Mid West/Great Lakes tour
Sep 17th, 2006, 03:32 AM
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Mid West/Great Lakes tour
I have just started planning my family vacation for summer 07 and am considering a three week circular tour from Chicago (where we will fly into from England). At present schedule looks like Chicago - Michigan west coast - Detroit - Toronto - Niagara - Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati - Chicago. I haven't booked anything yet.
We will arrive mid-July. We have two children - girl (15)and boy (11). We especially enjoy historic sites, sports, live music and eating out. Girls love shopping.
I would appreciate views on "must do's," whether any of the places on the schedule aren't worth a visit and how best to divide our time between the locations.
We would like to spend a minimum of two nights in each location and travel no more than about 275 miles on any day.
We will arrive mid-July. We have two children - girl (15)and boy (11). We especially enjoy historic sites, sports, live music and eating out. Girls love shopping.
I would appreciate views on "must do's," whether any of the places on the schedule aren't worth a visit and how best to divide our time between the locations.
We would like to spend a minimum of two nights in each location and travel no more than about 275 miles on any day.
Sep 17th, 2006, 05:24 AM
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You have too many cities on your list. With 2 days in each, that's twenty days out of a 21 day trip, and that doesn't include driving time. I would skip Columbus and Cincinnati. While perfectly nice cities, Columbus in particular doesn't have anything really special to offer, and they're both out of the way. It would help if you explain why you choose these destinations, they're not exactly at the top of the list for tourism.
I would allow four days in Chicago, including your arrival day. Skip west Michigan for now and head for Detroit on day 5. Pick up your rental car on this day, not when you arrive in Chicago. You can rent downtown or you can take the Orange Line out to Midway and rent a car there. It's much easier than going back to O'Hare, and more on the way to Michigan.
On day 6, check out Henry Ford's Greenfield Village.
Day 7 you can explore other attractions in Detroit.
Day 8, head to Toronto. Spend day's 9 & 10 there.
Day 9 drive to Niagara Falls. Spend days 11 & 12 there. You might drive down to Buffalo to see some historical sites or museums.
Day 13 drive to Cleveland. Spend days 14 & 15 there.
Day 16, go to the west coast of Michigan. You can recover from all this driving by spending a couple of days relaxing on the beach.
That would be days 17 and 18.
Day 19 head back to Chicago, and spend your last day or two there. Return the rental car when you get back to Chicago.
I would allow four days in Chicago, including your arrival day. Skip west Michigan for now and head for Detroit on day 5. Pick up your rental car on this day, not when you arrive in Chicago. You can rent downtown or you can take the Orange Line out to Midway and rent a car there. It's much easier than going back to O'Hare, and more on the way to Michigan.
On day 6, check out Henry Ford's Greenfield Village.
Day 7 you can explore other attractions in Detroit.
Day 8, head to Toronto. Spend day's 9 & 10 there.
Day 9 drive to Niagara Falls. Spend days 11 & 12 there. You might drive down to Buffalo to see some historical sites or museums.
Day 13 drive to Cleveland. Spend days 14 & 15 there.
Day 16, go to the west coast of Michigan. You can recover from all this driving by spending a couple of days relaxing on the beach.
That would be days 17 and 18.Day 19 head back to Chicago, and spend your last day or two there. Return the rental car when you get back to Chicago.
Sep 17th, 2006, 05:44 AM
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You mentioned history, so I suggest that when you are in Niagara Falls you visit Old Fort Niagara.
www.oldfortniagara.org
Have a great trip!
www.oldfortniagara.org
Have a great trip!
Sep 17th, 2006, 07:06 AM
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The Traverse City area of MI is interesting as is the Upper Peninsula.
http://www.nps.gov/slbe/
http://www.nps.gov/piro/
http://www.nps.gov/slbe/
http://www.nps.gov/piro/
Sep 18th, 2006, 05:38 AM
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Thanks for the comments. I did feel there were probably too many places in the schedule hence asking if any of them may not be worth a visit. I had planned a broadly circular route with a view to refining it once I know more about the various cities.
I will have a look at Traverse City and the Upper Peninsular as I currently have no idea where to head for on the Michigan west coast.
I will have a look at Traverse City and the Upper Peninsular as I currently have no idea where to head for on the Michigan west coast.
Sep 18th, 2006, 06:16 AM
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On the west coast of Michigan coming from Detriot to Chicago, I would probably stick to the area know as Harbor Country, only because its right on the way. Towns like New Buffalo, Union Pier, Lakeside, Sawyer. There are a lot of little shops and great restaurants, and beaches. Check out Harborcountry.org and do a search on this website for more info.
