Traverse City/Old Mission Peninsula (Day 5 of our Michigan Vacay)

via google maps.

This was one of my favorite days of our vacation. The weather was beautiful and we had so many fun things to explore. We went up the 19 mile long Old Mission Peninsula that divides Grand Traverse Bay into east and west bays. It is only 3 miles wide at it's widest point so for a lot of the drive we could see water on both sides. Loved it. It's full of wineries, orchards, beautiful scenery, and cute little shops. Here are photos to prove it all.

The beautiful view on the way up

You cross over the 45th parallel, which is pretty cool. 

We saw a schoolhouse type lighthouse at the end of the peninsula.

The view from the lighthouse. The water was very low this year. It's usually a lot closer to the lighthouse.

 We found some swings because we love them and had some fun.

 Saw the sun hit the water just right. It was beautiful! And saw these weird rocks but they're kind of cool in a creepy ritual kind of way, right?

Kept up our theme of eating at local spots that somehow relate to dogs

 and loved our meal (cherry chicken salad with cherry vinegarette? yes, please)

 saw cute little fruit stands with the honor paying system in unattended boxes.

 Went to a really fun orchard with all kinds of in season fruit and had the best homemade blueberry ice cream (wish it was in my freezer right now!).

Took advantage of the 85 degree day and went swimming in the crystal clear water!

 Explored the cute city a little and got some souvenirs. We then headed to see the sunset at Sleeping Bear Dunes.

These dunes are large. It's hard to show portion because neither of us were willing to go down to illustrate.

The sunset was cloudy but I'm still glad we went to see the dunes. They were mind blowing.