A Very Merry Cherry Fest in Traverse City, MI

Our northern Midwest "loopy" was almost complete. We traveled up through Wisconsin, made a stop in Door County, then went from west to east in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, before crossing the Mackinac Bridge back down to the Lower Peninsula. The loopy was a bit of a rollercoaster.

But, we had high hopes for our next stop. Surprisingly, we had never actually RVed the LP, despite visiting a couple of times. On both occasions, we had rented an Airbnb while our rig was in for repairs down in Indiana. We were looking forward to RVing the mitten, and we were starting with the ring finger.

Our plan to loop clockwise was decided for us when we discovered that we could time our route to be in Traverse City for the annual Cherry Festival, which ran from June 28 through July 5. The festival also doubles as their 4th of July celebration, and we love a good 4th fest on our travels! Fruit and freedom were put on the agenda, and we booked our stays for a full week and a half of festive fun.

We split our time between a Boondockers Welcome 20 minutes south of Traverse City, and an RV Resort 30 minutes southeast. This is a nice compromise for us when we want to keep budget low. We stayed the maximum 5 nights for free at the Boondockers Welcome, and then headed over to the more expensive resort, Vista Green RV Resort, where we could regroup with full hookups. Both spots were great. We had a little nook next to a farm shed at the Boondockers Welcome, with views of farm fields. Vista Green Resort was one of the nicest sites we've had at a resort. Not as many bells and whistles at some of the resorts we've stayed at, but we liked this because it kept the park quiet, and our activities were all in Traverse City anyway. We chose a site at the back of the campground, where we had lots of yard space behind us and on our business side.

When we told some friends in the area that we were planning to go to Cherry Fest, the popular responses were "Why?" and "Oh, I avoid Traverse City like the plague during Cherry Fest." We probably would too if we were local, but having never been before, we wanted to enjoy as many events as possible. Plus, we're used to crowds in Boston and NYC. We couldn't imagine Traverse City ever being as busy as some events we've been to back east.

Still, we planned our visit diligently. We stayed through the whole Fest, but had no intentions of going in every day. There were some other activities unrelated to the Fest that we hoped to do while we were in the area. Then of course, we did have to work. Anthony took some time off so he didn't need to worry about mid-day calls, but otherwise, all of our downtime was work time. We hoped freeing up our days a little would help when we did go into Traverse City, so we could try to go at off-times, when it would be less crowded.

That plan didn't really work out. The organizers of the Cherry Fest are smart. They plan the big events for days that are most popular, like the Air Show on Saturday and Sunday, and the fireworks displays on the 4th and the final Saturday. If we wanted to enjoy any of these events, we'd have to brave the crowds. The upside, though, was that we could do as much or as little as we'd like each day, because we always had more chances to go back.

Day 1 (Sunday, June 30): Yoga by the Bay, Blue Angels Air Show

The Cherry Fest holds a few "wellness" events, as they call them, throughout the festival. There is Zumba, yoga, a bike ride, and a run. We signed up for the latter three. The weather was cold, only reaching the low 50s by the time we arrived to Open Space Park. Speaking of which, "by the bay" is a loose term, because yoga is held on a field with zero view of the bay. That was disappointing, but not the worst part of the class. Evidently the yoga studio that has hosted this event for 8 years is a hot yoga studio, meaning that they hold their classes in rooms close to 100°F, and the poses are meant to be performed when loose and limber. They were definitely aware of this conundrum, warning us to take it easy. But when you tell us to take it easy and then proceed to have us do 20 balance poses as a warm-up, on unlevel grass, that's really dangerous. We have done a lot of yoga over the years, including public yoga, and we have never been to a public all-ages event that isn't an easy vinyasa class. This was unsafe and flat-out bizarre. But, if they are doing it for promotional purposes and want to show exactly what to expect from their studio, they succeeded! Not how we hoped to start our festivities, but we did all get props for attending in weather that cold and gloomy. The teachers told us we were all "hardcore." We'll take that as a compliment.

Every year we've full-timed, I've checked the calendar to see if our route would line up with a Blue Angels air show. It seemed like a perfect event for the travel life. I had seen them when I was little, but Anthony never had. We expected a ton of crowds and traffic heading in for the show. We were in the area the day before, just as the air show was ending, and it was absolute mayhem. We went back to the RV after yoga to rinse off, change, and have lunch, and then we drove back about an hour before the air show. We were afraid we might not find parking given how much traffic there was downtown, but we ended up getting a great spot on a side residential street, that was free to park. Spots closer to downtown were paid parking, and many had limits of a couple hours. We were more than happy to park further away and walk the mile-ish to downtown. This area became our go-to parking destination whenever we went into the festival.