Sep 18th, 2006, 09:28 AM
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I also think that flamingomonkey gave you a nice itinerary, skipping Columbus, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. I also agree that one day in Detroit is enough.
On your way from Cleveland, I would spend a day at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. When my children were teens and preteens, they loved the place. It is roller coaster heaven. You can easily spend the whole day there--they used to have a reduced admission for after 5:00p.m. It would also be a nice change from cities and museums. They also have a wonderful waterpark there with a separate admission that you can purchase for a minimum of 2 hours. We have done this when arriving in the area in the afternoon.
On your way from Cleveland, I would spend a day at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. When my children were teens and preteens, they loved the place. It is roller coaster heaven. You can easily spend the whole day there--they used to have a reduced admission for after 5:00p.m. It would also be a nice change from cities and museums. They also have a wonderful waterpark there with a separate admission that you can purchase for a minimum of 2 hours. We have done this when arriving in the area in the afternoon.
Sep 18th, 2006, 11:17 AM
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The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are by far the top attractions in Detroit (www.hfmgv.org). It's an indoor/outdoor museum complex that contains buildings that Henry Ford purchased and moved to the site. Among them are Thomas Edison's lab where he invented the phonograph and lightbulb, Noah Webster's house where he wrote the first American dictionary and the Logan County Courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law.
The highlight of the indoor museum is the auto collection which contains all the Presidental limousines. Other recommendations for Detroit would be the Art Institute (www.dia.org) or Cranbrook Museums (www.cranbrook.edu) just north of the city.
Traverse City and the UP of Michigan are out of the way for your trip but for a bit more history, you could head west via Lansing and tour the State Capitol and then The Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids.
A quick stop of a couple hours between Chicago and Detroit would be Kellogg's Cereal City in Battle Creek. You can see how breakfast cereal is made have your picture taken and put on a box of frosted flakes.
For sports, you could see a baseball game in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland or Toronto. You'll probably get very strong opinions about which team/stadium you should see but go with what fits best into your schedule.
For concerts, the Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park in Chicago has free concerts throughout the summer. The Ravinna Festival is an outdoor amphitheater about 30 miles north of the city which presents the Chicago Symphony as well as popular entertainers. There are similar venues in Detroit (Meadowbrook and the DTE Theatre) and Cleveland (The Blossom Festival). The schedules are normally announced in January or February.
Finally, just a reminder to check with your auto rental company about taking the vehicle out of the US. Some impose stiff penalties if you do so without having it specified in your rental contract.
The highlight of the indoor museum is the auto collection which contains all the Presidental limousines. Other recommendations for Detroit would be the Art Institute (www.dia.org) or Cranbrook Museums (www.cranbrook.edu) just north of the city.
Traverse City and the UP of Michigan are out of the way for your trip but for a bit more history, you could head west via Lansing and tour the State Capitol and then The Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids.
A quick stop of a couple hours between Chicago and Detroit would be Kellogg's Cereal City in Battle Creek. You can see how breakfast cereal is made have your picture taken and put on a box of frosted flakes.
For sports, you could see a baseball game in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland or Toronto. You'll probably get very strong opinions about which team/stadium you should see but go with what fits best into your schedule.
For concerts, the Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park in Chicago has free concerts throughout the summer. The Ravinna Festival is an outdoor amphitheater about 30 miles north of the city which presents the Chicago Symphony as well as popular entertainers. There are similar venues in Detroit (Meadowbrook and the DTE Theatre) and Cleveland (The Blossom Festival). The schedules are normally announced in January or February.
Finally, just a reminder to check with your auto rental company about taking the vehicle out of the US. Some impose stiff penalties if you do so without having it specified in your rental contract.
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:26 PM
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One day in Detroit should be enough. Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village are a must (if you like Mediterranean food, Lashish on Michigan Ave is particularly good. If you like Thai, I heartily recommend Bangkok '96 on S. Telegraph Rd. just south of Mich. Ave although the ambiance leaves some to be desired. Miller's Bar on Michigan Ave. is also a long time Detroit landmark that constantly gets high marks for their burgers, don't expect much ambiance or even a menu. Very simple there, Hamburger, Cheeseburger, French Fries and assorted beer and soft drinks. Avoid at lunchtime M-F as it gets very crowded. Same can be said for Bangkok '96. I tend to take my lunches after 1:00 once things empty out.)
The Detroit Insititute of the Arts is quite nice, although they may still be renovating. I haven't been there in a while so I'm not sure. There's the Detroit Science Center too (although the COSI in Columbus is MUCH better).
You wouldn't really be missing anything by passing on the Detroit Zoo. Most other Metro zoos blow ours away.
