Life at The Lake

We spent a week’s vacation on the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan. Two years ago Brian’s family took us up to this special place and, when the opportunity came again, we jumped on it. Brian’s sister, Megan, and her husband, Ben, joined us at the lake house as well. We spent the week relaxing, enjoying the local towns and, of course, eating really well.  We have not always been so lucky with vacations–as you know, it can be hard to get time off when you are working , but this time we were able to relax and enjoy Lake Leelanau.  On this trip there were so many fresh local ingredients–it was fun to find an old fish shop and a small ice cream place to enjoy afternoon treats.

Life on the lake is easy. In the mornings, I would wake up and see the sun rise.  The bright red rising sun would sparkle pink off the calm waters in the mornings. It was a relaxing view. We spent most days just hanging out around our rented house. We worked to put puzzles together and then would lay out in the sun reading books.

Mostly though, we floated in the lake with large truck-tire inner tubes bobbing around the dock in front of our house. The sandy beach gave way to deep sea-weed spotted areas. The water was never very cold, it was always just right to relieve the heat from the hot sun. As we ladies floated, Brian would swim around investigating the waters beyond the sand. He would occasionally bring us blue crawfish, to show us their beauty.

In the afternoons, we liked to take short trips into the local town of Cedar to enjoy some ice cream. At the Blue Moon, or the “mooo-mary” as we called it, it was easy and satisfying to have some good quality ice cream in the summer’s heat. Everyone was happy with their flurries of Kit-Kat bars or Cookie Dough mixed up to order, mint chocolate chip cone, or locally made black cherry ice cream scooped into house-made waffle cones.

When we were away from our lake side abode, we were happy to stroll around the fun towns in the area. Leeland is a destination we look forward to every year. This breezy, lake town is full of fun shops with all the rocking picnic tables and Michigan t-shirts one could want. They have an old boardwalk area called Fish Town, which was once primarily used for fishing boats and now supports many small gift shops.  However, there are still some fishing boats nearby and plenty of fish netting laying around.  We like to admire the wooden buildings.

Fish Town has a place that sells fresh fish called Carlson’s.  Staffed by young collage students, the girls happily answer questions about their fish. We ordered Michigan Lake trout and whitefish for our dinner one night. In addition to fresh fish, Carlson’s also smokes fish out in a little shack on the dock behind the store. They offer fish sausage, jerky, smoked white fish, and smoked trout. The young lady packed our fish and layered it with ice. The employees at Carlson’s practice good customer service–just as I am sure they have been doing for years!

Brian put to use what we had learned from my cousin Clyde when we cooked lake trout and whitefish at his house in Copper Harbor on Lake Superior. This involved using aluminum foil to create a “boat” for each piece of fish to lie in. Brian’s Dad, Dave, cooked the fish over the grill. Each fillet was perfect and happily cooked in its own juices. The trout tasted of the mineral water from the lake along with a rich fattiness. The whitefish was milder in taste with a very clean fish flavor. It was soft and flaky.

Brian showed us how to form a “boat” for grilling fish. Check it out!! Brian-fish demo

To accompany the wonderful fish, Megan made a tomato salad with some of the local cherry and heirloom tomatoes we had picked up at the Ugly Tomato market. Some the tomatoes had been planted in coconut shells, they had a slight lingering sweetness. With so many different colors of tomatoes and the fresh green basil, it made a bright addition to our table. Coating the tomatoes in olive oil, salt, and black pepper brought out their rich, summer flavor.

Brian made grilled polenta as our starch. He slowly cooked the cornmeal in milk and water until it was smooth and tender. He added in grated parmesan cheese that we had bought earlier that day in Leeland at a cheese shop on the old boardwalk. He poured the mixture into a glass dish to set until it was time to grill. At dinnertime, Brian cut the block into twelve squares. He then carefully grilled each piece and made sure each piece had nice grill marks. It was wonderfully soft in the center with a lightly charred crisp on the outside. Ummmm very good.

Vacations are much different as a grown-up then they ever were as a child.  The first year I went to the Leelanau Peninsula, Brian and I were still living in New York City. It was a lot harder to relax at that point in our lives. So our time off was mostly spend catching up on sleep and unwinding. By the time we were relaxed it was time to go back to work. That is not really how we want to lead our lives. We want to be mentally present for our time off, as well as when we are working.

This trip we are on has allowed us to experience so much with our friends, family, and each other. It is one of the best things I have ever done, and I have not regretted a moment of it.