Michigan Vacation help needed!

[570traveler]

Today we started in Holland. Rainy but we were headed north.
Stopped in Grand Haven to see the light house. The roads were covered with water in spots because the water was hitting the shoreline so hard. We saw a few surfers out (it looked really bad out but I guess they like the waves)
Next stop, Muskegon. We toured the USS LST 393. I think we were the first and only ones there. We walked by the Hackley & Hume houses. They were beautiful! Ate lunch at Dr. Rolfs BBQ. We really enjoyed our meal. Sat outside & the weather was nice.
We made a pit stop at Silver Lake to see the dunes.
Last stop was Manistee. We checked into our hotel then ventured around town. Stopped at both the first street beach and fifth street beach. The water was calm so we walked out to the lighthouse.
Got take out and took it to a small roadside beach we found while we were driving around & watched the sun set. What a beautiful way to end the day!
Tomorrow we head further north.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Thanks OP and everyone, totally love this thread!! (And Portillo's, lucky for me I go back to IL every few weeks to see my youngest DD and family, Portillo's is an easy stop) Safe travels

 

[floridafam]

My dad said a huge storm blew through last night while he was sleeping. He’s in the Marne area.

it was a pretty rough day in Grand Haven. Several water rescues from what I’ve read.

 

[floridafam]

Yep, it is a mess. This is my parents’ driveway in petoskey. View attachment 511651

Oh my goodness. I’m glad they are okay.

 

[570traveler]

Today we headed north from Manistee on M-22. Found a cool scenic lookout. Lots of steps but worth it!

Continued on M-22 to Sleeping Bear Dunes. The road to travel through it is closed but while driving around it we found a dune climb. Silly me wanted to see what was at the top lol. Walked most of the way then realized it was just more dunes to climb up there.


Continued to Traverse City and had lunch at Grand Traverse Pie company. Got the chicken pot pie combo with apple pie. Was that good! I was starving after climbing that dune.
Then we drove to Mission Point Lighthouse. What a beautiful drive along the peninsula.


Next Stop mushroom houses and beach (to look for cool rocks) in Charlevoix.


We drove to our hotel in Petrosky and checked in. Then headed to M-119. We drove all the way to Cross Village. I really wanted to eat at Legs Inn because I’m part polish and have grown up with this kind of food. It was an hour wait for a table but the food did not disappoint. We really loved the Tunnel of Trees!

Headed back to our hotel and stopped by the lighthouse in Petrosky just in time to see the sunset. @havaneselover still quite a few trees down in the area
It was a really long day but we are loving our time in Michigan so far. Temperatures have gone down and are chilly for me (mid 60’s) but my DH is loving it. Tomorrow we head further north.

 

[havaneselover]

Today we headed north from Manistee on M-22. Found a cool scenic lookout. Lots of steps but worth it!
View attachment 512096
Continued on M-22 to Sleeping Bear Dunes. The road to travel through it is closed but while driving around it we found a dune climb. Silly me wanted to see what was at the top lol. Walked most of the way then realized it was just more dunes to climb up there.

View attachment 512097
Continued to Traverse City and had lunch at Grand Traverse Pie company. Got the chicken pot pie combo with apple pie. Was that good! I was starving after climbing that dune.
Then we drove to Mission Point Lighthouse. What a beautiful drive along the peninsula.

View attachment 512098
Next Stop mushroom houses and beach (to look for cool rocks) in Charlevoix.

View attachment 512099
We drove to our hotel in Petrosky and checked in. Then headed to M-119. We drove all the way to Cross Village. I really wanted to eat at Legs Inn because I’m part polish and have grown up with this kind of food. It was an hour wait for a table but the food did not disappoint. We really loved the Tunnel of Trees!
View attachment 512100
Headed back to our hotel and stopped by the lighthouse in Petrosky just in time to see the sunset. @havaneselover still quite a few trees down in the area
It was a really long day but we are loving our time in Michigan so far. Temperatures have gone down and are chilly for me (mid 60’s) but my DH is loving it. Tomorrow we head further north.

Loving your trip report. Looks like you are making amazing memories.

 

[bearzabout]

I’m so glad you are enjoying your trip so far. Don’t forget to make a quick stop at the free bridge museum in Mackinaw City. It is on the second floor above Mama Mia‘s Pizzaria on Central Ave.

 

[570traveler]

Started our drive north from Petoskey.
Drove over the Mackinac Bridge. It was beautiful. A little construction but no traffic so that was a plus.
We skipped Castle Rock. Just wasn’t sure we were up to all the steps.
Drive straight to lower falls at Tahquamenon Falls State Park.

Had lunch from the stand there. Tried a pasty for the first time. We both liked it (although we had nothing to compare it to lol)

Traveled to the upper falls. We did walk the 94 steps and it was so worth it!


Left the park and drove to Whitefish point. Walked around a bit and looked for more stones. While there got an alert from Verizon welcoming me to Canada lol

Started our drive to Sault Ste. Marie and saw a food truck by Paradise. We wanted to try whitefish so we stopped for a quick snack.
Checked into our hotel and then went to check out the Soo locks. We got there just as a freighter was coming through. The observation area is closed so we had to watch from the sidewalk. Drove down to get a view of the bridge to Canada.


