Day 1 and 2 of my MI ride

[Wizzard]

Left out Friday morning for Beulah MI which is right by Sleeping Bear Dunes park. Decided to ride all 2 lane roads so I went to Hwy 12 which is just  north of my house and we road along lake MI to the Red Arrow Highway. First stop was at Benton Harbor where is the original Henry's Hamburger place. Used to be a large chain in the midwest years ago. When my folks took us as kids once a month to Burlington Iowa to go grocery shopping they would take us to Henry's. Long before Mcdonalds. They had 10 cent hamburgers then.

Stopped at the lake front in St. Joseph for a picture or two.

My Two good lookin ladies

Was a little overcast but no rain.

Motored on up the Red Arrow highway to the Blue star Highway
There are plenty of small towns along this route south of Holland, MI. Fuel, food and shopping are available in Holland and Grand Haven. Country Inn and Suites in Holland is a nice place to stay. It's pretty tough to find, but it's really nice. Just take James St. west to Lakeshore drive off James St. (turn right off Hwy 31 in the back of the shopping area).

Kirby House in Grand Haven is a wonderful place where you can sit upstairs and watch the sunset and boats coming in. If you're not in a hurry, I recommend to stay off of Hwy 3. It's a pretty rough Hwy.

 All kinds of cool homes and lake views on this route Eventually it connects up to Hwy 31 which I rode to Beulah where we shacked up for 2 nights. Very scenic around Bear Lake
Rode out second morning to Benzonia and took route 115 west to Frankfort. Great road with many views of Crystal lake. At Frankfort took MI 22 to Sleeping bear Dunes. This was a highlight so far.

These dunes are 600 ft high and those who go down find it very difficult to come back up unless they are in good shape.



you can see how high up we are by this picture


continued on up 22 up the Leelanau Peninsula. Many orchards and vinyards along this route to the northern point. So many vinyards it almost reminded me of Napa Valley.
22 runs into 201 and to the northern most point of the peninsula at lighthouse point

We got to go up into the top of the lighthouse.


Tons of history here and was very interesting to read the history of this place
The Leelanau Peninsula is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that extends about 30 miles from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Michigan. Leelanau County encompasses the entire peninsula

Lighthouse point is at Northport.
From the top




From here we headed back south on 22 on the east side of the peninsula back to our place of stay for the night. Way more pictures than this and I just hit the highlights. Great roads and great riding so far.
Tomorrow off to the UP and Pictured Rocks for the next report.

[msb]

Great pictures! I've been to Grand Haven... a neat place for sure. I always thought of Detroit when Michigan was mentioned ... when I started working with a new distributor there with 4 locations spread out across the state, I quickly learned that there are many very nice areas in MI... heading there again this Fall.
I did the UP on the way home from Morgantown IZ... was a great ride.

Enjoy.... look forward to seeing further additions to your ride report 

[Bigwolf]

Wizard,
Great ride report and photos.  Thanks for posting that.

Bigwolf

[The emperor has no clothes]

Great pics Randy  especially like the Henry's sign. I'm sad to inform you the old lady who owned the Arctic Roadrunner died a few weeks back. The last I heard they were shutting down. 

Have a great trip !

[cookiedough]

good time for sure and great scenery, thanks for sharing.  MI has wonderful beaches and state parks all along the lakefront worth stopping at and the highlight was for us as well sleeping bear dunes.  I did not learn my lesson the first time in my 30's climbing that sand dune, so did it again in early 40's both times with my kids, wife being smart not attempting it.  NOT a smart move either time unless like said, in VERY good shape and having near 2+ hours to climb back up on your hands and knees wimpering like a little _itch!!!  There is a reason on why so many have to get rescued by boat not able to make it up that pile of sand taking 2 steps forward while sliding down 1 step backwards with the heavier you are, the worse it gets.  I seriously ran down that hill in a few minutes thinking NO problem getting back up, I thought way, way wrong.   

[Farside]

  Great report Wizard and pic's. Always good to see the Good Ol' USofA well north of us, especially from  way down in the Pan-handle of FL. One of these days ( retire)   and I might head that way!  

[Jess from VA]

Thanks for that report, it takes me back to my youth.  

I may have mentioned, I did 1st to 3rd grade ('59-'62) in Valpo before moving to an island south of Detroit.  My folks took us kids up the west coast of Lake MI camping while still living in Valpo (in our first new car, '59 Ford), and I ran up and down Sleeping Bear dunes for several days.  I remember the light house too.  

