MACINAC ISLAND, MI TO CHICAGO, IL
 

Greetings:

This summer Hubby, Wife, and Daughters 17yo and 13 yo will travel from Macinac Island to Chicago. On this route, what would you suggest we do? We are willing to stray from the route within reason. What are the must see places? What are the must do things? We hope this route will take us to places that will give us a taste and sense of your great state. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!

If you want to stop for couple of days

look at

http://www.harborcountry.org/

Wonderful beaches, antique shops,. restaurants, wineries, quaint, etc. etc.

It would help if you gave an indication of your interests.

Also try http://www.experiencegr.com/ or http://www.traversecity.com/

If you come to Traverse City, make sure to travel to the tip of the peninsula (Old Mission State Park). See the lighthouse and on the way you can visit some wineries (if only for the shops... :)

Drive West to Lake Michigan and visit Glen Haven, an open air museum (little village) nearby the the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
It's fun to walk up the dunes and have a nice view.
If you have more luck, than we have (having been there during the shutdown in Oct 2013) you can walk for miles in that area.
We could only climb up one dune.

Further South we spent 2 nights in Holland.
A quaint and picturesque little place founded by Dutch people. They even have some buildings and a wind-mill in "Dutch Village" just off Hwy 31.

Don't miss the sunset in Holland. Drive out to the famous red light house and bring your camera!

Have fun and enjoy your trip.
Regards from Berlin/Germany

Sleeping Bear dunes is indeed a lovely stopover -- if it's summer and the wind is coming from the west, the water on the beach will be surprisingly warm.

On the way from Mackinac ("Mackinaw"): Love Traverse City's cherry heritage, and hope you'll be there for the amazing cherry pies (and yes, try them with chocolate sauce if you want to top out your sweet tooth).

Holland+Saugatuck an interesting stop -- Saugatuck has artist flavor, some nice wares.

Indiana Dunes are remarkable sight if only to see these great inland dunes next to power plants.

All the above comments (and I) concur on the Lake Michigan coast as being the route. That's the most scenic part of the Lower Peninsula. And it also makes sense if your destination is Chicago.