A Trip To the Eastern Side Of The “Mitt” – Tawas, MI
One of the great things about RVing is all the people you meet. I’ve talked about it on the blog many times before, but it was really one of the things that surprised us most after we got on the road. Before we started out I always imagined our journey would be a fairly isolated one. Just Paul and I (and the paws of course) experiencing life together on the road. And honestly, I had no problem with that at all.
The reality turned out to be very different, in a good way. RVing has seriously been the most sociable thing we’ve ever done, and we’ve made many more connections with a much larger variety of people than we ever did living in a stix&brix.
If you think about it of course, it makes total sense. Most folks who go on the road are pretty open-minded and adventurous. It’s kinda a prerequisite to enjoying the journey (the folks who aren’t like this typically end up hating RVing and getting off the road). So, you’ve got a kind of natural selection if you will, and a group of essentially like-minded people all out there enjoying nature together. This makes for an almost instantaneous connection and the ability to form bonds much quicker than in “regular life”. We’ve met sooooo many people this way, and made some fast friends over the years. Folks we’ve caravaned with and meet up with over and over.
It goes one deeper than this too. There’s also an inherent trust and openness that comes along in travel, which means you’ll find folks that are willing to invite you to stay at their home after a very short time together. Sometimes people that you’ve practically just met! Again this is something I would never have seen (or done) in my “old life”, but feels perfectly natural in the RVing life.
This, my blog reader friends, is exactly how we ended up at our next spot in East Tawas City, MI (it’s also how we ended up at our current spot in Ann Arbor, but that’s for another blog post).
We met Krash and Karen, and their lovely doggie Pipa a few years ago in Cape Blanco, OR. They’d driven out from MI to visit friends Chris&Cherie (Technomadia) and Clark&Elaine (OurNewellAdventure) both of whom were hosting at the lighthouse with us that year. We felt an immediate connection, not just in mind but also through our pets. These folks were clearly “crazy dog people” just like us, and those of you who are part of this elite group understand exactly what that means. After a few days together they invited us to stay at their place if ever we drove through Michigan. We said “sure” and filed it away in our brains where those kind of things typically go.
The file re-emerged the day before we were leaving Higgins Lake while I was perusing around on on Google.
“You know Krash and Karen aren’t that far away” I said to Paul. “And there’s a lighthouse there too” {{excited lighthouse bulbs go off in the brain}}
“But this is waaay short notice” I continued “We can’t really ask them if we can come by tomorrow, can we??
We discussed it back and forth for a while and finally decided to send a message giving them every reason to say “no” if they wanted…”it’s really short notice I know, so I totally understand if this won’t work…” But of course, being the generous kind of people they are they immediately said “yes” and even cleared their entire next day to spend with us. What great folks!
We arrived in Tawas on a humid mid-morning and squeezed “the beast” into their driveway between two large trees. It took a little back and forth, but our many years of “beast squeezing” practice, including staying at campgrounds that were probably (in retrospect) far too small for us have made us experts at maneuvering this girl into tight spots. I’ll probably write a blog post about it at some point but suffice to say it’s all about swing room, clear hand signals and complete (100%) trust and connection between the driver and the person giving the signals. Either way we made it in without too much trouble, and once snug in our spot we set out to enjoy everything that Tawas has to offer.
The Eastern Side Of The “Mitt”
The first thing to understand about Tawas City is that it’s practically smack center on the Eastern shoreline of the Michigan “mitt”. This makes it different in both feel and personality.
You see despite MI being a fairly narrow state almost entirely surrounded by water, there’s quite a bit of difference between the West and East sides of the state. The West side has a lot more of the classic touristy stuff (wineries, national parks, beaches, larger towns etc.) while the East side (specifically the eastern “mitt” side) is less built-up and more remote. There are less people that visit and the small towns have more of a local, laid-back feel. Not everyone makes it to the “sunrise coast” of Michigan, but those that do invariably end up falling in love with its relaxed pace of life.
This is kind of how Karen/Krash ended up here too. They’re local Michiganites who used to come to Tawas for vacation over the years. Last year they decided to make it permanent and move up here full-time. They’ve got a sweet little cabin near the lake and already have a strong connection to the entire neighborhood and townsfolk. Plus, being the dog-crazy folks they are, they know all the good doggie spots too (always a big bonus for us!)
