"Northern Michigan" Trip Report
 

We had one of our best vacations ever on our recent trip to "Northern Michigan". Many thanks to those who answered my endless questions and gave such super advice. If this bores you, just read the highlights and go from there.

Our journey began on the Thursday before Memorial Day. Left the gas station in Chatsworth, GA, paying $1.859 for gas. Many hours and 427 miles later, we paid $1.999 for gas in Vandalia, OH. Just 292 miles on up the road in Ithaca, MI, we got the shock of paying $2.119! Well, when we made it as far as Petoskey, MI, we were greeted with gas prices of $2.149. The least we paid for gas while in Michigan was $2.129 in Gaylord. On the way back home, we paid $1.949 in Findlay, OH, $1.869 in Walton, KY, and came back home to Chatsworth to $1.859 again. On this trip we drove a total of 2,815 miles. Of this, 1,081 miles were spent sight seeing in our final area of destination.

Ok...now back to the trip. Our first stop was at the Michigan Welcome Center on US-23 near Dundee. This was our first experience with how nice and welcoming the people in Michigan were. The staff at the welcome center were friendly and helpful..made sure I had the maps of where road construction was and the brochures of the area we were going to visit. Well........we didn't get but just a few miles down the road until we were welcomed again!! Cabela's must have had a sign out somewhere with our names on it, because my husband said that sign "Was calling his name"! The store was fun and we were able to kill about an hour of time and plunk down a $100 bill on unnecessary "stuff".

So...back "On the Road Again". Took Mum1345's advice and got off at Brighton over to Lansing and up 127 to I-75. Even tho this route is further than just going 23 to 75 and up, it was a nice drive with only one traffic snarl due to road construction.

I would have liked to have stopped at Hartwick Pines State Park as tomboy and SuzieTrue suggested, but we were too close to our destination to make that stop. Next time, tho.......and there will definitely be a next time....a week was not long enough to get it all in!!

Now..........for the really good stuff!

We arrived in Boyne Falls around 5ish on Friday afternoon. We stayed at Mountain Run at Boyne, a Bluegreen timeshare. This is out at beautiful Boyne Mountain where they are building the awesome Mountain Grand Lodge. It is going to be a condo-hotel resort with an 18,000 square foot spa. What intrigued me was the indoor waterpark that is being built and the lake they will freeze over in winter for ice skating. We were able to enjoy the amenities of Boyne Mountain as house guests. Anyway, back to our resort. Only 2 buildings are complete right now, so not a lot of people were staying there. The condos are beautiful and our condo was at the base of one of the ski slopes. I could picture the snow on the mountains. They were having 24 hours at Boyne(some kind of bicycle relay) over the weekend and it was cool to see the cycle lights coming down the hills at night.

Well, anyway, we arrived at Mountain Run and the front desk personel were outstanding people answering all of our questions intelligently and giving us lots of good advice. Places to go, to eat, what to do on property, etc.

We hurriedly unloaded the car, freshened up a tad and headed over to Boyne City for a fish dinner. Boyne City was packed, so we had a pleasant first exposure to Lake Charlevoix and the quaint small town as we were looking for a parking place.

Had dinner at BRI (Boyne River Inn). They have fish on Friday night. All you can eat with fries and slaw for $6.75. It was brought in baskets and was fresh and good. Chip at Mountain Run suggested the place (but only on Friday night) and he was dead on! Our waitress was friendly, efficient and very pretty.

After dinner we headed over to Glen's Markets to pick up a few supplies for the condo. The girl who checked us out actually thanked us for coming into the store!

We walked around a bit in the town and the park in Boyne City around Lake Charlevoix before heading back to unpack for our week in "Northern Michigan".

Our first night was only the beginning of a wonderful week. I will probably say this over and over, but this vacation was beyond our expectations. The scenery was breathtaking. Neither of us expected the crystal clear waters of the lakes, the beautiful blues and greens. Our true astonishment was that we were made to feel so welcomed by everyone. Honestly, everyone we talked with were just so nice and helpful. I would refer to it as "Southern Hospitality" if we had been in the south, but I guess since we were not, it was "Northern Hospitality"!

