Husband and Wife Getaway Weekend in Traverse City, MI

It is another beautiful morning in Michigan. This week our travels have taken us to Traverse City, MI where we are staying at the Traverse City State Park Campground. This state park is much larger than I thought it was when we booked out site. This state campground is a 47-acre urban campground. It has its own beach (however you do have to cross a busy highway to get there).

Traverse City is just a short drive to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lake shore and boasts many wineries and breweries. From the campground you are walking distance from many shops and restaurants downtown. This place truly is a diamond on the lake shore.

As far as the campground goes the sites are fairly spacious and as with any Michigan state park, they offer electrical hook-up, but no water hook-up. When we arrived and got parked, we realized that our 30-amp cord was not long enough to go from our camper to the electrical pedestal. The way the electric is set up here is there are four electrical hook-ups on one pedestal which means the pedestal is centrally located between the four sites. However, this also makes plugging in much more difficult. We had to make an emergency run to Walmart to get an extension however, they were sold out. We then drove another eleven minutes to a Menards and luckily, they had all kinds of extensions in stock. So, if you’re ever looking for an extension for RV electrical just go to Menards first, don’t mess with Walmart. They do have water stations all through out the campground where one can fill a jug or get water to do dishes, but that is about it.

This is our first time to Traverse City State Park campground and as many Michigan state parks it is full of Pine trees. This year has been one of the worst years for pollen in Michigan. I awoke our first morning here to find everything covered in a thin layer of yellow. When we arrived our picnic table looked as if it was a moldy mess, however I now realize it isn’t mold, it’s pollen. So, if you are an allergy sufferer like Renee and I make sure you don’t forget your allergy medication.

At around 10 am Renee and I headed to downtown Traverse City where we did some tourist shopping. To be honest this is not my most favorite thing to do, but it was threatening rain and we needed to get out of the camper. We went into several tourist trap kind of stores and we found a few things we liked. We continued to walk for an hour or so and Renee stated that she wanted exceptionally good pizza for lunch. So, we searched for a few minutes and found our new favorite place. U & I Bar and Grille. The pizzas great and the service was even better! Places like these are a diamond in the ruff.

We are now back at camp. Renee is watching a movie (she needed some time to herself) and I am sitting by the fire smoking a big Quorum Cigar and writing. We are enjoying the time away from the boys and hopefully Renee is getting the time she needs to relax. Without the boys she was able to sleep in and I was able to take a walk and just decompress from the business.

For dinner we are thinking chicken and steak shish kabobs with onions, green peppers, and of course mushrooms.

I value this time away with Renee so that we can focus on each other and not on the boys. Don’t  get me wrong we love our boys, but as every parent knows sometimes you just need to get away, just you and your spouse.