March 2021, Weekday - weekend
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| Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve |
Hiking
We hiked a couple of new trails this trip: Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve in Arcadia, and Misty Acres Trail in Benzonia.
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| Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve |
Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve is an easy and beautiful boardwalk hike. The entire walk, out and back again, was just a little over 1½ miles. We parked in the parking area on M-22. There is also a parking area at the east end of the boardwalk on St. Pierre Rd. There are several benches and viewing platforms along the boardwalk. We observed signs showing three different types of trout in the waters, although we did not see anyone fishing. We saw swans, birds, and muskrats.
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| Misty Acres Trail |
Misty Acres Trail is on the north side of N. Manistee County Line Road/M602 in Benzonia. This hike is a hard packed dirt trail, which is slightly hilly. Even so, it was still an easy hike of about ¾ of a mile. We caught a couple of small glimpses of Betsie River down the hill near the start of the loop portion of the trail.
We passed many preserve and trail signs this trip: Green Point Dunes, Arcadia Dunes Nature Preserve, Upper Herring Lake Nature Preserve, and more. We missed hiking two trails where we had planned to stop because my husband and I both had extreme fatigue symptoms following our COVID-19 vaccination the day before this trip: Arcadia Dunes Baldy Trail in Arcadia, and Fruithaven Nature Preserve south of Frankfort. I had read that the Baldy Trail overlook has a great view of Lake Michigan. These are just a few of the many beautiful outside areas in Manistee and Benzie counties!
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| Pickle Chips at North Channel Brewing Co. |
Breweries, wineries, distilleries
This was the first time we got to visit inside at North Channel Brewing Co. in Manistee. The previous two times we were in the area, the brewery was only open for takeout due to the pandemic. We had picked up a few different single beer cans to go both of those times, so we knew we liked their beer.
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| Bloody Mary at North Channel Brewing Co. |
This visit, I decided to try their Bloody Mary (in-house made mix and spirits), and my husband had a Scotch Ale. We shared the Pickle Chips appetizer, which was a perfect compliment to our beverages! We love everything about this brewery: the beers, the service, the atmosphere, the food--everything was good quality and a good value. It was nice to see more patrons arriving, one with an empty growler, when we departed.
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| Farthest Shore Dark Strong from Stormcloud Brewing Co. |
Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort in another favorite location for us. The service and atmosphere is always great. We shared a sampler at the bar, and then filled our growler to go. This establishment has plexiglas dividers at the bar.
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| Empire Coconut Porter and Double Marzen at St. Ambrose Cellars |
In Beulah, I was not sure if we would make it to St. Ambrose Cellars, as we were not very enthusiastic after our last visit there. Since Five Shores Brewing did not open until later in the day, we decided to try again. We were glad we did! Both our beers were excellent, and the service was much better than our last visit. St. Ambrose has a fabulous atmosphere with outside tables and heaters, igloos for rent, and a spacious yard with picnic tables.
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| Iron Fish Distillery |
This was our first visit to Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville. They have outside tables, fire pits, and tents for rent. I was glad it was warm enough not to have the fire lit next to our table (staff asked us more than once if we wanted them to start a fire), because the coat I was wearing was not machine washable. Since this was our first visit, we did not know what to expect, and I was not dressed in campfire attire. Jeans yes; however, I was wearing outerwear that I would not want to wear around a fire. We also did not know this location is on a dirt road, and that we would need to travel on a dirt road for over a mile--Just sharing for those of you that care!
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| Bloody Marys at Iron Fish Distillery; one with Horseradish vodka and one with Jalapeño vodka |
The Bloody Marys we had were good ($10 each), although I did not think they were better than the one I had at North Channel Brewing Co. for $2 less ($8).
All of the locations listed in this post have promotions in at least one of the following books: Michigan BrewVine Passport, Hop Passport, and Reel Craft Pass. We learned about three of these locations because of their promotions in the passports.
Safe travels to all, and enjoy our craft breweries responsibly. Let me know if you have any questions!
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