Great Lakes Grooving: Day 15 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

CrispyA · 5 Oct 19, 07:01 PM

Sunday July 21

We got up for breakfast, which we didn't have high hopes for and it turned out that we were right to have low expectations. It was mainly sugary carbs with very little else - waffles, cereal and horrible donuts. We didn't each much and agreed to give it a miss the day after. Sometimes hotel breakfasts can be pretty good - and sometimes not and this was definitely not.

The boys went back to the room to watch another Aston Villa pre-season game, against Shrewsbury, having found it streaming on Youtube. Fortunately for me and Hannah, they had already agreed to only watch the first half so we weren't stuck there for hours.

At half time we chivvied them out of the room as we had a long drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We called at the nearby Meijer to get sandwiches for lunch and then got on the road. Annoyingly, we were doubling back on our drive from the previous day and in hindsight, we should have stayed nearer but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

On the drive, we read the sad legend of Sleeping Bear Dunes. The name comes from a Native American story of a mother bear and her two cubs who were swimming across Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. The mother kept urging the cubs to keep up but they fell behind. When she got to the shore, she waited for them but unfortunately both little bears drowned.

The Great Spirit turned the little bears into North and South Manitou Islands and covered the mother in sand as she lay waiting for her babies.

So now everyone feels thoroughly miserable, let's continue with the report!

We drove along Crystal Lake which was really lovely and became quite envious of all the lovely houses on the lakeshore with their own jetties and boats. Once we arrived at the National Park, we stopped at the Visitor Centre to buy a pass and get the usual maps and newspapers.

Our first stop was the Dunes climb. It is a very popular spot and the carpark was quite full, but we did manage to get a space. Then we began the very tiring climb up the huge sand dunes.

You can hike all the way from here to the lakeshore but it was really hot and walking on sand is very hard work so we decided against the full trek. We did manage a few ups and downs though and the kids managed to represent the Villa.

Evan also took a moment to go full Inbetweeners and draw something else on the sand which we did have a good laugh at (because deep down we are all 9 years old) before he erased it. To be fair, it had to be done . . .

There was also the opportunity to run down the dunes, which also had to be done.

It was nice to just feel the sand under your feet, even if it was a bit challenging to walk on at times.

We also decided to take this picture, where Hannah chose "Extra", Evan chose "Pensive" and I chose "America's Next Top Model".

Our next destination was Pyramid Point, which we managed to miss the turning for at first but then found it. It was quite a climb up to the top but worth it for the views.

A touch of showgirl

We sat and had our sandwiches, enjoying the views of Lake Michigan.

There are signs warning people not to walk down the dune to the lakeshore due to erosion and also because it can take 2 hours to make the climb up again as the gradient is so steep, and tourists regularly get stuck and have to be rescued. Despite this, people were heading down there, often in flip flops. *shakes head at idiocy*

After this, we headed for Glen Harbor where there is a lovely beach and you can swim in Lake Michigan.

The water was warmer than Lake Huron and Lake Superior but it wasn't exactly warm. However, once you were in it was pleasant enough.

We had a swim and then just relaxed on the beach for a while, enjoying the sunshine.

Again, it's hard to believe that this isn't the sea.

Our last park activity was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. This was okay but we had already seen the best views from Pyramid Point and gave the last few viewpoints a miss.

On the way back, we stopped in Beulah for an ice cream, at the cheekily named Dairy King. The ice creams were very nice and as it was a Sunday, the sundaes were on special. Hurrah!

Back at Manistee we headed for Orchard Beach State Park to try and have another swim but seemed to be unable to locate the actual beach.

Clearly there wasn't one . . .

Back at the hotel, we had showers and got ready to go out for tea. We were very tempted to go back to the Mexican but wondered that it might look at bit weird to the serving staff that we were back for a second night. After a discussion, we realised that we were too British to be potentially awkward with people we are unlikely to ever meet again, so we decided in the end that we would have to go somewhere else! (Please tell me we are not the only people who ever think like this . . )

We went to the other nearby restaurant, Big Al's pizza, which was extremely tasty (even if the Mexican was still better). When we got back to the hotel, there were free cookies and we all did a lot of sniggering at the fact they were Otis Spunkmeyer. In fact, I'm laughing about it right now after typing the name.

Then we watched some baseball, because apparently there can be too much Shark Week (surely not? ) before falling asleep because we were worn out.

Melbatb · 5 Oct 19, 07:43 PM

Love the poses!
The lake is such a lovely shade of blue.
And no comment to the cookies!

katiebaz · 7 Oct 19, 08:08 AM

The lake and dunes looked lovely - we went to sand dunes national park but found walking up the dunes really hard work. I�ve the story of the park, even if it is a bit sad ☹️

Got to love those cookie names though!

kateh134 · 7 Oct 19, 09:57 AM

Love the view from pyramid point!

CrispyA · 12 Oct 19, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Love the poses!
The lake is such a lovely shade of blue.
And no comment to the cookies!

It really was absolutely gorgeous (as were we!). And the we couldn't walk past the cookies without sniggering.

Originally Posted by katiebaz

The lake and dunes looked lovely - we went to sand dunes national park but found walking up the dunes really hard work. I�ve the story of the park, even if it is a bit sad ☹️

Got to love those cookie names though!

The cookie names are something else. It was quite fun walking on the sand but really tiring.

Originally Posted by kateh134

Love the view from pyramid point!

