Today we said our good byes to the Lynches as the headed south.  After they left, we drove to Empire which sits at the base of the second peninsula - Leelanau Peninsula.  Our first stop was at Empire Bluffs were we took a short hike to the top of a bluff that looks out over Lake Michigan and has views of the Sleeping Bear Dunes north of the bluff.

We then drove north and took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive where we could view the dunes that rise several hundred feet above Lake Michigan.

The Indian Legend of Sleeping Bear was that long ago, across the great lake in Wisconsin, there was a terrible hunger and many people and animals died.  A bear and her two cubs, desperate for food, left that place to swim the long distance to the other side of the lake.  After a while the cubs became very tired, and so the bear said: "Try hard, the land is not very far."  But gradually the cubs weakened.  Exhausted, one cub sank into the water when they were within sight of land and soon after the other cub also drowned.   The bear's heart was broken, but she could do nothing.  She waded ashore and climbed the bluff to lay down looking out on the water where her cubs had died.  However, both of them surfaced as two little islands (North and South Manitou Islands).  And so the bear still lies there now - looking after her two children.

From there we drove north through Glen Haven Village and Glen Arbor before arriving at Leland.  There, we decided to stop and have lunch.  The Lynches recommended eating at the Village Cheese Shanty, but all the tables out side were full and there is no indoor seating.  So we opted to eat at The Cove.  Shirley had their whitefish taco (actually a wrap vs a taco), and I ordered their black angus burger.  Both came with fresh cut fries that were ok, but needed a second fry to be more crisp.  Good eats in spite of the fries!

After lunch we walked around the small town and checked out a couple of the shops before heading back to the coach.

Saturday, we drove back to the Leelanau Peninsula and headed north along the eastern shoreline to the northern most point and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.   They have also done a great job of restoring the lighthouse and furnishing it with period correct things.  There were two things that caught my attention.  One was that during WWII, they converted a couple of old ships to air craft carrier-like ships so that men training to be Marine/Navy pilots could practice landing on them as they sailed on Lake Michigan.  The other was that the drones were being tested in the area as early as WWII.

After checking the lighthouse out we headed back south and stopped at Northport to walk around and check out the marina.  As we were walking toward the marina, we noticed a building with some train related stuff in and around it and what looked like part of a rail car incorporated as part of the building and behind the building was a caboose.  What was even more strange was that there was a fence around it with "private residence" signs posted along with for sale signs.  We checked it out later when we got back to the coach and learned that it is a rather unique house that is for sale.

We then headed further south to Suttons Bay and stopped at the 9 Bean Rows restaurant and bakery for lunch on the advice of the Lynches.  They do not have an extensive menu for lunch, but what they do offer is amazing!  Shirley had their brie tartine open face sandwich (sliced apple, mixed greens, onion jam, and balsamic glaze on sourdough bread) and I had their porcetta sandwich (duck, pepporcini, arugula, tomato, mimolette cheese, pickled onion on fresh sourdough bread.  The food was OVER THE TOP!

After stuffing ourselves, we checked out a couple of stores and drove back to the campground.