A Fall Weekend Guide to Traverse City

 I love Michigan in the fall, especially northern Michigan and each year, I try to make a trip up to Traverse City for a weekend of wine-tasting and relaxing.

This year’s trip brought to me West Bay Beach Hotel at a suite with a few of the bay and a trip to my favorite winery along with downtown shopping and eating.

Where to Stay

We stayed at West Bay Beach, a Delamar Resort, a newly renovated hotel that’s still undergoing some exciting updates (new restaurant coming 2021 that looks AMAZING) that’s walkable to downtown and as its name suggests, right on the bay.

I partnered with West Bay Beach to share my experience at their hotel and it was truly a wonderfully relaxing time with tremendous customer service, amazing views and one hell of a suite that we stayed in. They’re is also pet-friendly which is such a bonus for me with small dogs at home.

There’s also an indoor and outdoor pool with an indoor hot tub and sauna. Plus the outdoor pool is heated and will stay open year round now and they’re adding heated igloos outside for enjoying drinks and food with friends and family. Next time, I’ll remember two pack my swimsuit AND my workout gear to try out the Peloton in the fitness center.

This particular trip for me was less about doing as much as I can, but relaxing and enjoying my time at the hotel. We had beautiful lake views from the room and the most amazing bathroom and bath tub and I found myself relaxing in that with a glass of wine both nights rather than a late night out.

What to Do | Wineries

Obviously, when you’re in wine country, you visit the wineries. This is something I do every time I’m in the Traverse City area and I love it in the fall with color changes, but love it more as it’s out of season late fall/early winter and less people!

A few of my favorites on Old Mission Peninsula include Bowers Harbor Vineyards, Brys Estate and Bonobos, but Bowers Harbor is easily my favorite following our private vineyard tour with owner Spencer Stegenga (and you can book this West Bay Beach/Bowers Harbor wine experience package too which I HIGHLY recommend.)

Rob and I kicked off the tour hopping on the back of Spencer’s golf cart and as we cruised through rows of vineyards, Spencer provided history of each section, grabbed grapes for us to taste and then opened up wine bottles from the exact grapes we tasted. What an amazing experience. And a bonus that Spencer is such a charismatic, engaging character. I laughed, snorted and enjoyed all the stories he shared as we cruised around. We ended the tour in the wine library located in the main home on the property where his mother lives (Spencer’s home is behind close by!) We tasted more wines and then wandered the vineyards on our own–a three hour experience that left me slightly hungover later that day and needing a nap rather than more winery visits.

I signed up for the wine club and ordered three favorites from our tasting: Langley red wine along with pinot grigio and their award winning Riesling.

If you continue your wine tour on Old Mission Peninsula, I recommend stopping by Mission Point Lighthouse. Such beautiful views!

What to Do | Everything Else!

Downtown Traverse City is a bustling downtown with so many shops and restaurants to experience. I always stop by women’s clothing shops including Eleven and Ella’s and love to eat/drink at 7 Monks Taproom, Taproot Cider House, the Franklin (closed right now it seems though) and any of the food trucks at Little Fleet. From West Bay Beach, you can walk down, but as it gets a little colder, you may want to park downtown in a lot or street parking.

I also recommend stopping by Warehouse MRKT for coffee at BLK MRKT, shopping for plants, perfumes and cards at Darling Botanical Co. and Wood + Cloth which appears to be closed right now. There are other shops in here to explore and worth a visit!

I also love the coffee at Mundos Roasting Co.! A little away from downtown, but worth the super short drive.

If you’re looking to explore more, you can visit Leelanau Peninsula–I personally love visiting Leland and Sutton’s Bay. Lots of cute restaurants and shops.

A huge thank you to West Bay Beach for sponsoring my Traverse City travel!