyne Highlands and it was nice to sit in the family room and watch all the skiers coming down at night. Lots of restaraunts & shopping in that general vicinity. Hopefully the weather will be awesome for you!!
Laurie

[mlbyron Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mlbyron]

boyne

this is a site I use regularly, I enjoy it for finding things to do or just looking at Michigan.
http://www.michigan.org/travel/city/...asp?city=G2838

mary

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

I did check that site and it has a lot of infmormation and good links. Thank you for the help.

Mike

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

Michigan

Mike, please post and let us know about your trip. We are going in October and I'm especially interested in the waterfalls. As Gracey said, Legs Inn is great and the drive to get there is wonderful. If you have time and want to take a really nice drive one day, check out Sleeping Bear Dunes.