The Goldilocks Project: Leelanu and Benzie Counties, MI

Welcome to bonus spot #2!

Clearly I’ve been enamored with Michigan, but have ultimately discounted it because of the skiing opportunities. After spending almost a full week along the shores of Lake Michigan (mostly at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore), I may have been won over. Surely spending that time with two really good friends as well as staying in proper campgrounds where showers are not a commodity helped a lot, but what really sold me was the home prices. Expectedly, there were gorgeous mega homes with private beachfronts that would run into the millions, but Zillow advertised some not-so-modest homes with reasonable amounts of property that were walking distance to cute towns and public beaches at prices that were very appealing to me and Cameron.

We spent a fair amount of time in Empire (lunchtime stop where we saw a nice Mennonite family out for a bike ride); Leland (known for a specific type of blue stone, but I was more interested in the many rabbit-named shops, tasty looking ice cream, and the now-hip Fish Town); Beulah (where we ate a grand cherry-themed feast); and Benzonia (which had a funky coffee shop and a very solid brewery).

Although these towns boasted populations of only a few hundred or thousand, they seemed much more robust. Surely part of that is seasonality, but I got the sense that the community still exists outside of the limited summer tourism. It was obvious that the region was trying to promote winter tourism, but there were clear signs that winter could be rough: very sloped roofs, wide shoulders, seasonal overnight parking restrictions, and lots of snowmobiling and cross-country ski trails.

The Good

Really affordable for what you get! We toured a house that was less than a 15 minute walk to Benzonia and Crystal Lake that had 1 acre of property and two individual homes on it. (We did not put an offer on it, but it also didn’t have any red flags.)
A fair amount of wilderness. Cameron could have his land and nature while I could still have the people-focused community.
The towns are charming and self-sufficient, but there is a larger city (Traverse City) less than 1 hour away for an airport and more city-focused needs.
The lakes are beautiful and are such stunning shades of blue that it looks like you are in the Caribbean. That fantasy is quickly forgotten once you try to swim in Lake Michigan’s frigid waters, but some of the smaller lakes in the area are more manageable temperatures.

The Bad

Skiing. You knew this would come up, but we could commit to switching over to cross country skiing and then do a bigger travel trip once or twice a season.
Harsh, gray winters. We talked to a quasi-local at one of our campsites who told us that seasonal depression was likely worse in Michigan than in Washington. When I asked our realtor about winter’s brutality, he cheerily told us that it wasn’t so bad – “the other side of the lake might get down to -30 but over here it’ll only be 15!”
Sand. I know we’re not well set up for it in the van, but it’s such a hassle.
Bugs. The mosquitos aren’t terrible, but the biting flies were driving me nuts! It was impossible to relax on the beach long-term without getting chewed up. Luckily I have a very fun song that I sing about “the black fly picking at my bones in North Ontr-i-o-i-o” that brought me some comic relief.

The Verdict

Clearly, given that we toured a house, we’re thinking about it. We’ll likely stay in touch with the realtor we met and are tentatively planning to visit again this winter to get a better sense of what year-round living is like here. One thing I really like about this area is that there is a lot more of Michigan that we want to explore, so it’s easy to picture what our weekends and holidays would look like if we had a home base here. I do have to question myself “what makes Michigan better than Washington?” and I’m not sure if I have a great answer (other than the cost of living differences). I may not be totally sold, but I am willing to at least consider this as a future vacation spot, even if it won’t likely end up as one of the final top contenders.

With sunsets like this, how could you not want to move here? This greeted us on our first evening in the area.

The second evening's sunset was not as brilliant, but sill lovely.

We camped within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore boundaries, so of course we had to climb some dunes. Sand hiking is not my favorite activity, but when in Rome...

Lake Michigan had stunningly clear water and beautiful blue hues that could be seen from a distance.

Leland's Fish Town. From here you could charter a boat for fishing or to ferry you to one of the island's that are also within the National Park's boundary.

Most of our stay was spent on the water, but not necessarily lake water. We did a river float in our friends' raft and pool tubes.

This public beach along Crystal Lake is within walking distance (~15 minutes) from the house we toured.

Dinner at the cherry hut was an experience that included at least five courses.

It would be easy to find a place within an hour's drive of Traverse City, which has a reasonably-priced airport and plenty of it's own culture. We spent an evening exploring "The Village" – an abandoned asylum-turned-shopping center.

After leaving the northwestern region of mainland (mitten) Michigan, we spent a few days on the Upper Peninsula. Although far more rural, there were lots of nature-focused stops we enjoyed, and many more left to see. Tahquamenon Falls were a favorite of ours.