The place I wanted to go the most in this area of Michigan is Petoskey… mostly for the “petoskey stones” that litter the beach here. The petoskey stones and other different types of rocks are all fossilized coral in various shapes and sizes. To start our adventure we stopped by the town of Harbor Springs further north just to explore.  We got some cookies, saw some boats, and then realized that this spot was super ritzy and touristy and not really our jam.

After rolling through Harbor Springs, we headed south to Petoskey state park to look for rocks.  We were there for hours and our hamstrings hurt so bad! But we found a small backpack’s worth of rocks!

After we picked up our fill of rocks (truly we have enough… but we might come back tomorrow!), we headed into the town of Petoskey proper to check it out.  Now Petoskey is super cute with a quaint old downtown filled with interesting shops and hole in the wall restaurants.  It was adorable and exactly what I wanted.  The thing I found surprising was how similar Michigan is to the east coast.  They both have the same vibe, including the surprisingly sandy beaches!