Along with the numerous wineries and cider tasting rooms found throughout Leelanau County, people can enjoy the same experience on the water via local cruises.
Mishe-Mokwa
The Manitou Island Transit in Leland features its popular shoreline cruise via the Mishe-Mokwa ferry every evening depending on weather conditions. The 1.5 hour long cruise departs at 6:30 p.m. from Leland Harbor and takes people along the Manitou Passage through scenic Good Harbor Bay, passing landmarks like Pyramid Point and the North Manitou Shoal Light. The cash bar available to the public includes small snacks as well to keep boat passengers sustained until they reach land again, where they can venture to a local restaurant in the area. Custom group trips also make the Mishe-Mokwa an option for anyone looking for an entertaining experience or party via the water.
“We cruise through Good Harbor Bay and then out to Pyramid Point, so it’s very scenic, the captain does a little narrative along the way, and there’s many people who enjoy a cocktail while they are viewing beautiful places,” said Sarah Grosvenor, one of four owners of Manitou Island Transit. “So we follow mostly the northern end of the national park shoreline.”
Popular customer drink requests include bloody mary drinks as well as a “Manitou Island” iced tea, which Grosvenor describes as basically being like a Long Island iced tea. Around this time of the summer, Grosvenor said there’s anywhere between 80-100 people that fill the boat for the shoreline cruises, with customers being both a mix of local returnees and visitors. Reservations made online or by phone are recommended.
“There’s a lot of locals that have done this for years and this is like their summer thing,” she added. “A lot of new people are like, ‘I didn’t even know you did a cruise out of the harbor in Leland, let’s go,’ so a lot of people are new visitors or have never heard that we run the evening cruise.”
Discovery Cruise
Discovery Cruises in Elmwood Township is located just off S West Bay Shore Drive and offers a variety of daily scenic narrated bay trips, a happy hour, sunset and themed cruises on board its two deck touring vessel. The main deck itself is fully enclosed with a climate controlled interior and includes large panoramic views to enjoy with a drink in hand from the beverage bar.
“For anyone that is over 21, we do a champagne toast at the end of the sunset cruise,too,” said Jennifer Szunko, Discovery coowner. “I think people find it very relaxing and we have lots of free parking close by. We’ve got contemporary music playing over the sound system, and people just really enjoy it. If it’s warm and sunny then they’re (people) on the back deck outside. If it’s a little cooler they can be inside and they can get up and move around.”
The boat was originally built in 1974 as a ferry passenger boat. In 2020 though, it went through a complete renovation and was made into a party boat to host many different seating and cruise options. With a full bar ready to go, customers on board The Discovery tend to reach for popular drinks like a lavender lemonade made from Mammoth Distilling vodka, as well as the Traverse Bay cherry sangria from Chateau Grand Traverse.
“Being a boat that accommodates 149 people, we’re really the only floating venue in this area, so we do a lot of private charters,” Szunko said. “We have national associations that will hold their cocktail parties on the boat and we’ve had weddings on the boat. We do a lot of meet and greets the night before the wedding, and in the fall, a lot of local companies will bring their staff out for staff appreciation day events.”
Depending on the season, boat riders can register for various cruises, such as the Bay Sightseeing Tour, Happy Hour on the Bay, Sunset of the Bay, and wine tasting Wednesdays. However, the most beloved cruise is the afternoon sightseeing option where crew members share historic and cultural points of interest throughout the twohour long tour.
“Customers like it because we give some history about the area from the sights you see on the boat,” she said. “We travel along the shoreline and we leave Greilickville. We then head towards Traverse City and we come up along Old Mission Peninsula. Then we come across just south of Power Island to Leelanau Peninsula. If it’s a shorter cruise we don’t go quite as far out.”
In the fall, Szunko said they put on a wine tasting tour series called “wines from around the world and our own backyard” via The Discovery, where a different local winery is featured every week. There will also be “wine tasting Wednesdays,” giving people the chance to escape the crowds to attend a semi-private wine tasting offered by a local winery expert.
“In (wines from around the world and our own backyard) the cruise, we will compare the same grape from this region to a grape from Europe or South America or somewhere else in the world,” she said. “The next one is on August 21 and is led by Kristy McClellan from Lake District Wine Co.”
