places to see south west michigan
 

traveling from milw wi to ann arbor mi this fri,
would like to check out wineries or orchards along the way. any advice on what to see or avoid along the way.

There are quite a few wineries on your route. Check out this website. http://www.miwinetrail.com/page01.php Also, there are many orchards and farmstands nearby. You may want to consider exiting I-94 once in Michigan and taking Red Arrow Highway for aways. It used to be the route b/n Chicago and Detroit prior to the interstate and has many nice towns along the way. Try exiting in New Buffalo and taking it to Sawyer or St. Joe.

Vineyards and tastings:

Paw Paw has St. Julians, Warner's And Black Star. Peterson's in Kalamazoo has no sulfites, but limited hours.

There are so many you would need to google wine tasting and South or Southwest or South Central Michigan and get lots of addresses.

Are you taking the ferry or driving around Lake Michigan- that makes a huge difference.

If the later, hit Mendon and the St. Joseph for an overnight at the Mendon Country Inn. It's historic and unique.
Has canoeing in weather and great circuses- he is a top chef.

If you tell me your route, this would be more specific with more replies. Also time of year. In winter, I could tell you where to ski or snowmobile etc. Do you want physical activities. Are your driving straight through without lodging? How long?

For many details of SW Michigan or Sunset Coast Michigan - use the search button here and you will get 100s of specifics on the lighthouse tour, Harbor Country, Lake towns, Grand Rapids, etc. etc.

For Orchards I have been to probably a dozen just in Cass, Berrien, or Van Burean Counties. If you google orchards Michigan- you will get acturate picking or store or farm hours by district. There are literally 100s for blueberries, strawberries, peach etc. in season as well as apple and cherry.

People need more information about your trip route and time frame to answer this question.

JJ, sadly the Black Star tasting room in Paw Paw closed but Warners and St. Julian are still open. There are two apple orchards in Mattawan (one exit east of Paw Paw) exit 66 I believe. If you exit and go south, about a mile past the downtown area there is one on the left first and a little further down one on the right.

Thanks Swalter,
Just looking for somthing to do along the way to break up the 6 hour drive to Ann Arbor this fri. I will check out the Red Arrow hwy. I know there are a lot of wineries, but I am concerned about which wineries to go to or better yet avoid.

St. Julian in Paw Paw is nice, Warner's has a great restaurant-Kevin's if you hit it there at lunch time. It's especially nice if it's nice out b/c you can sit outside. Tabor Hill and Round Barn closer to the Indiana/Michigan border are also favorites. Contessa in Coloma is ok and there is a great chocolate shop-The Chocolate Garden about a mile past Contessa (about 2 miles off the interstate) with out of this world truffels.

My parents brought me back some pretty nice wine from Fenn Valley on the SW side of the state. They are listed on the Michigan Wine Trail site. They went to several of the wineries over a long weekend and had a most enjoyable cooking/tasting/wine pairing class at Tabor Hill winery while there.