We Finally Made it to Michigan – beautiful!

Anna and I previously visited all of the states in the eastern half of our country with the exception of Michigan.  One RV park where we previously stayed, was only eighty feet from the Michigan state line.  In August of 2011, the Good Morning America program completed a contest for the most beautiful place in America.  The winner was Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan… who knew?  I researched everything I could find of interest for a trip to the area and the results were amazing.  We planned an eight week trip to western and upper Michigan, and what a joy it was.

The west coast of the state and the U.P. were gorgeous.  We spent a little over a week near the town of Empire which provided us with a base to travel to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore.  We stopped (twice) at Joe’s Tavern where I delighted in consuming the best hamburger I had ever imagined.  Just south of Empire was the town of Ludington which had pure white soaring sand dunes.  The entire town was equipped with Jeep and dune buggy rentals.  We were in the area during the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City.  What fun, with air shows over Grand Traverse Bay, numerous fair activities and cherries galore.  In the town of Glen Arbor we visited the Cherry Republic where we had Cherry Overload Ice Cream – it is to die for, and I have never had cherry pies so delicious.  We also spent a leisurely morning kayaking down the Crystal River near Glen Arbor.

Also nearby were the towns of Leland (Old Fish Town), the old mission peninsula, and Suttons Bay.  Vineyards, equestrian estates, beautiful teal blue waters in Lake Michigan and the bays, and white sandy beaches.  You would think you were in the Caribbean.  A short drive north took us to the towns of Charlevoix, and Petoskey.  These were beautiful waterfront villages with art and music fairs, great food, many shops, and activities.  While base in Petoskey, we visited lavender farms and took coastal excursions through the tunnel of trees.  The sunsets were amazing.

Soon it was time to continue north across the Mackinaw Bridge to the UP and Mackinac Island.  The island doesn’t allow any motorized vehicles and touring is either walking, bicycling, or on horse.  Quaint and beautiful.  There is still a fort on the island.  Most tourist that spend the night stay at the Grand Hotel.  While in the area we visited the world-famous Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie at the Canada border, and Tahquamenon Falls.

Our furthest point north was the town of Munising, Michigan where we camped to visit the Pictured Rocks National Seashore.  A sunset cruise took us along the shoreline of Lake Superior admiring the beautiful multi-colored rocks for almost 40 miles.  The only way to really see the beauty of this area is from the water.

Soon is was time to head south.  We planned to visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay on the return trip, but they were holding a shareholders meeting on the day we were there and no tours were allowed.  We stopped just south of there in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to witness the annual EAA Air venture fly-in at the Wittman Airport.  This is the world’s largest annual event for experimental and other aircraft.  As a former pilot, this had been on my bucket list for some time.

We continued to head south from Wisconsin and eventually made it back to the Carolinas.  This was the maiden voyage for our new motorhome and we consider the trip to be among some of our best.  Don’t miss this area if you ever have the chance to visit.  We can’t wait until our next adventure.

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As always, we hope to see you down the road.