My
husband and I are celebrating our 30th Anniversary this year. For weeks we were thinking about how we could
best commemorate this particular day.
Since we wanted to connect the special day with a trip to Minnesota
visiting his family, we decided to take a little detour to visit beautiful
Michigan. Instead of taking the usual
route we headed north on interstate 75.
We were hoping to escape the heat wave but it followed us all the way
though Michigan.
Our
first destination was Frankenmuth – the Christmas town. After a stroll through Bronner’s biggest
Christmas store in the world (?) we visited the more
quiet chapel which is a replica of the church in which the German Christmas
song “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Holy night)” originated.
During
this part of our trip we stayed in “Bed and Breakfast Homes.” Our first sleepover would be in Bay City at
the Historical Midland Street Bed & Breakfast. We found the house in a quiet part of
town and enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Joyce Loomis.
Since we were the only guests in the house we had the whole upper floor
for ourselves. The couple advised us
that there was good eating at the Atrium restaurant in the downtown area of Bay
City. We weren’t too crazy about the
food, that’s why we quickly moved to the river site to watch the sunset where
we were serenaded from a close by bar.
The
next morning we were served breakfast in the very cozy dining room which was
beautifully decorated and the table was set just for us. We had delicious French toast with fresh
fruits, coffee and juice. After saying
good bye to our hosts we headed to Mackinaw City and admired the impressive
bridge which is the official divider between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. We couldn’t have asked for better weather
with plenty of sunshine and as further north as we drove, the lower the
temperatures went. On the way to our next sleepover we enjoyed
first the drive over the magnificent Mackinaw Bridge and then the south shore
of the Upper Peninsula. We saw white
sand beaches and a very calm Lake Michigan.
The water seemed a little slimy with algae and I didn’t feel like
swimming in it, even though many people did.
We
had booked a room at the Blaney Park Lodge and found it a little run down. But the owners Howard and Lorene were very
friendly and many other guests seemed regular visitors, enjoying the historical
lodge. In its heydays the lodge was part
of the Blaney Park Resort which was an example of lumber towns that survived
in transmuted form where people
came by car, horse carriage and plane to discover the peaceful nature surrounding
the resort. After a hardy breakfast with
oatmeal and blueberry muffins we went on our way.
It
was one of my observations while on the Upper Peninsula seeing many little
towns as well as, hotels and properties abandoned like ghost towns. As we made our way toward Munising, we
decided to take a boat ride to see the majestic rock formations of “Pictured Rocks.”
The
boat tour took over two hours as we passed ancient rock formations colored by
mineral dripping and seeping from higher places into lower layers and creating the
most beautiful colors only nature can paint.
Our tour guide explained about the different rock formations and what
they represent. With a lot of
imagination we saw “marine fleet”, “Indian head”, and many others. During the trip a picture book was passed
around and the captain announced that a lucky winner would be announced at the
sales desk. Guess what, we were the
winners.
That
night we found our way to the “Big Bay Lighthouse.” The B&B was housed in the historic
lighthouse which was still functioning with its blinker at night. It was a beautiful full moon night and the
light house was even more magical. The
inside was completely modern beautifully decorated with the light house theme
everywhere. We had a very tasty
breakfast with other guests and exchanged traveling stories with the light
house inn owner, Linda Gamble.
Then
it was time to leave the Upper Peninsula and pass through Duluth to find our
last B&B at the Superior Gateway Lodge in Two Harbors. The sky became very dark as we drove
through town, and we hastened to find the location of our lodging. It was hidden in a big forest outside of
town. We finally found the beautiful new
log cabin. The owners were not there to
advise us but had given us a nicer room to accommodate another family needing
an extra room. We met Joe and Pat the
next morning. We were surprised that
breakfast was not included in the rate.
Since we were hungry, we paid the extra fee and were served a lovely
breakfast along with the other lodging family.
I
like very much the hospitality at Bed &Breakfast lodgings and meeting other
travelers at the breakfast table. The
hosts have everybody assemble around the same table, serving them homemade
fresh baked goods and fruits. I had a
very good experience with my four sleep-overs at B&Bs and can promote them
warmly. It makes it easier to travel off
the beaten path and find remote places in natural surroundings.
1 comment:
thank you for writing this blog! i was very curious about your bed and breakfast experience and loved the details... i'm so happy you two could do this! bed and breakfasts have always been one of my favorite things to do and there's always the chance to meet interesting people. glad you could enjoy it!
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