Monday, August 13, 2007

On Vacation


Living down here south of I-94, I forget how beautiful it is in the northern part of the mitten. Just a little above where the thumb is attached to Michigan's hand - and definitely above where the fingers separate - the pine trees, the birch trees, and the ferns appear, obvious even when you are speeding by on the interstate. It is cooler and drier and the farms are less frequent, except on Michigan's west coast, where there are beautiful rolling hay fields, patches of corn and pumpkins, and orchards of grapes and cherries.

Things we saw on the drive (not even trying): a flock of wild turkeys crossing the road, a mother deer trailed by a fawn, and two very large-bottomed teenagers on ATVs mooning the highway, who were just down the road from a straw-hatted farmer with three Clydesdales pulling a hay mower.

If you're ever near Charlevoix, I recommend driving south and getting a cherry pie from Royal Farms in Atwood. The pie we got there was as unlike a pie made with canned filling from your grocery store as that really cheap waxy chocolate you get at the dollar store is unlike the good stuff at Zingerman's. I didn't even think I liked cherry pie, and now I wish I'd bought a dozen.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well darn it, we were near Charlevoix just last week. VERY near Charlevoix, as a matter of fact. I don't like cherry pie all that much either, but I feel like I could be persuaded by the right pie. I'm bookmarking the link just in case we go back next summer.

Ypsi said...

I'm sorry I didn't get to see the wild turkeys or the large-bottomed teenagers! But it was cool that we all got to see the doe and fawn.

That cherry pie was absolutely fantastic, wasn't it? I keep wanting to go back up and get more.

Thanks to you and the kiddos for making a great vacation even better!

Anonymous said...

I just got back from the area myself. We saw a Bald Eagle on the way home. Next time we will have to stop and try the pie.

I'm not sure you are aware, but Ypsidixit is blogging again. Yay! I thought I'd tell you since I found your blog through her's.

http://ypsi-dixit.diaryland.com/index.html

Jody said...

I think I may add cherry pie to tomorrow's breakfast menu....

Sandy D. said...

My husband bought a "gourmet" cherry pie last weekend, just to be sure it wasn't as good as this one - and it wasn't. The pie he got had cherries sliding around in a gooey liquid. Not bad, but definitely not like the one from Royal Farms, which had a dense, not very slippery mass of cherry filling. I may have to buy some filling online and see how it does in a home-made pie.

Pie for breakfast is awesome. I'm partial to apple pie, which I blame on New England ancestors.