Editor’s note: This article was published in Grand Traverse Scene magazine’s Summer II 2025 issue. Pick up a free copy at area hotels, visitor’s centers, chambers of commerce or at the Record-Eagle building on Front Street. Click here to read GT Scene in its entirety online.
My husband, Shawn Riley, and I had a difficult time figuring out what to do for our 13th wedding anniversary this year on June 16.
For our five-year anniversary we went to Paris, and what on earth can beat that? For our 10th year, we bought a boat and took the maiden voyage on Lake Leelanau on our actual anniversary.
But this year, we just couldn’t figure out what to do or where to go, so we finally came up with the idea to do 13 things in Leelanau County in one day. Yep, we decided to be tourists for a day, and — let me tell you — it was fabulous.
Too often we forget the treasures in our own backyard as we try to conjure up fun and exciting things to do for special occasions. And, to our delightful surprise, we did things this year that we had never done in the nearly eight years we’ve lived in Suttons Bay.
We had no idea if we could squeeze 13 things into the day, but in the end, we were successful, and that beloved day is now in our top three best anniversaries since we said our nuptials 13 years ago. The first is, of course, Paris; second is the maiden voyage on our boat; third is this year — our sacred adventure in Leelanau County that I’m thrilled to share with you.
Our 13-stop itinerary:
No. 1 45th Parallel Cafe in Suttons Bay: We started our morning with breakfast at 45th Parallel and got a huge blueberry pancake to go (more on that later).
No. 2 Painted Bird in Suttons Bay: The Painted Bird has always been my husband’s go-to store to buy me jewelry. We stopped in and he bought me a beautiful pair of earrings that featured forget-me-not flowers and fresh-water pearls.
No. 3 Lima Bean in Suttons Bay: This is another retail favorite of ours in Suttons Bay. Shawn bought me a cute change purse with cats on it.
No. 4 Bay Books in Suttons Bay: Our favorite local bookstore was bustling with customers, so we went in, looked around for a second, and decided we need to finish some books before we buy any more. Nonetheless, Bay Books is always a treat.
No. 5 Lakeview Hill Farm in Traverse City: I buy produce weekly at Lakeview Hill Farm, an organic farm and market on the corner of East Lakeview Hills Road and Lake Leelanau Drive in Traverse City, and although Shawn benefits from my weekly loot, he’s never been in the quaint store that sits in an old, restored red schoolhouse. I personally think it’s the cutest place with some of the best produce around.
No. 6 Inevitable Peony Farm in Traverse City: Peonies are one of my favorite flowers and we had them in my wedding bouquet and in all of our flower decorations on our wedding, so we were thrilled to learn that there’s a peony farm just across the street on Lake Leelanau Drive from Lake View Hill Farm. One of the owners, Jim Lemire, gave us a tour of his massive peony farm and gifted us two gorgeous peonies on our way out. Shawn also bought me a bouquet of peonies.
No. 7 Gardening at home: It was a hot day, and we needed to bring our peonies and produce home from our last two stops. We also needed to water our flowers and do some small gardening.
No. 8 Leelanau Cheese in Suttons Bay: Although I had been inside the cheese shop before, Shawn had not. We stopped for their melted cheese on potatoes, we found out that they don’t offer that on Mondays. It was totally fine, as we sampled free cheese and bought some delicious raclette to take home.
No. 9 Suttons Bay Bikes bike ride: Shawn and I have bikes, but they’re not e-bikes, and we didn’t feel like riding our bikes on our special day, so we went to Suttons Bay bikes and rented two e-bikes. We hit the TART trail and made our way to Shady Lane Cellars for a wine tasting.
No. 10 Shady Lane Cellars: We had both been there once before, and we were delighted that it was not too busy and that we were able to leisurely sit and drink wine and enjoy smoked whitefish dip on their gorgeous patio. We also bought a bottle of Pomeranz, a skin-fermented riesling.
No. 11 Buy asparagus from local farm stand: On our bike ride back to Suttons Bay Bikes, we stopped at my favorite asparagus stand on Fort Road. Serendipitously, there was only one bundle of asparagus left!
No. 12 The Cove in Leland: We opted to have dinner at The Cove in Fishtown in Leland. We ordered more wine, and I got the Almond-Crusted Whitefish and Shawn got the Whitefish New Orleans with whitefish, shrimp over linguine with a creole sauce. Yum! It’s always a treat to visit Fishtown.
No. 13 Dessert at home: We initially planned to stop for ice cream in Suttons Bay after dinner, but — after our big day — we decided to head home and eat our blueberry pancake for dessert!
Ironically, my in-laws celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on June 27. That morning, we got a text from my mother-in-law that included a picture of peonies they bought from Inevitable Peony Farm and a breakfast plate they had at the 45th Parallel Cafe. The text read: “We copied you. We are not doing 53 more things.” Ha! But they did in fact go to a few more places that day, including Case-Daniels & Ray Jewelry and Carlson’s Fishery in Leland, to name a few.
However you decide to enjoy our piece of paradise up north, it’s clear that squeezing more than 10 things into one day is indeed possible. Maybe not 55 things, but it could be a fun challenge!
In this edition of the Scene magazine, you’ll no doubt find fun adventures throughout the region. Cheers!