The Boys of Summer Are (mostly) Gone!

I don’t live far from Traverse City. It’s a fun place with lots of shops and great restaurants, but I truly avoid it during the summer. The traffic, the chaos, and the congestion are not why I chose to live in Northern Michigan. I prefer to take my trips to the Traverse City area after the boys of summer are gone. 

Please note: I am not anti-tourist. I am a tourist-appreciator. This is a travel blog, after all.

---

A Stop at Lakeview Hill Farm & Market

This week’s travels had Macey and me driving near Lake Leelanau. My love for farm markets and her love of fresh organic produce took us to Lakeview Hill Farm and Market.

This market is small but mighty. It offers many locally supplied products, such as:

• Fresh produce
  
• Coffee
  
• Flowers
  
• Baked goods
  

We perused and purchased some veggies, Fire Hook rosemary and sea salt crackers, and “sampled” a fantastic chocolate chunk cookie from Sugar2Salt at a cute table just steps outside of the market.

We also walked through the flower field, and I almost had Macey talked into jumping on the wooden swings for a photo op… but somebody beat us to it. I guess we’ll just have to go back. Maybe Chuck will humor me next time.

---

Fresh Coast Market: Snacks & Lunch

Our next stop was Fresh Coast Market for snacks and, because it smelled so good inside, lunch.

This market is packed with Michigan-made snacks, beverages, and a really cute souvenir area. The food was delish!

Ordering Adventures

It took us a minute to figure out how to order and another to figure out what to order. There were multiple options:

• The old-school (boomer) way of marking your order on a pre-printed order form
  
• The modern, post-COVID online ordering system
  

We weren’t sure what we were doing, and—truth be told—probably annoyed the locals while hogging the order form table. It was hopping in there! Eventually, we grabbed slips, sat down, and placed our order online.

What We Ate

There are so many good things on their menu that it took us a solid thirty minutes to make a decision (okay, one of us may have struggled with the technology for a bit).

• I went with the Garlic Lover’s Pizza
  
• Macey ordered the Greek Gyro Panini

Both meals were excellent, and we left Fresh Coast stuffed!

---

A Sweet Stop at Moomers

As we pulled out of the Fresh Coast driveway, I realized Moomers was right across the street. That meant, of course, we had to stop for “A Little Taste of Country.”

Because in the McKeever household, there’s always room for ice cream.

The line at Moomers was out the door, but moved quickly. We placed our order within ten minutes and then enjoyed our sweet treat on the deck overlooking the Moomers farm.

It was the perfect way to end our day—and with a driver to chauffeur me around, this trip was an easy 10/10!