In celebration of my grandmother’s 82nd birthday in September, my mom and I flew to Michigan to take her on a multigenerational road trip. We started in Holland, Mich., and headed north, toward the Upper Peninsula. Some of the places we stopped were Traverse City, Petoskey and Mackinac Island. Below are several pictures from our travels.
On the first day of our trip we stopped in Traverse City and wandered around downtown, shopping, having lunch and coffee. We were lucky to get a beautiful day. (Read more about Traverse City and its festivals.) That evening we arrived in Petoskey, a city famous for the fossilized coral you can find on the beaches there. After we checked into our hotel we immediately headed to the beach to find our own Petoskey stones. My grandma was the first to find one, and it was the biggest one any of us found all day!
The second day we headed north and crossed the famous Mackinac Bridge, arriving in St. Ignace. It didn’t take us long to find a ferry to Mackinac Island, and we had a beautiful trip over. The Grand Hotel on the island was visible long before we arrived. Our first stop once we were on the island was, of course, at one of the famous fudge shops. Despite supposedly being mature adults, we had a hard time resisting buying a ton of fudge, but we justified it by promising ourselves we would share!
There are many beautiful places on the island to sit and relax. We headed to some picnic benches on the shore and tried each kind of fudge we had bought. Simple chocolate walnut was my favorite. Mackinac Island is completely free of cars of any kind, so the main ways of getting around are by horse and carriage, or bicycle. There are great sights to see around the island, like the Arch Rock, a short climb up a trail from the bike path. (Read more in our Mackinac Island article.)
It didn’t take much convincing to get my grandma to get on a bike and embark on the bike trail circling the perimeter of the island. I hope I’m as active on my 82nd birthday!
Our last stop before heading home was at the Indian Village, a kitchy touristy spot that my mom remembered from when she was a child. Naturally we had to pose behind the silly sign!
