A long and interesting day! We didn’t get in until around 9:30 p.m.; no time to journal. Bottom photo is of Mother and I at the Black Star Farms for a wine tasting and gourmet dinner; the top one is a view of the Sleeping Bear National Seashore Dunes.
We started off the morning with a visit to the Music House Museum in Traverse City. It looked as if it might be something cheesy; boy did we misjudge. Was it ever interesting. It was an expansive collection of automatic musical instruments. Our guide explained the technology behind each of the instruments, and we were amazed by the imagination and innovation. One of them used a “deck of cards” which inspired the development of the IBM keypunch cards. One technology definitely can influence another! We also learned the origin of the term “sounding board.” Our guide showed us a very tiny music box; when he played it, we could barely hear the sound, until he placed it on a board; the volume increased tenfold. We then began our journey to the “most scenic spot in the United States” according to a recent media report…the Sleeping Bear National Seashore Dunes and Manitou Islands. But first we had lunch in Glen Arbor, a small town that was on the way. We have noticed how clean all of the towns, villages, roads, and highways are, no matter where we are. There has been no rubbish, trash, discarded items, or unkempt property.
We arrived at Lake Michigan, and the huge, ever-moving sand dunes that led down to the lake. We saw young people walking (sliding) down the dunes to the bottom, and to the lake. Our guide told us that it’s very difficult to walk back up; for every step you take, you can slide back several steps. It’s not uncommon for the Coast Guard to rescue people that can’t climb back up; this rescue service can cost $10K. This was unlike anything we’d ever seen; however, we all agreed that it wasn’t really the most scenic spot in America … at least not in our opinion.
We then went to a wine-tasting and dinner at Black Star Farms. We tasted their wine offerings (one of them was a cherry fruit wine). The meal was definitely gourmet.
We then drove back to our hotel at Traverse City. We were worn out!
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