Leelanau County has some special communities

Mike Walker — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:37:00 GMT

LELAND

LELAND MICHIGAN IS LOCATED ON THE WESTERN SHORE OF LEELANAU COUNTY. LELAND HAS LONG BEEN A POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION, BOTH FOR IT'S SCENIC BEAUTY AND IT'S FINE SHOPPING AND DINING. POPULAR RECREATION LOCATIONS IN TOWN INCLUDE HISTORIC FISHTOWN (STILL GOOD FISHING), THE LELAND HARBOR, PUBLIC BEACHES ON LAKE MICHIGAN AND LAKE LEELANAU, HANCOCK FIELD RECREATION AREA WITH BALL DIAMONDS,BASKETBALL, TENNIS COURTS, SOCCER FIELD AND PICNIC AREA. LELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS SERVES K-12 AND THE LEELANAU CHILDREN'S CENTER PROVIDES DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL SERVICES. THERE ARE TWO BANKS,POST OFFICE AND MANY SHOPS. THE LELAND MERCANTILE IS A FULLY STOCKED GROCERY STORE AND DINERS CAN PICK FROM 6 RESTAURANTS INCLUDING THE FAMOUS BLUE BIRD RESTAURANT.

LAKE LEELANAU

LAKE LEELANAU LOCATED ON "THE NARROWS ( WHICH CONNECT NORTH AND SOUTH LAKE LEELANAU IS GROWING. PEDALING BEANS COFFEE SHOP, DICK'S POUR HOUSE, JAFFE'S FUN RESALE, NJ'S MARKET ( WHERE YOU CAN GET GREAT INDIA PREPARED FOOD), KAJARI'S BRIDGE FOR NATURAL AND HEALTHY FOOD AND GREAT CONCERTS, THE FRAME SHOP,LARKIN INSURANCE AND TWO DOCTORS. A GREAT LOCATION! ST. MARY'S SCHOOL, A QUALITY K-12 PRIVATE SCHOOL HAS BEEN THERE FOR GENERATIONS. EVERY SPRING THE WALLEYE FESTIVAL IS HELD. IT CELEBRATES LAKE LEELANAU'S FAME AS ONE OF THE PREMIER WALLEYE LAKES IN MICHIGAN.

SUTTONS BAY

SUTTONS BAY IS THE LARGEST VILLAGE IN LEELANAU COUNTY. THIS IS THE BEDROOM COMMUNITY FOR TRAVERSE CITY. Home of the famous Bay Theatre and the Beyond The Bay Film Series. Movies from all over the world. Outstanding!

LOCATED ON THE EASTERN SIDE, SUTTONS BAY IS JUST 15 MINUTES TO TRAVERSE CITY. THE VILLAGE STILL RETAINS A SMALL TOWN FEEL, BUT FEATURES HANSON'S MARKET A FULL SIZE GROCERY AND GOURMET STORE. MARIO BATTALI IS A REGULAR CUSTOMER WHEN HE IS IN TOWN, NUMEROUS SHOPS AND A FINE HARBOR. THE BAHLE NATURAL AREA IS A GREAT PLACE TO WALK OR TO SKI AND SLED IN THE WINTER AND THE LEELANAU TRAIL FOLLOWS THE OLD RAIL BED ALL THE WAY FROM SUTTONS BAY TO TRAVERSE CITY. WONDERFUL TO WALK, JOG AND BIKE FOR MILES.

PESHAWBESTOWN

PESHAWBESTOWN IS HOME TO THE GRAND TRAVERSE BAND OF OTTAWA AND CHIPPEWA INDIANS, LOCATED ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN SUTTONS BAY AND OMENA. THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL CULTURAL CENTER TO VISIT, THE LEELANAU SANDS CASINO FOR GAMBLING, FLOOR SHOWS, RESTAURANT, MOTEL AND FUN. EVERY AUGEST, THE BAND HOLDS A TRADITIONAL POW WOW WHICH IS FABULOUS!

