Traverse City, Michigan

We are staying for five days at the RV park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that that rich motorhome guy in New Orleans had told us about.  And the Traverse Bay RV Resort is indeed a gorgeous campground.

Our motorhome, which in some parks is among the two or three nicest RV units among all the residents, is definitely on the lower end here.  We are country mice.  The city mice own their own spaces, many with sheds, beautiful landscaping, and covered areas, and they drive million dollar motor coaches.  Obviously we need to step up our game.

On Thursday the park offered its residents and guests a free dinner of sausages and pasta.  We met and dined with a nice couple from Washington state who were politically compatible with Santa Cruz.

Traverse City has a very cool downtown, with lots of shops and restaurants.  We had lunch at an outdoor Mexican cafe.

On Saturday we shopped at a farmers' market in town, picking up oyster mushrooms, carrots, and beans.  Some serious but intermittent rain showers had us running for shelter.

Traverse City also features a couple of nice beaches on Traverse Bay, which extends down off Lake Michigan. Here we were in Michigan in September, and a lot of folks were taking advantage of the lovely warm weather.

In 1881 the Northern Michigan (Insane) Asylum was established in Traverse City as a psychiatric hospital (which reportedly treated its charges very kindly, in contrast with many such units in the country at that time).  Over the years the institution expanded its care to include patients with tuberculosis, polio, and drug addiction.  However, in 1989 the hospital closed and many of its buildings were demolished.  In 1993 the remaining property was transferred from the state to the Grand Traverse Commons Redevelopment Corporation, and over time extensive renovation of the buildings was accomplished and continues to this day.

The building complex is now called The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.  We found it fascinating to wander the undulating brick-lined halls of the old asylum, which has been converted to a space housing some interesting shops, businesses, and apartments.

We made Labor Day reservations at an Italian restaurant - Trattoria Stella - deep within the catacombs.

My dinner - including exceptional sweetbreads - was excellent, Nancy's less so - but regardless, it was a fun way to finish up our exploration of Traverse City.