Our weekend was going to be perfect: leave the house around 8:30am on Friday, get to Traverse City by lunchtime, have a nice afternoon and evening exploring before heading to the cabin in Evart… but things didn’t go as planned. Juan had to pull an all-nighter for work Thursday night into Friday morning, so he didn’t arrive up north until Saturday morning; it was just Linley and me for the first full day, and we still had a great time ☺️

Our first stop was Old Mission Point Lighthouse, which sits on the tip of a peninsula and provides visitors with amazing views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes. Since it was a Friday afternoon, the beach below wasn’t crowded whatsoever and we essentially enjoyed what was a private shoreline. Linley had fun jumping in and out of the water, and I indulged in a dip or two myself!

After a couple hours on the beach, we decided to head into Traverse City. We hiked the surrounding trails a bit more and I snapped a couple quick photos before getting back into a hot, sandy car.

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It was a toasty 88°F on Friday – which made for a good beach day but not necessarily optimal for walking downtown! Linley and I still managed to enjoy a couple hours of exploring prior to arriving at our Airbnb for the evening.

Our cabin was about an hour and a half away from Traverse City, and was the perfect size for the three of us (or the two of us that night!) Linley was a happy camper! I brought four of his favorite toys that he could play with before bedtime ☺️

Photos taken Friday, June 18, 2021