Gotta go home now....will try to do a bit more tonight. Like I said, lots of this will be boring to you, but I am still just so excited about my first trip up there that I don't want to miss anything plus I want to be able to print this out for myself.

iceeu2,
Shhhhh! Sounds like you have discovered one of our best kept secrets.

What ya mean SuzieTrue? That Yankees are such nice people?!
Ok, back to our trip....
Slept in just a bit on Saturday morning and had breakfast at the condo. I had a zillion brochures to sort thru, so from recommendations from this site, the brochures, and a great link Maggi provided (Best of Michigan, 2003), we decided to drive M-119 Tunnel of Trees Tour.
We came from Boyne Falls on 131 thru Petoskey. As we crested the hill, both of us oohed and awed at the wonderful view of Little Traverse Bay. This was such a spectacular sight that we just loved riding that route as often as the week permitted. Well, anyway, we only made it as far as Lakeshore Drive before we had to pull over for our first round of picture taking! Again, we could not believe the crystal clear waters and the blues and greens of the water. We walked in the park for a while, decided to go to the museum, but it was not open yet, so decided to go back to our plan of driveing 119. Petoskey is so beautiful. The homes along US 31 were beautiful. Lots of people were out planting their spring flowers. So calm and serene. Wonderful. I spotted a really neat looking B&B called The Gingerbread House everytime we drove this road. Guess, I will have to check it out.

Ok, so after only a few detours, we started our journey up 119. The scenery was so beautiful. The entire time, I was like "That place is for sale! See, they live right on the waterfront!" My husband was quick to remind me that we were on vacation, not on a spending spree! I can imagine in the fall of the year with the leaves changing that this drive is really grand. We took the drive at a nice leisurely pace and stopped at Legs Inn in Cross Village. Lo and behold, another sight to savor. We walked to the back patio area and just took in the breathtaking view. Met some really nice people who were from Sault Ste. Marie. They were out riding and taking advantage of the break in the weather!
Well, we had planned to make it a short day (had friends meeting us in Boyne Falls), but as we continued north, I spotted Goldies Cafe on the Lake! I had read about their raspberry pie, so we decided to stop for a quick bite. I had their meatloaf sandwich which was very good at the time! I know better than to eat meatloaf! Well, I was too full to have dessert, but their desserts looked scrumptious! Cinammon rolls looked great also. When we were talking to the waitress (everybody wants to know where we are from-maybe the accent shows we aren't locals), it was interesting to find out that the owner of Goldies is from Atlanta(we live approx. 90 miles north of Atlanta) and he had just come into town that morning! How about that? Anyway, Goldies was good and worth the stop.
While we were having our late lunch and checking out the map and brochures and such, we realized we were only a few miles from Mackinaw City. Well, how could we be this close and not go ahead and cross the bridge? So, we did the bridge journey! Well..........now just why would we pay to ride across the 5 miles and turn around and come right back? By the way, Keith, "Your Bridge" is superb! So.......on to The Soo Locks!
Our timeing was perfect! Just as we entered the park, the security person told us a vessel was just coming into the locks! How lucky can one get? We were fortunate to watch The Canadian Miner all the way thru.
Well, we decided we needed to hot foot it back to Boyne Falls because our friends would probably be there soon. Coming thru Indian River, I spotted Vivio's that Mum and Keith had recommended. Hubby quickly reminded me that we had company coming plus we could not possibly eat at every single place I had been told about!!
Arrived back in Boyne Falls to company...2 couples from Canada....they had been there for over an hour! Oops!
Later in the evening, we went into Boyne City again to eat dinner. We went to Lester's which we all enjoyed. The menu was varied enough to suit 6 people. The food was good...not my favortie, but good!
Back to the condo......A wonderful first full day in Northern Michigan! And again, everyone we met were so nice to us.

Don't you wish I could learn to spell?
Driveing or driving? Timeing or timing?

