Michigan Residents OR recent visitors Need your help!

11 years ago

Wow, it's been quite a while since I have been here! I use to log in with www.thathomesite.com but it no longer works (at least on my computer) but I found it.

Now that we are retired we are considering visiting Michigan hopefully this fall or even next spring. We will head to the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan border and travel to the Mackinac bridge then make our way down to Frankenmuth and then possibly the Ferry back to Wisconsin.

I would like to know what are the spots that we should not miss - not only the typical tourist areas, but also the quaint off the tourist beaten path places that we should consider? Places to stay? Good Food? Shopping? Midweek flea markets? Anything, any place that you would recommend?

Thank you very much!

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Comments (11)

chloe_cat
11 years ago
Upper Peninsula - Pictured Rocks!!!!

Traverse City is a fun, artsy town, and near the Mackinac Bridge's "lower peninsula" road connection.

From Frankenmuth, go south to Kalamazoo. Seriously.

The Kalamazoo Air Zoo - yes, it sounds like a kids' place, but it's one of the top three air museums in the US. It's fabulous, and only $10 admission, unless you want to ride the space shuttle simulator (extra $6). You can hitch a ride in a vintage biplane for another $70/person - that's on our agenda for our next trip.

Restoration shop is open to the public, as well. Totally amazing.

Guides are volunteers, and Tuesdays are WWII vet-guide days. :)

About an hour north of Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids is beautiful and easily walkable. The Gerald Ford Presidential Museum ($7) is also worthwhile, as is the Public Museum (two blocks from the Ford Museum).

Ludington (ferry to Wisconsin) is about an hour north of GR...

Have fun!
wanda_va
11 years ago
Be sure to spend some time on Mackinaw Island! The Grand Hotel is gorgeous, and they used to have wonderful food (I guess they still do). It would be fun to stay there for a couple of days, if it's within your budget.
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Kaylee: I will concur with the response so far and again emphasize that (1) it will be very helpful to note what zone you're gardening in; (2) I will second the suggestion to obtain and/or read the Michigan Gardener's Guide; (3) contact the folks at MSU or your local county extension service; and (4) visit some of the public gardens within the state, such as the Dow Gardens in Midland, the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids; and a few others. In addition to the books noted in one response, I would also highly recommend the reading and/or purchase of both "The Fragrant Year"by Helen van Pelt Wilson & Leonie Bell and "Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden" by Eleanor Perenyi. The former is a little dated, but still one of the best books on fragrant plants in the garden and it is the only book that I've found to date that sensibly discusses the making of both the dry and moist form of pot-pourri. The later book is a gardening treasure and should be in every gardener's library. The chapter on "Failure" in a real gem and is a must read. The former book, "The Fragrant Year" is, unfortunately, out of print, but copies in excellent condition can be found at either abe.com or alibris.com - both excellent sources for books; the later book, "Green Thoughts" is still available in paperback, but hardbound copies can be found at either or the bookseller sites previously noted. In addition to these sources, I would highly recommend that you make use of the "PlantFinder" section of one of the most beautiful gardens in the Midwest - the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO. The Meijer Garden pales in comparison! You can access their home web site at this address: http://www.mobot.org. and then search for their PlantFinder section. However, if you wish to have a direct link, I listed the PlantFinder link below. Once you arrive at this gem of a site, you can search by botanical names; by common names; you can search for plants in a particular zone and then for height, width, bloom time, foliage, suitable for butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. and so on and so forth. So that you and other reading this post will have an idea of what's there and what information can be obtain, I'll provide you with a few example below. One of the more interesting plants that I "discovered" while meandering through a rural, small, but exceptionally wonderful garden place north of Manistee was Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei' What caught my eye was the color of the fall foliage on this plant. During my late spring through mid summers to this unique garden center, my eye's didn't note much of anything - mostly because, I suspect that the flower wasn't in bloom during my visits and/or had been deadheaded to produce additional bloom. Since this Geranium is hardy throughout all of Michigan, I decided to add it to our garden. Of course, this prompted a search for other varieties that had interesting fall colors and I found another variety and also added it to our garden. So for you and others reading this post, here's the link to Max Frei http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B466 And here is the link to the other Geranium that I found, which also had a nice fall color, but is only hard to zone 4. Geranium sanguineum 'Album' http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C880 The unique features of the "PlantFinder" section of the Missouri Botanical Garden came to fore a few weekends ago when Sue and I stayed at one of the most wonderful B & B we've "discovered" not to far from our neck of the woods. It the "Hoods in the Woods" B & B in the general Gaylord, MI area. Here's the link for those so interested. http://www.hoodsinthewoods.com/ In our visit/stay with this most interesting couple, we found out that they were originally from the State of Ohio where they grew a variety of roses and have been rather disappointed in not being able to grow roses in their neck of the woods due to the fact that they are essentially in zone 3/4 - confirm by the "fact" that when we arrived they still have a nice pile of snow that was about 4/5 or more feet tall and the lake/large pond on which they reside was still largely frozen over with only the edges having open water. So I introduced Jan to the PlantFinder section at the Missouri Botanical Garden, bookmarked it for her and briefly showed her how to search for plants suitable for a zone 3 area. She was amazed at what was available. Well, I do hope that this small dissertation is most useful in your gardening endeavors. Best wishes! Bill & Sue Here is a link that might be useful: PlantFinder Search page at the MBO
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chisue
11 years ago
I'd go in *early* fall to see the leaves or *late* spring to see the blossoms. Actually, I'd go in summer -- and DH, DS and I did this loop when DS was about four.

