Petoskey, MI & Little Traverse Wheelway

                        Friday 9/6/2013

After a couple of days in Petoskey, we realized we wanted more time in the area, so Joe asked if we could stay a couple more days at the Magnus Park. The camp host said there was availability for two days and we wouldn't even have to move from our waterfront spot. Joe had to call the 3 campground that we had reservations for in the upcoming weeks and move the reservations up 2 days also. Everything worked out fine, only because we were out of prime season of campgrounds. On this day we went to check out the downtown area of Petoskey.

The town just so happened to be having their Farmers Market, which is every Friday from 8:30 - 1:00, so we wandered through to see if we needed something.

Also in the downtown area is the Perry Hotel. Looks like a nice place to stay if you don't have a RV.

We only stopped in one or two shops, because most of the shops are very high end. The walkway into this particular shop had a Petoskey stones entrance. Petoskey is famous for these stones which can be found in the area.

The stones are rock and fossil, composed of fossilized coral. You can find a lot of them for sale in shops. The bigger and more pattern they are, the more expensive they get.

After walking the streets of downtown Petoskey, we went back home for lunch and then to Latitude 45, to rent bikes. Joe didn't want to bike again, but I told him we needed to do more exercise, and less sight seeing. The Little Traverse Wheelway  goes right through the Magnus Park we were staying at. The bike rental was one block from our park, making it easy to rent, and ride down the hill to the path.

The bike path goes from Charlevoix through Petoskey to Harbor Springs. The route is 26 mile long.

Part of the route has views of the Little Traverse Bay.

 We went past The Village At Bay Harbor on the route going toward Charlevoix.

There is shopping, dining, accommodations, marina and events at the Village.

After riding about 8 miles we turned back, and went back through this tunnel.

On the way back I stopped and was trying to get a picture of the Bay Harbor Yacht Club, but the security guard came out and told me I couldn't step in for pictures, so I just took this picture of the gate house.

View of East Park Condominiums along Little Traverse Bay.

I would have brought Mallery on our ride, but the bike rentals didn't have front baskets. This lady must be riding her own bike or got it from a different rental business.

We went past Magnus Park, and rode our bikes north to the marina,

and across the Bear River that empties into Little Traverse Bay.

There always seemed to be people fishing up stream of Bear River on a bridge in Mineral Well Park.

Just up from the marina in Petoskey is a playground for the little ones,

and a park to cool off on benches in the shade. At the end of the park, there are steps that take you to the downtown of Petoskey.

Just a bit further we saw this fall along the bike path. We didn't go much farther, because we needed to head back to the bike shop, as our 2 hours was just about up, and Joe bum was getting sore!