Anyone from Michigan?
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Anyone from Michigan?
I know it's a bit early, but can anyone from Michigan give me some advice on visiting that state in the spring? We will be going at the end of April and staying through the first week of May. I figure that's quite a bit of time and I'd like to be able to visit quite a few places. I just don't know where or what. My mil, fil, dh, two boys, and I will be going. We arrive by plane to the Ann Arbor area. Any advice? Pointers? Things to see? Things to avoid? Thanks.
Oh, I want so much to tell you all about Michigan!!!!!
I am in Grand Rapids and I don't get over to the east side of the state much.
Since you will be in Ann Arbor to begin with you might check out this Website and see if anything interests you there.
Information Center
Lansing, the state capitol, is just a few minutes away from Ann Arbor. Last year I went to the Michigan Historical Museum and the State Capitol Building with my son's class. The capitol building is just gorgeous! Tours are free. Check this out for a tour.
Michigan.gov History, Arts, and Libraries
Then there's Detroit, just a few minutes east of Ann Arbor. Just a couple of weeks ago I went with my son's class to Greenfield Historical Village, part of The Henry Ford, an historical museum complex created by Henry Ford himself that includes the Henry Ford Museum. Greenfield Village is like a trip through time. Acres upon acres of working old fashioned farms, trains, cars, and shops. The homes of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison as well as the laboratory where he invented the light bulb. You can walk through the village on the authentic looking streets or get a ride in a Model T or on a horse and carriage. The village attractions pretty much cover time periods from the 18th through 19th and early 20th centuries.
There are, of course, numerous automotive museums in Detroit.
Walter P. Chrysler Museum (this website needs to be updated since Daimler no longer owns Chrylser)
The Detroit Historical Museum
For a complete guide to Detroit's automotive attractions, you can order a guide book HERE
There's also Comerica Park where the Detroit tigers play baseball. For more on Detroit go here http://www.experiencedetroit.com/
Battle Creek is southwest of Lansing. The best thing about Battle Creek is Binder Park Zoo Located at 7400 Division Drive in Battle Creek (the address is hard to find on the website. Just enter it into your favorite map site.)
Just northwest of Battle Creek is The Gilmore Car Museum. This is one of my favorite places in Michigan! The collection of rare automobiles is VERY extensive. I could spend a whole day there and still not take it all in.
Grand Rapids is an hour west of Lansing. A word of advice: If you drive west to Grand Rapids from Ann Arbor or Detroit, DO NOT take I-94. It is the main corridor between Chicago and Detroit, is loaded with semi trucks, is extremely dangerous and will probably be riddled with construction. It's best to take I-96 to Lansing and continue west to Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids is the childhood home of President Gerald Ford. He is entombed on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.
The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra
Grand Rapids Ballet Company
The Van Andel Museum Center of the Grand Rapids Public Museum
Fred Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park If you get here at the right time, you might get to see Foremost's Butterflies!
The Grand Rapids Children's Museum
The Grand Rapids Art Museum in it's brand new building!
The Heritage Hill Neighborhood is full of historic homes.
Further west on I-196 is Holland, and you'll be there just in time for The Tulip Time Festival! Holland celebrates the Tulip and it's Dutch heritage every spring. (We have Interstate 96 and Interstate 196. It gets confusing if you're not familiar with them.)
Of course, you could always hop on US-131 or I-75 and head north to the Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan's two peninsulas. It's about a 3 to 3/12 hour drive from Grand Rapids.
If I think of anything else I will let you know!
Thank you sooo much.
I think I remember my mil saying something about tulips, and my kids LOVE car museums. I'd love to see butterflies. Thanks for the route tip. I'll keep that in mind.
You're welcome!!
I definitely second Mackinac (prounouced Mack-i-naw)Bridge and Mackinac Island! The Island is vehicle free except for a few safety vehicles and is absolutely beautiful! It is definitely worth the drive!
And there are some sand dunes somewhere around there, aren't there? We visited them on our way back from the Island. We used to live in NW Ohio. Were they the Bear Dunes? Maybe Lisa knows what I'm talking about! They were just awesome to see!
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Park Website
Sleeping Bear Visitor's Bureau
http://www.sleepingbeardunes.com/
I'd love to see this! The bridge is cool, too! We went over the bridge and then pulled over into a nearby wayside to take pictures of it!
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
Definitely a neat place. There are lot of places in the U.P. if you make it up there. Tahquamenon Falls are just gorgeous! The Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie connect Michigan and Canada and are really neat. There are also lots of lighthouses around the lakes. Just do a search.
I plan on getting back there next summer. Of course the most my kids will probably want to do is visit Michigan Adventure! lol That's okay. I've been about everywhere there anyway since I grew up there!  Have fun!
Cocoabutter covered just about everything I would have suggested and in more depth. I live about 25 miles south of Detroit and work about 15 miles north of Dearborn (The Henry Ford).
There is another set of dunes called Silver Lake Sand Dunes and it is a state park. You can actually drive on the dunes (vehicles available for rent also) and enjoy Lake Michigan at the same time. We went there for the first time this summer. I've lived in MI my entire life and it was my first time visiting Lake MI. Beautiful!!!!!
Hope you enjoy our state.
DH is originally from Holland, so I second the tulip thing. Also, just south of Holland is Saugatuck, which we really enjoy. They have dunes, too.
I was going to mention Michigan's Adventure, but it's not open until mid-May, and Nancy will be too early.
And I forgot about Silver Lake. I haven't been there since I was a kid!
Muskegon and Grand Haven have a lot of lakeshore attractions, but if you already live on or near the ocean, it's probably not going to be much of a thrill.
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