Plan a stay at the Grand Hotel and visit the fort. (Share a dinner-plate-size 'fur trader cookie'.) Holland has a tulip festival. Lower MI has Ford's Greenfield Village.

The ferry can be rough (and is a big polluter). I'd go all the way 'round the lake and include Chicago. Take the skyway through industrial Gary, then get east to U of Chicago and the museum campus along Lake Shore Drive. Stay downtown. Drive all the way up the North Shore on Sheridan Road.
Seeker.14
11 years ago
If you're driving north through Wisconsin, make it a point to visit Door County on the peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It's 'Cherry Country' with the fruit being used every which way to eat and drink--all delicious. Picturesque little towns like Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ellison Bay, Sister Bay have good eateries, nice shops and galleries. Try breakfast at The Bistro in Egg Harbor; White Gull Inn in Fish Creek or buy unique Normandy-style cider from Island Orchard Cider in Ellison Bay; and wonderful cheese at Schoolhouse Artisan Cheese in Ellison Bay or Egg Harbor and at Renard's Cheese in Sturgeon Bay. For especially fine wines, stop at Stone's Throw Winery in Baileys Harbor. Pull up a chair at Rowley's Bay Restaurant in Ellison Bay and have a cherry infused Bay Breeze adult beverage or treat yourself to Skorpa at Grandma's Swedish Bakery on the premises. You can fill your car trunk with locally made cherry products of all sorts to last until next summer's harvest. Nice people, beautiful views and vistas.
SunflowerMom
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. If anyone else has others to offer, please do so. Looking forward to the planning as well as the vacation!
pkramer60
11 years ago
For a huge flea market, Shipshewana IN has one on Tuesdays. It is right across the MI/IN line, in Amish country.

You can also do the Circle Drive Tour, through all of MI at the lakeshore, up to Mackinaw, and back into Wisconsin. http://www.lakemichigancircletour.com/

Travers City/Petrosky area is beautiful with hotels and B&B's.

Grand Rapids also has the Meijer Botanical Garden that is lovely. Not too big either and nice for a half day.

Southern MI has lots of small artsy vacation towns on the Lake Michigan side that are fun to bum around in.
susanjf_gw
11 years ago
it's such a tourist trap but the bronners Christmas store and town Frankenmuth is fun (if you've been to solvang in ca, you'll be disappointed) and the famed chicken dinner, is "ok"....(all off of I75)

the grand daddy of the auto industry ford has a great museum and greenfield village in Dearborn mi...

more on the westside of the state big bear dunes, Holland mi, grand rapids Pres.gerald ford library, and meijers gardens....

baseball season is almost over but catch a tiger game in towntown Detroit. visit greek town for dinner. heart plaza has a wonderful view across the river to Canada...in the south (a twist of land making us north of the country) we also have a couple of casinos but no cheap dining....I've never been but they do have a revolving restaurant at the top of the "ren-cen" buildings gm headquarters...my tiny gem is the pwabic tile co off of main street Jefferson..the tiles they produced grace many of the lakeside homes in Grosspoint...

This post was edited by susanjf on Fri, Aug 22, 14 at 15:21
susanjf_gw
11 years ago
oops the Christmas store is called bronners....and forgot the outlet mall on the other side of I75....
jemdandy
11 years ago
Warning: Its construction season south of Chicago. Two weeks ago, I came north on I-57, then east on I-80 for a short distance thense north on I-294 around Chicago and to Wisconsin. By 2 pm, I-80 from south side Chicago past Gary, IN was a creeping parking lot.
jemdandy
11 years ago
A tip if you plan to drive around the south end of Lake Michigan taking the tollway through Chicago (Cook County, IL). The Chicago toll roads now have EZ-Pass toll gates (electronic tolling). To use EZpass, a small transponder is attached to the inside of the windshield up near the rear view mirror. Manual tool gates are still available, but are fewer in number than before therefore expect a longer delay while in line. EZpass tolls are 1/2 the price of the manual gates!

If you travel in that part of the country, I highly recommend getting an EZpass transponder. It works for all the toll roads around Chicago and many others. It worked in Ohio.

In the Chicago area, EZpass is available at tollway oasises. Do a search by Google to find other locations. It works by setting up an account and putting funds into it via credit card. When funds run low, more can be on-line by credit card.
jemdandy
11 years ago
Did I say EZpass? Yes. The nomenclature for Illinois Toll Roads is IPass. Sorry about that.

The IPass transponder also works on several EZPass roads as well.

Michigan Residents OR recent visitors Need your help!

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