Horton Bay General Store

From Charlevoix, travel north over the double-leaf bascule drawbridge that goes up and down to let sailing yachts and the Beaver Island ferry travel between Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan. Hug the northern edge of Lake Charlevoix and make the 15-minute drive to Horton Bay, a once-bustling lumbering community turned wee seasonal hamlet. Together with Walloon Lake, Horton Bay is best known as the childhood stomping grounds of Ernest Hemingway, and the general store he mentions in his short stories, “Up in Michigan” and “The Last Good Country” is still selling nightcrawlers today. 

New owners have given the timeless shop a whitewashed makeover, decluttering the space without spoiling its historic bones. The original, 150-year-old bakery case displays locally loved cinnamon rolls and sandwiches made on Crooked Tree Breadworks baguettes. Elevated picnic supplies, including Petoskey’s Crow and Moss chocolate and cherry tomatoes from a nearby organic farm, are displayed on carefully curated antiques true to the original period of the shop. 

Order a glass of rosé or a float made with Detroit’s Faygo, and sip it on the bench that’s on the front porch. It’s the same bench that is captured in a classic photo of Hemingway blowing smoke into the face of his first of four wives, Hadley, who is rumored to have gotten ready for their wedding upstairs—now an artfully restored two-bedroom vacation rental.