TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN

Cameron and I were lucky enough to take a spontaneous trip to the Traverse City, Michigan area to watch our youngest sister, Talli, compete in her most competitive horse show yet.

When Talli tells you she is competing in her first championship horse show as a qualified rider, you make it work and go. Talli competes with her horse, Pepper, who is 14 years old. Talli has had Pepper for as long I have been in this family and I cannot imagine her without him. Since Cameron and I are driving distance to Michigan, we felt that we needed to represent the family and bring some good luck. Michigan is one of my favorite places, especially this time of year, so it was not a difficult decision. We had also never been to Traverse City before so this would be an exciting first for the both of us. We quickly started researching Bed & Breakfast’s, AirBnB’s and wineries in the area.

We arrived late Friday afternoon. We had a difficult time finding last minute lodging, especially lodging that would allow Beatrix. We settled on an AirBnb at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. It was okay, but we were hardly there so it worked for us. Once we arrived from an easy 5-hour drive, we quickly dropped our bags and headed up the Old Mission Peninsula in one of the Michigan fingers. This area has multiple wineries right next to each other. We landed at Bonobo Winery (shoutout to my co-worker, Jess) and it was awesome. It had an awesome deck with expansive views of the vineyards and all the way down to the Grand Traverse Bay.

After Bonobo we hopped to Bowers Harbor Vineyards. We preferred the vibe of Bonobo, but Bowers was still cute and had wine flights. Michigan wineries do not excel in the charcuterie department so we needed to find some dinner to wash down the wine. We called The Boathouse to see if they could squeeze us in. When I had called earlier in the week, they were “so booked and do not allow dogs.” Well turns out, we got in and Beatrix was perfectly fine.

The Boathouse was awesome. Sierra and Forrest had come here the previous year and recommended it to us. We had yummy cocktails, a table that looked right onto the sunset and could feel the spectacular Michigan air.

Of course, we had to try it all. We started with oysters - half from East Coast and half from West Coast. I did not used to be an oyster gal, but Cameron has shown me the light. Next up was the shrimp cocktail and yellowtail tartare. De-lish, especially with the fresh horseradish sauce. We shared a bowl of the lobster bisque, but we could have had our own. For our main courses, Cameron had the scallops on top of lobster cakes and I had the halibut with roasted potatoes and mushrooms.

The next morning, we woke up and headed to Flintfields Horse Park just outside of Traverse City to see Talli in her element. We watched Talli in two events, ending with a hunter jumper final where she took home Reserve Champion for her class. The cousins, Beatrix and Pepper, finally met in person. At first, Beatrix was unsure of the “big dog” but as the morning went on, she was running fearlessly in and out of Pepper’s legs.

After the morning session, Cameron and I ventured into the main Traverse City town square to get lunch and walk around. A quaint town, lined with colorful murals, cute shops, café tables and a brewery on every corner.

We found the most delicious crepe cafe called Millie and Pepper Creperie. We shared a sweet and a savory crepe. The savory was chorizo, egg, cheese, salsa, and sour cream wrapped in buckwheat flour (YAY GF). The sweet was strawberry & Nutella wrapped in buckwheat flour. Both were 10/10.

We stopped into Cherry Republic because we heard the region is very well known for their cherries. They had cherry everything…cherry BBQ sauce, cherry BBQ smoker chips and planks, cherry salsa, cherry salt and cherry malts - the list could go on and on.

After exploring the town, we headed back to Flintfields to watch The American Gold Cup Tournament of Champions. We saw Olympians and professionals from all over the world compete for $275,000. It was such a beautiful and perfect day watching an incredibly challenging sport. Talli explained every detail of the competition. The Moscow mules were a nice touch too.

After the Grand Prix, we brought Talli and her friend Gabrielle out for a little afternoon / evening fun. They are usually always caring for the horses or riding so they never really get a chance to actually relax or enjoy the town of Traverse City. In fact, Gabrielle had never been to a winery, ever. We headed back up the Old Mission Peninsula to Brys Estate. Cameron, of course, found the frose and loved it. After Brys, we headed back to Bonobo for one more vista and drink. Cameron, again, found their frozen cocktail…a bourbon frozen smash which was 10/10.

After enjoying the sunset and swinging through the vineyard, we headed back down to Traverse City to Little Fleet, a permanent food truck pop-up, for a great dinner. While on the way, Talli’s coach texted her saying, “Oh wow, having some fun are we? Remember you have the biggest show tomorrow morning.” Little did her coach know, Talli would be taking home first place in the championship the following day.

The next morning, I took Cameron over to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We drove though the little town of Glen Arbor and then headed further south to the park for a morning hike. We drove the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which takes you in a beautiful loop around the park. After that we drove to the Empire Bluff trailhead, an easy 1.6 mile hike with sweeping views of the lake.

As you can see, it was a perfect, September day. Beatrix was in her element and got a lot of attention on the trail.

We really enjoyed our 2.5 day getaway to the Traverse City area. We felt connected to Talli and her world more than ever. We knew Talli had talent and loved her horse, but now we have an even deeper appreciation for how difficult she works. They say, you only get out of it what you put into it. The endless hours spent at the barn training and working just to attend these major events truly has paid off for her in the end. She is a champion!