I think I enjoyed today the best so far. Love the UP!

 

[bearzabout]

There is a hotline you can call to find out when freighters will pass and which direction they are going. It just started up on 7/10. Call 906-253-9290 for the freighter schedule.

My dad grew up in Sault St Marie. He used to dive into the locks
next to the freighters to retrive change thrown in by people on the freighters. In winter, there was so much snow at times that they had to use a second story window to get out to shovel.

A pasty is best dipped in tasty gravy. Otherwise, they can be a bit bland.

Make sure to stop at Manleys in St Ignace to try their smoked whitefish and trout. Most good restaurants on Mackinaw Island will have fried whitefish or smoked whitefish dip that many people like.

 

[570traveler]

Been on Mackinac Island since yesterday. Internet is spotty so I’ll update tomorrow after we leave.

 

[570traveler]

So we spent 2 nights on the island. Arrived Wednesday to overcast/lite rain skies so I think that helped keep the day crowds down a little. Skies cleared up around 2.
Had lunch at the Pink Pony. Seating outside with a great view.

Since we couldn’t check in to the hotel, we continued to walk around.
We walked all the way to Arch Rock. We hiked up the 204 steps.
We were exhausted from all the walking lol so we checked in to our hotel and took a short nap. We stayed at the Bicycle Inn Waterfront North. It was a beautiful hotel.
We were stuffed from our lunch so we just snacked for dinner (pizza and fudge lol)
Thursday was a beautiful day! We walked up by the Grand and mansions on the hill then headed over to the Fort. We got there just as they opened to avoid any crowds. Had lunch at the Tea Room. Came back for another break and I walked down to book a carriage ride.
The carriage ride was fantastic! We got an older gentleman who’s been doing it for a long time. He was so knowledgeable & was willing to answer our questions.
I took loads of pictures. I think my DH was getting tired of me stopping but the island is so peaceful.
Id like to go back sometime but we may have been spoiled by the lower crowds. Our carriage driver said how low the crowds are right now.
Have I said how much I’m enjoying this trip

 

[570traveler]

Today we took the ferry back to Saint Ignace. We used Sheplers. Convenient overnight parking area.
We drove south on M-23. This road was much closer to the lake than M-31 was on the way north. I can never tire of these views! It was another beautiful day & Lake Huron was very calm compared to Lake Michigan. I’m not sure if it’s always like that or not. We stopped at quite a few roadside areas to catch a view. We were amazed at how crystal clear the water is!
Stopped at Mancino’s in Alpena and took our lunch across the road to the park. It was on Thunder Bay & they had some info there. I think if we come back to MI (we are planning on it), I’d like to spend some time in this area.
Continued our drive down the coast and are staying in Bay City the next 2 nights.
We walked along the Riverwalk but parts of it were closed because of high water. There were many areas where trees and steps/ramps along the river are under water.

 

[maxiesmom]

Sounds like you are having a lovely trip. You hit a lot of my favorites, Whitefish Point, the locks, and the falls. I love the falls. There is a spot once you get past the fencing for the lower falls where many people wade in, or just sit on rocks. I could sit there for hours, just relaxing and feeling the stress roll off of me.

Thanks for all of the details, I'm heading up to the island in a month, and I hope the crowds stay low. They just posted that the highway around the island is open, so I'll be biking it! I hope you continue to have a great time!

 

[570traveler]

Sounds like you are having a lovely trip. You hit a lot of my favorites, Whitefish Point, the locks, and the falls. I love the falls. There is a spot once you get past the fencing for the lower falls where many people wade in, or just sit on rocks. I could sit there for hours, just relaxing and feeling the stress roll off of me.

Thanks for all of the details, I'm heading up to the island in a month, and I hope the crowds stay low. They just posted that the highway around the island is open, so I'll be biking it! I hope you continue to have a great time!

I hope you have a great trip! That’s great that they opened the highway. When we go back, we’d like to rent bikes.

 

[570traveler]

Today we decided to drive to Greenfield Village first thing this morning. We were planning on tomorrow but the weather was a bit cooler today.
Got there right after they opened. It was not crowded at all. We rarely were in an inside space with anyone else. Only some of the buildings were open (some self tour and others had a worker to talk to you). My DH loved it (I figured he would since he liked the Fort and we enjoy going to Colonial Williamsburg). The only disappointment was not being able to go in all the buildings. We would like to come back in the future to get the full experience.


There were only a few food options open there, so we grabbed a quick lunch at Taste of History.

We drove back and stopped at Bronners Christmas Village. (Funny tidbit...when we got in the car first thing in the morning, the radio station was playing Christmas music for Christmas in July so we got to listen to Christmas songs on almost our entire drive today...made going to Bronners even more fun!) Christmas is my DH favorite holiday and he absolutely loved the store. He was like just buy whatever you want lol (I refrained as we are trying to downsize and already have an attic full of decorations). Store was not crowded at all (not sure what it typically is like but the parking at my Walmart has more cars in it). We spent almost 2 hours looking at everything & then checked out the Silent Night display outside.