The Fox Theatre area is pretty nice, Comerica Park (Tigers)and Ford Field are very nice, although Comerica Park doesn't have the history of Tiger Stadium (still standing but slowly decaying like much of Detroit).
There's also the Motown Museum that might be worth a stop if you're not going to Cleveland (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame).
Outside of Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, there's not much that we have that isn't offered or done better by other cities.
As you can imagine, Detroit has seen better days. Depressing as they are, some interesting websites are http://www.forgottenmichigan.com/ and http://detroitblog.blogspot.com/
The Detroit Insititute of the Arts is quite nice, although they may still be renovating. I haven't been there in a while so I'm not sure. There's the Detroit Science Center too (although the COSI in Columbus is MUCH better).
You wouldn't really be missing anything by passing on the Detroit Zoo. Most other Metro zoos blow ours away.
The Fox Theatre area is pretty nice, Comerica Park (Tigers)and Ford Field are very nice, although Comerica Park doesn't have the history of Tiger Stadium (still standing but slowly decaying like much of Detroit).
There's also the Motown Museum that might be worth a stop if you're not going to Cleveland (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame).
Outside of Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, there's not much that we have that isn't offered or done better by other cities.
As you can imagine, Detroit has seen better days. Depressing as they are, some interesting websites are http://www.forgottenmichigan.com/ and http://detroitblog.blogspot.com/
Sep 19th, 2006, 08:28 AM
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bigpanda has given you some excellent advice. I really like The Dearborn Inn for lodging if you're headed to The Henry Ford. It was built by Henry in 1931 for visitors to Ford. There are even several historic buildings behind the hotel that rent as suites (my DH and I stayed upstairs in the Barbara Fritchie house). It's now run by Mariott and they have lodging/ticket packages with The Henry Ford. Their Sunday brunch in the Early American Room is $$$ but was fantastic last time I was there! Middle eastern food while in the area is also a must. LaShish on Michigan Avenue is a good choice.
flamingomonkey suggested a great itinerary. Staying for a couple of days on the west side of Michigan at the beach would be a great end to your circle tour.
flamingomonkey suggested a great itinerary. Staying for a couple of days on the west side of Michigan at the beach would be a great end to your circle tour.
Sep 20th, 2006, 05:30 AM
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Another option near Henry Ford is
the Best Western Greenfield Inn,
(recommended on this fodors forum) and
we thought it was a cut above most
Best Westerns and a good value.
As others said don't miss Cedar Point
and the Lake ERie Islands are truly
lovely.
Have a great trip.
the Best Western Greenfield Inn,
(recommended on this fodors forum) and
we thought it was a cut above most
Best Westerns and a good value.
As others said don't miss Cedar Point
and the Lake ERie Islands are truly
lovely.
Have a great trip.
Sep 20th, 2006, 01:08 PM
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FlamingoMonkey, personally, I would skip Detroit. It is a dying city and who cares about that old Nazi sympathizer Henry Ford? I would spend a few days in Chicago, drive to Cedar Point Amusement Park for kiddies, go next to Cleveland, drive through Amish country in northeast Ohio, pass through Columbus visiting COSI (a premier science musuem), the award winning zoo, on my way to Dayton to see Wright Patterson AFB, visit the zoo and musuems in Cincy and back to Chicago.
Sep 23rd, 2006, 06:58 AM
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Well, I'm going to suggest a little different route and one that I hope wouldn't cause too much problems with your itinerary.
If you are coming in earlier May (as opposed to the actual summer months), I would suggest going to the Indy 500 time trials. Just the time trials, not the actual race. And a visit to the Speedway Museum. You can go to baseball games anywhere (GASP! Sacrilege!) but there is only one Indy 500.
While you are down in Indianapolis, you could stop off at Conner Prairie, which is a living museum of the early 1800's pioneer life.
So my suggestion would be this:
Fly into Chicago.
Day 1 - Take it easy and recover from jetlag. You'll be doing a lot of driving soon enough. Stay at a hotel out by O'Hare and take the Blue Line into Chicago. Do the Chicago Architecture River Cruise and get an Italian Beef or Chicago-style hot dog.
Day 2 - pick up rental car at O'Hare and drive to Indianapolis (3 hours). If you leave early enough, you can either go to the Brickyard for the time trials or Conner Prairie. Spend Day 3 doing the other.
Day 4 - Drive from Indianapolis to Put-In-Bay, OH area. Spend Days 5 and 6 there. (including Sandusky - Cedar Point - 1 hour away).
Day 7 - Drive to Cleveland (about 1 hour). Spend Day 8 there too.
