For our accompanying guests, we have put together a special package of excursions and acitivities for one low price that allows you to experience the truly unique beauty and elegance of Northern Michigan. Included in this package are three day excursions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday:
Excursion No. 1: Wine Tour/Tasting on the Old Mission Peninsula. Taste the wines and discover the pristine beauty of the Old Mission Peninsula and its world-class wineries. Jutting into the Grand Traverse Bay, this narrow peninsula shares the 45th parallel with some of the great wine-making regions of the world. You will experience the unique beauty and spectacular vistas of the Old Mission Peninsula along with tasting some of the areas most alluring vintages.
Excursion No. 2: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Chippewa Indian legend tells the tale of the mother bear, which fled a great forest fire in Wisconsin with her two cubs. Mother reached the Michigan shore and climbed a steep sand hill to await her cubs. The cubs, however, became exhausted and never reached land. The Great Spirit Manitou raised the North and South Manitou Islands from the spot where the cubs perished. Mother still sleeps on shore, manifested in the form of the 400 foot sand dunes that rise from the waters of Lake Michigan. The Pierce Stocking Drive tour provides the visitor with insight to the history of the area, a sampling of the vegetative communities found within the park and, best of all, spectacular overlooks of the Glen Lakes, the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake Michigan.
Excursion No. 3: Shopping in Downtown Traverse City. From our enchanting beachside main street shopping district to our eclectic shops scattered throughout the region, Traverse City is a shoppers' paradise. Front Street stretches for several blocks along the southern end of Grand Traverse Bay, and beautiful swimming beaches are just a block away. Explore our varied shops or buy some freshly-made fudge.
We reserve the right to substitute alternate excursions of similar value should any of these day trips not be available.
In addition to these day excursions, and included in the package price, accompanying guests can also participate in the Sunday evening reception, the Tuesday evening excursion/reception, and the Wednesday evening banquet. The Tuesday evening excursion and reception will be held at a choice ot two venues: 1) the Dennos Museum [1], which will feature an excellent collection of Inuit art and sculpture as well as a special viewing of the traveling exhibit entitled The Bodies Human [2]. This exhibit presents over 100 authentic human specimens that provide a once-in-a-lifetime look inside the human body; 2) or you may wish to experience an evening on the beach, with food, drink, and music at Grand Traverse Bay.
To register for the accompanying persons program, please click on the "register" link and select "accompanying person" for the registration type.