We had some time till supper so we drove around town a bit. We ate at Lorelei’s Lounge at the Bavarian Inn Lodge. I was really looking forward to this meal but was disappointed. It was just ok. We’ve had better German food elsewhere.
Made up for it by finding a place to get dessert. We got cupcakes from Sugar High Bakery. They were winners of Food Networks Cupcake Wars and runner up on Cake Wars (when we had cable we loved watching those shows). We got a 4 pack with the hope that the 2 extra make it home to our kids The cupcakes did not disappoint.

 

[570traveler]

So we were planning on driving home today (Monday) but decided to make our way home yesterday. As much as we loved our trip, it was a long ride home and decided to use today as a day to relax before my DH returns to work tomorrow.

We drove just over 2600 miles (doorstep to doorstep).

We both agree that we enjoyed the northern part (North of Manistee on the west coast & north of Tawas City on the East coast & the UP the best.

All our hotels were booked using the chase portal redeeming points so they were “free”. We felt they were all doing a great job keeping people safe.

I think we enjoyed the freedom during this trip. It was our first road trip with no kids (love the kids but traveling with kids ...one of which hated road trips..is a totally different experience lol). I also did not over plan...I have a tendency to plan every single minute of our vacations. But with the current situation and not knowing what might be open, I only planned a few things & we played the rest by ear. We also avoided major highways/interstates while in Michigan. Much slower pace & the views

We are hoping to do a similar trip.Next time we will drive to Chicago and drive up that side of Lake Michigan, through Wisconsin & then enter Michigan in the UP. That would give us more time to explore the UP. I’d like to visit the Petoskey area again & stay a day or 2 in the Thunder Bay Area. We’d skip the southern part of Michigan altogether.


To everyone for all your help in planning this trip.

 

[bearzabout]

If you want to skip driving to Chicago, you can take the Badger ferry from Ludington to Milwaukee. The Door peninsula in Wisconsin is spectacular. You will most likely love it.

In Houghton, NW in the UP, make sure to see the Mineral Museum. Also do a boat tour Pictured Rocks and take the ferry to Isle Royale. Plan on spending some time in the Porcupine Mountains.

Glad you enjoyed your trip!

 

[570traveler]

If you want to skip driving to Chicago, you can take the Badger ferry from Ludington to Milwaukee. The Door peninsula in Wisconsin is spectacular. You will most likely love it.

In Houghton, NW in the UP, make sure to see the Mineral Museum. Also do a boat tour Pictured Rocks and take the ferry to Isle Royale. Plan on spending some time in the Porcupine Mountains.

Glad you enjoyed your trip!

I’m already taking notes for our next adventure! I’ll definitely look into the Badger ferry. We’ve been to Chicago a few times so we wouldn’t be stopping there anyway. It may not save is any time but since I do the majority of the driving, it would be a welcomed rest!
Pictured Rocks is on the list too. Wanted to go this trip, but just couldn’t fit it in. I’ll check out Isle Royale too.

 

[bearzabout]

I just heard about Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Newberry. They have 40 bears and rescue a few cubs every year. it Is the biggest bear rescue facility in the country.

The shipwreck museum in Whitefish Point gets good reviews.

Last year, we purchased an annual pass for the Mackinac State Historic Park Pass. It allowed unlimited visits into many parks and forts around Mackinaw City and on the island. It was nice to be able to pop into both forts a few times.

So many things are closed this year in Michigan. I hope they are able to open up again next year. Make sure to verify that companies have survived the downturn. I heard even the Badger ferry is struggling financially.

Michigan has some great summer events. Check the schedule next year and see if you can build a trip around one of them.

Summers can be hot and buggy in Michigan. Did you encounter those horrible biting black flies? We love traveling in September and October when the colors change and daytime temperatures are perfect.

 

[570traveler]

I just heard about Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Newberry. They have 40 bears and rescue a few cubs every year. it Is the biggest bear rescue facility in the country.

The shipwreck museum in Whitefish Point gets good reviews.

Last year, we purchased an annual pass for the Mackinac State Historic Park Pass. It allowed unlimited visits into many parks and forts around Mackinaw City and on the island. It was nice to be able to pop into both forts a few times.

So many things are closed this year in Michigan. I hope they are able to open up again next year. Make sure to verify that companies have survived the downturn. I heard even the Badger ferry is struggling financially.

Michigan has some great summer events. Check the schedule next year and see if you can build a trip around one of them.

Summers can be hot and buggy in Michigan. Did you encounter those horrible biting black flies? We love traveling in September and October when the colors change and daytime temperatures are perfect.

The bugs/flies were not bad at all. There was only one day where we stopped later in the day at a small road side pull off that the black flies were after me.
We would love to take a fall trip (cooler temps) but since I’m a teacher it limits when we can go. The only time would be Thanksgiving break (we usually do DW) & I’m not sure what the weather (snow?) would be like in Northern Michigan at that time of the year.
I’ll definitely check that places are open before our next trip. We truly enjoyed just driving around and looking at the scenery so I’m ok if there’s not a lot of places open.