When we are in search of a quick getaway, what we’re mostly after is a chance to recharge. Maybe it’s been a busy week at work or you’ve lost that certain focus you gain only when you’ve hit the road for a couple of days. Maybe you don’t even need a reason other than to unwind.

We’ve shared with you many kinds of excursions that can be had here in Michigan, from the adventurous to the relaxing, from trips in the many towns and cities, to remote destinations.

But where would you go if you were in need of getting those creative juices flowing again? Maybe a place where someone of legendary talent once ventured off to when in need of inspiration. Maybe that some place is the quaint, coastal community of Petoskey in Northern Michigan.

Here’s why.

1. Petoskey was the longtime summer home to legendary author and journalist Ernest Hemingway, dating back to the turn of the 20th century.
By Lloyd Arnold - http://www.phoodie.info/2013/07/19/from-the-desk-of-ernest-hemingway-this-weekend-cuba-libre-celebrates-my-birthday/, Public Domain
2. He spent much of his youth right alongside the banks of Walloon Lake.
Don...The UpNorth Memories Guy... Harrison/Flickr
Pictured here, Hemingway in July 1904, fishing in Horton's Creek. (Photograph in the Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston)
3. The town's Gaslamp Shopping District still maintains the same charm it did when the icon strolled the streets.
Michigan Municipal League/Flickr
4. Many of the establishments said to be Hemingway's favorite haunts continue to draw in regulars and tourists alike.
MaryLiz S./Yelp
Pictured here is the City Park Grill, a local landmark, constructed in 1879. The writer is said to have frequented the place to play billiards.

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5. Another Hemingway haunt...
David A./Yelp
6. And the Carnegie Building, formally the public library, where the author spent much of his time.
Keith Ewing/Flickr
7. Hemingway's spiritual presence in the Petoskey area is so strong that the newly opened Hotel Walloon is planning its first-ever weekend getaway special in his honor.
Hotel Walloon/Facebook
Its three-day "Walloon Lake: The Last Good Country, an Ernest Hemingway Occasion" event is to take place April 29-May 1. Booked guests will get to explore the famed author's boyhood stomping grounds, learn about his life in Michigan, and try Hemingway-inspired food and drink.
8. The best part about this unique trip is its proximity to the soothing waters.
Charles Dawley/Flickr
You're just a stone's throw away from the Little Traverse Bay and Walloon Lake, pictured here.

So what are you waiting for? Ready to pack up your journals and get started on that writer’s retreat you’ve been daydreaming about? We know we are!

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