Charlevoix, Michigan
Autumn beauty in this northern city
The state’s profile looks remarkably like a mittened hand, a nod to the cold climate that pervades the area after the leaves begin to change. Michigan in the fall is a lovely contrast of brilliant blue skies against bright orange and red leaves, pumpkins, and apples. The Charlevoix Apple Fest in late October welcomes visitors to its cobblestone streets.
Charlevoix is famous for its mushroom houses. Architect Earl Young designed more than two dozen stone houses in Charlevoix that look like they belong in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. With cedar shake sloping roofs, fieldstone and boulder walls, and landscaping that snuggles into hillsides, these charming little houses are restored and kept up by their owners; some are available as vacation rental properties. Young is also credited with the massive stone fireplace in the town’s famous Weathervane Inn, which features a nine-ton boulder as its mantelpiece.
The reason for the use of these distinctive boulders is limestone deposits broken up during the ice age. There are Charlevoix and Petoskey stones on the beaches, which visitors comb the shoreline to collect and take home.
Charlevoix Municipal Airport (CVX) has a 4,549-foot-long paved runway and an adjacent grass strip. The charter service to Beaver Island, Island Airways, is in its comfortable and attractive terminal. Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and is known as “America’s Emerald Isle.”
