MICHIGAN'S  
NORTH COUNTRY
AND METRO DETROIT    

The staff at Otels hope you enjoy the following Travel Ideas
from travel writer (and enthusiastic naturalist) Mark Kolakowski
Best wishes on your next trip to Michigan!

4 Days Touring the "North Country" of Michigan,
     including the scenic Upper Peninsula,
        ... plus 2 days in Dearborn and metro Detroit
    
By Mark Kolakowski
Copyright © 2009 by the author

I had the opportunity to take a brief vacation in Michigan in mid-October 2009 and targeted the state’s north country, which I had never visited before. My main destinations were the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Mackinac Island on the Lake Huron side of the Straits of Mackinac (at which point Lake Michigan empties into Huron), and Grand Traverse Bay, on which sits Traverse City. An unexpected bonus was the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, west of Traverse City, which offered the most memorable scenery on the trip.
 
 
Thursday October 15

I arrived at Detroit DTW airport at about 11:30 AM, and found Avis to be short of cars. A business traveler on line behind me said that he has experienced similar problems with other car rental locations lately.

On the road by 1 p.m., my route was I-94 west to Ann Arbor, then US 23 north to Flint, where it joins I-75. I continued on I-75 north to Mackinaw City. This journey covered about 325 miles and landed me in Mackinaw City at around 5:30 PM. I decided to drive over the Mackinac Bridge (both spellings are pronounced as MACK-in-aw) and stay overnight at St. Ignace, just north of the bridge. I enjoyed an outstanding, inexpensive meal of fresh Great Lakes fish (whitefish, walleye and lake trout) at a restaurant called The Galley, recommended by the desk clerk at my hotel.

Friday October 16

My key objective this day was to take a boat tour of the Pictured Rocks out of Munising (pronounced MEW-ni-sing) harbor. This was the final week of the tours for the season, and the lone departure of the day was at 2:00 PM. I took US 2 west for 87 miles to Manistique, then north on state route 94 for 34 miles and west on state route 28 for 11 miles. The first 30 miles or so along US 2 offered many scenic stops along the north shore of Lake Michigan. At Manistique note the bridge over the river of the same name that also serves as part of a dam during spring flood stages, when the roadbed actually is below the water level. Pressed for time as I was, I had to skip turning south to Fayette and the Historic Fayette Townsite iron mining village.

After eating lunch in Munising, I had time for an 11 mile drive west along state route 28 to Au Train, which offered scenic views of Grand Island in Lake Superior, just offshore and larger than Manhattan. In particular, do not miss a scenic overlook just west of Munising. If you stay in the area, the Holiday Inn Express has a dramatic site on a high bluff above the lake.

The Pictured Rocks boat ride itself took 3 hours roundtrip, and was highly worthwhile. You get to see caves and other features carved out by wind, rain, wave, freezing and thawing. Additionally, and this is the source of their name, in many spots (see left) these cliffs are colored by minerals leaching out: blue or green from copper, red, orange or brown from iron, and white or yellow from calcium. In several places, you can see nearly perfectly vertical streaks of alternating colors.

Unfortunately, given the late hour (5:00 PM) at which the tour ended and the long drive back to St. Ignace, there was insufficient time to stop in the park itself and enjoy the hiking trails, including those that go to the lakefront. I also had to skip the Shipwreck Museum and Lighthouse at Whitefish Point, as well as Tahquamenon Falls State Parks near Paradise.

However, I did make a detour to Sault Ste. Marie (pronounce “Sault” as “Soo”), to view the famous Soo Locks that allow ships to pass between Lakes Superior and Huron on the St. Lawrence Seaway. For security reasons, the schedule of freighters’ comings and goings is not posted in advance on the Internet. The daily schedule is written on a bulletin board at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visitors’ center, where you can mount a viewing platform to see the locks.

 
Returning back in St. Ignace around 8:00 PM, I had the opportunity to dine at The Galley with an accomplished landscape photographer (some of her work is displayed on this page). This time I sampled a remarkable specialty of the house, lake whitefish livers. They look and taste remarkably like chicken livers, without the unpalatably strong flavors associated with other fish livers. I also tried the lake bluegill, another very tasty fish.

