Hold up your left hand to make Michigan’s mitten. Now, extend your little finger just a tiny bit. The first joint on your little finger is where ThreeOlBags recently visited what seemed more like Hawaii than northwestern Michigan. More like Hawaii because of it’s miles and miles of beaches, turquoise colored water, art, art and more art, fishing, hang-gliding, sailing, swimming, biking, shopping, and on and on.

About five hours from Metro Detroit, we found fun, relaxation and inspiration. So much of it, we couldn’t possibly fit it all into the one day we had scheduled, so, we planned a return trip as we ooo-ed and ahhh-ed our way around the area. Sandra Campbell, writer for ThreeOlBags, suggested the trip because of a recommendation from a good friend of hers.

Frostic Gift Shop

In particular she wanted to tour a little hide-away business that’s a museum, a store, a nature walk, and an historical printing factory tour all in one. Gwen Frostic Prints/Presscraft Papers was the absolutely-must stop on our trip. Gwen Frostic (1906-2001) was the creator of the shop. Located on River Road between Frankfort and Benzonia, the business continues to print original block-print note paper, books, pictures, greeting cards and more.

Lots of little girls dream of being able to talk to animals like Cinderella did, but some believe Gwen Frostic accomplished that dream. Don’t laugh, you might too after you step thru the walkway adorned with hanging vines into her camouflaged store (more like a partially underground secret doorway into the cave-like building that houses the business). The experience is like walking right in to a huge tree in one of Michigan’s dense, moss scented forests. Then, once inside the tree turns into a hidden factory and store.

Light filters into the shop from out back, where visitors enjoy nature walks. Inside the daydreamer’s heaven, colored glass blocks are placed here and there in the natural stone-walled cavern, catching glints of sunlight. Original artworks inspire, awe and educate onlookers. Most of the pieces are for sale.

Frostic Print Shop

Antique printing presses, including two Guttenberg Presses still click and clatter out original Frostic prints. Frostic was as dedicated to Michigan’s natural plant and wildlife as she was to expressing her passions through simple art renderings. Post cards and letters addressed from all over the world hang from the upper walls as a testimony to the popularity of her art.

Her fame came from the gift of being able to “express that indefinable something that lies deep in the hearts of all”, said one admirer. The three of us each took a little bit of silent satisfaction home with us in the form of stationery, mugs, and coasters adorned with designs by Frostic and gift wrapped, as are all purchases made there. Maybe we’ll write on the stationery and send it to someone we care about, or set the coaster on our desk to sit there like a friend saying, “Slow down. Look, there’s a butterfly landing on a hollyhock just now.”

The recipient of many honorary degrees, Frostic was honored by Governor William Milliken in 1978 when he proclaimed May 23rd Gwen Frostic Day in Michigan. It seems quiet, gentle Gwen Frostic left quite an impression.

Another interesting stop we planned was to Beedazelled Candleworks in Benzonia, just down River Road from Frostic’s. The cottage industry grows, harvests and produces handcrafted beeswax products, like soap, aromatherapy items and of course honey. Tours through their elaborate gardens are also conducted.

A little further down River Road, then West on 22 a mile or so, we were pleased to find Trick Dog’s Art Gallery & Café in Elberta, Here we peered at shelves chocked full of imaginative artworks, admiring the unique designs. We also enjoyed the grounds, where larger-than-life rustic lawn art made bold artistic statements, and fish shaped patio blocks locked together to form an inviting area out front. Ceramic tiles in original patterns, humorous fence designs, driftwood naturally formed into things like a small gorilla, and a wildly decorated station wagon drew our attention and provided many photo opportunities. Linda Sparkman, editor for ThreeOlBags, got to gong the one of a kind dinner-bell-kind-of-gonger-thingy out front.

To top it off Trick Dog’s gallery is on a hill overlooking one of the most breathtaking scenes of our trip. Just out front is over fifteen square miles of deep turquoise-colored water, making up Crystal Lake. We hear it’s famous for its fishing, but we doubt the fishing could surpass the view.

Elberta Trick Dog

However, Benzie County is home to Blue-Ribbon winning trout and salmon streams. The well-attended Benzie Frenzy Fishing Tournament is coming up August 22-24 on the West side of the county, in Frankfort.

The city of Elberta, got its name from the Elberta peach which originated there. Another historical tidbit is found at Elberta’s harbor where the "S.S. City of Milwaukee", one of the old ships that hosted ferry service to Wisconsin, still sits.

Somewhere on the trip you’ll need to eat, and Brookside Inn comes highly recommended. The fine dining restaurant is close by Trick Dog’s at 115 N. Michigan in Beulah. Overnight accommodations are also offered here.

Historic Lighthouses dot the shoreline as you drive along highway 22, into Leelanau County. One of the more famous lighthouses and one worth visiting is the Point Betsie Lighthouse, near Frankfort. Built in 1858, it’s the oldest operating lighthouse in Michigan.

Ever wonder where the top-of-the-world is? It’s in Empire Michigan, at the end of seven and a-half mile Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, on the tip top of the dune there. The view is “unparalleled”—in every direction!

The famous Sleeping Bear Dunes begin in Benzie County. Named after a series of towering coastal sand dunes resembling a resting bear, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park features rugged, four hundred-foot bluffs, sandy beaches, and cool, dark forests.

Silver Lake Dune Buggy

True to the spirit of ThreeOlBags, we hopped into a dune buggy with tour guide “Jim” for a thrilling ride at Mac Wood’s Dune Rides in Mears, Michigan, south on highway 31, near Pentwater. The entertaining guide pointed out places of historic and geographical interest, and a few spots popular with the locals, like a buried football player, supposed to be a Chicago Bear, based on the tattered uniformed legs sticking out of one of the dunes. Other noteworthy stops along the ride were naturally formed sites resembling things like bears or wolf heads.

The whole trip left us wondering why we’re just now discovering this part of Michigan, the part our forefathers rightly called the “land of delight”.

End

Sidebar:

UPCOMING AREA EVENTS

August 22-24:Benzie Frenzy Fishing Tournament, Frankfort. Phone (231-352-7251)
September 5-7Vistorian Port City Festival-Manistee (231) 723-2575
September 12-14POW WOW-Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians.  Benzonia.
October 4Color Tour Juried Art Exhibit.  Crystal Lake.  Phone:  (231) 352-4151
October 10-31Ghost Ship Opens Friday and Saturday nights on board the S.S. City of Milwaukee, Elberta.  (231) 398-0328 or www.carferry.com
December 4-7Victorian Sleighbell Parade & Old Christmas Weekend, Manistee Area. (800) 288-2286
All through the yearMusic and art performances in nearby Interlochen at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, one of the area’s greatest treasures.  www.michiweb.com/interlochen
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