A Love Letter

Photo from the Huffington Post slide show of Traverse City

The Huffington Post has a section dedicated to people writing Love Letters to the places they love the most. They call it "an anthology of reflections on American places". The most recent love letter was written by Mario Batali and he wrote it to Traverse City, Michigan.


Dear Traverse City,

I first laid eyes on you over a decade ago. My wife, Susi, and I rented a house on a little beach for a week. The next year it was two weeks, the next year three, then four. I couldn't resist. I was hooked.

I am madly in love with the Leelanau Peninsula and everything about it.

Somehow you've remained unknown, a relative secret. With Caribbean-blue waters and Sahara Desert dunes, you're a gem hidden in the Midwest, far from the gaze of East Coasters.

Your summers boast a roster of festivals celebrating the bounty of your surroundings: cherries and filmmakers, local trout and whitefish, winemakers, craft ale brewers and even a couple of cider pubs. Joyfully you have become a modern gastro-paradise.

For long I've thought New York City was my one true love. But you've proven to be the perfect antidote to the bustle of the city; and she the perfect antidote to the stillness of Lake Michigan. I will spend all of my holidays with you but ssshhhhh...no one needs to know but us.

Until next summer.Mario Batali



How cool is that? He is right, Traverse City is a hidden gem and I've never met a person who visited and didn't fall in love. Thanks for giving Michigan some props Mario, we need more people like you.

iz