"gnarr's hometown Petoskey page" a Petoskey Travel Page by gnarr

Petoskey, where I was born and lived the majority of my life up to the point where I am now (i.e. South Korea), is located near the northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. There are approximately 11,000 people living in and around Petoskey, and more if you factor in the nearby towns of Harbor Springs and Charlevoix.

Having lived there for around 22 years, I could obviously say millions of things about the Petoskey area. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Michigan, being centrally located in the Northwest Lower Peninsula region, a tourist Mecca that includes Traverse City and extends north to Mackinac Island.

Petoskey is consistently ranked in those annoying "Best Small Towns" and "Best Places to Retire" books, but their authors do know their stuff. We are situated on Lake Michigan which, coupled with the numerous inland lakes, provies for excellent boating, fishing, and other water sports.

In the winter, a 25 minute drive will get you to any one of three of the largest ski resorts in Michigan (which pale in comparison to Colorado and such, but are pretty good for the largely flat terriain of lower Michigan.

Petoskey also gets a completely ridiculous amount of snow in the winter. Countless sessions of driveway shoveling have left this poor soul with a strong, yet arthritic back. The snowfall, however, is a boon for the aforementioned skiing, as well as snowmowbiling, cross country skiiing, and the ever fun activity of not being able to stop at intersections and plowing into the back of a van with your mother's new car. But I digress.

Summers in Petoskey are crowded, as thousands of generally too old to be driving tourists descend on the area to enjoy its beaches (note beaches, as the water is, in my opinion, too damn cold to swim in, even in summer). Summer evenings are often spent strolling through downtown Petoskey and sampling some of the local fudge. This practice has become so common among tourists that the local Petoskey term for a tourist is "a fudgie."

Petoskey is a nice place to visit, most anytime of the year, especially if you are looking for that small town quiet escape. There are many fine inns, bed and breakfasts, and private houses/cabins for rent in the area.

Petoskey - a fun place to visit, and a great place to live, unless you're a 22 year old guy who lived there his entire life and would REALLY REALLY REALLY like to see something besides farms, rednecks, and conservative leaning newspapers(see also: me).