It's fantastic, isn't it? We loved it.

**WileyCoyote** · 30 Oct 19, 08:59 PM

Completely fabulous poses today and the views, oh my, glorious

A great afternoon with sand, sundaes and spunkmyers but wot no sharks ?
And yes, totally with you on the repeat visit awkwardness... plus it�s never really as good second time is it ...

5 Oct 19, 07:01 PM	#1
	5 Oct 19, 07:01 PM CrispyA Imagineer
CrispyA Imagineer Join Date: Oct 11	Great Lakes Grooving: Day 15 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Sunday July 21 We got up for breakfast, which we didn't have high hopes for and it turned out that we were right to have low expectations. It was mainly sugary carbs with very little else - waffles, cereal and horrible donuts. We didn't each much and agreed to give it a miss the day after. Sometimes hotel breakfasts can be pretty good - and sometimes not and this was definitely not. The boys went back to the room to watch another Aston Villa pre-season game, against Shrewsbury, having found it streaming on Youtube. Fortunately for me and Hannah, they had already agreed to only watch the first half so we weren't stuck there for hours. At half time we chivvied them out of the room as we had a long drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We called at the nearby Meijer to get sandwiches for lunch and then got on the road. Annoyingly, we were doubling back on our drive from the previous day and in hindsight, we should have stayed nearer but hindsight is a wonderful thing. On the drive, we read the sad legend of Sleeping Bear Dunes. The name comes from a Native American story of a mother bear and her two cubs who were swimming across Lake Michigan to escape a forest fire. The mother kept urging the cubs to keep up but they fell behind. When she got to the shore, she waited for them but unfortunately both little bears drowned. The Great Spirit turned the little bears into North and South Manitou Islands and covered the mother in sand as she lay waiting for her babies. So now everyone feels thoroughly miserable, let's continue with the report! We drove along Crystal Lake which was really lovely and became quite envious of all the lovely houses on the lakeshore with their own jetties and boats. Once we arrived at the National Park, we stopped at the Visitor Centre to buy a pass and get the usual maps and newspapers. Our first stop was the Dunes climb. It is a very popular spot and the carpark was quite full, but we did manage to get a space. Then we began the very tiring climb up the huge sand dunes. You can hike all the way from here to the lakeshore but it was really hot and walking on sand is very hard work so we decided against the full trek. We did manage a few ups and downs though and the kids managed to represent the Villa. Evan also took a moment to go full Inbetweeners and draw something else on the sand which we did have a good laugh at (because deep down we are all 9 years old) before he erased it. To be fair, it had to be done . . . There was also the opportunity to run down the dunes, which also had to be done. It was nice to just feel the sand under your feet, even if it was a bit challenging to walk on at times. We also decided to take this picture, where Hannah chose "Extra", Evan chose "Pensive" and I chose "America's Next Top Model". Our next destination was Pyramid Point, which we managed to miss the turning for at first but then found it. It was quite a climb up to the top but worth it for the views. A touch of showgirl We sat and had our sandwiches, enjoying the views of Lake Michigan. There are signs warning people not to walk down the dune to the lakeshore due to erosion and also because it can take 2 hours to make the climb up again as the gradient is so steep, and tourists regularly get stuck and have to be rescued. Despite this, people were heading down there, often in flip flops. shakes head at idiocy After this, we headed for Glen Harbor where there is a lovely beach and you can swim in Lake Michigan. The water was warmer than Lake Huron and Lake Superior but it wasn't exactly warm. However, once you were in it was pleasant enough. We had a swim and then just relaxed on the beach for a while, enjoying the sunshine. Again, it's hard to believe that this isn't the sea. Our last park activity was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. This was okay but we had already seen the best views from Pyramid Point and gave the last few viewpoints a miss. On the way back, we stopped in Beulah for an ice cream, at the cheekily named Dairy King. The ice creams were very nice and as it was a Sunday, the sundaes were on special. Hurrah! Back at Manistee we headed for Orchard Beach State Park to try and have another swim but seemed to be unable to locate the actual beach. Clearly there wasn't one . . . Back at the hotel, we had showers and got ready to go out for tea. We were very tempted to go back to the Mexican but wondered that it might look at bit weird to the serving staff that we were back for a second night. After a discussion, we realised that we were too British to be potentially awkward with people we are unlikely to ever meet again, so we decided in the end that we would have to go somewhere else! (Please tell me we are not the only people who ever think like this . . ) We went to the other nearby restaurant, Big Al's pizza, which was extremely tasty (even if the Mexican was still better). When we got back to the hotel, there were free cookies and we all did a lot of sniggering at the fact they were Otis Spunkmeyer. In fact, I'm laughing about it right now after typing the name. Then we watched some baseball, because apparently there can be too much Shark Week (surely not? ) before falling asleep because we were worn out. __________________ West Coast July - August 2014, Howdy Texas! August 2015, Rocking in the Rockies July - August 2016, Bier, Bratwurst und Bahnsteige: Berlin 2017, Touring Tennessee 2017, Expedition East Coast 2018, Hola! Madrid 2019, Great Lakes Grooving 2019, It's Czech, Mate, Prague 2022, Veni, Vidi, Edi, Bibi Italy 2022

7 Oct 19, 09:57 AM	#4
	7 Oct 19, 09:57 AM kateh134 Imagineer
kateh134 Imagineer Join Date: Apr 08	Love the view from pyramid point! __________________ Kate