Day 9. Drive to Niagra Falls. Spend Days 10 and 11 there.
Day 12. Drive to Toronto. Spend Days 13 and 14 there.
Day 15 - Drive to Detroit. Spend Day 16 there, too.
Day 17 - Drive to Saugatuck, MI. Spend Day 18 there.
Day 19. Drive to Chicago (2.5-3 hours). Spend rest of vacation there.
Hope this sounds doable to you. Have fun planning your trip!
If you are coming in earlier May (as opposed to the actual summer months), I would suggest going to the Indy 500 time trials. Just the time trials, not the actual race. And a visit to the Speedway Museum. You can go to baseball games anywhere (GASP! Sacrilege!) but there is only one Indy 500.
While you are down in Indianapolis, you could stop off at Conner Prairie, which is a living museum of the early 1800's pioneer life.
So my suggestion would be this:
Fly into Chicago.
Day 1 - Take it easy and recover from jetlag. You'll be doing a lot of driving soon enough. Stay at a hotel out by O'Hare and take the Blue Line into Chicago. Do the Chicago Architecture River Cruise and get an Italian Beef or Chicago-style hot dog.
Day 2 - pick up rental car at O'Hare and drive to Indianapolis (3 hours). If you leave early enough, you can either go to the Brickyard for the time trials or Conner Prairie. Spend Day 3 doing the other.
Day 4 - Drive from Indianapolis to Put-In-Bay, OH area. Spend Days 5 and 6 there. (including Sandusky - Cedar Point - 1 hour away).
Day 7 - Drive to Cleveland (about 1 hour). Spend Day 8 there too.
Day 9. Drive to Niagra Falls. Spend Days 10 and 11 there.
Day 12. Drive to Toronto. Spend Days 13 and 14 there.
Day 15 - Drive to Detroit. Spend Day 16 there, too.
Day 17 - Drive to Saugatuck, MI. Spend Day 18 there.
Day 19. Drive to Chicago (2.5-3 hours). Spend rest of vacation there.
Hope this sounds doable to you. Have fun planning your trip!
Sep 23rd, 2006, 01:24 PM
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We drove through Chicago - stopped at the Rock n Roll hall of fame in Cleveland on the way to Washington DC where we stayed for a week. Despite all the sight seeing in DC, the kids favorite part (ages 11, 16) was the hall of fame! It was relaxing & fun for all ages. Chicago is great - even strolling or biking or rollerblading along the lakefront would be fun for the kids! If they like music, there are lots of outdoor shows, but I would also try to get them to experience blues in Chicago somewhere. I've always wanted to attend the gospel brunch at the house of blues in Chicago. When I tried at the last minute it was sold out. Good luck!
Sep 23rd, 2006, 03:24 PM
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I would highly recommend the Detroit Institute of Arts if is you enjoy sculpture and paintings. It is one of the top 5 art museums in North America. Its collections are fabulous, since a great deal of the art was purchased in the 20's and 30's by the rich auto barons. (Please ignore the foolish remark posted earlier about Henry Ford; his son Edsel was a great patron of the arts.)
Dec 21st, 2006, 05:02 AM
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As you plan your driving route, if your travels pass you through South West Michigan, you might stay at a cottage near a lake. Here is a place, 40 minutes from Notre Dame, 35 Minutes from Lake Michigan, and a nice out of the way place to stay a night or more.
http://www.micottagerental.com
http://www.micottagerental.com
Dec 21st, 2006, 06:20 AM
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I have no idea who swmich24 is, but I can tell you that Donnell Lake is an outstanding lake. Donnell Lake is one of the lakes in the next system to my lake group. Donnell is crystal clear and would be eons over places like Saugatuck. This is real Midwestern lake life, not just tourist mills with a 1000 people trying to get into 3 or 4 coffeeshop/diners between visiting T-shirt shops and trying to find a spot on the mobbed beach. You would probably have your own dock and it would be superb. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have watercraft or jetski accessibility either.
Over-reading all these I would heartily disagree with some must do's. This is my territory and what is high-lighted is primarily good- but a whole lot of these suggestions are tedious mob scenes / lines in high summer- when you are coming. If you put it off until August start- you would have a much better time frame across the boards. We can't believe what a difference there is between July & August. August the kids are mainly back home as school starts so early now here. Make reservations at any of the big attractions ahead of time. For instance you HAVE to go to Cedar Point without fail and make reservations for that portion now, if you haven't already. Also with kids of that age, you have to go to Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
If you still come back and read this thread, and still haven't set plans for Chicago, rich p- do it now. And do put Chicago at the beginning as proposed, and give it at least 4 days without a car and in the LOOP area. Your kids would love Museum of Sc. & Industry in Hyde Park, and going to a ball game on the "el" especially. You could get red line straight to the Sox, if they are in town and buy tickets at the boxoffice for reasonable $$- wouldn't have to do it ahead of time.
