Pretty Parks in Petoskey

artisanal fire bowl by sculptor, John T. Unger

biking south through Petoskey

Eldy and I went for a 6 mile ride today on the southern part of the Little Traverse Wheelway. We cycled through Petoskey and stopped off at the harbor. Down on the dock were some interesting steel bowl containers, some more elaborate than others. It turns out that these steel bowls were part of a photo shoot for a local sculptor, John T. Unger. These fire bowls are made from recycled steel and are hand cut from old propane tanks. Some were equipped for gas and some were just for a regular fire. They are called artisanal firebowls. We didn't ask how much they were after hearing they are in world class resorts....but I did go check out his website, and he has some really interesting and beautiful pieces. These bowls can be used for gas, wood or propane.

After checking out the fire bowls, we continued on with our ride towards the south. We were continuously amazed at the beauty of the parks along the lakeshore...just about all of Petoskey's lakefront is park after park, with the Little Traverse Wheelway winding through it. We saw a little waterfall along the way, beautifully constructed stairwells to the upper street levels, we saw new and well maintained rest stops with bathrooms along the way. The views of the lake are exceptional, and whoever planned this tremendous resource ought to be commended for how it's laid out, landscaped, the attention to details everywhere. The city of Petoskey is to be commended for how it's maintained. I could see living in this beautiful town full time if we weren't traveling..it seems like a really healthy place to be with the beautiful parks and trail for the residents and visitors. It's our last night here and I will miss this pretty town and great bike trail, but it's on to bigger and better vistas...there are many more beautiful places to explore in the U.S.A. and we can't wait to see them!

beautiful grating under trees at harbor

Sunset Magnus Park, Petoskey, MI

A Grand Bike Trail--Little Traverse Wheelway

Lake Superior beach at Grand Marais

Got a leftover photo from Sable Falls visit back in Grand Marais...thought the stones on the Lake Superior beach were beautiful and very different from the stones of other Great Lakes. I loved this piece of driftwood. My sister makes candles with only Lake Superior stones all around the outside of the candle, they are gorgeous! In my humble opinion, everything about this area of northern Michigan is grand!

Wheelway mini park

portion of the bike trail

another portion of the bike trail

It's a chilly October fall day in Petoskey, MI...low 50's....it's a little too cold for Eldy's liking to hit the bike trail, but not for me, so off I went today to explore this marvelous bike trail in Petoskey. This bike trail runs right through the grounds of Mangus City Park where we are staying. I saw a sign that said Grand Traverse Wheelway, but I guess this bike trail is officially known as "Little Traverse Wheelway"...This paved, wheelchair accessible, wide trail runs from Charlevoix to Petoskey and on to Harbor Springs..over 25 miles of trail. Talk about a grand, front row seat (bike seat) of Little Traverse Bay, this is GORGEOUS! There is a 1.4 mile segment known as "Resort Bluffs" between East Park in Bay Harbor and Magnus Park, our current location. This part of the trail is its own "mini park" with overlooks, picnic areas, and steps down to the lakeshore...the plantings of ornamental grasses, shrubs and protective mulch is just beautifully landscaped and makes for an exceptionally enjoyable ride. It's fairly level much of the way, but there are some "ups" and "downs" to it. The trail is rated "easy to moderate", whatever that means! The scenery changes from a lakeshore view to riding in the forest, to riding alongside developed condos on the lake, and highway 31 south off to your left. I managed to ride 14 miles round trip without even thinking about how much distance I was covering, it was so pretty!