It was a bright, sunny day as I took my morning run along country roads about 30 minutes outside of Traverse City, Michigan. My daughter-in-law’s family has a compound on Lake Leelanau, and the entire family — grandkids and all — spent a splendid week there last summer. We said goodbye to Southern heat and reveled in the cooler Michigan temperatures.
(READ MORE: Tennessee summers are getting hotter)
I didn’t realize it before my run, but I was in the heart of Michigan cherry country and felt like I had won the lottery. Trees in the orchards were heavy with ripe cherries, so I veered off the road and into an orchard, plucked a cherry from the tree and there it went, right into my mouth.
I was expecting a rush of sweetness. What I got was the most sour cherry I’ve ever eaten.
When I got back to the house, my daughter-in-law informed me that the area is known for sour cherries, rather than sweet cherries. Oh my disappointment! But it didn’t last for long because she presented us at dinner with an incredible cherry crisp topped with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I was in heaven with the first bite.