Traverse City and Flushing - The Food we ate....

Half the fun of traveling is trying out the local food!  I was more than a little bummed when I tried to find little mom and pop burger joints when I was driving from Detroit to Traverse City.  I saw plenty of McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Arbys (it seems like Arby's is BIG in Michigan) and Subway.  I'm sure there might be other choices, but you probably have to drive a couple of miles away from the highway to find them.

Thankfully I was visiting family and friends so I was able to try a few fun places during the trip...

First stop - Flushing Michigan with Lori

Lori took me to her favorite local deli and we had a delicious philly sandwich on chipotle bread with spicy mayo.  Yummy!!  The staff was hometown friendly. (The Deli is in the building below along with some kind of town office.)

The Rye Bakery - Sadly the bakery is closed on Monday's and I was visiting on...you guessed it, Monday.  Thankfully the coffee shop next door had one vagabond pastry.  I am not a desert/pastry girl but oh my goodness, it was absolutely delicious.  So delicious that I made a special trip back through Flushing on my way home so I could pick up some to share.  I wish I had more time, the bakery was full of wonderful delights!

Next Stop - Frankenmuth

My hubby's family is German so Lori and I went to Frankenmuth to pick up some treats.  We found the most delicious Cinnamon bread at the Bavarian Inn Bakery (downstairs).  It was topped with a cinnamon type icing.

Traverse City

We had to return to two of our favorites in Traverse City - Pangea and Scalawags Whitefish & Chips.  The pizza at Pangea is delicious.  They have a wide variety of choices, but we love the pizza and can't seem to try anything else.  Scalawags is a family favorite.  We get the whitefish and chips and my mother inlaw always gets the perch.  One of these days I might have to try the perch.

Here's a weird little tip for Pangea's... make sure you stop by the bathroom.  Check out the amazing mural!  The entire bathroom is covered.  Rumor has it there's an eagle in the men's bathroom.  I guess the menfolk aren't as weird as I am.  They didn't think to take pictures. LOL

New favs - 

Flap Jack Shack 

We loved this place so much that we had to eat there twice.  It's a cute restaurant with a retro 70's decor that is done really well! Apparently I picked the best thing on the menu because everyone loved my choice so much, that the entire family ordered the same thing on the next trip... Corned Beef Hash and Eggs.  I love corned beef hash and tend to try it everywhere I go so it's a big deal when I say...this is THE best corned beef hash I have ever had!!!!!  Loved it!

Buffalo Wild Wings

I think this is actually a local chain restaurant.  It was a fun sports bar with tons of tv's all around the room.  We thought about going at night, but saw a big crowd outside so we went back for lunch.  The service was wonderful and the wings were good (I love wings and these were good, but similar to most wing places)...the thing you HAVE to try is the fresh pretzels.  They were absolutely delicious!