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We've compiled the best of the best in Michigan - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
The Detroit Historical Museum hosts numerous exhibits exploring the region's history, its ties to the automobile, and the city's rich legacies in music and sports. Other worthwhile exhibits are Motor City and Streets of Old Detroit—a walk through the city's long history.
Popular with bird-watchers, hikers, and anyone interested in flora and fauna, this 508-acre sanctuary is home to nearly 90 bird species, and 23 species of fern have been identified within its boundaries. But the biggest draw is the park's virgin white-pine forests, one of the last remaining stands in the Midwest, with 600-year-old trees up 150 feet high. In winter the three hiking-trail loops attract cross-country skiiers and showshoers.
Founded in the early 1990s by the Meijer family, whose name graces a Midwestern grocery–department-store chain, this indoor–outdoor gallery, on 132 acres of landscaped grounds, has achieved international importance. A permanent collection of 200 works includes established artists and emerging talent, and outdoor exhibits are displayed in delightful natural settings, linked by walking trails with benches for quiet contemplation. Temporary exhibitions are also staged. Themed gardens include a children's garden, Japanese garden, and 1930s farm garden, and a five-story tropical conservatory houses exotic plants from around the world, including a 3,500-strong orchid collection. Hungry or not, visit the café to see the ceiling of glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly.
Focusing on the life and career of Grand Rapids native and the country's 38th president, Gerald R. Ford, along with First Lady Betty Ford, this museum's main attraction is to be able sit in a full-scale reproduction of the Oval Office, decorated as it was during Ford's presidency. The holographic tour of the White House is equally popular; other displays include gifts that President Ford received from world leaders. The museum also hosts naturalization ceremonies for new American citizens. Unlike other presidential museums, this one doesn't include the presidential library, which is in Ann Arbor.
Dearborn's is America's largest indoor-outdoor museum. It charts the country's evolution from rural to industrial society through exhibits covering communication, transportation, domestic life, agriculture, and industry. Greenfield Village preserves 80 famous historic structures, including the bicycle shop where the Wright brothers built their first airplane; Thomas Edison's laboratory; an Illinois courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law; and the Dearborn farm where Ford himself was born. The Automobile in American Life, inside the museum, is a lavish collection of chrome and neon that traces the country's love affair with cars. W. Buckminster Fuller's futuristic Dymaxion House and the IMAX theater are also worth checking out.
On Saugatuck's most scenic beach, the park, which has 100 acres of protected sand dunes, attracts close to 200,000 visitors each year for its walking trails and the mile-long shoreline. Comfortable shoes are a must as the dunes can be challenging to climb. Barbecue grills and picnic-table sets are available and there is a seasonal concession stand. Viewing nightly sunsets over the beach is a favorite activity for locals.
Originally used to transport horses across the Kalamazoo River, this fringy little ferry is now a top tourist attraction. Built in 1857, it's the only hand-cranked chain ferry left in the country. It takes about 200 cranks and about five minutes for the U.S. Coast Guard-inspected vessel to float the 100 yards across the river.
