It’s peak color season in Michigan, and as such, it’s a great opportunity to hop in the car and head up north for some truly breathtaking views, particularly if (like me) you were unable to enjoy a summer getaway this year.

An excellent place to visit if (again like me) you like good beer and good food with your fall foliage is Traverse City and the Old Mission Peninsula, home to both Bowers Harbor Inn and Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant and Brewery, a sort of big brother to Ann Arbor’s Jolly Pumpkin Café and Brewery. All three are part of Northern United Brewing Co., which also contracts to produce bottled beers for Grizzly Peak and its sister pub, Traverse's North Peak.

At the invitation of Grizzly Peak owner Jon Carlson, a longtime friend of Northern United partner and Jolly Pumpkin brewer Ron Jeffries, I made the trek up north Oct. 17 with my special lady friend in tow. Bowers Harbor Inn and Jolly Pumpkin share a beautiful old Victorian mansion situated within spitting distance of Grand Traverse Bay’s West Arm, where you can see the sun set if you happen to be looking out the right window at the right time of the evening.

‘She makes her presence known’

The mansion is also said to be haunted by the spurned wife of the Chicago lumber baron who built the place for his summer residence. The story goes that the lumber baron commenced an affair with his invalid wife’s nurse and, upon his death, left everything to the nurse instead of his wife, who reacted by hanging herself in the elevator shaft.

“She definitely makes her presence known,” said Bowers Harbor chef Paul Olson, our host on this enchanted evening. “Once there were a few of us out here cleaning up after hours, and a glass jumped off the rack by itself—there was nobody anywhere near it.”

Ashley, our server, and guitar virtuoso John Wunsch, who provided live musical accompaniment, also had ghostly tales to tell. Wunsch even wrote a song about the spirit, named Genevieve, which he said he once performed with his guitar out of tune.

“She didn’t like me doing that to her song,” he said. “The fire sprinklers came on when I was done and no one could shut them off. There was a lot of water damage from that particular incident.

“I never performed the song like that again,” he added.

Dinner with and without Genevieve

Perhaps to keep her appeased this year, Olson and the rest of the staff hosted a “Dinner with Genevieve” on Oct. 30 in honor of the lady of the house. The three-course meal featured such creations as Butternut Squash and Honey Crisp Apple Soup, Pan-Seared Prosciutto Wrapped Walleye, and Red Wine Braised Yankee Pot Roast.

But on the night of our visit, Chef Paul served up some other exceptionally mouthwatering delicacies, which I will describe (with pictures!) to your jealousy, below:

First up was goat cheese ravioli, a wonton dumpling filled with, you guessed it, goat cheese and swimming in a lobster-sherry-chanterelle-and-porcini mushroom sauce. This is best summed up in one word: amazing.

Next came a portion of rainbow trout topped with pickled onions in butternut squash risotto. As one who drools at the sight of salmon, I found the similar taste and texture of the trout to be scrumptious (is that a good food critic word, scrumptious?)

We finished with a lamb chop with baby Brussels sprouts and goat cheese grits. Another highly technical food critic word works here: yummy.

And finally, for dessert, we had pumpkin crème brulee, which is just like it sounds; it was also known as Best. Dessert. Ever. I’m not normally much of a dessert person, but I could have eaten a vat of this stuff. I might have, too, if my special lady friend had not fortunately insisted we retire for the evening.

We accompanied each course with a sampler of pumpkin, amber, wheat, and bitter ales, all brewed onsite, of course. My special lady friend enjoyed the cabernet blanc, also produced at Bowers Harbor. Of all the beers, the bitter was my favorite—and it was Chef Paul’s as well.

“I could drink this all day,” he said.

Lucky for our taste buds, he didn’t—our meal might have turned out a little differently.

‘Trebuchet, not catapult’: Jolly Pumpkin’s PumpkinFest

The following day—after a restful night at the Grey Hare Inn Bed & Breakfast we returned for Jolly Pumpkin’s PumpinFest, a family-style event that included live music, pumpkin carving, and a buffet of tasty morsels. But on this day we focused more on the great selection of in-house beers and wines and the hurling of pumpkins from a homemade catapult—

“It’s a trebuchet, not a catapult,” one observer explained to his wife.*

—into the field behind the adjacent vineyard. Mere words cannot describe how pointlessly awesome and awesomely pointless this activity was. Luckily, your correspondent took a video (you may need to give the YouTubes a minute to load the embed— or go directly to the video here):

See? I could never have done this justice.

Your Old Mission, should you accept it

In summary, if you’re looking for a quick weekend getaway that satisfies your romantic need for picturesque natural beauty and your beer lover’s need for quality Michigan brews (paired with excellent food!), you can’t beat Michigan’s Old Mission Peninsula. And while you’re on the peninsula, you will be hard pressed to beat Bowers Harbor Inn and Jolly Pumpkin Restaurant and Brewery. It’s not too late to enjoy the scenery—or the beer. But if you can’t make it up north this fall, well, there’s always next year. We’ll be the ones sitting in the best seats to watch the sunset.

Addendum

Three beers brewed at Bowers Harbor Inn—the Diabolical India Pale Ale, Majestic Wheat Ale, and Siren Amber Ale—are currently available down here at Ann Arbor’s Jolly Pumpkin Café and will soon be available in bottles in local stores. Stay tuned later this week or early next week for a more detailed story on the beers and some notes on its brewer, Mike Hall.

Oh—you’re wondering, did we see Genevieve the Ghost? We did not, although there is an interesting anomaly in the background that wasn't there when I took this picture of my lady friend. You be the judge!

Until next time, cheers!

* Come on, dude, a trebuchet is a type of catapult.

David Bardallis is a freelance writer and editor, blogger, bon vivant, and man about town. Visit his Web site, DavidBardallis.com, to engage his services or read his latest. Email your beer-related thoughts to annarborbeer@gmail.com.