For more about the first stop of our Summer Vacation 2026, read the following blog post about Grand Haven, Michigan.
When my parents and sisters agreed to do a family trip to northern Michigan to celebrate our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I knew I wanted to spend extra time with my husband and kids exploring the region before joining extended family.
Traverse City, a place I had never visited, appeared to be a good home base for those explorations.
With Traverse City State Park closed for reservations, we found ourselves about 20 minutes away from downtown at Timber Ridge, a private campground that felt like a state park (large sites and plenty of trees) with the amenities of a private campground (pool, private lake, basketball courts, etc.).
We also discovered we wouldn’t just be in Traverse City for the Fourth of July, but we would also be in town for the annual National Cherry Festival, which launches around Fourth of July weekend every year.
Cherries and Fireworks
Vacationing with teenagers has meant giving up early mornings for exploration. The plan for the Fourth was to spend the day exploring the Cherry Festival and the evening returning for the fireworks. It seemed simple enough, but I completely underestimated the power of the Cherry Festival. Traverse City was packed, and we couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere. We were re-living our experience searching for parking in Philly. We finally discovered a park-and-ride at the Meijer about two miles away from downtown and left the kids behind so they could explore while we waited in line for the packed shuttle.
By the time we returned downtown, our teenagers had a full report: good food, lots of cherries, and expensive carnival rides that didn’t look like they were worth the price. (I was very thankful that our thrill seeker decided it wasn’t worth asking his parents for money to try any of the rides on his own, or worse, to ask us to join him.) They chattered about watching a rescue demonstration (there is a U.S. Coast Guard station in Traverse City) and then begged for food. So, we bought cherries from different farms, got cherry lemonade slushies, watched the airshow flying over our heads, and settled down for some lunch before deciding to head back to our anxious dogs and find some relaxation, which mostly included time swimming in the man-made lake at the campground.
I love my country, and I enjoy a good fireworks show, but the Fourth of July has always held a special place for my husband and me because our first date was the Fourth of July fireworks in our hometown in Southwest Michigan. And while I was excited to watch the fireworks along the Traverse City Bay, I had been ambivalent about America 250 for weeks. I wanted to be excited about an important anniversary, but I just couldn’t get into the spirit.
Thankfully, Traverse City didn’t pull any punches. Merging America 250 and the 100th anniversary of the National Cherry Festival, they brought out fireworks, drones, and sparkling fighter jets. We found an empty spot on the beach with enough room for the sheet I brought from the camper, I wove through the crowds to buy a ridiculously sized bag of kettle corn, and we watched the spectacle together as a family.
Even though we were on the first shuttle bus back to Meijer, it still took us almost an hour to get back to our truck and then return to the campground, but it was worth it for an evening of lights and fireworks.
Dunes and Yummy Treats
I really wanted our second day in Traverse City to be a full day of exploration.
Unfortunately, we were dealing with a freeze-related water leak that would not go away.
Vacationing with an RV has been one of the most rewarding experiences we have given our family. Unfortunately, it also has meant occasional disruptions that threaten to ruin our vacations.
Instead of packing up a picnic lunch and driving to Sleeping Bear Dunes for a full day of exploration along Lake Michigan, we left in the mid-afternoon to drive one hour to the National Lakeshore, making it just in time to get our passport books stamped and look at a map of the park.
First we attempted the Dune Climb. At four miles round trip, it would have been a doable (but exhausting) hike if we had gotten to the park earlier. Unfortunately, we arrived around four o’clock, and if we wanted to see anything else, we would have to cut the hike short. I hiked with my son and husband to a high point; we took pictures, and then we headed back, my son and I running down the last dune toward the parking lot. He easily won the race.
We followed the advice of the ranger at the Dune Climb station and took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. The seven-mile drive took us to some of the most scenic spots in the park, and while we didn’t get close to the Lake, we experienced some of the most stunning views of Lake Michigan I’ve ever seen. I had never seen her from so far up and looked out so far over the water. It was a still and peaceful day, the sun shining on a near-glass-like surface. It took some prodding, but we eventually coaxed our son away from the Lake Michigan overlook, making it very clear that we were not going to pay for him to be rescued if he decided to roll down the dune and take one of the most expensive hikes in the continental U.S.1 Still, he would have stayed at the top of the dune until sunset if we had let him.
We wrapped up our shorter-than-planned vacation day with dinner in Traverse City and then ice cream at one of the most highly rated shops in the city. Yes, the ice cream was delicious, but Moomers is also on a dairy farm, complete with baby cows. And with a name like that, could we really pass it up? The long line close to closing time was all we needed to see to know that it would be worth the wait, and it was.
A Little Bit of History, Too
As Jeff and I rode on the shuttle bus to the Cherry Festival, we passed a beautiful campus full of large, historic structures. We immediately looked up The Commons to find out what we were looking at.
What we discovered was the Traverse City State Hospital transformed into a thriving community of condos, retirement housing, shops, and business offices.
And they gave tours revealing the 100-year history of the former sanitorium.
We knew we had discovered the perfect final day for our daughter, and our son would be along for the ride.
On our tour, we learned about the mental hospital that had experimented with more humane treatments for all kinds of mental illnesses. The campus expanded over its 100-year history, eventually closing in 1989 when it could no longer keep up with demands for treatment and building maintenance.
Thanks to different investors and a preservation-minded vision, the buildings are being renovated to serve the entire community, while still maintaining the historic importance of the facility. Our tour ended at one of the abandoned cottages, where we were able to see what the buildings looked like when they were still housing patients. It was well worth the stop.
It was a great way to end our visit to Traverse City.
As campers, it wasn’t the most perfect leg of our vacation. Shortly before we arrived in Traverse City, we blew a tire, which meant spending part of the time we were there getting both that tire and the spare replaced. Then we had a leaking water situation, which changed a full afternoon at Sleeping Bear Dunes into a quick late afternoon trip. But Traverse City is lovely, the weather was perfect, and we still got to see plenty before getting back on the road to head a little further north.
Next stop: Burt Lake State Park.
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Could our high school football and basketball player have done that climb? Sure, but we weren’t waiting around for him to challenge himself and prove he could do it.