2020-21 Catch-up: Michigan Road Trip

First stop on our 2020-21 review tour: upper Michigan! The kids had five days off for MEA, we didn't want to fly yet, but we were feeling travel-enthused after our successful Yellowstone road trip.  Karl fondly remembered his family's trip to Mackinac Island and fall in Michigan is supposed to be lovely, so I whipped up a very cool Upper Peninsula itinerary, and off we went!  

Spoiler: my very cool itinerary would have been perfect for ten days.  We did it in six.  Double spoiler: Michigan fall can be lovely.  Or it can be sleeting.  

Day 1: Drive to Porcupine Mountains

We drove straight to the Porcupine mountains, a beautiful area on the south shore of Lake Superior, about five hours from home.  The weather was chilly and drizzly but we forced the children to march.  We did the Presque Isle Waterfalls Loop, which was a lovely 1.5-mile trail, and we scored a few patches of sunshine on the way.  The kids enjoyed skipping stones into Lake Superior.  I had a number of other potential hikes on my list but the kids were at max tolerance for being cold and wet.  

We also had to drive over two hours to Marquette for dinner and lodging, which was quite a failure of planning on my part.  Somehow in my head it worked out that we could spend  half a day hiking there.  Um, no.  So although one could easily fill two days of hiking and playing in this state park, we did our short hike and loaded back into the car.  

In Marquette, we stayed in a "suite" that turned out to be a normal hotel room with a bad futon crammed in.  I think Karl and I each ended up with two kids in a double bed.  The kids loved it.  Karl and I committed to spending up for decent lodging on future travels.  

Day 2: Pictured Rocks to Mackinac

We woke up, fed the kids protein bars and trail mix in the car as is the family tradition, and headed to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Once again, this area looked so beautiful that I wanted to spend at least a few days there, yet nonetheless also thought we could make it to the Mackinac ferry by 2:30.  Turns out that I did not feel cheated of the gorgeous scenery because it was all obscured by pouring rain and gale-force winds.  We unloaded the kids at the main beach for the obligatory photo.  They were not happy to take that photo, but I am so happy I have it.  Weep for the camera, my loves!

So Pictured Rocks, which deserved at least two full days, got exactly two minutes.  We stopped for lunch and drove on to St. Ignace to catch the Shepler Ferry to Mackinac Island.  

It was still cold and windy but the kids had a great time climbing all over the giant chair and watching the boats in the harbor.  We got some sun on the ferry and enjoyed beautiful sparkling water.  Everyone loved stepping off the ferry to the old-fashioned town, with charming buildings and horse-drawn taxis.  We opted to walk up the hill to the Grand Hotel so we could see main street on the way.  We rounded the last corner and the Grand Hotel came into view, glowing in the afternoon light in all its turn-of-the-century splendor!  The kids oohed and aahed and marveled at all the grandeur; I think they thought we had been BSing them about how fancy it would be.  We checked into our frilly pink and green rooms and headed back out to explore the town.

Never seen a phone booth before!

We worked our way along Main Street, sampling every single fudge shop.  That was probably the happiest the children have ever been with us.  We considered renting bikes to do the full loop around the island but had to give up because the kids could not agree on who would ride with whom.  It was a fortuitous squabble; after walking for about ten minutes, a freak snowstorm blew in.  We were all in light jackets and sneakers, so we sprinted into the nearest open building -- the historic church.  Mass was in progress so we huddled awkwardly in the entryway and watched almost an inch of snow pile up.  

When it finally stopped, we trudged back through the slush to the hotel, jumped in hot showers to thaw out, and got dressed for our fancy dinner in the dining room.  The kids looked so adorable all cleaned up, I wore the sparkly skirt that Ingrid made me buy, Karl looked handsome in a suit, and it was fun to feel like the uber-mom as people smiled at us as we paraded to our table.  Our waiter was a delightful Jamaican man who used to work in the same area we'd visited for the last three years.  Henry ate everything off the grownup menu, the other three enjoyed generic kid food from fancy china, and I beamed at how well they can behave when they really try.

Day 3: On Mackinac

The next day, we suffered the vagaries of shoulder season in a small tourist town.  When we decided to do the trip, I checked to see if things would still be open.  Really, I did check.  It turns out the shops and museums sometimes just decide to close for the season early if the weather is bad.  

After fancy breakfast in the dining room, we started walking in pleasant fall sunshine to explore the grounds and revisit main street.  The kids started getting surly when the first several destinations were closed.  Of course, that's when the weather turned wintry again.  We did manage to visit the historic fort, which I think Henry and Ingrid would really have enjoyed if it weren't 40 degrees and sleeting.  We trudged back across town to our hotel, trying to avoid the sleet-sodden puddles of horse droppings, and carrying Heidi and Fritz while they wailed loudly.  

Karl and Henry bundled back up for their afternoon appointment at Forging A Memory.  I told the other three they could do whatever they wanted inside the hotel, so we got ridiculous cones in the cute ice cream parlor, read Boxcar Children in one of the sunny nooks in this awesome teal-ceilinged hallway, then had "happy hour" with snacks from the hotel coffee shop in our room while watching Disney Channel.  Karl and Henry came back very pleased with the weapons they had hand-forged at the blacksmith experience.  Karl got his picture on the wall for his manly hammer striking.  

We fancied up for another dinner.  Everyone agreed those dinners were the highlight of the trip!

Day 4: Mackinaw to Sleeping Bear Dunes

We waved a fond farewell to Mackinac, agreeing it would be worth a re-visit in better weather.  We reloaded the car and drove to Sleeping Bear Dunes on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.  The fall colors on the lower peninsula were stunning with all the red maples, and we had a pleasant drive until Google routed us on an upaved road winding up and down through a forest.  There were several points at which we weren't sure the van could make it, but we also couldn't turn around.  It was beautiful . . . for a hike.  The route did not belong in Google directions.

Wee found Sleeping Bear, which looked like a very cool recreation area, but of course the weather was gray and windy and just not nice enough to play on the beach or take out a kayak.  We decided to just climb the grand dune and parked right at the bottom.  Ingrid refused to get out of the car.  R-E-F-U-S-E-D.  Karl and the other kids climbed the dune while Ingrid and I glared at each other.  Family bonding!

Our last hotel was Michillinda Lodge, which had cozy little cabins and space to run around.  I think Fritz threw an epic tantrum (something about volleyball?) but that barely even registered at that stage of the trip.  Delicious dinner at Bone Ends BBQ in town.

Day 5: The Barf Ferry of Doom

Our last day was just a long commute home.  The Lake Express car ferry that crosses Lake Michigan from --------.  I thought it would be fun.  It was not.  The weather was again so stormy that there were 10 foot swells all the way across the lake.  Henry and Heidi and I took dramamine but it was futile.  We alternately stood outside in freezing winds just to get some air, and laid our heads on the table and tried not to die.  Even Fritz needed to get some air to keep from barfing.  Meanwhile, Ingrid played on her iPad while riding backwards and felt perfectly chipper.   It's good that one kid got the Grandpa Dave stomach, but I still wanted to kill her when she popped up to ask for snacks.  

So that trip was the closest thing we've ever had to a family travel fail.  Bad weather, bad planning.  Some of it is funny in retrospect, and the kids still talk about getting caught in the snowstorm as an unexpectedly charming moment, but we completely missed out on two of the four stops.  Parading everyone through the Grand Hotel was a shining moment in my 2020 memories.  I'd love to try this whole itinerary again under the family motto: BE BETTER.