Michigan Get-aways

There's nothing like a beautiful sunset to re-awaken your sense of the beauty in nature. Here’s what I saw over the Memorial Day weekend at my favorite “home away from home” in Frankfort, Michigan.

Frankfort is a small community on the Lake Michigan shoreline in the northwestern Lower Peninsula, at the mouth of the Betsie river. Betsie Bay is the home of many marinas, home for the serious fishing enthusiast and the serious recreational boater.

So, how does this relate to Saline real estate?

Simple! Saline is home to one of the top charter boat captains fishing out of the Betsie Bay.

Gold Coast Charters is operated by Eric Walline, a Saline resident. Captain Eric has hosted my family for fishing charters out of the Betsie Bay for several years now. Here’s a photo of our catch last summer:

Captain Eric also fishes out of Lake Erie during June and early July. Then he takes his boat north to Frankfort for the King Salmon season in Lake Michigan. He takes out charters both in the morning and in the evening. For some reason, the Salmon bite best at twilight, so we usually hit the water at 5am, and have our first fish in the boat by 6am. By 10am, the bites have stopped, and we head into port to have our catch cleaned and filleted. Occasionally, we take a nice fillet over to the Port City Smokehouse to get the freshest smoked salmon you will ever find! From lake to smokehouse within four hours!

Another of our favorite activities as a family is to hike the trails found all around Frankfort. Just north of Frankfort are the Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshore. There are dozens of great hiking trails throughout the dunes – just be careful to stay on the trail, so as not to harm the fragile dune grasses. Contrary to what you might expect from “dunes”, the wooded trails are extensive. Here’s a “grab shot” I took on Sunday morning – we had just seen several deer in this clearing, and I just missed them!

All in all, Frankfort is a great place for a Michigan Get-away!