Tell Me About Mutha F'n Intermediate Lake. Please.

To bring this over to this board, I am heading there end of June with fam for a week. What say you on this area? I know Miami and InTenSity have a lot of info...

To entice, I give you: Traveling with Ginourmous Boobs:

http://savoirfaireabroad.com/living-and-traveling-ginormous-boobs/

You can't have big boobs unless you're thin... fat chicks don't have big boobs

It's a lot harder than Easy Lake, but a lot easier than Hard Lake.

RubberbandMan wrote:It's a lot harder than Easy Lake, but a lot easier than Hard Lake.

For sure, it's not Advanced Lake by any means, but worlds better than Beginner lake

Hit up The Club in Central Lake. Most of the girls have all of their teeth.

duffy munn wrote:Hit up The Club in Central Lake.  Most of the girls have all of their teeth.

That's a start.

Shorts, lulu's, dockside, turtle creek(casino size of miccosukee, but cleaner) you don't golf, there is a Mexican place on the west side of torch my sister really likes. Elk rapids has a night that they block off most streets and its family friendly. Traverse city, I think the old mental hospital was converted into a restaurant, if you are there around the 4th there is the cherry festival. Shopping at Brownwood. I'm probably leaving a lot out. You could see of schuss still has the schussycats and show at Ivanhoe(?). Text me if you want more ideas, but remember I know torch better.

Slightly more enjoyable than Lake Interstate

Sort's for the beer, Bellaire Bar for burgers and LuLu's for a nicer meal. The Central Lake Bar (CLuB) is decent by can have odd hours at times. I went there at 6:00 on a Sunday two weeks ago and it was closed. Go tot the Brownwood flea market in the morning and hit the Dockside to drink and watch boats. Bellaire has a great ice cream place called Ruthie's and a nice main street to walk around. Get out on the lake, it has big-lake space with a small-lake feel.

Anybody ever been to Bass Lake, Round Lake, Crystal Lake, Duck Lake or Mud Lake? I hear they're nice.

Mentalstate wrote:To bring this over to this board, I am heading there end of June with fam for a week. What say you on this area? I know Miami and InTenSity have a lot of info...

To entice, I give you: Traveling with Ginourmous Boobs:

http://savoirfaireabroad.com/living-and-traveling-ginormous-boobs/

I don't remember what all I said in your thread a while back on the other board, so sorry for any repeats. I spent at least 1-2 weeks (sometimes more) on Intermediate Lake every summer for the first 27 years of my life (then I moved to Florida and have been back maybe 3-4 times since). So my restaurant recommendations are probably not as up to date as some. Though Shorts in Bellaire is a must. And probably the Dockside over off Torch Lake that some people recommended, as that's a cool waterfront place where Clam River (?) meets Torch Lake.

Central Lake is the town on the North end of Torch Lake and is still very much a small town (good as a quaint, small town-America feel, but not a whole lot there). Bellaire to the South used to be a slightly larger small town (it was major, mind-blowing news, when they got a McDonald's), but the craft brew craze and Shorts' popularity brings the yuppies there that would have never even given it much of a thought, so it's kind of a weird mix now, at least relative to "the old days".

If it's a colder/cloudy day, or if you just want to get away from where you're staying for a while, Charlevoix is about 30-40 minutes away, depending on where you're staying. It's closer than Traverse City and much smaller, so it's an easier get away to stroll the shops and eat. There's also a beach on Lake Michigan and I think on Lake Charlevoix if the kids want to swim.

Another option that we would always do for Lake Michigan is to head over to Eastport, which is pretty close, just past the North End of Torch Lake. There's a county park that has a beach. On windy days, it gets some decent waves to ride, but your boy probably won't be impressed at all compared to the beaches here. We would go there often on windy days for those waves, and also because the windy days made for crappy water skiing.

What I find cool about Intermediate Lake is that there are about 4 different sections, all with their own feel, in some ways feeling like 4 different lakes. The most northern part is more narrow, calm, decent fishing. The upper middle part is a little wider, but still calm enough for good skiing. The lower-middle part is where the lake really widens, gets a little rough (at least too rough for good skiiing), and feels more like a good-sized inland lake. The lower arm of the lake is shallower, more weedy, but also probably the best fishing. Need to be a little careful in a boat though, as we were always told that there are more sandbars around there to watch out for. We never fished much, so didn't venture too far into that section very often though.

If you have a boat, it's nice to cruise around, because it is such a long lake. If you don't have a boat, I think you can still rent a little rowboat with a motor on the back at the marina in Central Lake. Maybe other places to rent, too, but I just remember renting one at that marina just to cruise around in when our boat was in the shop once or twice.

Are you staying at a "resort" (collection of a few cottages on the same property), or a more private cottage/house? We used to always rent at a resort in the upper-middle part of the lake, but after they sold that around the time I graduated high school, we always stayed on my aunt's family's property toward the end of the wide section of the lake.

When are you going? You better text me some pictures. And, of course, always feel free to call or text me with any questions. My brother still spends a lot of time up there, so I can always ask him questions if it's something I don't know.

tl;dnr version: It's awesome!

Roger Waymeth wrote:Anybody ever been to Bass Lake, Round Lake, Crystal Lake, Duck Lake or Mud Lake?  I hear they're nice.

Grew up on Crystal Lake. In my opinion, it's the second best lake to lake MI. Very sandy, pretty big, Way overdeveloped, but welcome to Northwest MI.

We are renting a private cottage on Intermediate for a week in August, southwest side of the lake. A bit lower than "recreation point" The cottage comes with a 16 foot fishing boat. Planning mostly to relax, let the kids swim in the water and play on the beach at the cottage, fish daily and head to some lake Mich beach. May venture to TC but we have been there a hundred times. May try Elk Rapids since we have not been there.

Are there any public beach areas on Torch lake that are not crazy party town?

I'm actually looking at Wilderness State Park:http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/details.aspx?id=509&type=SPRK


And I know Miami has a beach they go to on lake MI close by that is great for kids, weather permitting.

Rook wrote:

Are there any public beach areas on Torch lake that are not crazy party town?  

At the very Northern tip of Torch there's a public boat ramp that I believe has a swimming/beach area. Also, right near the Dockside there was always a little open/public area. I don't remember much on the quality of those as beaches, as I only had seen them, but never swam at them.

Rocinante wrote:

Grew up on Crystal Lake.  In my opinion, it's the second best lake to lake MI.  Very sandy, pretty big,  Way overdeveloped, but welcome to Northwest MI.

Elk lake>>> crystal, brah.


Then again, I'm very biased. Nearly same water as torch without the renters and boat traffic

Crystal is very nice though. I'm busting ur nuts

OP: You can drink with kid rock at dockside if you go late on the right weekend.....

DroppedByADime wrote:OP: You can drink with kid rock at dockside if you go late on the right weekend.....

Sweet, I'll be there over 2 weekends, double my rock potential!

PS- Boat rental, anyone have a hook-up?