Chicago - October 01, 2007

Get Wheel

Road Trip to Harbor Country

If a pumpkin facial isn’t your idea of seasonal change, jump in the car and head to Harbor Country, Michigan, where ripe orchards and backyard vineyards will make city life a distant memory.

BOOZE
Tuscany, shmuscany. Hop on a Fruitful Vine (5601 St. Joseph Avenue, Stevensville; 269-978-8777) limo coach (i.e., pimped out minibus) for free wine tastings at more than ten wineries. Or just go the lazy route and choose from 100 varieties for $25 or less at Vino 100 (225 North Whittaker Street; 269-469-8466).

CRUISE
Harvest Days, from October 5-8, is one of Harbor Country’s best fests. Hit up the Art Gallery Crawl (Friday, 7-10 p.m.) and the New Buffalo Harvest Wine & Music Festival (Saturday, noon-10 p.m., Lion’s Beachfront Park) for pumpkin painting, hay rides, and live music. Sniff your way to Skip’s Restaurant (Red Arrow Highway, between New Buffalo and Union Pier; 269-469-3330) for the chili cook-off (Sunday, 2-6 p.m.).

CHOOSE
Pumpkins, grapes, pony rides, and a corn maze. You do the pickin’ at the Dinges’s farm (15219 Mill Road, Three Oaks; 269-426-4034). Stover’s Farm (7608 US 31 North, Berrien Springs; 269-471-1401) offers red raspberries and six apple varieties through October. Then study what to do with fruit as you dig into a homemade pie from The Whistle Stop (15700 Red Arrow Highway, Union Pier; 269-469-6700).

SNOOZE
Invite seven friends to join you at New Buffalo Inn & Spa’s Grand Beach Home (231 East Buffalo Street; 269-469-1000), where a rainfall shower, gourmet kitchen, and fireplace will make you feel at home. Smaller groups can book the Inn’s Taylor cottage (22 North Taylor Street; 269-469-1000). Boutique condo hotel Marina Grand (600 West Water Street; 877-945-8600) has flat-screen TVs, an indoor pool, and in-room massages. Blue Fish Vacation Rentals (269-469-0468) can hook you up with a quaint house.

Get ready to fall hard.

Photo credit (Harvest): AJ Boggio

  Charmer, Foodies, Outdoorsy