October 24, 2018
A word of warning to those who have never visited Downtown Petoskey in the fall: You will always want to return. The addiction is slow but certain. Burnt oranges, startling red’s, and stunning yellows parade around the area swinging from the canopies of trees waving you in. Once inside our town, the stores add to the allure with corn stalk entries and scarecrow windows making one pause to admire and inquire.
Sure, you make an attempt to pass by, but then the aroma of coffee, fresh baked pastries, collections of wine, designer shop displays, and with the added visual of an azure Great Lake looking on, you sit on a bench and ponder never leaving. You wonder what it would be like to live here.
Next the real estate windows begin to call. The pictures and descriptions of homes have you standing in awe of the beauty and year-round adventures within your grasp. You read of the ensconced families who have returned for generations beginning in the 1870’s; you read of the Odawa history and their relationship with Little Traverse Bay for thousands of years. Why not you?
Then the clincher. October is shopping time! Wait, what, you ask? October brings forth the shopping spree of a lifetime. Cavort around Downtown Petoskey with friends and strangers alike dancing through shops. Relax at lunches of fine foods, wines and other beverages one might visualize on a Saturday in early fall when all you have to do is walk and shop. Downtown Petoskey makes it easy. The area unleashes you to trip the light fantastic into the spotlight of you. Take advantage of time away from the daily ho-hums and enjoy.
Don’t worry. There are plenty of benches to sit and contemplate why you can’t do this every day. Sit and wonder what it would be like to walk the streets of Downtown Petoskey every day and become a part of a community that has inspired writers, artists, musicians and just plain folk to attain the wealth of serenity – oh, and the great October sales, for the inspired shoppers, of course.
