Foodstuffs command big bucks in Traverse City area

Money does grow on trees in northern Michigan -- and under them, too.

Around Traverse City, cherries are a major money crop, celebrated by the famous National Cherry Festival (July 5-12, 2008). At Black Star Farms tucked into scenic Leelanau Peninsula, pears ripen under glass in orchards, later to be sold as pear brandy, a French-style digestif (at $60 a bottle, including the liquor-soaked pear).

As for looking under trees, Michigan's annual "Gold Rush" occurs in spring, which is a particularly pleasant time to wander the North Woods. Wildflowers are in bloom, the forest floor carpeted with white blossoms of trillium. Songbirds have returned from their winter migration and bugs have not yet appeared. For foodies who enjoy wandering the woods, there is an additional reason: This is morel season.

These highly prized fungi (that can bring up to $45 a pound fresh and up to $160 a pound dried) have a spring season of about three weeks that begins when daytime temperatures climb into the 70s, with evening temperatures in the 40s. Black morels appear first, between about late April and the end of May. The season for the more prized (and more expensive) white morels ranges between mid-May and mid-June. Each spring, thousands of gourmands descend on the woodlands, equipped with long sticks and mesh bags.

But you don't need to be a fungi fancier -- or, "'shroomer," as aficionados are known -- to enjoy the North Woods in spring. For many, the attraction is the number and diversity of wildflowers, especially "spring ephemerals," shy plants that grow, bloom and disappear during a few brief weeks.

Join one of several Traverse City environmental groups that hold annual wildflower walks and you'll be introduced to blue hepaticas and violets, red columbines, yellow trout lilies and bellworts and purple gaywings. Enjoy the bright colors and sweet-scented air of the North Woods on a warm spring day.

The signature wildflower of these forests and meadows is the showy trillium with its large white blossoms. Trilliums are so called because each plant bears only three leaves and a single flower with three petals.

Look for northern Michigan's native orchids -- pink and yellow lady-slippers -- and also for the whimsically named Dutchman's Breeches, which do resemble pairs of upside-down puffy, white bloomers.

Among many spots to admire spring wildflowers are the hardwood forests of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which offers ranger walks, and Grass River Natural Area, a preserve with boardwalks and observation platforms where visitors can observe rare orchids and other wetlands species without getting their feet wet.

Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy supervises a network of 28 nature preserves and also conducts guided spring wildflower walks. Grand Traverse Natural Education Reserve, on the banks of the Boardman River, encompasses several miles of mixed forest, wetlands and meadows and also conducts spring wildflower walks and publishes a self-guiding brochure for those who prefer to explore on their own.

If you're interested in combining shopping, wine tasting and fine dining with your wildlife spotting and morel hunting, head for Grand Traverse Commons. There, you'll discover an innovative adaptive-use project where an abandoned mental asylum is becoming a hot destination as a "walkable, mixed-use village."

It offers almost 500 acres of forested hills, spring-fed streams, flowery meadows and winding trails, plus the castle-like buildings of the asylum itself (think Central Park meets Castle Dracula).

Back in 1885, the state of Michigan chose the site for its fresh air and beautiful surroundings. The hospital became a huge park filled with Victorian-Italianate buildings of golden brick and planted with exotic trees collected from around the world. It became a small, self-sufficient community with a population that at one point reached 3,500.

Given its antecedents, Grand Traverse Commons might seem a surprising location for one of the region's most romantic restaurants. Nonetheless, located in the cellar of the abandoned asylum, Trattoria Stella is an intimate Italian eatery with vaulted ceilings, deep-set windows and venerable brick walls where flickering candlelight casts a gold patina. Lingering over an aperitif, it's not much of a stretch to imagine yourself in some Tuscan monastery or a castle in Calabria.

Emphasis is on local products, including specialty wines and cheeses, with nearly everything made in-house, including bread, most pastas, sauces, dressings and desserts (including house-made gelato). Start with carpaccio of beef or pan-seared sea scallops with black truffle vinaigrette and move on to pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin or, perhaps, beef ravioli or sauteed calamari with Parmesan polenta.

The Commons also is the home of Left Foot Charley winery and tasting room (in the former laundry building). Owner/winemaker Bryan Ulbrich is focusing on wines produced from grapes that thrive in northern Michigan. These include Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Gewurztraminer.

Other stops include a coffee bar and Pleasanton Brick Oven Bakery, creating hearth-baked organic breads. There also is a specialty florist and boutique with fine art and art jewelry.

Plans have been announced to open an 80-room boutique hotel (scheduled for completion in 2008) that will include restaurant and bar in two of the original Victorian cottage residences and their connecting dining hall.

If you go

Information: Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 872-8377, www.mytraversecity.com; Travel Michigan, (888) 784-7328, www.michigan.org.

Mileage: Traverse City is about 320 miles northeast of Chicago.