With all the holidays at hand, it’s time to enjoy some forced family fun. How about some Leelanau Trivia? Loser does the dishes!

Leelanau has the second-highest proportion of water area of any county in the United States. What county has the first?
Answer: Keweenaw County in the U.P.
Bonus: Who has visited both counties or can find Keweenaw on a map?

How many miles of shoreline does Leelanau County have and how many sides touch Lake Michigan?
Answer: It is bordered on three sides by Lake Michigan, with 100 miles of shoreline.
Bonus: What town is at the northern most tip of the county? Northport!

How many inland lakes does the county have?
Answer: 33
Bonus: Name as many as you can think of – here is a partial list: Cedar, Duck, Gilbert, Glen, Little Glen, Lime, Little Traverse, North and South Leelanau, School, North and South Bar, Shisler and Shell (Briggs). Can you list the others?

What lake has a “sea monster” in it, according to local lore?
Answer: Lake Leelanau. The story is shared here.
Bonus: Extra points if there are believers in the room.

How long and wide is Grand Traverse Bay, which borders Leelanau Peninsula?
Answer: The bay is 32 miles long and 10 miles wide.
Bonus: How deep? Up to 620 feet in spots. About the height of the Space Needle!

What are the names of the two famous boats at Fishtown?
Answer: The Janice Sue and the Joy are owned and operated by the Fishtown Preservation Society.
Bonus: What kinds of boats are they? The Janice Sue is a gill net tug and was built in Wisconsin in 1958 for Leland fisherman Louis Steffens. The Joy is a trap net tug and was built in Leelanau County in 1981 for Ross Lang.

What is the highest point in Leelanau County?
Answer: Varney Hill. There are 11 named mountains in Leelanau County. Varney Hill is the highest point at over 1,100 feet and located near Oviatt Road and Maple City Highway/669 near Burdickville.)
Bonus: What is the most prominent mountain? Shauger Hill.

What was Maple City’s original name?
Answer: Maple City was founded in 1866 and was originally called Peg Town because William Parks and J. T. Sturtevent built a shoe peg factory that same year. When the post office was established in 1875 – in a stand of grand maples – the name Maple City was chosen.
Bonus: What is a shoe peg? A wooden peg used to attach soles to the upper part of shoes.
 
How long does it take Pitcher's thistle (also known as dune thistle) to bloom?
Answer: It blooms only once - when the plant is 7 years old!
Bonus: Where can this be found? This native thistle grows only on Great Lakes and can be found on the sand dunes in Leelanau County. This is a threatened species. Tread lightly!

How many miles of beach are there in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore?
Answer: 35 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Bonus: How many hiking trails are there in the Lakeshore? 13. Try naming them all. Here’s a partial list: Alligator Hill, Empire Bluff, Windy Moraine, Sleeping Bear Heritage, Platte Plains and Shauger Hill.

How long is Pierce Stocking Drive?
Answer: 7.4 miles (which includes a covered bridge!)
Bonus: How many cars make the drive in a typical year? More than 80,000 vehicles make the trip, in addition to bicyclists, hikers and skiers who use the road each year during the off season.

What two lakes is Lake Leelanau situated between:
Answer: North and South Leelanau lakes.
Bonus: What did Native Americans first call the land between the lakes? “Ke-ski-bi-ag,” which means “narrow body of water.” One of the stories behind the settlement of Lake Leelanau says that in 1871 a Frenchman was seeking his fortune drilling for oil, and instead, hit an enormous artesian well that still flows today. 

How many wineries are on the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail?
Answer: 22
Bonus: List as many as you can. Here’s a partial list: Bel Lago, Boathouse, Chateau Fontaine, Cherry Republic, French Valley, 45 North, Aurora, Dune Bird and Silver Leaf.

Now keep the (Leelanau!) wine flowing and enjoy the arguments that have ensued from trivia night. Happy Holidays from The Leelanau Ticker!