Western coast of Michigan is awesome and totally underrepresented in the above thread. Your kids would die for the dune jeeps near Mears and Silver Lake Sand Dune. They are the biggest west of the Mississippi and only free site where you can go straight down 100s of feet- it is beyond descriptions. But the trouble is that with Niagara and other drives, it just isn't time friendly.
So the Harbor Country suggestions are good and if you do these and come back, I can give you specific great stops, with top of the line food for mid-prices from mid-Michigan to the waters of Lake Michigan area.
South Central and SW Michigan is a secret that Fodorites and most American's know little about since they can't access they easily. Think lake/wine/vineyard country with beautiful green hills and forests. There are 20 lakes of more than 500 acres within my small town in Cass County Michigan. Many people own more boats than they do cars. Dowagiac, Mendon and many other places along the St. Joe River have immense lodging and recreational rentals plus. Mendon Country Inn- would be on your route. The couple are South African immigrants to America. He is a Paris trained Cordon Bleu chef and terrific musician. Stop here one night on your way back to Harbor Country. This is the Inn that from 1871 on was the stopping point for the passenger wagons/ coaches between Detroit & Chicago. I don't want to tell you too much- but it is something else. Your kids will LOVE it. They have a game room and a music room that is bigger than a normal auditorium. It's right on your path.
If you are interested in the best places that are kept rather secret, let me know.
Swalter, is so correct in her areas. You would not want to stop in the IN portion of Lake Michigan frontage and would need an I-PASS and some info on this. If interested, post here.
Paw Paw, Lawton and several other places would be interesting stops, even for a couple of hours too. Are you interested in picking blueberries for fun (eat as you pick- they also supply the bucket) you are going to hit exactly right timing for that too.
Over-reading all these I would heartily disagree with some must do's. This is my territory and what is high-lighted is primarily good- but a whole lot of these suggestions are tedious mob scenes / lines in high summer- when you are coming. If you put it off until August start- you would have a much better time frame across the boards. We can't believe what a difference there is between July & August. August the kids are mainly back home as school starts so early now here. Make reservations at any of the big attractions ahead of time. For instance you HAVE to go to Cedar Point without fail and make reservations for that portion now, if you haven't already. Also with kids of that age, you have to go to Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
If you still come back and read this thread, and still haven't set plans for Chicago, rich p- do it now. And do put Chicago at the beginning as proposed, and give it at least 4 days without a car and in the LOOP area. Your kids would love Museum of Sc. & Industry in Hyde Park, and going to a ball game on the "el" especially. You could get red line straight to the Sox, if they are in town and buy tickets at the boxoffice for reasonable $$- wouldn't have to do it ahead of time.
Western coast of Michigan is awesome and totally underrepresented in the above thread. Your kids would die for the dune jeeps near Mears and Silver Lake Sand Dune. They are the biggest west of the Mississippi and only free site where you can go straight down 100s of feet- it is beyond descriptions. But the trouble is that with Niagara and other drives, it just isn't time friendly.
So the Harbor Country suggestions are good and if you do these and come back, I can give you specific great stops, with top of the line food for mid-prices from mid-Michigan to the waters of Lake Michigan area.
South Central and SW Michigan is a secret that Fodorites and most American's know little about since they can't access they easily. Think lake/wine/vineyard country with beautiful green hills and forests. There are 20 lakes of more than 500 acres within my small town in Cass County Michigan. Many people own more boats than they do cars. Dowagiac, Mendon and many other places along the St. Joe River have immense lodging and recreational rentals plus. Mendon Country Inn- would be on your route. The couple are South African immigrants to America. He is a Paris trained Cordon Bleu chef and terrific musician. Stop here one night on your way back to Harbor Country. This is the Inn that from 1871 on was the stopping point for the passenger wagons/ coaches between Detroit & Chicago. I don't want to tell you too much- but it is something else. Your kids will LOVE it. They have a game room and a music room that is bigger than a normal auditorium. It's right on your path.
If you are interested in the best places that are kept rather secret, let me know.
Swalter, is so correct in her areas. You would not want to stop in the IN portion of Lake Michigan frontage and would need an I-PASS and some info on this. If interested, post here.
Paw Paw, Lawton and several other places would be interesting stops, even for a couple of hours too. Are you interested in picking blueberries for fun (eat as you pick- they also supply the bucket) you are going to hit exactly right timing for that too.
