Coastal Escapes

A revamped harbor

What visitors see when they enter Leland Harbor is a new configuration that handles 69 boats, including large ones, because there’s 500 feet broadside. Redone in two stages during the past three years, the harbor has updated everything.

“Boaters came in spite of our outdated facility,” Telgard says. “Leland was very popular. We wanted the Leland Township Harbor to be equal to the attractions of the village. We added new slips and new facilities. It was just completed last summer. Boaters love it. Now there is a quality facility.”

The harbor building, sand-colored with a red roof, has a day room with TV and wireless internet access, eight showers and laundry. The marina has floating docks and a second launch site.

Past problems with shoals won’t be a problem in 2013, according to harbormaster Russell Dzuba. “We’re dredging the first of May,” he says.

Because Leland is 100 percent transient and a harbor of refuge, no one is turned away; however, the harbor is not on the state reservation system, so Dzuba encourages boaters to call when they are on the way.

“It never hurts to call,” he says. “Around the 4th of July is hectic. Early August is hectic. Leland is popular. We have historic Fishtown, shops, restaurants, beaches, a laid back atmosphere, and now, a first class facility.”

One can’t-miss stop is the newly renovated historic Leland Lodge, a four-block walk uphill from the harbor. Dine and wine admist sweeping views of North Lake Leelanau and the Leland Country Club, or book rooms for your next land-based visit.

“Leland used to be a stop up to the North Channel,”Dzuba says. “Now, Leland is no longer a stop on the way; it is a destination.”

Maritime exhibits and historic Fishtown

After a day spent at South Manitou or out fishing, there’s still time to discover treasures at the wonderful shops and galleries in Leland and Fishtown before relaxing riverside with a “Chubby Mary” at The Cove Restaurant. It’s a bloody Mary with, well, you’ll see. Now pull out the camera; you’re sitting between the dam and the shanties of Fishtown, that jumble of well-weathered huts and narrow walkways you see dotted along the Leland River.

The dam at the east end is more than picturesque. It regulates the water level of Lake Leelanau, which flows into the Leland River and out to Lake Michigan.

Look for still-working fishing tugs Janice Sue, built in 1958, and Joy, a trap-net boat from 1981. Between shanties gill nets dry on reels and are repaired.

According to Amanda Holmes, Fishtown Preservation Society’s executive director, commercial fishing boats have plied Lake Michigan waters from the Leland River for more than 150 years, and Fishtown, as it appears today, developed in the early 1900s. She notes that the Great Lakes was peppered with commercial fishing enclaves and shanties similar to Fishtown, but few remain.

“What we have is very rare,” Holmes says. “We have survived. We still have commercial fishing that carries on our maritime traditions.”
If interested in the area’s maritime history, including shipwrecks, cross the bridge over the Leland River on Main Street (M22) to Cedar Street, where the Leelanau Historical Society has a museum.

While there, take advantage of free Wi-Fi and computer access at the Leland Township Library located next door. The library serves both residents and tourists. You can pick up a book to read on Van’s Beach where Cedar dead-ends just west behind Van’s Garage (a local reference point).

Hike, bike or boat

Leelanau County’s scenic country roads beckon to be biked or hiked. Harbor House Trading Co. carries some hiking brands, and George Bennett can supply the wheels from his Geo bike shop.

You might think you’re ready to go, but first carb-load at Stone House Bread Café on the south side of town. It’s on M22, the Michigan two-lane highway that rings the Leelanau Peninsula. Stone House Bread does breakfast, lunch and snacks as eat-in or take-out. They also often sell out of their goodies, so ask them to set aside what you’d like to pick up on the way back to town to ensure you’re taste buds aren’t left hanging.

Your adventure starts as you bike or hike south on M22 along the vast waters of North Lake Leelanau. But it’s decision time when you reach Leelanau County Highway 204.

Option 1: Wind east through summer’s dappled greens and fall’s glorious color as 204 dissects the peninsula from Leland to Suttons Bay. Your destination would be the small hamlet of Lake Leelanau, an easy 5 miles from Leland.

When you hear “Lake Leelanau,” you need to know it could reference either the town or the approximately 22-mile-long inland lake. The town is situated at the “narrows,” a strip of land bridging North and South
You don’t have to wait until the sun is over the yardarm to sample the handcrafted spirits of Lake Leelanau’s Northern Latitudes Distillery. Their vodkas and Limoncello are good at any hour.

Biking all the way to Suttons Bay can be tough unless you have a ride back. The road’s steep slope downhill east means an exceptional uphill challenge back west. If you drove to Leland, continuing on to Suttons Bay’s yummy eateries and charming shops is worth the time.

Option 2: Continue south on M22 to the northern segment of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore, where you can dip toes in sand or water at Good Harbor Beach while gazing at the park’s famed Pyramid Point. On the way back, refresh with a wine-tasting stop at Good Harbor Vineyards.