We timed our arrival to the air show perfectly, setting up our spot on the West Beach a few minutes before showtime. We had plenty of space to spread out. Only, we had to wait 2 hours for the Blue Angels to come on, and it was a cold and windy day. The opening acts were great, but nothing compares to the Blue Angels themselves. Finally, they came flying in at 3PM, and it seemed like they were finished in the blink of an eye. Their portion of the show lasted a half-hour, despite the air show being listed as going until 4PM. The day before, the Blue Angels were still flying at 4PM; we saw them when we were driving around. We don't exactly know what happened on this day, but we were glad to see them at all. They really are the top tier in aviation.

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After the show, we took the long way back to our truck. There were lots of tents selling cherry-related items, plus a craft fair that was going on for a few days, so we wove our way through the streets, browsing all of the items.

Day 2 (Monday, July 1): Group Bike Ride, Orchard Tour

There is nothing more uplifting than joining over 100 fellow cyclists for a Monday morning ride. The community vibe was top-notch. We had people of all ages and all types of bikes, but as far as we saw, we were the only two on ebikes! Hey, it's all we've got with us on our travels. We didn't use our pedal assists, though. There was no need, as we all went at a leisurely pace, the roads were flat, and we only went a few miles. It was a beautiful morning for a bike ride, and we got to ride up the recreation trail right alongside the lake, and then down Front Street, among all the shops that were just starting to open for the day. Everyone who completed the ride got a voucher for a free slice of pie from Grand Traverse Pie Co. We got a cherry pie to stay on theme, and a slice of "lakeside berry" which had a hodgepodge of different fruits. They were delicious!

After the bike ride, we drove about 20 minutes up the Leelanau Peninsula, along the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. The Michigan State University Horticultural Research Center was hosting its own Cherry Festival event, offering tours through their orchards. They also had tents set up with countless free samples of cherry-related products. We got to try cherry coffee, cherry juice, cherry salsa, sauces, and dressings, and cherry pie ice cream. They also had exhibits outlining the timeline of the creation of the research center. Once a desolate gravel pit, now the hillside blooms with apple, pear, and cherry trees. The tours were guided tractor rides, and we learned about the growth and harvesting of the various fruits. We loved the nature focus of this event, getting to see the cherries at their source, and enjoying a little bit of time removed from the bustle of the main festival.

The Leelanau Peninsula was beautiful. We followed the shores of the bay on our way up, and then headed inland, where we passed by a lot of vineyards. Because this area is between two freshwater sources and has temperate springs and summers, orchards and vineyards thrive there. The peninsula even has its own wine trail! We decided to stick around for a while and found a vineyard that boasted some amazing Neapolitan pizza at their bistro. We headed up to Black Star Vineyards and arrived right as the bistro was opening for lunch. We had pizza and paninis on the patio, complete with summer mocktails. After lunch, we walked the grounds for a bit, following a trail through the vineyard and in the woods behind the property. We also visited with the horses and goats. The vineyard has a farm, horse stables, an inn, the bistro, and a tasting room. Ever since our Harvest Hosts Challenge, we have been really loving the vineyard vibe, and we cannot say enough good things about Black Star. Unfortunately, they are not a Harvest Host, or else we would surely plan a trip to stay there overnight. A couple of vineyards along the Leelanau Wine Trail are Harvest Hosts, though. We can only imagine how much beauty one would see on an RV trip here!

On our way back to Traverse City, we stopped at one of the bay overlooks to take some photos of the clear, blue water. A beautiful view to cap off a beautiful day enjoying the outdoors.

Day 3 (Wednesday, July 3): Wheels on Rails

We made our site switch on July 2, which was also a designated work day. We decided to take it easy on July 3 as well, not going into Traverse City, but instead partaking in an activity closer to our campground. Wheels on Rails is a rail bike company that began their operations last year. We have done rail bikes before, and more companies seem to be popping up all over the US, utilizing "dead" railroad tracks to bring a fun and unique recreational experience to the community.

Rail bikes are exactly what you think: Bikes that run along railroad tracks. More like little rail wagons, they usually have 4-6 seats, and everyone works together to pedal them along the tracks, hopefully seeing some sights along the way. Our tour was about 6 miles in total, taking us mostly through the downtown area of Grawn, MI, but we did have some quieter areas with trees and a stream. A fun morning excursion to get some exercise before laying low for the rest of the day.

