2026 Great Lakes Summer Intentions
Given that a week ago today I was at a youth sports event in the evening in a puffer jacket and gloves, it’s fair to say that summer has snuck up on me! But we are just about at Memorial Day weekend, the official or unofficial start of summer.
That means that it is time for me to post my Great Lakes summer intentions for 2026. This is my third year posting these. As a reminder, the idea is to embrace the different cadence of the summer months and make a plan for the things that you want to do to maximize the season.
Biggest adventure: Door County, Wisconsin. My dad grew up in Chicago and has a few faint memories of summer days in Door County. He’s always talked about this peninsula four hours north of Chicago fondly, as have so many others I’ve met. The phrase “the Cape Cod of the Midwest” pops up at times. So, right after school lets out in early June, the girls and I are going to drive to Chicago and pick-up my parents who will fly in from DC, and we’ll head north to Bailey’s Harbor for a few days.
Our itinerary leaves lots of pockets for walks and explorations recommended by locals. We have two anchor activities – a trolley tour in and around Egg Harbor and a boat ride out of Sister Bay that will take us up the north shore of the peninsula to “Death’s Door Crossing”. I will report back on that name afterward! In Sister Bay we’ll do the one other “must do” that kept emerging in my conversations, which is a visit to “the restaurant with the goats on the roof” – Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant.
Big-ish adventure #1: Sutton’s Bay, Michigan. The big part comes from this being far from home for me. However, this will not be big in terms of time. In mid-June when I head to the Traverse City area to drop my older daughter at camp, we’ll make the drive to TC Saturday. Then we’ll have a long morning through lunch on Sunday before drop-off time. We’ll head north on the Leelanau Peninsula to visit Sutton’s Bay. Words I’ve heard used to describe this place: picturesque; charming; cute. There are a lot of wineries, which will not be on the itinerary for us. We may ride a bike along the Leelenau Trail. We’ll explore and each lunch in town.
Big-ish adventure #2: Elk Rapids, Michigan. This trip will be a permutation of Sutton’s Bay. It will be a drive back to Traverse City at the end of June to drop my younger daughter off at camp. We’ll stay Saturday night a little outside of TC on the eastern shore of the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. We’ll spend Sunday exploring up that coast. We may take a hike at Maple Bay Natural Area and then we’ll explore Elk Rapids, with it’s dual water access of Grand Traverse Bay (Lake Michigan) on its west side and Elk Lake on its east side.
Ritual Observed: Beach Clean-ups with the Cleveland Metroparks. I’m aiming for three, and I’ll count the one I did just this past May weekend. It felt great to be back in action at Euclid Beach Reservation. It was a gorgeous morning. There was a lot of clean-up to do though. My reasoned but amateur analysis is that our recent cold and rainy weather caused some stormwater back-up that is, unfortunately, piped out toward the beach in overflow pipes if the systems are overwhelmed. This means that a lot of garbage that is washed into sewers ends up lodged in sand on the beach.
This beach clean-up raised my awareness more intimately with the challenges of dryer sheets, which I admit I use. For a reason I don’t know, there was a substantial amount of dryer sheet trash. Made of polyester or nylon, dryer sheets don’t decompose quickly. In addition, they shed very small microplastics that are pumped into the air through vents or washed off clothing over tie. Perhaps I’ll revisit wool dryer balls, which my mom has used for several years.
Local Love: Kayak Lake Erie at sunset with my husband. Some of you may remember that I got out on a kayak in Lake Erie last summer with a friend. We went on a guided tour with 41 Degrees North Coastal Adventures. This year my husband and I will do a different trip they offer called “Cleveland Rocks!” that goes out in the early evening and will last through the sunset hours.
Something I’d love to do but can’t: A friend of mine in Chicago sent me a link to this concert at Ravinia called Lakenotes: Seasons of Lake Michigan, a performance by the Black Moon Trio. I’m sharing the full description below because it sounds like just about the coolest thing and love seeing ways the Great Lakes inspire others. Given all the travel listed above, I can’t swing a trip to Chicago on August 2nd, but perhaps some of you Chicago folks can go and report back
I hope you will take a little time here at the end of May to think of the summer months ahead and identify a few things you would like to do that could make this summer more vibrant and memorable for you. It all goes by so very fast.
About the Performance
Music, verse, and visuals coalesce in Black Moon Trio’s premiere of Lakenotes, a multi-dimensional tribute to the mystery and majesty of Lake Michigan.
This unique artistic journey is the result of a collaboration between three acclaimed artists, each bringing a distinct creative lens to one of the world’s most awe-inspiring freshwater lakes. Poet Kathryn Haydon offers vivid and reflective lyricism that gives voice to the lake’s many moods, from the stillness of winter ice to the restless churn of autumn waves. Visual artist Lincoln Schatz, renowned for his immersive storytelling, captures the lake’s vast palette through sweeping videography and striking photography, revealing its ever-changing character across seasons and time of day.
At the core of Lakenotes is a powerful new commissioned work by award-winning Chicago composer Stacy Garrop. This contemporary chamber piece conjures the natural rhythms and hidden depths of Lake Michigan through a richly textured soundscape.
Blending the auditory and the visual, the emotional and the ecological, Lakenotes offers more than a performance—it is an invitation to reflect, to connect, and to experience Lake Michigan not just as a place, but as a living, breathing presence. Whether you are a lifelong resident of the Great Lakes region or encountering Lake Michigan for the first time, Lakenotes: Seasons of Lake Michigan promises a moving tribute to the lake’s enduring mystery and majesty.