GLEN ARBOR

THE GLEN ARBOR AREA WAS THE FIRST SETTLED PLACE ON LEELANAU COUNTY MAINLAND. THE MANITOU ISLANDS WERE SETTLED BEFORE GLEN ARBOR. IT IS HOME TO BIG AND LITTLE GLEN LAKE, JUDGED BY MANY AS AMONG THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL LAKES. MUCH OF THE TOWNSHIP IS WITHIN THE SLEEPING BEAR NATIONAL LAKESHORE, WHICH PROVIDES A PROTECTION FOR THE CONTINUED BEAUTY OF THE AREA. THE TOWN OF GLEN ARBOR IS HOME TO NUMEROUS ARTISTS AND TO THE GLEN ARBOR ARTISTS ASSOCIATION. THE TOWN HAS GROCERY STORES, HARDWARE STORE, PUBLIC BEACHES, A BOAT SHOP AND MARINA ON GLEN LAKE AND SO MANY RESTAURANTS AND SHOPS.

EMPIRE

EMPIRE WAS ONCE THE LARGEST TOWN IN LEELANAU COUNTY.

Though the logging industry which fueled that boom is gone, Emprie retains a strong museum and the Maritime History Museum. The National Park Headquarters are in Empire as well as a very nice ball diamond and a gorgeous

public park between South Bar Lake and Lake Michigan. Empire has Deering Market, a public library, a hardware store, restaurants and several shops.

NORTHPORT

At the northern tip of Leelanau County, Northport was the gateway to Grand Traverse Bay. Today the village of Northport boasts a fine harbor and park, full service grocery and many stores including antique shops. The hills around Northport are filled with cherry orchards, apple orchards and vineyards. Leelanau State Park ( home to historic and well restored Grand Traverse Lighthouse.) sits at the tip of the Peninsula. Other parks include Peterson Park for great sunsets and the Leelanau Conservancy's Kehl Lake Preserve.

Omena

Omena is a small town in beautiful sheltered Omena Bay. It is home to a small grocery store, Knot just a Bar, Leelanau Wine Cellars and the amazing Tamarack Craftsman Art Gallery. Omena Point road is home to many generations of resorters since 1910. Properties are passed down through the generations.

Cedar

Cedar has been best known for the annual Polka Fest held each summer. But Ray Pleva changed all of that. He patented Pleavaleen, a ground beef mix wich contains cherries ,which he tirelessly markets world wide. He even was on Tim Allen's TV show Home Improvement. He has taken cherries and made the best natural healing creams on the market. www.cherry lotion.com Cedar has two lovely stores specializing in kniting and quilting, a full service grocery store, a bank, hardware store, bar restaurant and other shops. Also they have the best baseball diamond in the County.

Maple City

If you come to Leelanau County between Oct. 7th and 13th you will see one of the world's finest displays of red maple trees in fall splendor. Maple City is a small but growing town. It is close to Glen Lake Schools and features Leelanau's only health club. Town has a restaurant and full service grocery store. Nearby is a large public park with picnic area, ball diamonds and playgrounds.

Traverse City

Traverse City is the "Hub" of Northern Michigan. It is the site every summer of the National Cherry Festival and Traverse City Film Festival. The city has a vital and beautiful downtown with the newly remodeled State Theatre. We have the Grand Traverse Mall, lots of other malls, many theatres and award winning restaurants. Northern Michigan College is a fine 4 year school. A Maritime Academy, Extra special Cooking School and many career opportunities.

The Traverse City Film Festival was started by Michael Moore, the filmmaker, John Robert Williams our town's best photographer and Doug Stanton world renowned writer. 2008 is the fourth year and it is getting better all the time.

The State theatre has Live from The Metropolitan Opera in New York on a regular basis. We see all the first run and speciality films. Sometimes we see them before the rest of the country. Every month there is Sunday Bunch series, Theme Movies and so many wonderful ideas that this group brings to our community. We had Oscar Night Live and New Years Eve Live and Live Special Sporting Events. This is so great for a town of our size. So many opportunites to enjoy a wonderful quality of life.

The Opera house is totally redone and the magnificent Dennos Museum is terrific. Traverse City's Ice Arena

is the site of the Detroit Red Wings fall training camp and the city has so many beaches and numerous parks.

Munson Hospital has been awarded One of the Top 100 Hospitals it's size in the United States. For all of the above reasons plus many more we moved here 15 years ago. It was the best decision we ever made

Mike Walker - Blog

Leelanau County has some special communities