Day 4 (Thursday, July 4): Parade and Fireworks

For whatever reason, we did not get the memo that the parade was in the late afternoon, so we were pleasantly surprised when we went into Traverse City for the evening and parked just a couple blocks away from the staging area. And what a staging area it was! A bunch of elementary schools come together to design floats according to a theme – from what we gathered it's one particular grade in all of these schools – but this year, the theme was National Park Sites, and we had so much fun walking among the floats, seeing which places we've been to in our travels.

Our plan was to walk around for a bit, grab food, and then stake out a spot to watch the fireworks, but first, we got ice cream on Front Street and stuck around for the parade. This parade was huge! You name it, it was marching. Tons of marching bands of all ages, a bluegrass band, and even the Ghostbusters made an appearance! Then of course, what's a parade without goats? This time, they were joined by chickens and rabbits.

We were pleasantly surprised at how easy the area was to navigate on the 4th. We got parking without issue, had a nice view of the parade, and got food without needing to wait in long lines. Then we walked around Open Space Park for a little while before meandering along the beaches and eventually setting up our spot on the West Beach, near where we sat for the Air Show. The fireworks are set off in the bay, so there are ample places to get a good view. Michigan's sun doesn't set until 9:30pm this time of year and the fireworks don't begin until 10:30pm, so we had lots of time to kill. No better place to do it though, sitting in the sand, watching the waves and ducks, and soaking in the merriment of all the families around us.

The fireworks display almost went off without a hitch. We noticed a few that exploded very low, and sure enough, later we heard that the barge caught fire. Thankfully it was just a small one, and these days all the fireworks are set off remotely, so no one was on the barge when it happened. The pyrotechnics company was able to finish the finale before putting out the fire, which was small enough to handle themselves, without getting the fire department involved. You can see the fire in our video clip.

We're awarding Traverse City with our favorite 4th celebration so far in our RV travels. We have come to really appreciate this holiday because it exemplifies the freedom that we embrace each day we're on the road.

Days 5 and 6 (Friday, July 5 and Saturday, July 6): Ultimate Air Dogs, 5K, and Goat Yoga

July 5 was mostly rainy, but we had a small gap where we could head into Traverse City to watch one of the rounds of Ultimate Air Dogs. This was their 20th anniversary year at the Cherry Festival, and during the Fest are several opportunities to see the canine participants showcase their skills. Basically, each dog has two attempts to fetch a toy of their choice into a pool, and the length of their jump is measured. The farthest jumpers go to the finals, where one is crowned the Ultimate Air Dog. Who doesn't love watching dogs being their best selves?! Some were incredibly impressive, while others were more high jumpers than long jumpers. Others were just participating in their own way.

While the Ultimate Air Dogs was super fun, our main reason for heading into town was to pick up our packets for the Festival of Races 5K the next morning. The run consists of a 5K, 10K, 15K, and half-marathon, and since we're 100% not runners, we stuck with the shortest race option.

We had good weather for a run: Cloudy and cool. The run started at the high school and wove its way through the neighborhoods of Traverse City, before ending with a straight shot up Front Street. The other races went other routes, with the longer runs even routing through one of the orchards. We were in no way adequately trained for our run, but once in a while we like to do a 5K to surprise our bodies with something new. We certainly didn't run the whole thing, and that's fine with us because we were out there for the exercise and the community vibe. At the end, we got free cookies, cherries, and cherry juice. Running for treats makes everything better.

The 5K was technically our finale Festival event, but we had one more on our agenda. Ever since we went to Black Star Vineyards, we hoped to return for their weekly Saturday morning goat yoga. We timed it so we could complete our race, go change, and head back up to the vineyard. Finally, a public yoga that was not a hot yoga sequence in 50-degree weather! It's the little things, really. Speaking of little things, getting to spend quality time with the Black Star goats was awesome. When we hung out with them after our lunch at the bistro, we could tell they were super sweet, and we wanted to be their friends. Goat time is always fun, but we also appreciated the yoga as a nice stretch and cool down after our run.

Our time at the Cherry Fest had come to an end, and the following day we would be heading out of Traverse City and making our way back east, to the shores of Lake Huron. After some ups and downs during our northern Midwest travels, we were thankful for a week that was the perfect balance of fun, adventure, and relaxation. Even better, we blended local excursions with touristy fun, something we always love about traveling to new places. We also can't forget feeling the warm welcome of the friendly Traverse City community – truly the cherry on top of a wonderful visit.