The Allure of Small Town America
Sometimes there’s nothing better to do than get into your car and drive off the beaten path to a destination. One of my favorites is Saguatuck starting in Ann Arbor and taking Highway 12 traveling on 2-lane roads.
One of the great pleasures besides seeing countless barns and corn fields is traveling through small towns. Every town has at least one bar, two churches, VFW hall and a "cozy" cafe. Nostalgia loves cafes especially for breakfast.
For some reason, small town cafes have the best hash browns, hotcake’s, and omelets with bottomless cups of hot coffee. Cafes also specialize in pies and french fries. We try to stop in as many cafes as possible.
We also love to walk around small towns. The shops are owned by small town folk and we never know what we are going to find inside. We think we are going to find stuff that is amazing and not found in the big cities. We yearn for it. But more times than not, it’s just more stuff. But what fun anyway!
And being in the beauty business, what better place to find a salon or "shop" than small towns? Here you can get your haircut, nails done, get a quick tan and perhaps pick up a video or two.
Route 12 features plenty of small towns and cozy cafes. One small town even features a store with every kind of wood stove you can think of (they invented the wood stoves here). Having a beer at the bar is always good for lots of stories and history.
Destination Saguatuck is a great place to end. This small town (not really that small) features great places to eat, stay overnight and in the summer time, great beaches. You can take I-94 back and stop and visit local wineries.
Now what all this has to do with business, I’m not sure. But if you need a diversion and some time to think, this is a perfect thing to do (hey, if you are in California reading this, come up with your own side trip destination and share).
Happy Monday!
March 9th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Love Saugatuck! I spent quite a bit of time there last summer. LG, they have a GREAT chili cookoff. Last year’s winner used summer squash in his chili. It was wonderful! You should check it out.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
My husband and I like to do the opposite…we live in a small town, so we like to go to “the city”. Be that Royal Oak or Detroit and a casino. Living in a small town is nice….no traffic and the speed limits are faster, but there is not even one Meditteranean restaurant! (My favorite food.)
March 9th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I grew up in a small town, when I say small I mean small, like 36 students in my graduating class small! I grew up in Deerfield which is a few towns south of US 12 so I know this rural area pretty well. I agree with all of the things LG mentioned about why a small town is great, but one more great thing about a small town is every one of them throws at least 1 big weekend festival/party each year in their little VFW hall and the small townies know how to throw a party. IF you ever get the chance to attend one of these festivals you have to check them out, it’s some of the best fun!
March 10th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Two nice little towns are Beulah and Benzonia. They are about 35 minutes +/- southwest of Traverse City. My favorite place in Benzonia is the Gwen Frostic Gallery. An even smaller town north is Honor. No stoplights, one bar, two gas stations-one is also a sporting goods store/livery and three restaurants. I lived there 20 years ago and many times wish I could move back.
March 12th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I used to travel 12 a lot when heading down to Indy. I loved that road trip, no matter how long it took it was worth it just for the specially homemade goodies the Amish sell. We would try & stop along the way at every cute little stand or store we saw.
Great in Spring & Fall!