Peterson Beach

Peterson Beach Sleeping Bear Recreation Area- Benzie County- Lake Michigan

What a fantastical summer weekend it was. Even if you don't feel very summery and all flower power on the inside- you can still fake it until you make it. That's what I did. Here's how I went from zero on the mood scale to 100 in 24 hours with the help of beach #8 out of 13 beaches to heal my soul this summer.

Let's start out with some background details. I have PMDD and for most woman with this affliction, every third month is the worst symptom wise. The last rough cycle was April this year and- WHEW- that was really tough. I swear I'm still dealing with repercussions from that month's PMS. Anyway! I was definitely feeling emotional this weekend and a little on edge to say the least.

On Friday, we did all the things to the 70s split that our inspector wanted us to change. One of the things was painting trim around the windows so we spent the day painting in 86 degree summer heat. The sweat was dripping down my neck and the cicadas where humming. I have to say that getting a color match to a chip of peeling paint and applying the chocolate milk goodness was very satisfying. From now on I'm calling the brown that's on the exterior of our new home chocolate milk. Yum. So several hours, 3 GFI outlets, 4 outlet covers, 2 smoke detectors, and 1 fixed carpet wrinkle later- we went to Bay View flooring to put in an order for our bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and downstairs hallway. The person who has been helping us so far wasn't there and the new guy didn't know our place and didn't have access to our measurements.. I was just ready to get our estimate already because I need to know how much money this will cost. My budget is screaming for some solid numbers to work with. Everything is speculating so far. My rising moon is Virgo if you can't tell. Then, in the midst of "show me your cheapest carpet" hell, Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor comes on over the loud speaker. Uhg, my heart! I start wanting to run away and cry. I finish giving the guy my requests and get out to the car with Eddie and immediately the tears start falling. Eddie's asking what happened and it's one of those awkward times where nothing really happened, I'm just sad! I'm having severe grieving pains for moving out of our house again. It's going to be hard and awkward to move while starting grad school but also- we've been praying for this! We've literally been asking God for a chance to invest in our future and become landlords and here we are! Why is doing the right thing also always the hardest thing? 

Gals- when you're at your wits end I can't recommend 2 things to help enough: 1. going for a walk and 2. taking a shower. No matter how I'm feeling emotionally, I feel some how better and sometimes invincible after washing my hair. It's me and my shark hair dryer and 20 minutes of drying time against the world. During that time Eddie makes me a plate of hot spaghetti. Roses are red, violets are blue, garlic bread, Blink-182. 

The next day was Saturday so I was working my regular shift at the library. The public just seems on edge today. I'm not sure if it's the the retrograde or what. Everyone is grumpy. No one is happy to see me. People are already on edge before they even step foot into my lab. Then I've got the regulars who are testing their limits and seeing how much they can cough, yell, fart and burp before disturbing those around them. A singular out loud fart at 9am is all it takes to put me on edge (lol) and you thought my library job was cool, right? I get home exhausted but determined. Maybe tonight will be a beach bonfire night! but hell, sunset isn't until 9:30pm and it's only 2pm. So we decide that some cocktails are in order while we wait! 

We ride our matching red beach cruiser bikes down to The Little Fleet for the best spicey margaritas in town. I get a bowl with peas, chicken and rice from The Daily Blend and Eddie gets a barbeque sandwich. Then we come up with the great plan to ride our bikes to our favorite local ice-cream stand, Bardon's. It's pretty hot out but the wind while pedaling along the streets feels good. This is what living in our wonderful bikeable/walkable city is all about. I love living in town and our neighborhood and wouldn't change a thing! We get there and order. I get a small kids cone with sprinkles. The Moomers flavor of the day? Brownie batter.

While were sitting there eating melting ice-cream, we notice a ton of cops coming in from out of town, sirens blaring. Being that we are on call when there are medical examiner investigations, we decide to head home. It's starting to feel a little "deathy" out and the air is feeling heavy. I'm also feeling tired and a little woozy. Maybe its the alcohol or the sugar. We get home to our blessed air-conditioning and learn that there was a stabbing at our local Walmart! On a nice summer night just like this one a few years ago, Eddie and I went to our Walmart and bought the beach bikes were just riding. We're horrified that someone could injure 9 people at once. Feeling panicky and restless we decide to do our regular 2.5 mile neighborhood walk. When in doubt, walk it out. Tonight would not be a beach bonfire night after all and that's how this would-be beach day became something else entirely. 

The next morning, we had to meet an electrician next door and after that the world is our oyster! It's another beautiful sunny hot day in northern Michigan. Peterson Beach near Sleeping Bear Dunes in Benzie County is our goal! In the description of this beach on my original list of 13 beaches, this was described as a beautiful beach on Lake Michigan that takes you through a small dune hike. No problem, my leg muscles could use the work. We stop at Edson's Farms for smoothies and drive the 58 minutes it takes to get there. We leave at 2pm.

We drive through familiar countryside and reach marshland that kind of reminds me of the Everglades. Once we get through a few miles of that, we drive down a narrow strip of land that takes us to into a forest. I can't believe the big lake is just going to pop out at us at any second! It's giving secret beach. We know we've reached the spot when we see a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road. This place is popular! We hike about 10 minutes up the road and get to the Peterson Beach sign and I immediately see the giant Sleeping Bear dunes in the distance. It's like giant cliffs made of vanilla ice-cream melting into lake Michigan. Watching the dunes fade into the humid distance along the lake shore looks so enormous and other-worldly. After a short dune hike of a couple minutes, we reach the beach. It's a hot Sunday so yes, quite a few people are here. But not nearly as much as your typical state park on a day like today. We walk passed a few groups to get to an empty spot in the sand, right near a roped off piece of land that is protected Piping Plover nesting ground. The sand was lovely! Really fine! The type that feels so good to lay in but is super hard to walk through. The water was clear and as usual there were lots of families around with kids. 

We spent two luxurious hours sunning, reading, listening to Led Zeppelin and Smashing Pumpkins. The water was chilly but a short dip was mandatory. It's 90 degrees today inland but here on the big lake with it's constant breeze, its a sunny 86 degrees. I feel better today than I've felt at any other beach so far this summer. I guess that's what happens when you keep forcing yourself to do the fun things that summer has to offer. That and getting further along in my cycle. Music sounds better. The sun feels less threatening. People seem nicer. A lot can change in 24 hours! If you've got the summer blues, go ahead and be a kid again and keep doing the fun stuff you did when you were little. Buy the ice-cream cone, go for a bike ride, bring sandwiches to the beach. 

We walked back to our car, sweaty and sun kissed at about 5 o'clock and drive straight home. When it's this warm out, picky bits are great thing to "make" for dinner. On tonight's menu? One of my favorite picky-bits creations: sliced tomatoes topped with cottage cheese, M-salt, and a single salt and vinegar chip. The evening's entertainment is one of my favorite summer-ween horror flicks: It Follows. I absolutely love sitting in the cool aired living room for a movie after a day at the beach. My favorite! I'll see you at the next beach! 

With drippin' peaches, I'm camera-ready

Almost all the time