Have you heard of the stunning 4-acre poppy field in Fennville? When I heard about it, I headed out the same day and am so glad I made the trip. The poppy field is indescribably heartwarming and I will be back to experience it every year. The field was planted by Joan Donaldson and John Van Voorhees, the owners Pleasant Hill Blueberry Farm, to honor their son Mateo. Mateo was in the military and deployed to Afghanistan. After returning, he struggled with PTSD and eventually took his life in 2015.

Mateo had been a beekeeper and his parents began planting the poppy field in 2018 to feed the bees and butterflies that he was so fond of. They also hope the field will bring joy to others facing hardships. It truly does.

The poppies are in peak bloom in June, so be sure to visit them before July. Everyone is welcome, but because of the volume of visitors, please, please, please follow the below requests so this can continue next year. The adjacent cemetery was damaged by visitors to the farm and people have been going in the field and trampling flowers. Remember, this is a private farm and a very generous gift of love from the owners:
• PARKING 1. Please park along M-89 or on the very West side of the cemetery only. No parking for poppy viewing will be allowed anywhere else in the cemetery. 2. Please pull far enough off that west side roadway to allow vehicles to pass through. 3. Please remember to be respectful of the community’s loved ones that have been laid to rest there. 4. With the exception of Sunday during church, parking is available at The Fennville Assembly of God Church, a short, pleasant walk. The church is located at 5897 124th Ave, Fennville, MI 49408 • REQUESTS FROM THE FARM 1. The field has a path surrounding it for visitors, please stay on the path and do not walk into the field. 2. Please do not pick the flowers.

Pleasant Hill Blueberry Farm is also worth a trip for their organic blueberries from July – early August. You can pick your own, or they also will ship frozen organic blueberries to you year-round.

Here’s the address for Pleasant Hill Farm, if you are going to see the flowers, you’ll want to park on the road in front of the cemetery, which is just before you’ll reach the actual farm: 5859 124th Ave, Fennville, MI 49408

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Looking down into an open silo
A unique view at Roselle Park after the storm blew the top off of one of the silos. Photo courtesy of Matt Teliczan, Telidrone.

This summer straight-line winds did some major damage in West Michigan, wiping out huge old trees and redecorating some of the landscape. One of the places hit particularly hard was Roselle Park, near Grand Rapids. Luckily, Roselle Park is as beautiful as ever. We took a trip there about a week after the storm hit and even though there was still some damage that was evident, clean up crews had been hard at work restoring the park.

This is an aerial view of the Grand River at Roselle Park. Photo courtesy of Matt Teliczan of TeliDrone.

Roselle Park is located at 1010 Grand River Dr NE Ada, MI and features 240 acres with paved trails, an observation deck, playground area with climbing wall, prairie, wetlands, forest, and beautiful river shoreline. For those of you with high school seniors, it’s also a great place to go for senior photos.

I discovered this unique barn driving on the backroads in Arcadia, MI.
It would be easy to pass by the Onekama / Arcadia, MI area – but that would be missing out big time. Online searches reveal very little about the place, perhaps that’s because being there feels like you are going back to a time when electronic devices took a back seat to nature and being a human at peace with the world. I took these photos driving around the back roads near Lake Michigan.

The landscape is dotted with historic barns, vineyards, and rolling hills. You’ll also discover golf courses and a beautiful. Here places to stay: Here are some place to check out when you visit.

Arcadia Bluffs Golf Course: This course is open to the public and resembles a seaside links course with rolling terrain and a windswept landscape with breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. Lodging and cottages are also available.

Artesian Wells: Some of the purest water in the country is located at these public wells, where folks have been known to travel for miles to bottle it up and take some home. Here are links Old Facefull (GPS 44.427615, -86.247132) Portage Point Well (GPS: 44.376511, -86.227881).

Portage Point Inn: I’ve never had a chance to stay here but have always wanted to. This historic inn was established in 1903, yet features a boutique gift shop, pub, fitness center, lake access, movie nights on the lawn, kayak and paddle board rentals, boating, fishing and much more.

Inspiration Point Scenic Overlook: This is one of the best overlooks I’ve been to in my entire life. It’s just off the Scenic Highway and you can see for miles and miles. Trust me, and be sure to lug your camera along with you for this one, all 120 steps to the top of the overlook!

Arcadia Marsh: This 273-acre marsh nature preserve has a short trail and is especially popular for birding.

Area Preserves and Trails: While I was researching this project, I found a link to this map with a bunch of preserves and trails that I didn’t even know existed in this region.

This is a great time to start planning your Michigan summer vacation. These are just a few of the great places to discover in the area.

 

Michigan Ice storm with icy trees
Ice storm diamonds are a trees best friend.

