Needing to wait for a refrigerator part delivery, our departure from Traverse City is delayed again, this time for just a few hours.
While the bay is nice and calm, Lake Michigan is a bit choppy.
As we get closer to Leland, the shore of Lake Michigan consists of sand dunes, rocky cliffs and precarious placed homes.
We arrive to Leland, which lies on a sliver of land, nestled between Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau, in the heart of Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Leland is a historic fishing village with a charming downtown. Art galleries, specialty shops and fisheries line the streets. Carlson’s Fishery, a family run business for over 104 years, is known for its delicious smoked white fish. Since our arrival is late in the day, we focus on purchasing some smoked fish to taste test for ourselves. We now understand why they have been in business for so long! 😋 As most of the downtown establishments are now closed for the day, we head to the nearby Cove restaurant, checking out the marina facilities along our way.
After dinner, we view the sunset over Fishtown. Fishtown is basically a collection of weathered fish shanties, smokehouses, and fishing boats lining the Leland River. Even though most of the fish shanties are now converted into local businesses, the view returns you to the historic Great Lakes maritime culture of years past. We watch the Leland River empty into Lake Michigan at the small waterfall and see a few fish “falling” too.
It was a very short visit to Leland. We will leave early tomorrow for Ludington, but not before we see the sunset and feel its last warm rays of the day.
Gorgeous sunset! Fish town looks so cute.