Go to main contentsGo to search barGo to main menu
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Life in Leelanau:

Diversions

martinson
Larry Mawby was a pioneer in the wine industry, specializing in sparkling wines. Enterprise file photo
Bubbly, sparkling wine reason to celebrate
Mawby Winery started in 1973 as the second grape-growers in Leelanau County. In 1984, founder Larry Mawby debuted the vintner’s first sparkling wine. By the late 1990s, the winery had switched production over to exclusively méthode champenoise sparkling wines, and they never looked back. As Mawby puts it, they haven’t “made any table wines this century.” 07/31/2024 06:36 PM
From left to right: Elise, Taylor, Kevin and Emdyn Vann help celebrate the Fourth of July with their Leelanau Tea truck. Courtesy photo
Leelanau Tea selling worldwide
Leelanau Tea continues to be on the rise in 2024, taking claim of a foothold in the craft lemonade and tea industry since opening in 2021. Leelanau Tea owner Kevin Vann said business is going well for the local beverage maker. 07/31/2024 06:36 PM
While wine and other alcohol beverage prices range anywhere from $12 to several hundred dollars at Peninsula Provisions, people can find assorted drinks for about $20 and under placed on the lengthy table in the back room of the store.
Peninsula Provisions offers diverse wines, drinks, gourmet foods
A year after opening in Lake Leelanau, the specialty wine and gourmet food shop Peninsula Provisions is thriving and embracing the busy summer season. Kate Vilter Stassen, who owns and operates the business with her husband, Coenraad, said that she loves being able to still work in the wine industry after so many years. 07/31/2024 06:36 PM
The Northern Lights were on dazzling display last Thursday evening throughout much of the state including northern lower Michigan. Enterprise photo by Meakalia Previch-Liu
Dark skies in Leelanau dazzle stargazers
With all of the natural beauty found on the Leelanau peninsula during the daytime, it’s no surprise that the county is also just as fantastically eye-catching during the evening. Michigan is a great place for stargazers to take in the night sky all year-round. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
Friday nights in Northport are hopping with Music in the Park. Enterprise file photo
Music in the Park
Every Friday night throughout the summer, both visitors and locals make their way up the peninsula to attend Music in the Park at Northport’s Marina Park. This year is no different, except for the fact that longtime sound technician and Northport native Kent Holton has retired. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
The “nourishing mind” cocktail, one of three zero-proof drinks featured on the menu of the first Hive Social Club event in March, is made of Audacia’s floral berry elixir and paired with Hive housemade raspberry syrup and Alchemy & Co’s nourish herbal tea, garnished with a smoking spri...
Hive Social Club offers night activity alternative
While Hive Coffee Company in downtown Suttons Bay is known for its tasty hand-crafted lattes, sandwiches, and waffles, it’s also the gathering place for its “social club” events typically held from 6 to 8 p.m. when scheduled. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
The Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse in Empire was built in memory of Robert Manning, a passionate boater and fisherman, who often spoke about his desire to see a lighthouse in his hometown. When Manning passed away at age 62 in 1989, his family and friends privately built a small lig...
Lighthouses:
Advancements in technology have greatly reduced the need for conventional lighthouses and their keepers, and there are no active manually operated lighthouses in Leelanau County. However, this infamously lonely and physically straining job was essential to keeping boat traffic moving in a time when much of the county’s economy depended on sea travel. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
The Lanphier Observatory, on the campus of The Leelanau School in Glen Arbor, is open for stargazers who see constellations, potentially planets and northern lights, and the international space station as it makes its way overhead. Courtesy photo
Public welcome to stargaze at Lanphier Observatory
This summer, the Leelanau School’s Lanphier Observatory is open to the public for stargazing, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It takes place every Wednesday and Thursday starting through Aug. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
Star parties at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore offer a chance to get a close up view of the moon and more.
Look to the heavens
Star parties at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL) have quickly become a Leelanau family tradition of admiring the night sky in northern Michigan. SBDNL hosted a star party earlier this month. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
Leland native Ethan Hohnke first saw the northern lights in 2021 and never looked back. Since then he has been busy chasing spectacular Leelanau auroras. Courtesy photo
Leland photographer takes aim at night sky
Snapping sunrises, sunsets, and eventually night skies have been Leland native Ethan Hohnke’s passion ever since he first picked up a camera or cell phone. On March 20, 2021, Hohnke saw the northern lights for the first time. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
Leelanau night photographer Ethan Hohnke takes a self portrait under a strong aurora on the shores of Lake Michigan. Courtesy photo
Leelanau night photographer Ethan Hohnke
Leelanau night photographer Ethan Hohnke takes a self portrait under a strong aurora on the shores of Lake Michigan. 07/24/2024 03:46 PM
Helping Hands: S. Fox Island
Helping Hands: S. Fox Island
The Fox Island Lighthouse Association (FILA) is a non-profit that has transformed one of the oldest and most remote light stations on the Great Lakes thanks to hundreds of helping hands after nearly two decades of renovation. 07/17/2024 05:06 PM
Newsletter

Sign up for our free newsletter:

* indicates required
Support
e-Edition
Leelanau Enterprise
ventureproperties
silversource
enterprise printing