Option 3 begins back in Leland. As a boater, you really would like to explore or fish on the peninsula’s long inland lake. Leelanau Water Sports rents a variety of boats and jet skis

and will deliver them to wherever you want to launch. Should you need some repair work done, Stander Marine has certified technicians. This third-generation family-owned and -operated marine business has been serving the area since 1912. They sell and rent Avalon pontoon boats and offer fuel and a full line of boating accessories.
Take the launch site into the Leland River behind the Bluebird Restaurant and follow the bend upstream into North Lake Leelanau. Just don’t take a chance on boat availability; reserve ahead.

“We live in an extraordinary area,” says the Harbor Commission’s Telgard. “People come here and say they can‘t believe this is here, in Michigan, and they didn’t know it.”

North by Northport

If Leelanau Peninsula’s outstretched arm of woods and hills seduce you into staying longer, head around its northern tip. You can refuel 30 miles northeast of Leland at Northport’s upgraded G. Marsten Dame Marina at the top of Grand Traverse Bay.

Have the camera ready. Past Cathead Point and Cathead Bay, Grand Traverse Lighthouse’s red roof comes into view. It has been a guiding light since 1852.

“The bright inviting buildings greet you at Northport’s harbor,” says Greg King, Northport’s administrative coordinator. “The new bathhouse with six showers, laundry facilities, day room and a new dock house are white stucco with red roofs on purpose. We’re carrying out the lighthouse motif.”

Proud of the new boating and public spaces, King says, “We now have 10-foot boardwalks with bump-outs where people can stop and not interfere with others going to their boats. And we revamped the public beach. We have new sand and sidewalks.”

In addition to Northport’s 100 slips, half of which are transient, the marina added seven floating docks that Martha Cook, a Northport Harbor supervisor, calls “shoppers’ docks.”

“Some people come by boat to shop and do lunch,” Cook says. “Everything is within walking distance. Later, we flip them for overnights.
“It’s beautiful here,” she continues. Cook says she never tires of looking out at the water. She also loves meeting boaters. “They are always happy. Well, they are doing what they like to do.”

Northport is a harbor of refuge so no one is turned away, but Cook thinks radioing in ahead of time is good. “Then we will have a slip assigned and boys out to help,” she says.

If you encounter any problems along the way, Northport Bay Boat Yard is located just north of the marina. “We do service calls,” says Rae Ellen Thyer, who owns the operation with husband Don.

“House” calls are intended for minor repairs; however, if major work is required, the boatyard can transport your vessel from the marina to its facility. “We have the largest lift from Holland to Cheboygan, so if grounded, we can bring boats here.”

As former Chicagoans who often cruised with Rae Ellen’s parents and siblings around the Leelanau Peninsula, the Thyers understand about transients wanting to “get it fixed” and go. “We know that in summer, people are on vacation and want to go on their way as soon as possible,” she says.

Northport Bay Boat Yard, which is a sponsor of America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association, is a year-round operation.

Stop and shop at Suttons Bay

Set a southern course to Suttons Bay to shop and visit wineries. The town is fun, but biking between it and Leland is difficult. Suttons Bay is only about 13 miles south of Northport. For a wine tasting interlude, pull in at Omena Bay, where slips are outside Leelanau Cellars.

Hopefully, you have reserved a slip at Suttons Bay Marina. Not a harbor of refuge, its 173 slips fill, particularly during July. A mere 38 slips are transient.

Harbor reservations are necessary, but you’ll know the town is informal when you see “Village Hall” on a shack at the harbor. During off hours, Village manager Wally Delamater helps out at Suttons Bay Bikes.

“We are already taking summer reservations,” Delamater says while working on a bike’s spokes.

Asked about the popularity, Suttons Bay Harbor supervisor Edie Aylsworth explains, “Everyone likes to shop and eat.”

That might as well be the town’s mantra, because when you exit the marina onto Saint Joseph Street (M22) you’re at North Country Grill, known for its juicy, ground-on-site hamburgers and delicious prime rib.

Martha’s Leelanau Table, where the locals go for soup or sandwiches, is across the road. VI Grill (formerly Village Inn), which does eggs the way you like ’em, is down a block. And those are just a few food choices. At Suttons Bay Trading Company, owner and Chamber president Karen Pontius mixes spices that can transform galley meals into gourmet.

The Visitors Center sits between the harbor and St. Joseph at Madison and Dame streets, by a red phone booth. Volunteers can direct you to galleries, boutiques and to Jon’s Barber Shop & Sports Shop for a hair cut or fishing license, and to Suttons Bay Bikes/Grand Traverse Bike Tours for winery tours by bike. About 11 wineries are south off a converted railroad bed bike trail and another couple are located north, reachable with a van or bike.

Restock the galley at Hansen’s Foods a few blocks south. Don’t worry if you didn’t pick up a bottle from a Leelanau winery because this upscale grocery has a sommelier to help you select a lovely locally produced wine.

In addition, store staff will drive you back to the harbor with your groceries and clothes bundle if you used Suttons Bay Laundromat in Hansen’s Plaza. As you head back to the harbor, look for the Inland Seas Schoolship schooner.

When logging in your Leland, Northport and Suttons Bay experiences, you might want to add a footnote to scenery that reads: Shop, eat and drink wine.