The State of Michigan is cold, but when the summer comes, it is hot and beautiful! I thought Michigan would be one of those states that I would just visit, but I ended up temporarily living there. As an explorer, I figured I would get to find the hidden gems of this state, and a road trip was just the start. Starting in Detroit, my family and I took a 3-hour road trip to what they call Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The upper peninsula is said to have many lakes, waterfalls, and islands around to discover.
For this three-day weekend getaway, we decided to do two activities, visit an island and see one of the highest waterfalls. We chose to stay in Saint Ignace, MI, since in this area, many people remain to catch the ferries to Mackinac Island. When it comes to this area, you will have many options for hotels where to stay. We opted for Breakers Resort Lakeside as it was a hotel that had rooms with a lake view. Many seagull roam around the hotels, which can be fun if you are into feeding them, and kids would like to play with birds.
There are many other hotels around the hotel, but one cool place we found was a small house that sold dry fish and jerky meat.
Mackinac Island
We took a ferry to Mackinac Island. This island is unique as there are no cars on the island, and bicycles and horses seem to be the primary transportation mode. Many people bring their bikes to ride around the island, and for those tourists that don’t have their own bikes, the island has plenty of bike rental spots. The bike rental can be a bit pricey, depending on how long you want to ride around the island. I would say a good three hours is enough for you to bike around, do some site seeing, and take some rest in between discoveries that you will find on the island. There are plenty of things to see on the island from cemeteries, an airport, church, monuments, a lighthouse, beautiful homes, horses, restaurants, shops, and lots of fudge. One thing about this island they have plenty of fudge to offer and most of the stores around are bakeries, which all claim to be the best fudge in town. The island is pet friendly; expect to see many people bringing their dogs.
Tahquamenon Falls
The next day we decided to start out hike to the famous Tahquamenon Falls. There are actually two ways you can get to the falls the easy or the hard way. It is a 4-mile hike to get to the top to see the falls, or you can just drive to the top and take a quick walk to where the falls are. We took a long way, decided to hike, and I have to warn you, make sure you bring plenty of water and even snacks to walk and get to the falls. The hike to get to the top is about 2 hours long, and if you are going to get back to where you started, that is another 2 hours of hiking. Expect to take the whole day at the park if you plan on taking the long way and hike. Once you get to the top to experience, you might see more people than you expected and wondered how they got there. They took the short, less scenic route… they parked their cars and just walked some steps to see the falls.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has many things to see; it is a perfect short getaway for a family vacation. Road trips to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have some pretty scenic routes, and you will discover many small cute little towns to make quick stops. I recommend Gaylord, MI.
Vamoosenomad 