Petoskey, Michigan / Casino, State Park, Wineries and Breweries, Bicycle Trail

May 2018, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights

We have visited the Petoskey area several times, and this brief post does not begin to cover everything the area has to offer. You can find many more details about the area in previous blog posts; just type what you are looking for in the search box above, or click on labels of interest at the bottom of this post. Additionally, I have two Facebook albums with more Petoskey photos from 2015 and 2016.

Sunset from inside Odawa Casino

Odawa Casino

We stopped at this casino mainly for the RV parking. Although we had been here once before, I did not recall how small the casino is inside. There is so much parking space on the grounds, that I am sure patrons would not all fit inside if the spaces were more than half filled. We parked in the RV lot, and we observed two other RVs in the main parking lot. There was plenty of room in all of the lots, so the RVs parked in the main lot did not cause a problem. We did not find any good promotions at the casino--a Player's Card did not give us anything extra, other than earning points, and there were no food or beverage specials on Thursday evening. Fortunately, we broke even at the slots!

Petoskey State Park campsite #168, 2-nights

There is a lot more detail in my previous blog posts and photo albums for this campground (photo links above, and labels at  the end of this post). We stayed on campsite 168 this time, which is a grassy, spacious site. It does not face the water like site 167, although it is still a nice site. Nothing in the campground had changed since our last visit. The water level along the beach was a bit higher than previous visits, and there were many more stones on shore than usual. My husband found four Petoskey stones on the beach this year!

Crostini with Mackinaw Trail Wine Tasting

Wineries and Breweries

We had a fabulous visit at Mackinaw Trail Winery and Mackinaw Trail Brewery! We had excellent service, great wine and beer, and we got to meet the owner. The winery and brewery both have coupons in the Michigan Brewvine Passport we purchased (details in my Cadillac post), so my husband enjoyed a discounted brew, while I enjoyed a wine tasting. Then, of course, we purchased wine to take with us. It was either that or fill the growler! 😉

Burnt Marshmallow Brewing sampler - $10

Since my husband prefers beer to wine, and I like some craft beers, we decided to visit Burnt Marshmallow Brewing and Rudbeckia Winery, next. They are located together, just a couple of miles from Mackinaw Trail. The owner of Mackinaw Trail had suggested Resort Pike Cidery and Winery, and next time we would visit that location instead. The brews at Burt Marshmallow Brewing were merely "okay," and the sampler we shared was expensive. Additionally, even though the location was not busy, we did not receive the same personalized service we had received at Mackinaw Trail.

Petoskey Brewing Company is located across the road from the state park, and can be accessed via the bicycle trail. They also have coupons in the Michigan Brewvine Passport. We have always had great service at this brewery, and we like their beers.

View from in front of the waterfall at Waterfront Park

Bicycle Trails

One reason we love to visit Petoskey is because of the fabulous paved trails that can be accessed directly from the state campground. Again, click any of the labels at the bottom of this post, or visit my Facebook page, to find more information. The only difference this visit, is that there was construction going on downtown, so the ramp under the road from Bayfront Park was closed. Also, the restrooms in Waterfront Park had not been opened for the season yet.

Overall

Petoskey is beautiful to visit any time of year! We are looking forward to visiting again soon.

Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to share this post!