Michigan Road-trip

Our family just returned from a 7 day road-trip starting from Pennsylvania to Michigan and our rating of this trip is 10/10! There are so many family friendly activities to do all within a reasonable driving distance. We left early on a Saturday morning and drove to a town called Beulah, where we stayed at Cold Creek Inn. This is a quaint little inn that sits above a restaurant.. we didn’t eat here but the employees were so nice and accommodating! This town was very clean and quiet. We mainly chose to stay here as a nice break in our road trip as we made our way towards the UP. Also, we wanted to check out the lake that surrounds the area; Crystal Lake. Yes, the name speaks for itself.. the water is not only very clear but it’s also clean. Temperature wise, the water was surprisingly very warm. Our evening was spent at the local brewery Five Shores Brewing. This place was the perfect vibe- lots of families, games for the kids (and adults), great food and drinks.

In the morning, we made our way towards Sleeping Bear Dunes. This location is one of those *you have to be there to really experience it* type places. It’s a steep 284 ft descend down to the water, then a nice climb back up. We spent our afternoon at the beautiful torch lake, where you could walk out quite a ways, and still be only waist deep. This is a great spot to drop in your paddle board, kayak or even rent a pontoon!

After we had a quick breakfast, it was time to head towards Mackinac City. To add a resting place into our day, we checked out Oswald’s Bear Ranch. Once we left, we headed to Hamilton Inn in Mackinac City. Nothing super fancy about the room itself, but it has everything you need, including beach front access to Lake Huron and a short walk across the parking lot to the ferry. To our surprise; in the summer, there is a beautiful display of fireworks over the water on Fridays and Sunday’s at 10 pm!

We hopped on our ferry and headed to Mackinac Island for the day. Once we arrived, we immediately felt like we were in a fairy tale [Starbucks included] This island has no cars. Horse and buggy or bicycles is the way to travel in and around the island. We rented two bikes with one burley for the kids. This is the preferred way to travel, as you can go wherever you want on your own time. The road around the island is a 8.2 mile steady/smooth ride. There are points of interest stops along the way- we stopped at Arch Rock and saw the most beautiful views from above. The entire ride around the island is absolutely stunning! It’s hard to believe a lake could be so turquoise and clear. Mary’s Bistro