Local Joints

Saturday Stein and I headed out to see more colors. We couldn't get enough of the beautiful trees. I think we must have said the word "pretty" about 5 times in an hour, while pointing to groups of trees with vibrant colors.

Our sister-n-law suggested that we go to a place for lunch, but when we got there, they were having a wine tasting with only cheese and crackers for food. We were hungry for lunch, so we decided to leave. As we were leaving, the host at the restaurant told us about a great place for burgers. "It's not much from the outside, but they have a great burger." When we found the place, here's what it looked like:

When we pulled up, I said to Stein, "I bet when we walk in, all heads are going to turn, and the needle will scratch across the record." Sure enough, all heads turned, and if there had been a record playing, the needle would have scratched across it. The bar was a typical small town rural bar, circa 1970. Black pleather bar stools at a linoleum bar. Locals (all men, except the bartender, who could've beat me up) all dressed in plaid (except the bartender) drinking, and playing pool. The place reeked of smoke, and Stein and I talked about how a smoking ban would affect this place greatly. The bartender eventually warmed up to us, and we ordered our food. When our burgers came, they were delicious. Handmade patties, done just right, with all the fixings on top. The guy from the other restaurant steered us in the right direction. As we were leaving, a couple families with boys who played midget football came in. Who knew that this was a family place!

With our bellies full, we set out to see more sights. We chose to take a ferry across a narrow part of Lake Charlevoix. We did this when we were with Dean and Beth last fall, and we laughed about it again. The ferry fits 4 cars, and takes about 2 minutes to cross (it's pulled by a cable). Here's a shot from inside the car before we set off across (you can see the other side pretty clearly since it's so close):

Here is a view as we got closer to the other side:Once we got across, I remembered that Boyne Mountain, a ski resort, had one of their chair lifts open. Unfortunately, it clouded up a bit while we were there, but the view was still great:

At the top, they had one of their restaurants open. We stopped in for a drink, and sat by the huge fireplace. I can imagine that this is a favorite spot for skiers on a frigid day in January or February. This was the view from the top:After all of this activity, we definitely needed a nap. That's exactly what we did when we got back to Petoskey.