Living in Europe, I often get nostalgic for "Americana" and yearn for an honest to goodness small town experience rather than a village experience. Well, this weekend I was able to satisfy my yearning when we visited the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Harbor Springs, Michigan.
The reason for our visit was that we were invited to a wedding by the father and mother of the bride, Alyssa. Sandy and Fred are great friends of ours who live in Asheville, North Carolina while we are now located in Munich, Germany. We have been friends since our last expat experience from 2003 - 2005 while living in Shanghai, China.
Harbor Springs is a quaint small resort town in the Upper Peninsula.
The homes along the shoreline are mainly large, turn of the century, Victorians. Enormous front porches, beautiful flower boxes, and lots of gingerbread adorn the homes. Much of Harbor Springs will remind you of Mackinac Island with similar architecture. Located in little Traverse Bay it is a sailing, boating, yachting adventure land. Horseback riding, kayaking and canoeing, along with zip lining and golf round out just a few of the activities available on the island. But there are lots of shops for unique shopping as well.
The ceremony was on the first tee of the Birchwood Farms Golf course. The sun was high in the sky although the wedding took place at 5:00 pm. Weather was superb!
The first tee is amazing with a view of the ocean and a gigantic drop from the green to the fairway. I took this shot on the morning following the wedding, and the lake in the background isn't very visible, but believe me when I say it is a jaw dropping panorama.
This view from the top of the green is a better view of Lake Michigan.
Back during the turn of the century, people would arrive in Harbor Springs by railroad. Once off the train they would board small steam powered boats, such as the one below, and be shuttled to their cottages around the lake.
View of the lake from the cottage where we stayed for the weekend. Thank you to our hosts Susan and Jim for such lovely accommodations. I will post photos of the bride and groom soon!
2 comments:
Right here in my own state! I have to admit that I haven't spent nearly enough time traveling in the U.P. It's just beautiful up there!
These are beautiful photographs..I especially love the one with all the boats in the water. Definitely looks like a slice of Americana : )
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