Tawas Point Lighthouse
Of course the first thing we mentioned when our hosts asked us what we wanted to do was the lighthouse. Those of you that have been reading the blog a while know we can’t go anywhere there’s a lighthouse without seeing it. Plus when Karen and Krash mentioned there’s a dog-friendly eatery and an off-leash dog beach there too, we were all-in.
So, next morning we loaded Polly in the car and went for lunch at Tawas Point. Tawas Point Grille is not much more than a little beach stall with some outdoor tables, but it’s got solid food and has plenty of space to lounge with pooch on the patio. We enjoyed some tasty fish tacos in the shade. Then we bought a ticket for the lighthouse tour and walked the short 5 mins over to the dog beach area (most of which washed away in the last winter storms, unfortunately) to kill some time and give Polly a dip.
The lighthouse itself is a beauty. She’s a true Victorian-era style station with a fine 67-foot high white tower that was lit in 1876 (it’s the second iteration of a light that first protected this area from 1853). She’s a “crib” light which means she was actually built on the water back in the day, with a timber crib base filled with limestone blocks. These days she sits quite far back from the water as Tawas Point has continued to grow in size (from natural accretion of sand), but you can still clearly see the crib base. And everything is in awesome shape! The interior has been restored to historical standards, the tower is beautiful and the 4th order Fresnel lens is still lit. Plus the tour guides (volunteers who live on-site) were fabulous. Good visit all-in-all!
VISIT NOTES/ Tawas Point Lighthouse is open from ~mid-May through ~mid-Oct. Tours cost $5 and are ONLY offered at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. More info HERE.
BRING DOGGIE? MAYBE, if there’s two of you and you’re willing to wait. The lighthouse tour takes around 30-40 minutes, does not allow dogs and is only offered every hour or so, so you’ll have to wait quite a while if you both want to go inside. However all the grounds around the lighthouse are dog-friendly so you can certainly visit the outside. Plus here’s are dog-friendly picnic tables, a dog-friendly eatery and a little off-leash dog beach on-site too.
Cute Downtown Tawas
After our lighthouse fix, we took doggie back to the rig and headed into town to explore. Downtown Tawas is only around 4 blocks long, but it packs a decent amount of stuff for a small area. There’s a good fudge/ice-cream store (Tawas Bay Fudge Co), several coffee stores, a most excellent chocolate store (Village Chocolatier -> oh drool!), several cute little shops and a few eateries.
We wondered around for an hour or so, had a beer at the local Sports Bar (very limited offering of brews, but the sweet potato fries were tasty) and then headed back home. The annual Blues Festival was actually going on while we were there, but we were already beat from our day so we didn’t make it. Also, the local farmers market (the next day) was on south of town, but we didn’t make it there either (I know, I know…we’re such slouches). Mostly we just hung with our hosts and walked around the lake. Pleasant and fun.
BRING DOGGIE? MAYBE. Downtown is dog-friendly to walk around, but very few of the local eateries accept dogs even if they have open patio’s. So if you want to have a brew and a munch you might want to leave doggie behind.
We said goodbye to our gracious hosts after our few lovely days in their driveway, squeezed “the beast” back out and headed further inland for a “city fix”. Our goal was more pet-related stuff and taking care of some of the practical day-today items that everyone (fulltimers or not) needs to tackle every now and then. For this new adventure we were going to take advantage of yet another gracious moochdocking site in a new super secret, and very private location. Plus we would (for the first time this trip) experience the full terror of the Michigan State Bird. Summer is not quite over yet…
Where To Park The RV?
If you’re not lucky enough to have friends in the area who’ll let you moochdock like we did, there are actually several places you can camp with good access to everything I listed above:
- Tawas Point State Park (= closest to lighthouse) – It’s a busy campground with basic grassy sites arranged side-by-side on a large, mostly open area. Not much site privacy here, but it’s in a great location on Tawas Point, walking distance to the lighthouse and beach. Sites offer electric hookup and cost $29/night. Reviews and info HERE and HERE.
- East Tawas City Park (= closest to town) – Again, sites are pretty tight side-by-side deals, but the campground is first-come-first-serve (great for those traveling without reservations) and in a lovely location. You’re right on the bay, walking distance from the marina and downtown Tawas. 178 sites, all full hookup costing $32-$37/night in summer season. Reviews and info HERE and HERE.