I'm so glad you had a great time!! I've been looking forward to your report.....do go on......
;-)

Ok, I'll keep it short from here on out. Just how many oohs and ahs and beautifuls and spectaculars can you do in trip?
So on Sunday, the 6 of us went to Mackinac Island. We drove the others by the Petoskey route and they loved the town as much as we had. The first thing I had to do was buy a sweatshirt at the ferry dock. I had bossed everyone around and told them to take their warm clothes! But, did I heed my own advice? NO! The one who dressed the best for the island and was the warmest was, of course, the blonde. Go figure.
Off to Mackinac Island for the afternoon. We had lunch at the Pub & Oyster Bar. This was probably the worst experience we had while in Michigan. They must have been experiencing re-opening growing pains. Brought us almost cold clam chowder after waiting 15 minutes for it. Enough said, unpleasant experience and the rest of the food was just so so.
On Mackinac Island we took the carriage tour. That was fun and informative, but it was such a windy day we were all chilled to the bone. All that is, except the blonde. We shopped and had fudge and walked into some of the other restaurants and bars before we took the ferry back.
We are glad we went out to Mackinac Island and thought it was beautiful also. Would like to go back and ride bikes or just walk and really take it all in.
When we got back over to Mackinaw City, I guided everyone to Mackinaw Pastie and Cookie Company. Everyone had the beef pastie meal which includes a wonderful homemade cookie. The group was pleased with this dinner and everyone was finally over teasing me about all the virtual tours I had taken prior to vacation. The warm pastie meal was great comfort food and soothed the cold we had encountered all day.

On Monday, Memorial Day, one of the couples had to leave for home. We just spent the morning kicking back and toured out at Boyne Mountain. On their way out of town, we all went to breakfast in Elmira at a home cooking restaurant called B's. Food was good, people were very personable and friendly. I was a good girl and had my eggs before laying into a piece of homemade rhubarb(sic) custard pie. It was yummy. B makes all the homemade pies...even her own pie crusts.
We bid our friends adieu and the four of us drove over to Charlevoix. It was cold and rainy so we didn't get out and do anything.
Drove back to the condo. Visited with our friends, tipped a few and just made sandwiches for supper. Everyone need to relax for a while since we had been up late the night before. Plus, I think we may have had to watch a hockey game...Canada, eh? Our friends were for the Flames and we were for the Lightning. Actually, we are not hockey fans........but just had to take the US team over the Canooks. Eh!
And please tell me...is "eh" a question or an answer?

I don't know how I made that face about the rhubarb pie. It was great pie. I was trying to type sic indicating that I don't know how to spell rhubarb.
I see alot of typos as I go back, but I'm sure you get the gist it.

On Tuesday morning, DH and I got up to drive down to Manistee. Friends stayed back and did casino and Charlevoix and Petoskey.
We took the scenic route to Manistee..took us about 8 or so hours, I guess.
From Boyne Falls, we cut thru road C48 over to Atwood to start our Hwy 31 jaunt down the beautiful shoreline. At some little town before we got to Atwood, I saw the signs to the restaurant Tapawingo. Really wanted to go there, but since it was only 10 am..no go.
We took the beautiful drive down the coast. I was so impressed when we got to Traverse City. Another beautiful town. Unfortunately, we had lots we wanted to do and didn't know how long it would take, so we didn't do anything in Traverse City. Just got a small flavor of how great it must be.
Oh, we did stop and browse at Gander Mountain and purchase our fishing licenses. They have some great bottled water in there for only 15 cents. I did want to get some cherry juice for my aches and pains, but didn't do it!
From Traverse City we went a little ways up the Leelanau Penisula. Stopped at 4 wineries, purchased at 2 of them. Our favorite winery was Shady Lane Cellars. Purchased a Pinot Noir and a semi-dry reisling. Also, purchased a Blues CD. Their tasting room is first class, relaxing and they play great blues music. As a matter of fact, she played a few tracks of the CD that my husband had selected. Super nice lady. Again, everyone we met was so much nicer than we anticipated. The other purchase we made was at Black Star Farms. In addition to wine, we bought a really nice cheese that they make there.
Instead of going all the way up the penisula and back down, we cut across 204 at Suttons Bay. Honest to goodness, I could spend a few days at each quaint little town. I still have not decided which town was my favorite.
When we got to the other side, we detoured a bit up to Leland. Another beautiful place. Went to The Bluebird and had a delightful whitefish sandwich. Our very efficient and pretty waitress had just graduated from a college in North Carolina near my husband's hometown. So, they had a lot to talk about. It amazes me what a small world we live in.
From The Bluebird, we drove down to Sleeping Bear Dunes.
At Sleeping Bear Dunes, we did the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. A spectacular sight. We did not do a dunes climb, but there is always next time!
From there we just took our time and drove on down to Manistee. Manistee has a super river walk. Goes all the way from the highway to the lake. Beautiful and we got some some nice photos with lots of reflections. We were in Manistee for our fly fishing trip on the Big Manistee River on Wednesday.
More to come.

