The circumstances surrounding our stay included a pandemic, an unusual heat wave, and flooded beaches on the bay. So it wasn’t ideal, but none of that was the house’s fault! Here’s a list of objective pros and cons:
Pros:
- It’s a cute vintage house.
- It’s a quick and easy drive to town.
- There was plenty of room for everybody.
- If the weather had cooperated, we would have used the fire pit, which was very inviting, and Chris left s’mores ingredients (but the heat wave precluded this).
- If the bay had not flooded, across the street would have been a very nice little spot to put in kayaks, but because it was flooded up over the bottom steps, and I’m a novice kayaker anyway, the kayaks were a no-go. Our car couldn’t tote the kayaks elsewhere for a better put-in spot (not big enough).
- Chris is an attentive and kind host. I even got to meet him, which is always nice.
Cons:
- No air conditioning. Lots of fans, and sleeping was actually fine, but spending time in the house during the day wasn’t so fun, and cooking was a very hot enterprise indeed. Normally, Traverse City doesn’t really get hot enough to need AC, but during our stay it was hot and humid all week. And because it’s a vintage home without AC, it felt extra hot, sticky, and musty inside. Chris has said he’s planning to put AC in for next year, though, so that’s good news!
- M-22. This highway runs just past the front yard, and on a holiday weekend, was of course very busy with cars/buses/semis going at highway speeds. Unfortunately, with all the windows open to help with the heat, it was extra loud. Perhaps if we’d been able to close the windows, it would have been fine, but we weren’t, so I can’t tell you if closed windows would keep out most of the noise or not. We also have a young child, and even though he knows better than to run out in the road, he’s still a little kid fascinated with the bay across the road, so I was a tad paranoid/watchful whenever we were outside for anything. It’s also not very peaceful/restful to sit outside on the front porch of an evening as traffic goes zooming by. The wildlife, however, is fun to watch. Chipmunks and black squirrels!
- We found the queen bed downstairs uncomfortable. The upstairs, with the king bed, was quite nice and cozy (I love the reading area!), but we at first tried to avoid it because of the heat. On the second night, though, we set up lots of fans upstairs and it was quite comfortable up there.