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How lovely to be able to visit “old friends” in such a beautiful place….I love this lifestyle of meeting and making new friends…looks like you do too.
Totally. You’re one of the fast friends we’ve made on the road…in our very first few months too!! Love how we’ve met so many people RVing.
Nina
If you’re going to the Thumb I would suggest Port Crescent state Park. Also, if you haven’t been to the west side, I would urge you to do so. Sleeping Bear Dunes are 1 of the worlds 7 wonders I believe. But there are many port towns up & down that side of the State. Safe travels.
We walked up the dunes (sand walk) to the top to see it was not the top. So we kept pushing up through the sand and at the top looked over Lake Michigan… I can’t tell you how high probably 1,500-2,000 feet (total guess). Then looking down to the shoreline which confused my senses thinking I was way closer to the shore (not that high) but noticed little tiny ‘things’ moving… people, My perspective focused real quick realizing how elevated we were. Would love to do a dune ride in personal vehicles.
Favorite area would be from the dunes to Cross Village and Leg’s Inn about 20 miles north of Harbor Springs. Not a big fan of Traverse City… too big but I love the peninsula quaintness and the former priest and nun operating a beautiful winery and resort. That’s a long distance to Cross Village putting you 1/2 hour west of Mackinaw City. Charlevoix, Walloon Lake, Petoskey, Boyne City… any State Park going south from the dunes and the carrib look of Torch Lake and of course Harbor Springs.
I grew up in Bay City and Duck Hunt along Lake Huron near Sand Point with a former State Police Commander and family retired in Caro which is very quaint downtown too. I grew up in Bay City so I’m not the best judge of it’s charm… which I think there is because my wife (suburb of Detroit) loves it and folks I’ve met that have traveled through or stopped in Bay City said the same.
What’s next?
We’re definitely hoping to hit Sleeping Bear Dunes. On the list!! Cheers both for all the tips!
Nina
How awesome that you got to visit East Tawas and KK & P! I gotta say, I’m impressed that you got the Beast in that spot! We had to do some wiggling to get the bus down there a couple years back when we dropped by, and weren’t sure if anything larger would make it. Hooray!
We fell in love with the entire Sunrise coast thanks to those three tempting us over that way. Glad you got a taste of it.
And cheers for that magic of pulling like minded folks together out here on the road.
It was definitely a tight squeeze for us, but we made it…juuuust!
So nice to come full circle with KK&P and see their home town. Can’t believe it was all those years ago we first met, and with both of you too! I love how the RV community has evolved for us over the years. We’ve now got so many dear friends, including of course…you. Without RVing I don’t think we would all have met or developed such deep connections.
Nina
I think many of us have been surprised by the strong bonds we’ve forged with fellow rv’rs. Dave and I fully expected to be on the road totally alone, and we also were fine with that. We still are, we’re our own best friends, but meeting so many wonderful like-minded people, so many adventurous, friendly, interesting, happy, crazy and yet very solid folks has been an unbelievable bonus to this life style. You’ve put our feelings into words and we’re proud to call you friends. Enjoy your eastern odyssey. I wish we were back there at our little cottage on the lake to introduce you to western New York
You and Dave are two more people we’ve met on the road that we’re proud to call friends. I still remember that very first day I met Lewis in Armitage County Park. He was super nervous, but such a sweetie once we got to know each other. We’ve shared many more good memories together since then!
Nina
Looks like you are having a Great Time in our Great Lake State. Enjoying the people that you meet is the Bonus.
You summed up the friendships on the road perfectly, Nina! We have more friends now than we ever had when working. I think, too, that when we meet people on the road, most are like minded, as you mentioned, and many we have already gotten to know through their blog. So the face to face meeting is just a continuation of an already developed cyber friendship. How nice to have a site with friends in the area. Nothing like locals to show you the town:)
I know our routes are always changing, but where will you be this fall and winter? We’ll be doing the east coast thing ending in FL for December before heading west again.
So very true! The blog has helped to developed many of our friendships, and there’s many people (including you) that we’ve met through their blogs. When I meet fellow bloggers that I’ve been reading for a while I definitely feel like I already “know” them through their blog.
