The Gray of March Showers – Downtown Traverse City

You may have noticed the skies and waters sporting the “in” color this March, gray.  It took me some convincing, but there can still be beauty found out there amongst the sprinkles and thaw.  On this particular day, with the gray putting a bit of a damper on our motivation, we decided to stay close and explore the downtown Boardman river banks that are sometimes neglected for the bluer lake shores.   Take a peak, you may see some hidden beauty as well.

Good Harbor Beach

Winter has never been my favorite season.  Until moving back to the area years ago, I had lived in another blustery Midwestern town – Chicago.  The temperatures, at least with windchill, seem similar to me in both places.  But Chicago’s winters come with plenty to do indoors. Most of northern Michigan’s winter attractions, however, require one simple thing, a willingness to be outside.

It was with concerted effort over the past year or two that I learned to like winter.  I invested in the proper gear (accepting the tradeoff of looking like the Michelin man in exchange for warmth), took up downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing (go big or go home, right?).  I never thought it to be true, but all those people who told me to learn to like winter were right.  I now look forward to the snow and am not sure I’m quite ready for spring yet.  There is such beauty outside our doorsteps this time of year and I am glad to have seen more of it each year.  This particular winter, I have been exploring the shores of Lake Michigan and pondering over what forces have combined to make each beach I have visited look so unique from the others.

If you have followed the blog, you have seen the photos of Van’s Beach in Leland and Esch Beach south of Empire. Today’s post is from Good Harbor Beach.  The unprotected beaches such as Van’s and Esch have impressive formations, reminding us of the strong forces of unhindered Lake Michigan waves.  Good Harbor, as its name suggests is more protected. There were no massive ice formations along the shore here. There was in fact a stretch of sand to walk along, just as in summer.  But different than my rock-hunting walks along this beach in the summer, this time mixed in were fragile ice shells that had broken off from the rocks that brought them ashore; small shelves of ice and sand revealing the wave patterns that formed them; and a glossy, Lake Michigan-made ice rink right over the top of the sand.

Esch Beach a la Winter

We here at Northern Swag from time to time photograph a local place in hopes of encouraging our readers to go out and experience it themselves. In this photo series from Esch Beach, south of Empire, we hope to have captured the experience of exploring a gorgeous winter beach in near solitude, seeing how the landscape has changed since the summer, soaking in the blazing sunshine, and relaxing to the sound of the waves providing a symphony. Who says you need to escape to the Caribbean for some R&R this time

of year? Seems far to go when you have this beauty right in your backyard, no?

Scroll on down to view something new we tried, a GIF of the waves coming ashore. Kinda makes me want to go back.

A little taste…