We started our visit in Grand Haven for a few days. There had to be 5 ice cream shops within a few blocks of each other… little did we realize, this was just the start of the ice cream places in Michigan. We also walked along the water and out to the beach. They are redoing the pier to the lighthouse but so many warnings about riptides in the Lake. They had red flags out the day we went, which meant do not go in water but even with all the warnings and notices, still lots of people in the water.
Petoskey
We arrived at the campground and the ladies inside immediately told the girls they were just in time for Root Beer Floats in the main area. They had never heard of them and wanted to try so how could we possibly say no to more ice cream? We actually stayed here 5 nights, longest of anywhere. We were talking with our neighbors and the kids fell in love with their dog, Winston – a golden doodle. He was the best with them. They played with him for at least 45 minutes. At the end, Zoe asked me if we could bake him special dog treats for tomorrow but I had to explain we were leaving in morning. So, she gave him a kiss and told him she would love him forever. (picture of it below). We tried to go to the pool after playing with Winston (July 4th) but, turns out it was closed for park event (that we could attend but not swim). We decided to make most of it and pulled out the hose to play in. Then, ate outside.
Harbor Springs
Deer Park, they help rehabilitate injured deers (or so we were told). Someone came to feed them carrots while we were there, but someone must have fed them earlier in the morning because none of the 5 deers we saw got up to eat. Found a playground on the beach. Convinced kids to run into water and they ran back out just as quickly. It was very cold. And, yes – of course, every corner has an ice cream shop so more ice cream.
Tunnel of Trees
Tunnel of Trees is a 20-25 mile stretch of road that has no center line and narrow/windy road. But, one side opens up to Lake Michigan at various places, some places are just surrounded with trees and it turned out to be really pretty. I could only imagine driving it in fall. Craig read about Legs Inn restaurant on trip advisor so when we happened upon it, we stopped. It was Polish-American and so delicious with incredible views. There was a 30 minute wait to eat there but, well worth it.
Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw)
No cars, only ambulance and police have vehicles. Otherwise, horses, bicycles or walking is how you get around. We took the ferry over and grabbed a carriage ride around the island. Took some photos at the Arch (almost got left by our carriage), saw Fort Mackinac, had lunch at the Grand Hotel and toured it (has the longest balcony anywhere – 600 feet), walked around some, went to the toy store and let the kids try fudge from one of the 12-15 fudge shops on this small island. They decided they liked ice cream more and of course, had more ice cream… The island is very unique and if you are close enough, I would suggest visiting it. It was very cold and misty the day we went, so we rode inside the ferry on way over (and went under Mackinac Bridge). On the way back, the girls insisted on riding up top, even though we kept trying to explain it would be cold and windy. Hence, the crazy photos of them not being happy on the top during the cold and windy trip back… but, at least there was a playground on the walk back to the car.
SOO Locks
They say this is the largest, but we think Panama would be? We haven’t really looked further into it. It was neat for the kids to see but, being 4 and 6, it was hard to keep them still for all the time of waiting on the boat to get into the Lock and the water to rise. With the personal boat, you can see the first photo of just the antenna then watch it start to appear as water rises.
Tahquamenon Falls
We did Lower Falls first. You can hike for 4 miles between them to get to upper but, with the kids we drove to each. When Kenzie saw the row boats on the water, she begged to rent one. Both kids wanted to try rowing, which meant more work for Craig but they had so much fun. When we got back to the shore, Kenzie said “that was not exhausting at all.” Craig just laughed. When we got to the Upper Falls, I kept telling the kids not to run and to save their energy (which Kenzie calls “injury”. ) After we went down the first 112 steps to the gorge, she was saying it wasn’t bad and was all still happy… until, having to come back up. Then, we had to convince them to go another 94 steps in a different area to the viewing platform. Luckily, they were not as steep so kids did really well.
Lower Falls:
Upper Falls:
Dinner at Upper Falls Pub and Drive Back
Sun doesn’t set until around 10:15 here, photos of sunset below were around 10:30 pm. We had to wait quite a while to eat at Pub, but I was able to get a “craft root beer” on tap while Craig had his craft beer.
Random UP (Upper Peninsula) Photos
Going over the Mackinac Bridge, Mackinac Island off in the distance, Castle Rock, Bridge & customs to Canada.
Pictured Rocks
I explained to Kenzie there are colorful cliffs/rocks and we are going to do a boat cruise so we can actually see them. She seemed excited. When we got to boat area, we had to wait for 30 minutes outside, in the heat. Both kids were ready to be done before boarding for the 2.5 hour boat ride. Once we got on the boat and made it to see some of the rocks, Kenzie kept saying “these aren’t rainbow colors, I don’t get it.” I explained they have colors from the minerals, and she was not impressed. Zoe was beyond over it. We thought it was beautiful but hard to enjoy with the kids being so bored. It was definitely hot, which didn’t help. When we got back, Kenzie said “I can’t believe you took us on a boat ride that didn’t go anywhere – not even to the other side and all to look at rocks.”
We drove from Pictured Rocks to the next camp ground, City of Marquette. On the way, we passed a very small (population 400) town called Christmas, MI. They had a giant 35 foot wooden Santa (painted on both sides) and a very large blow up Santa. While Zoe got very excited seeing them, I was so hungry and busy stuffing my face with Ruffles that I missed getting any photos. Before I could wipe my hands, we were out of that town. So, I googled some photos to at least show you what we saw. On the way out of our campground, Craig mentioned he thought we might pass back through Christmas (we did not) but Zoe immediately popped up and looked out her window. The photos of Kenzie are just showing her latest obsession with drawing spiders to try to scare me.
dewbus 