We’re still planning to head to FL for Christmas, so maybe we’ll see you there?
Nina
Love that part of Michigan too and all the small towns. We stayed at Port Crescent State park many years ago right next to the beach beautiful!
So many people have recommended that State Park to us. If we make it to the “thumb” we are definitely stopping there.
Nina
Great posting! That pic of Pipa…seriously just love. I sure hope you are not bypassing Leelanau county because there will be one big sign from your blog readers 🙁 I am 53…born and raised in this Great Lake state…and I am pretty smitten with the mitten. I can tell you whole heartily we too have plenty of non touristy local laid back feel dog friendly areas over here also..
Empire..Northport…Omena…Suttons Bay..Lake Leelanau, Interlochen are all secret gems…yes before Labor Day Glen Arbor, Leland and Traverse City can be touristy because so many people love these areas..even that said you can still get away from hustle and bustle of those towns also…for example in TC take a drive down down old mission peninsula to see the beautiful Old mission light house..Glen arbor crazy amount of secret nobody around dog friendly beaches..Leland is so quaint with Fishtown, it’s hard to even say stay away…Lake Ann a great dog friendly brewery with great beer! Talk about microbreweries we got them..you actually drive by the fields of hops..There is a reason for the love of the M22 circle tour…because it’s that special….there is even a very successful store called M22 logo and we all know what it means. I just wanted to this say before you head out of Michigan, turn around from A2 and don’t bypass us…but if you can’t I guess we will remain part of that secret club 😉 safe travels.
Awesome tips! If everything goes to plan here in Ann Arbor we’re planning a little tour of the Western mitt in a few weeks time, right before we start heading south. Really, really want to see it before we go, so paws crossed we get there!
Nina
Sounds great, I think you will find Leelanau county much much quieter post Labor Day! Enjoy the beauty, I look forward to seeing your photos if all goes well and you make it up here.
p.s. Worth repeating…a great bike path is the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail that is 17 miles long at the moment with plans to be 27 miles.
Thanks for the reply. 🙂
Thanks. We’re definitely hoping to hit Sleeping Bear!
Nina
You were remarkably close to us, straight across Lake Huron to the east. Glad you got to eplore this part of the continent!
So close yet so far. I’m constantly amazed at how BIG the great lakes are. It took me several weeks to get my brain wrapped around the fact that the water wasn’t salty and we weren’t actually by the sea.
Nina
Plz tell me how to follow you. Found this site by clicking on another. Very interesting and informative. I would like to follow you on a daily basis as we are fixing to become full timers in about two years. You have so much great information.
You can either add my feed to your RSS service (if you have one of those) or just sign-up for e-mail alerts using the box in my side-bar that says “subscribe to future posts via email”.
Nina
Nina, we’ve also been delighted (and surprised!) by the many friends we’ve made since we started our full-time journey three years ago. As you said, there’s often an immediate camaraderie, and we’ve made more than a few life-long friendships as a result of chance meetings in a campground or through our blog. We sure hope to meet up with you guys in Florida this winter. 🙂
You were another couple we’ve met thanks to our respective blogs and RV travel. Plus you helped us explore Lopez Island! So thankful for all the friendships we’ve made!
Nina
We too have found this life to be a wonderful mix of time alone and meeting fabulous new friends! It’s been fun seeing where paths may cross ‘down the road’ for another meet up 🙂 The lighthouse is beautiful – how great to find a working Fresnel. Love the first pic of Paul and Polly!
Totally! And yes it’s always a treat to find an original working glass Fresnel. The modern plastic versions just don’t quite do it for me.
Nina
Thanks for a great post. Sometimes places we visit it is great to have down time and not be on the go even though we may miss some of the things an area has to offer. I have been reading your blog along with Chris and Cherie’s, Becki’s and a few others. Even though I have been at fulltiming for three years, I have been able to learn a lot during my time off the road helping out a sick family member to better prepare me for when these wheels begin rolling again. A lot of the tings I read on these blogs I use to help others in the Facebook groups that I am in
Well I’m certainly happy to hear I can still help inspire folks who are experienced RVers. I hope everything goes as smoothly as possible with your family member (I know how tough these situations can be) and that you’re able to get back out and enjoy the wide open spaces.
Nina