By the way, throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula you can find many bakeries and restaurants that serve pasties, a type of turnover that originated in Cornwall, England and which contains a mix of ground meat, potatoes and vegetables. The recipe was brought over by Cornish miners who came here to tap the UP’s rich deposits of iron and copper.

During my visit, many restaurants (like The Galley) and hotels were preparing to close for the season, or already had closed. Many reopen (The Galley stays shut until April) when the snow season is in full swing in late December. Snowmobiling is very popular here, and St. Ignace is the venue for the U.S. pond hockey championships.

Saturday October 17

I considered taking a ferry out to Mackinac Island (three companies operate from both St. Ignace and Mackinaw City), but opted against this, given the large distance I had to cover this day, and given that the main attraction thereon, Fort Mackinac, had closed for the season. I contented myself with views through binoculars from the southern edge of St. Ignace. Some locals whom I consulted suggested that I’d be better off saving time for Grand Traverse Bay (pronounce as TRA-verse).

Traverse City was 120 miles away via I-75, US 31 to Levering, county road 66 to Cross Village, state route 119 to Bay View, and US 31 to Traverse City. Along the way, the Tunnel of Trees along state route 119 was surprisingly interesting. The road is only a lane and a half wide for over 20 miles to Harbor City, with overhanging trees creating a tunnel effect. Beware that the road also curves a great deal. Harbor City is a popular berth for pleasure craft that evokes New England.

Bay View, just east of Petoskey, is an old summer resort town with an extensive collection of gingerbread and Queen Anne style cottages.

US 31 between Charlevoix and Traverse City is a region of apple and cherry orchards, with numerous farm stands. In the fall, look for the featured apple variety of the region, the honey crisp. It has red and yellow streaks and a sweet and tart taste. Also look for tart cherry juice, which makes a refreshing beverage. You may have to buy concentrate and dilute it with water.

In Traverse City, the North Peak Brewing Company was a bustling lunch stop with a tasty, creative menu, good beers on tap and fast service. Their Octoberfest and cask-conditioned stout were the best seasonal offerings during my visit.

From Traverse City, following Peninsula Road and/or state route 37 to the lighthouse at the tip of  the Old Mission Peninsula. This peninsula bisects Grand Traverse Bay and offers stunning views. This also is a major wine growing region and most wineries were absolutely mobbed when I visited (perhaps since it was a gorgeous autumn Saturday), with lines snaking outside many tasting rooms. The best, in my opinion, is Chateau Grand Traverse, with very good Rieslings. Chateau Chantal (pictured above) has the best setting, high atop a hill with panoramic views across the vineyards and onto both arms of the bay.

The big surprise of the trip was the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (pictured below), 25 miles from Traverse City via state route 22 north and state route 204 west from Suttons Bay. Definitely make the Dune Climb, then take the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive and stop for all the viewpoints and walks. These towering dunes and bluffs, peaking at 460 feet above Lake Michigan, are truly impressive and were the highlight of this trip.

At night, I made a diagonal drive of roughly 185 miles to Frankenmuth, via state route 116, US 10 and I-75. Beware that this is a very popular tourist stop, and even on a Saturday night in late October, absolutely all hotel and motel rooms in town (over 800), plus all those in the adjoining towns of Birch Run and Bridgeport (another 700 or so), were booked solid. However, it seemed as if there was ample room availability for Sunday night.

Along the way, I stopped for dinner at Hermann’s European Café & Inn in Cadillac, which has been a local fixture for several decades, with an Austrian-born and trained chef/owner. The best bets are Austrian/German standbys like wiener schnitzel and spaetzle. Baked whitefish smothered with Asian-style mixed vegetables was less effective. Also, this is not a stop for a quick dinner.

 
Sunday October 18

Frankenmuth was settled by Bavarian Lutherans, and the architecture and road signs along Main Street evoke the home country. A big attraction in town is Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland (that’s exactly how they spell it, the late Wally Bronner being a devout man), which bills itself as the world’s largest Christmas store, over 1.5 football fields in size, featuring ornaments. Outside is a drive-through illuminated display (active throughout the year at night) and a replica of the Silent Night Memorial Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria, the town where the carol was written and first performed.

The Frankenmuth Brewery served a good lunch, though the menu offers nothing German (the lone sausage offering is Italian), perhaps to differentiate itself from the many German-themed or chicken dinner eateries elsewhere in town, and its dunkel (dark lager) and hefeweizen (wheat) beers were excellent.

