Frankfort, Michigan
Always In Season - www.frankfort-elberta.com
The Frankfort - Elberta area brings to mind the fabulous shipping and lumbering heritage that is what up north in Michigan means. As is so often the case in our state, the founding of Frankfort, Michigan was tied to a Great Lakes storm and a fortunate accident. Captain Snow, on a trip out of Buffalo, was caught in a storm that threatened to destroy his ship. The area was wild and unsettled and the Captain was lucky to find the entrance to the Aux Bec Scies River and clear the sandbar. Then next day he found himself in what is now Betsie Bay.
Frankfort today, is a thriving town with a variety of specialty shops, excellent restaurants, a downtown that sits on Lake Michigan and one of the finest, least known beaches in Michigan. Here is a little secret, go north out of Frankfort on M-22 to Esch Rd. and head west. You will reach Otter Creek and one of the best beaches in the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
When I am in this area, I try to have at least one meal at the Cabbage Shed, in Elberta. George A. Douglas built the town's first general merchandise store on this site in 1867, thus the motto, "We were here before you were born." It was in the 1930's, when the warehouse was stacked floor to ceiling with cabbage for shipment by rail, that it came to be known as the "Cabbage Shed." The food is consistently very good, and you can find items on the menu that you won't find anywhere else, like their delicious borscht.