I was so excited to go to Mackinac Island and it had been on my list for quite some time. After visiting however, I have mixed emotions. There are parts of it that I absolutely loved—the ferry ride over to the island, the 8 mile bike ride around the island, the horse drawn carriages, no motorized vehicles, the fact that there are no fast food chains, and, of course, the fudge. What I didn’t like […]
The entire reason for this road trip was a conference I was attending in Traverse City. I had never been, nor had I done any research before we went, so I had little to no expectations except to hopefully see some fall color. Well the fall color was nothing short of amazing and each vista truly looked like a photoshopped postcard. But what we weren’t counting on was how much we would love Traverse City […]
We drove through and stopped in Leland for dinner after spending some time at Sleeping Bear Dunes. I had seen pictures in Midwest Living Magazine but it was so much cuter than we expected and I was disappointed that I hadn’t allotted more time to spend there! Leland itself is a picturesque little village located on a sliver of land between Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau, on the beautiful Leelanau Peninsula, a 25 minute drive north […]
Bring your sense of adventure and plenty of energy if you plan to hike the dunes here. The tallest at 450 feet offers the best views from the top and is certainly more fun to run down than to climb up. We spent the entire day driving the parks 37 miles getting out of the car frequently to hike some of the smaller dunes and take in all that spectacular Lake Michigan shoreline. It’s certainly […]
While heading to Sleeping Bear Dunes, we decided to make a detour to Point Betsie after seeing pictures in a gift shop (supposedly one of the most photographed lighthouses in all of Michigan). An absolutely lovely red and white lighthouse situated on a bluff on a nice stretch of sandy beach. It was so windy while we were there and the waves were crashing over the breakwater making for a memorable visit. Definitely worth a stop.
This was the first stop on our way up the Michigan shore to Mackinac Island. It is about a 2 mile walk one way from the parking lot to the lighthouse and for some this might be a problem (there is a bus that runs occasionally—you can find dates/times here http://www.splka.org/schedule.html). For us, after being in the car almost the whole day, it felt great to stretch the legs and take in some of the lakeshore. […]