On Wednesday we went fly fishing for trout on the Big Manistee River right below Tippee dam. We used Scribner Outfitters in Manistee. Chuck and Linda have a great business and are super people. We were fortunate to find them thru an acquaintance who has a fly fishing shop in Townsend, TN.
The Scribners have a cottage right next door to their home, so we rented that for the night. Didn't want to get up early and make the drive down on the day we were to fish.
I rarely accompany my husband on fishing trips so I wasn't sure what to expect. I did expect a dreary run down fishy smelling, man smelling cabin. What we had was a beautiful cottage that was absolutely immaculate. It was back in a beautiful wooded setting. Linda had so many personal touches. The mailbox had a welcome sign with our names on it. When we entered the unlocked cottage, she had left us a very personal note on the bulletin board. She had also taken a map of the area we live in and highlighted the many areas she had travelled near where we live. The fridge was stocked with all kinds of goodies for breakfast. Even had us a plate of waffles and sausages in the freezer to microwave the next morning. I squealed with delight when my husband opened the fishing motif cookie jar and found homemade sugar cookies. The Scribners had fishing books and catalogues and puzzles and games for their guests to enjoy. A tv, vcr and lots of movies if you wanted.
Needless to say, our fishing trip started out on a great note. On Wednesday, we did not go out to fish until about noon. Because of the really rainy cold spring, Chuck said our fishing would be better in the afternoon.
Chuck was a great guide. I went more for the fun and to check out the beautiful scenery. He, however, was very patient with me and helping me to perfect my cast, while still allowing me to set my own pace. My husband was in absolute heaven. We both caught lots of small brown trout and 1 rainbow. Of course, I had to do my wifely duty and let hubby catch the big fish! He did catch a really nice brown trout.....and he did lose an even better brown trout just as he was about to get it in the boat.
We had opted to have Scribner provide us with a shore lunch instead of bring our own lunch. These people are unreal.......Chuck started his Coleman grill and we had a scrumptious shore lunch of teriyaki marinated pork tenderloin. As if that wasn't enough....we had oven roasted potatoes that Linda had prepared that morning...she had also sent spinach leaves...to which we added mandarin oranges, almonds with cranberries and a wonderful poppy seed dressing. Thought it couldn't get better than this...but Chuck brought out homemade yeast rolls.....then Linda's own recipe Carrot Cake. Just wonderful.
We fished from about noon until 8 pm. Just as we were headed back to the boat launch, I saw a flash and Linda was standing on the bank making photos of and for us.
I was so impressed with these folks...My husband assured me they are not your usual fishing guides.
It was wonderful.
We took the fastest route back to Boyne Falls thru Cadillac and up highway 131 arriving at the condo around 11:30 pm. Even tho we were tired, we stayed up very late excitedly telling our friends about our fishing trip.
I think the next time we come up, we will try to make it when those big salmon are in. We will without doubt fish with Scribner Outfitters again.

