Recent Blog Posts

I thoroughly enjoy a good chowder- clam, potato, and especially corn- but chowders tend to be quite heavy. Don’t get me wrong, heavy cream is delicious in anything, but it also packs a lot of calories. In fact, one cup of corn chowder can contain over 600 calories. Many people also have a har...
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Ahhhh zucchini. Who doesn’t enjoy the delicious taste of this juicy, unassuming, late summer crop? And talk about versatile.  You can eat zucchini as the star or a secondary character in so many different kinds of dishes. You can savor it fried, grilled, stir fried, in a lasagna, zoodled...
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In addition to the seven food trucks located in The Backlot area that I mentioned in the previous blog (click here if you missed reading that one), there are six other food trucks throughout Petoskey for you to explore. The Food Truck at Bear Creek Organic Farm is located at 4012 Adkins Road...
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Ten years ago, Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts brought you a blog about northern Michigan food trucks. In it, the author told you about 7 different food trucks sprinkled throughout the north. Interestingly, not one of these trucks was located in Petoskey. Back in 2015, the concept of a food truck was...
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Over the years, Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts has brought you several blogs pertaining to Petoskey stones. We have told you what they are; we have told you where to locate them; and we have given you tips on how best to find them. Yes, today’s blog is indeed on the Petoskey stone, and why shouldn...
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If you are fortunate enough to be a resident of Petoskey, you can enjoy farmers markets fourdays a week without driving more than 18 miles to any of them. At these markets, you can findlots of amazing fruits and vegetables, as well as baked goods, jars of deliciousness and otheritems grown at t...
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Northern Michigan is a great place to explore, and what better way to do this than by bicycle? As we head into the middle of spring and look forward to a nice, warm summer, now is the time when we northern Michiganders can safely put away our shovels and salt and break out the porch furniture, ...
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I remember hearing about geocaching for the first time several years ago while I was living in Grand Rapids. I knew it was an activity that took place outside and possibly used a compass, but that was just about the extent of my knowledge of it. To be honest, until my girlfriend suggested the t...
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When you think of huge sales in Petoskey, the one that instantly comes to mind is sidewalk sales, an annual tradition for the past 61 years. Always the last full weekend of July, Petoskey does sidewalk sales right. They close off the downtown streets to cars, and the stores set up tables and te...
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April Fool’s Day has always been a bit of a controversial day. Some people love it. They find joy in pulling pranks on their family and friends, while others think that the day is foolish (see what I did there), annoying, and unnecessary. Sometimes pranks can go too far and be harmful to othe...
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