Petoskey Fall Getaway

It’s the great northern air. Absolutely the best trout fishing in the county. No exaggeration. Fine country. Good color, good northern atmosphere, absolute freedom.” -Ernest Hemingway

I haven’t posted on here in a long time, but thought this would be a fun way to share my life’s happenings since I’m no longer using facebook. If you are interested follow along!

This past week, I was feeling just a little worn down from regular day-to day life and mentioned this to Trav and he suggested we take a little family trip for a few days. I asked my co-worker and go to travel planner, for some up north ideas and he recommended Petoskey. Knowing that I really enjoy staying in historic hotels he told me to try Stafford’s Perry Hotel built in 1899. Ernest Hemingway stayed at the Perry Hotel on his way to his family’s cottage on Walloon Lake and things like this are just neat to me. So on Tuesday we booked our getaway for the following day. I think that impromptu trips are sometimes the best ones we have. You don’t have all the expectations leading up to leaving and exactly how it’s all going to go. It forces you to be more present and go with the flow – a concept I am trying to adopt in my life in general.

It turned out to be our best family trip to date, and Petoskey is a relaxing, quaint, and very friendly town. It is just great for families and even couples looking to get some R&R for a few days with lots of shops, excellent fare, and breathtaking views for all of it. I love visiting towns in their off season, when the hustle and bustle dies down and you have time to breathe and stop and talk to the local folks. If you are looking for a place to stay up there I highly recommend the Perry as the staff was super helpful and above all very friendly. We quickly made friends with our server, Dale at breakfast and she brightened our mornings. She gave us suggestions of where to go, how to get to the beach to hunt for Petoskey stones, and treated us like old family. We felt pretty special.

There’s our room – the second floor balcony on the right!

Our view from the balcony. I highly recommend a Little Traverse Bay view room.

Below is the view from the H.O. Rose room and Ford shoveling in every last bite of waffle, his staple for breakfast every morning of the trip.

The first floor lobby area and the fireplace where we sat and drank a bottle of wine while Ford played with some toys and we watched a wedding rehearsal taking place.

We braved the cold with some wine on the balcony while Ford napped 😉

We hunted for Petoskey stones and walked for a while along the Wheelway, the paved path which runs along the bay. This would be great for bikes in the summer. I’m not sure why but the fall colors were so much more vibrant than down-state. It was breathtaking!

We did some shopping and enjoyed the restaurants in town, and Ford’s favorite store was the Rocking Horse Toy Co. The great thing is the Perry is right downtown so no need to drive to shops and restaurants.

At the Palette Bistro for dinner, just down the street from the hotel.

One of my favorite things we did was visit The Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs along the famous tunnel of trees drive. The Farm has lots for young kids to do and also has nearly 200 acres with walking paths, a trout pond, vineyards for the winery, a brewery and much more.