Oh my...can it be Thursday already? Well, our friends had to leave to go back home...Well, I don't guess they had to...but, I'm sure they were tired of us!
They left late morning and as they left we all went to B's again for breakfast. The people remembered us from the few days earlier. It was still good.......and B even offered to cut me a piece of the still hot blueberry pie that she had just taken out of the oven. I really did want a piece, but didn't want to mess up her pie and have her cut it hot and make it runny for everyone else.
After we said goodbye to our friends, Charlie and I just rode around the area and oohed some more. I stopped my oohing upon departure of Victories Casino! Came out a little lighter in the pocket book...I never know for sure, but Charlie had a bunch of dollar coins he cashed in...so, he told me broke even...Probably came out ahead and would not tell me for fear I would pump it back into those 1 armed bandits!
Late afternoon we drove over to Harbor Springs and Boyne Highlands. Stopped in at Teddy Griffen's Roadhouse for a drink. Talked with some super people in the tavern who knew where we lived. One guy had a place in Destin, FL and a cottage at Crooked Lake. Interesting retired GM plant manager. After drinks we had an early dinner in the restaurant. Excellent food, excellent service, again a very pretty friendly waitress...Am I getting so old now that everybody is nice to me or perhaps the hormones are working and I am nicer to others. Teddy Griffen's was superb and I would highly recommend.

Oh no........can it be Friday already? My husband got up whining that it couldn't possibly be Friday! Today we had lunch at Pierson's at Boyne Mountain. This is owned by the same people who own Chandler's in Petoskey. I must say.....I wish we had eaten dinner here one night. Lunch was excellent....the best creme brulee I have ever had.
After lunch, we started out for our last sight seeing trip.
Checked out the spectacular view at the hill crest in Petoskey then headed out toward Charlevoix. First stop was at a great little city park, Magnus, I believe. Sensational sights and you could see The Inn at Bay Harbor from there. Drove on down the road to Bay Harbor and walked around at the shops there. Beautiful place, isn't it? From Bay Harbor we drove over to Charlevoix. Just as we parked in Charlevoix, we were able to see the drawbridge raise and a boat come through. Nice sight. We did pick up some tee shirts for the grandkids and some shirts for ourselves. It was neat and we enjoyed our afternoon.
Hubby was really wanting to cast a fly one more time, so we went back to Boyne River and walked up to the dam and let him fish for a while.
Our last supper was the Friday night fish fry at BRI. Had the same waitress as the previous week. Since she remembered us, it was worthy of a generous tip, don't you think?

We never made it up to Whitefish Point. Next time! We never had smoked fish dip. Next time!
Hope some of you have enjoyed reading this. Just wish I could find the words to describe the beauty of "Northern Michigan".
Again, thanks to all who gave me such great advice. This vacation was so much more than we anticipated.
My husband likened it is as beautiful as Hawaii. What a compliment!

"God Bless The USA"

Donna

It is great to hear about your trip to our beautiful state. My visitors have often commented on how friendly everyone is here. Any one of the places you visited would be a great "destination" vacation on it's own. We invite you back to spend a week in a cottage on a great fishing lake, or in late September-early October to view the fall colors. We take a drive up every year and never tire of it.

iceeu2, thanks so much for sharing your trip. Great report!

I'm delighted to read that the Bluebird is still there and still good, I haven't eaten there since my honeymoon in 1977. (We stayed at the Falling Water Motel across the street) The Bluebird was long established back then.

Do you mind sharing what the price range was for Scribners?

Keith

Hi Keith,
I don't mind at all sharing the rates with you, their phone # and a special they have going on in July and August.
Just email me at dfreezeatdaltondotnet
Just so you know....their 2004 rate card states
$295 a day, no lunch served, 1 or 2 anglers
$325 a day, with nice shoreside lunch, 1 or 2 anglers

Thanks iceeu2. My last Michigan trip for this summer is already booked, but I will file them away for a possible later year.

Keith

Where you going and when Keith?

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience @ the Pub & Oyster Bar. I think I recommended that to you. Hubby & I dined there on our first anniversary and loved it.

Otherwise, sounds like a GREAT trip! Northern Michigan is one of my favorite places!