Pure Michigan Travel | Boyne City

So, my best friend (who shall now be known as A), her family has a lake house on Lake Charlevoix up in Boyne City, Michigan. She, knowing that I am kind of lame, invited me to spend a few days up there with her. Now, I have been up there before...but it was early summers. Up North in Michigan doesn't really hit it's stride until around the 4th of July -- so I was excited to get up there in the peak of summertime.

Now, growing up I was a strictly Lake Huron girl. We had a lake house in Oscoda, and even now my grandma stays up in Tawas every summer and I go up there frequently with her (a blog post for a different day). So, once I started to traveling to the west side of the state I was quite surprised by the amount of tourists. But, it is beautiful and I enjoy going over there but Lake Huron and the east side of the state will always have my heart.

Disclaimer over. Boyne City. Some background. It's a town of about 3751 residents (according to the 2012 census). Boyne City sits on Lake Charlevoix, where the Boyne River enters the lake. Boyne City is a great destination for both winter and summer, because they also have Boyne Mountain Resort for skiing and other winter activities. 

We got up there in the late afternoon and immediately changed into our suits and dived in (and by dived in, I mean wade in super slowly for 20 minutes and then dive in). We swam, then we hung out on the deck and then we got dressed for dinner. We ate at Barrel Back Restaurant on nearby Walloon Lake, the sun was just going down and there was a great breeze coming off the lake -- it was great.

The next day we decided to kayak the Boyne River up and into Lake Charlevoix and then back to the house. I have no clue how many miles it was but it only took about 90 minutes. 

It was a kayak adventure that had some obstacles. I got tangled up in one tree, but I got out of that mess scratch free. Once I got a handle on the whole steering around the downed trees/shallow spots and logs -- it was a great trip! 

The current was pretty swift in the river, so you didn't have to paddle too much except for steering. But once we entered the lake, through a rather scary tunnel, it was rough.

You enter into the harbor and it was super choppy. We were bouncing all over the place and having to really work those arm muscles. A has kayaked this route many times and said this was the first time it had ever been that choppy or difficult. Once we got into the open lake, it was smooth and clear kayaking back to the house. 

Naturally, lots of swimming took place after and we got ice cream from Kilwins that night. Key lime pie ice cream is my jam, so good!

The next day was a dreary one, but there is still tons to do. We went shopping, had some beer/wine tastings and went fishing.

It was great to get up north and relax. I love the peace and quiet, along with the slow and relaxed pace of life up there. You can also eat lots of taffy.