I rate Frankenmuth as an amusing diversion worthy of a detour, though not quite a destination in itself. Amazingly, despite 1,500 nearby hotel rooms being booked the night before, the town did not seem overcrowded, and traffic on Main Street was not a problem.

I needed to be in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn by late afternoon, so I left Frankenmuth by 2:00 PM. I arrived at about 4:30 PM.

Organizers of a conference in Dearborn had arranged a special evening tour of the Ford Rouge Factory, and had invited me along. Tours for the general public depart via special bus Monday-Friday from The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.  (Note: no visitor parking is allowed at the Rouge plant.)

For dinner, some friends and I made an excellent choice in the Al-Ameer Lebanese restaurant on Warren Avenue in Dearborn, our choice guided by chef Anthony Bourdain’s visit there on his Travel Channel Show No Reservations. The family combination platters were a screaming bargain, and everything served was excellent.

Monday October 19

There were five stops for me this day in metro Detroit:

• The Polish Art Center in Hamtramck features art and crafts imported from Poland. An odd memento inside is a signed photo of Clint Eastwood, who visited while filming Grand Torino in nearby towns.
     
• Meadow Brook Hall at Oakland University in Rochester is an imposing castle built by Matilda Dodge Wilson (widow of the founder of Dodge Motors) and her second husband, a lumber baron. There was only one daily tour of the interior, at 1:30 PM, but that did not fit my schedule, so I admired the exterior (see photo below). Don’t miss the Knole Cottage, a playhouse that Mrs. Wilson’s daughter received on her 12^th birthday.
  

• The Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Hills is modeled on Melrose Abbey in Scotland, and is in a beautiful, tranquil lakeside setting. Don’t miss St. Andrew’s refectory hall, with its cycle of paintings by N.C. Wyeth on New Testament stories.
  
  
  
  
• Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills is a retro arcade in a mall that features a number of vintage games, gizmos and magic show bric-a-brac.
   
  
• The Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak is one of the best in the country. From its opening in 1928, this incarnation of the Detroit Zoo was way ahead of the curve in zoo design, putting animals in naturalistic habitats rather than cages. I spent a highly enjoyable 2 hours there, encountering several species that I have not seen elsewhere and suggest allowing even more time for this attraction.  

 
Tuesday October 20

With my flight home at 7:00 PM out of nearby (14 miles) DTW airport, I decided to confine myself to the vicinity of my hotel in Dearborn. I spent the morning at The Henry Ford Estate – Fairlane which has beautiful landscaped grounds along the Rouge River, and excellent guided tours of the house. The highlight of the tour was the powerhouse, which supplied the estate with its own source of hydroelectric power. Ford also had an ingenious system whereby machinery driven by the water turbines supplied the main house with warm, dry air for hairdryers, cold air for room cooling and refrigeration, and suction for vacuuming.

In the afternoon, I took a brisk 2 hour tour of Greenfield Village, which opened on October 21, 1929 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Edison’s electric light. In fact, Greenfield Village and the adjacent Henry Ford Museum are officially still incorporated as The Edison Institute, such was Ford’s admiration for his friend Edison. Greenfield Village is a collection of original and reproduced buildings offering a slice of Americana, especially regarding significant figures in American history.
 

A Note on Highways in Michigan

Michigan has received a huge amount of federal stimulus money, and has applied much of it to road repair. As a result, virtually wherever you turn in the state, especially in metro Detroit, you are bound to encounter road closures, lane closures and detours that may add significantly to your travel time, and which make planning a tight itinerary virtually impossible.

In metro Detroit, particularly problematic are I-96, I-696, I-94 near DTW airport, Michigan Avenue in Dearborn near state route 39 (Southfield Freeway) and I-75 north of exit 79 in Rochester, to name just a few.

I-675 south in Saginaw is closed, as is part of US 2 in the Upper Peninsula west of Epoufette, part of state route 119 (the Tunnel of Trees) between Cross Village and Harbor Springs, and part of state route 22 in the vicinity of the Sleeping Bear Dunes. All these added significant time to the itinerary described above and, to repeat, are only a small sample of the closures and detours encountered on this trip.

  
To make hotel reservations in towns in the scenic North Country of Michigan state, please visit MichiganHotels.com.


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