Early this morning I was greeted by two messages, one by Inge, and one by my mom. Both of whom wanted to make sure that I knew I would be missing a great chance to take a picture for this blog. As my mom put it, “there’s ice diamonds on the trees.” Amazingly, it’s been that way all day, which is somewhat of a consolation for me because I am sick and tired of winter. Actually, literally sick. I have a cold. I’m thinking of venturing out to take more pictures because it’s just so pretty out right now.

Historic Stone Archway
Where this path leads, I know not.

If you drive around the Leelanau Peninsula for any length of time, you’ll happen upon  historic looking little places that make you feel like you’ve gone back in time. I have no idea what is at the end of this trail. I do know that I think this is cool. I want an arch like this over my driveway!

It’s private property and I really wanted to go back there, I’m imagining some big old haunted mansion, what do you think?

Amazing Sculpture at the Frederik Meijer Gardens

The Frederik Meijer Gardens will be a venue for ArtPrize this year. Artprize starts September 22 at 6PM. I’m planning on going to downtown Grand Rapids to start scoping out the work that is already up (by the way, this sculpture is not an ArtPrize entry.

Post & HDR photo by Ann Teliczan

Chihuly's A New Eden Exhibit at the Frederik Meijer Gardens
This is my favorite of the 25 Chihuly exhibits at the Frederik Meijer Gardens

Ever since the Chihuly exhibit came to the Frederik Meijer Gardens, I’ve noticed that it seems to eventually come up in conversation with my friends and business associates. The reason everyone is talking about this exhibit is that it’s unique, stunning and beautiful. The exhibit was to end in September and is now being held over until October 31, 2010.

The Chihuly exhibit, titled A New Eden, features 15 sculpture sites with most of them outside and a continuously playing presentation about Chihuly in the Hoffman Family Theater. Dale Chihuly is said to be the most sought after artist in the world, working primarily in glass. This is his 2nd exhibition at the Gardens.

It was hard to pick my favorite from all the sites, but if I had to pick, it would be of the area shown in this HDR photo that I took during my 3rd visit (and I’ll be back for more!).

Frederik Meijer Garden’s hours are:

Mon and Tues: 9 am–9 pm
Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat: 9 am–5 pm
Sun: 12 pm–5 pm

You can learn more at their website by clicking here.

If you can make it, I’d highly recommend this exhibit (just in case you can’t already figure that out!)

Post & HDR photo by Ann Teliczan

Driving along in the Michigan back country.

I took this photo driving through farmland in the Belmont, Michigan area. For those who think of Michigan as a washed up rust belt state, think again. The majority of the state sports lush farmland, lakes ripe for fishing and trees everywhere.

I just got back from visiting gorgeous Steamboat Springs. While I love the mountains and big, huge sky, I missed the variety of trees and “green” that Michigan offers.

Now for the favor… my son Paul is getting married on August 21. He’s having trouble finding a rustic cabin or cottage in the Upper Peninsula to rent from August 23 – August 30. Any suggestions or places you know of with availabilities? If so, could you please make a comment about it? I would greatly appreciate it!

Backyard farming in Michigan

A couple of weeks ago my new iPhone4 came in and I decided to get it in spite of the reception problems. Truth be told, I have been using Mac products for my entire career and have yet to be disappointed with the company. I LOVE the iPhone4, it is a huge upgrade from the original iPhone, which is what I had. Here’s why:

– The optics are amazing, result, everything is easier to read and a joy to look at.

– I love the movie camera on the phone, it takes great video and is so convenient. I won’t be dragging around my movie camera any more.

– The still camera. Okay, it’s not as good as my SLR, but for crying out loud, it takes great photos and again, it’s convenient.

– All the apps. The scope of truly helpful apps that are free or just $1.99 boggle my mind. Everything from making expense reports easier, to tracking my workout program.

I just thought you might find it interesting that I took this photo with my iPhone. After taking it, I processed it with Topaz Labs software.

About the photo… more and more Michigan residents are raising chickens in their backyard. That would include my friend Ruth, these are her “Chickapees.” They follow her around everywhere and are so cute, she even tolerates them tearing up her amazing flower gardens (at least until recently!) Grand Rapids is considering and ordinance to allow homeowners to keep up to 5 chickens in their backyards. A similar ordinance has been effect in Ann Arbor since 2008. I love visiting her and watching her chickens, they make me laugh.

The sails come down after a day on the water

There’s boat harbors everywhere in Michigan that look just like this as the sun sets. I took this photo in Muskegon after a relaxing day of sailing. Being able to escape like this makes every day feel like a vacation. Post & HDR photo by Ann Teliczan