Any Grand Traverse Bay MI boat friendly resort recommendations?

[Sky Blue H2O]

Hello. We'd like to take our boat & truck (pictured below) on the SS Badger ferry from Manitowic Wisconsin across Lake Michigan to Ludington MI, then on to a waterfront resort on Grand Traverse Bay MI, this August 7-13. It would be me, my wife & daughter, and Scottie dog (also pictured below). Ideally, we're looking for a medium to high-end boat and small pet friendly resort, cabin, or hotel - where our boat could be in the resort's slip or dock. Alternatively, we'd be open to launch each day at the resort's ramp, or leave boat at a nearby marina with transient slip rental.

Any recommendations?

As a child I lived for a while in the UP, and had some business travels to the Traverse Bay area many years ago. The memory of the bay's blue waters, my old MI home state, and the lure of a grand spur-of-the-moment adventure, got us thinking about this.

Thank you in advance!

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[wallybagger]

We stayed at The Vinyard Inn in Sutton's Bay. Boat slip was free with room although we did not bring our boat. Was celebrating our anniversary by hitting all the wineries on Leelanau Peninsula. Never did eat at corkies bistro or take any of their wine tours, wife likes to pick unique places to eat, which there are several on the Peninsula with huge Bloody Mary's & one with a chub in the Bloody Mary lol. Both great places to eat. Check out www.corkysbistro.com

[wallybagger]

Boone's Prime Time Pub & The Cove Restaurant are 2 places I especially remember from our trip. Plus the booze tasting at Northern Latitudes Distillery for the horseradish vodka & liquors ? The Leelanau Peninsula was a great land trip have not yet tried fishing The Bay. If I remember you have to launch your boat at the yacht club in town as there is not a launch at The Vinyard Inn & it's a short? run to the Inn docks. Was a nice place I even got up for the sunrise views & im a sunset kinda guy lol

[Bstar]

We spent a week up there last August and really liked it. You might want to do a search on VRBO.com or homeaway.com. They have a lot of listings up there. Check out Knot Just a Bar in Omena. They have a deck that looks out over the bay. Also the Riverside Inn in Leland. Check out Suttons Bay Ciders for one of the best views on the peninsula. The cherry cider is really good.

[Sky Blue H2O]

Thank you all for replying! I'll check your suggestions out and keep you posted. We keep our boat in a marina on a Wisconsin lake, so that's always a free vacation for us. But the urge for adventure bit us, so we're looking at Traverse Bay. Our boat is too small for Lake Michigan, but the bay would give us a taste of bigger water, plus lots of nice things to see and do in that area.


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[Sky Blue H2O]

An update.... using VRBO.com was a great suggestion for our needs. Lots of vacation property rentals listed there, some with docks and pet friendly. Unfortunately we got going on this too late, over 90% were booked in mid August (peak vacation season). So this year we'll vacation near home, or use frequent flyer miles.

What I found thanks to helpful suggestions - was to find a place on Lakes Charlevoix, Leelanu, or Torch (instead of directly on Traverse Bay). They're scenic, more sheltered for a boat like ours, yet we still could venture out thru waterway connections to Traverse Bay on calmer days. Next year we'll definitely give Michigan a try.

Again, thanks for all your suggestions!


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