Rare Bird Brewpub

229 Lake Ave, Traverse City, MI 49684, United States

Mackinac Island, located in Northern Michigan, is a popular summer travel destination and is known for its timeless Victorian charm, Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock, being America’s Fudge Capital, and its ban of motorized vehicles since 1898 (their modes of transportation are horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, or by foot). Being a nature lover, Mackinac Island seemed like the ideal destination for a road trip last summer that wasn’t too far from Toronto. Of course, being also a food lover, I wanted to try different restaurants along the way so we had dinner at Rare Bird Brewpub in Traverse City the night before my husband and I (and our dog) took the ferry to Mackinac Island.

Rare Bird Brewpub had a patio with a chill vibe and was dog-friendly, which was one of the reasons we went there – that and the fact that my husband and I like pubs. Having a cold beer in the summer is wonderful and Rare Bird Brewpub had six of their own brewed beers on the drink menu. My husband got the one called “No Pressure”, which was an imperial stout that had notes of coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. Yummm! I drank some of it instead of getting my own because I can’t finish a whole beer…”volume issues” is what I tell everyone. 

The food at Rare Bird Brewpub was also good. I was still full from lunch so I ordered the Cobb salad and my husband got the Classic burger. The Cobb salad had a good amount of blue cheese, real bacon bits, avocado, grilled chicken, roasted tomato, and ranch sauce on the side. It was flavourful and rich. My husband’s Classic burger reminded us of a Wendy’s burger but with a pressed and crispy beef patty and garlic mayonnaise or aioli, and the french fries were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside – just the way I like it.

Rare Bird Brewpub is a nice pub to go to if you want some good beer or eats in Traverse City, Michigan. I have to admit I had chosen a different restaurant for dinner that night, but they had an hour-long waiting list so we went to Rare Bird Brewpub instead. If that didn’t happen, this blog post wouldn’t exist…

Mackinac Island

For those of you who are planning on going to Mackinac Island, here are some tips:

• The ferry, which is actually a high-speed boat, to Mackinac Island from St. Ignace is less busy than the ferry from Mackinaw City. Also, if you take the St. Ignace ferry between 9 am and 11 am, it goes under the Mackinaw Bridge (the seventh-longest suspension bridge in the world). It was a pretty cool view!
• If you plan on riding a bicycle for more than an hour on Mackinac Island, it will be cheaper to bring your own bicycle and pay $21 to take it on the ferry than to rent one for $18/h when you are there.
• There are a few ways to get to Arch Rock, but two of the common ones are: (1) You can walk up the staircase with 207 steps from Lakeshore Drive, or (2) You can hike (or bicycle) to it from behind Fort Mackinac on Arch Rock Road. We did the hike and it was a nice, leisurely walk. Otherwise, we would have had to carry our dog up 200 stairs because I don’t think she will do more than 7. 😂