Lynda Wheatley | Author
Feels like Stealing: Harrington's Buy One, Get One Meal Deal
May 9, 2020
We won’t lie to you — it feels a little like stealing when you take advantage of the buy-one-get-one deal at Harrington’s by the Bay in Traverse City. Especially when you get back home, roughly 30 minutes after placing your order, bearing a fabulous squash soup and four ...
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Tails to Trails is Going Virtual
May 9, 2020
Much like a dog who spies an unmanned steak at eye level, TART Trails’ annual Tails to Trails fundraiser cannot be stopped. Instead of gathering hundreds of humans and pups for a single morning’s romp in the woods, this year TART is inviting folks (and their four-legged sideki...
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Acoustic's Electric BzZz
May 2, 2020
The good folks at Acoustic Tap Room are sensitive to our needs right now. Until the end of May, they are discounting their howlers … deeply: 20 percent off premium cysers, 30 percent off meads, and a staggering 50 percent off ciders. As our current need is for the sweet fruit and f...
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Parkside DIY Sammies & MABS' Atomic Mustard
May 2, 2020
These days, we’ll take excitement wherever we can get it — and for those of us stuck at home, that’s primarily in the kitchen. Which is why we’re letting you know about one of our favorite refrigerator residents, MABS’ Atomic Mustard.
Petoskey&rsq...
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Virtue Cider Rosé
April 25, 2020
Two things drew us to seek out and select a six-pack of Virtue Cider Rosé. One, it’s advertised as “an all-day drinker.” Conveniently, in this sixth week of quarantine, so are we! (Though we don’t recommend advertising it.) Two, it boasts a curiously complem...
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The Bread Lady’s Loon Cookies
April 25, 2020
To bring awareness to her beloved water birds (and her burgeoning bakery business), Rachel Beckwith — aka The Bread Lady of Lake Ann —
chose the Common Loon to be the icon of The Bread Lady logo and what might be the coolest and (sweetest/softest/perfect amount of crunch...
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Parallel 45 Says the Shows Must Go On — Even if Not Their Own
April 19, 2020
Quick on the heels of Parallel 45’s recent cancellation of its upcoming summer season at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center, Artistic Director Kit McKay announced that the group is creating a Virtual Summer Season instead. (Click here to stay ...
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Nada’s Veggie and Beef Boureks
April 18, 2020
Usually, we’re all about Nada’s fresh-made hummus, chicken schawarma pita (so garlic-y good and with a wonderfully mean punch of pickle), and tabbouleh (parsley, bulgur wheat, green onion, and tomato dressed with bright lemon juice and olive oil).
But with things a...
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Short’s London Fog
April 18, 2020
Short’s Brewing Company’s Soft Parade Shandy has officially hit store shelves (an event the Short’s gang heralded by adding it to the beers available for direct delivery to residents in Antrim, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska counties).
Normally, we’d be s...
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Be a Real-Life Bigs Mentor, Virtually
April 18, 2020
Over the past 17 years, Traverse City’s Tony Anderson has run — and finished! — 50 marathons, every single one to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Michigan, which connects kids in need with supportive mentors. The pandemic derailed plans for his f...
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Rebel Bread
April 11, 2020
Now seems like a good time to carb load. And if you’re going to do it, we suggest you do it well (i.e. no preservatives, corn syrup, soy lecithin, hydrogenated soybean oil, or other unnecessary crud) and inexpensively by packing $100 or more on one of Common Good Bakery’s Rebe...
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Potter’s Wedding Cookies
April 4, 2020
Wedding cakes are wonderful, sure, but serving something different — even if it’s just dessert — helps your wedding stand apart from the standard celebration. If we had to do it all over again, we’d skip the cake and take-home gift for wedding guests, and instead s...
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TC Elderberry Syrup
April 4, 2020
Handmade weekly in small batches, not canned or pasteurized, and full of organic elderberries, raw honey from Beulah’s Champion Hill Farm, plus a dash of organic ginger, organic cinnamon, and organic whole cloves, TC Elderberry Syrup — the only FDA-registered elderberry syrup ...
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City Park Grill's Got the Meats (& Deals)
March 28, 2020
There might be a run on meat at your local grocery store, but meat-lovin’ locals are faring just fine at City Park Grill in Petoskey. Not only has the restaurant made its lunch and dinner menus available for takeout/curbside and downtown Petoskey delivery (daily 11:30am–7pm), ...
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Brys Estate's B.E. Happy & Healthy
March 28, 2020
Some people hoard toilet paper. We stockpile essentials. And Brys Estate on Old Mission Peninsula is giving us all the incentives we need: 10 percent off orders of 12 or more bottles, shipped for only one penny. The single-penny shipping deal is also available on six-bottle order...
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Silver Spruce Brewing’s Altbier
Feb. 22, 2020
Last week, Silver Spruce Brewing’s owners and husband-wife brewers made a big announcement: The brewery they opened on Traverse City’s Eighth Street in June 2018 — just one year before the street was closed for construction for five months (the height of the tourist seas...
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Cuppa Joe’s Breakfast Sandwich
Feb. 22, 2020
Few things satisfy like the humble breakfast sammie. A modest melding of egg, cheese, ham or bacon, and some sort of bread — English muffin or bagel, usually — they’re a reliably satisfying staple of the a.m. world, no matter how you choose to arrange yours. However, whe...
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Empire Village Inn’s Ribs and Wings
Jan. 11, 2020
Our first thought on the Empire Village Inn’s Thursday night rib and wings special: How good can $1 ribs and $.50 wings be? Our second thought, with full mouth: Good. Very, very good. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised. The EVI, our go-to stop for beer and outstand...
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The Kitchen's Salmon Bowl
Dec. 21, 2019
If the run-up to the holidays has left you feeling a little peaked, consider stepping off the Buddy the Elf diet of candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup to make way for something we like to call the day-long dish: The Kitchen’s salmon bowl. It might be made for one person...
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Anderson’s Hand-pressed, Unpasteurized Cider
Nov. 16, 2019
We first caught sight of this deep amber gem of a cider in the Northern Express office fridge, a try-it, you’ll-like-it autumn offering from the folks at Anderson’s Glen Arbor Market. What caught our eye wasn’t just that promising tawny hue; it was the thin bits of whats... Read More >>