Stories of Glen Arbor, wine pairing tips, Sleeping Bear Dunes insider info, and more
This tale of how Glen Arbor Wines' Farmstead Red came to be named will have you packing up a German-inspired picnic: a good hard sausage from (Bunting's in Cedar) German Mustard, a wedge of Emmental cheese (The Cheese Lady, Traverse City) and a loaf of pumpernickel bread (Bay Bread, Traverse City). Read on and we'll tell you where to spread your picnic. Hint: It's a perfect bike trip.
When you live within sight of Lake Michigan's Sleeping Bear Bay in Glen Arbor, life seems simple. Beautiful. Relaxing. Especially on a July morning when refracting light makes the Manitou Islands look close enough to touch and the water a shade of blue that is somewhere between Caribbean and Mediterranean. The walk down South Lake Street to the public access/boat launch is a sensual bouquet of warm juniper oozing the piney scent of gin, the faint smell of fish in the breeze, whiffs of gasoline from a boat that has just pulled away from the ramp.
That is why, a very busy two weeks after I opened my new business, Glen Arbor Wines, I made time to paddle board out on Sleeping Bear Bay before I opened at noon. I live above my tasting room on South Lake Street, so I'd just just come down to check on a few things before I left, when I looked up to see an entire family—from grandparents down to grandchild peering in the window.