Better than 50 years ago.

I would only climb that dune on a motorcycle now (and NOT a Valkyrie).  

[..]

 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Great report 

We did the Lake Tour and went to the dunes on both of the InZane's in Mi.  I enjoyed riding that area and The Upper Peninsula.

[DDT (12)]

Wiz,

Great report... looking forward to the next! You're proving the point MSB made in his reply... We all form impressions of states and provinces based upon the parts we see... especially the major cities. Not until we glimpse the 'rest of the territory', that we fully come to appreciate the whole... Allowing us to view that whole through your eyes (and camera lens) is very much appreciated!!!

DDT

[Hooter]

Michigan has as good a roads to ride as anywhere. Isn't thought of as such. I live just 20 minutes south of Holland. Red Arrow and Blue Star are nice riding. Traffic around towns like South Haven, Holland, and Grand Haven (during tourist season) is getting to be more and more all the time. A monument in both Holland and Grand Haven (on 31) is the stop light. Traffic on 31 around Muskegon can be tough to. I avoid 31 if at all possible. But, if you want to be near the lake shore that is the main route. You can't see the big pond from Blue Star or 31.

The UP is the best starting with the Mackinaw Bridge. Crossing that alone is 5 miles of beauty and is a great precursor for things to come in the UP. Going through Wisconsin to the UP is a good ride as well along with some nice roads. Once in the UP you can skip into Canada. This time of year is good there to. Just an FYI. If you have any type of arrest record, you may not be welcome in Canada. Anyway, we have great riding in the upper and lower with plenty to see if you do a little research.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Michigan has as good a roads to ride as anywhere. Isn't thought of as such. I live just 20 minutes south of Holland. Red Arrow and Blue Star are nice riding. Traffic around towns like South Haven, Holland, and Grand Haven (during tourist season) is getting to be more and more all the time. A monument in both Holland and Grand Haven (on 31) is the stop light. Traffic on 31 around Muskegon can be tough to. I avoid 31 if at all possible. But, if you want to be near the lake shore that is the main route. You can't see the big pond from Blue Star or 31.

The UP is the best starting with the Mackinaw Bridge. Crossing that alone is 5 miles of beauty and is a great precursor for things to come in the UP. Going through Wisconsin to the UP is a good ride as well along with some nice roads. Once in the UP you can skip into Canada. This time of year is good there to. Just an FYI. If you have any type of arrest record, you may not be welcome in Canada. Anyway, we have great riding in the upper and lower with plenty to see if you do a little research.

I didn't realize that until a few years ago when my friend told me he could not enter because of a prior DUI.

[BradValk48237]

On your way to the bridge don’t miss 119 out of Harbor Springs.  Tunnel of the trees.  Leads you to Cross Village home of the Leggs Inn. 

[henry 008]

 

[Alpha Dog]

Thanks for that report, it takes me back to my youth.  

I may have mentioned, I did 1st to 3rd grade ('59-'62) in Valpo before moving to an island south of Detroit.  My folks took us kids up the west coast of Lake MI camping while still living in Valpo (in our first new car, '59 Ford), and I ran up and down Sleeping Bear dunes for several days.  I remember the light house too.  

Better than 50 years ago.

I would only climb that dune on a motorcycle now (and NOT a Valkyrie).  

My youth also.  Climbed the dunes in first grade when vacationing on Glenn Lake.  My grandmother at age 69 then went half way up.  I climbed again in my late 40s just for grins and more pain then at six years old.  Our Midland High School Chemics won the class A state baseball title in 73 at Grand Haven. My cousin and I dune buggeyed the Silver Lake dunes.   I had a wonderful girlfriend in Beulah for a time.  My favorite ski area was in the Leelanau Penisula.  I forget the original name, it was closed for a long time and I see it is now called The Homestead.  You could get off the lift and look in one direction and see Glenn Lake and the other Lake Michigan as I recall. My father and myself caught gobs of Salmon and Lake Trout out of Manistee, Onekema, Frankfort, Petoskey ( where Hemingway spent 17 summers of adventure and writing ) and other ports.     

I have ridden a good part of this area, but really need to do a week or more.
Bless you Wizzard for the pics and memories.  Continue to have a glorious ride.

[Gary]

Nice pic's and report, very much appreciated since I haven't been up to that section just yet. Looking forward to your next episode.