Our Favorite Island In America Is In Michigan... Believe It or Not!

We had a good eleven day run in Michigan. Four stops covering more than 700 miles of America. As our voyage comes to a conclusion it's still awe inspiring to see places we've never seen before. Six hundred and some days into our travel, it's still fun, and better yet, we still love each other. 

Our first stop in the Great Lake State was Grand Rapids. We hit two noteworthy spots while there. The Gerald R Ford Presidential Museum was surely presidential, and the Fredrick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park was also wonderful. Plus, we hit a couple breweries that we'll give mention too.

President Ford wasn't elected Vice President nor President but was both. Spiro Agnew resigned as VP and President Nixon hand-picked Ford as his second banana. Then, Nixon resigns and Ford becomes Prez. Pretty spectacular circumstances.

President Ford was from Grand Rapids, so that's where they are buried. It was a beautiful garden where they are laid out to rest.

We had a pretty awesome campground with exception to it's location. It was a little too far out of Grand Rapids but it made up for that in other ways. It was rustic, private, clean with amenities that we never really take advantage of since we are constantly on the go.

We went to the scenic Frederick Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park which was definitely worth the price of admission. As we strolled the splendid Japanese Garden we both agreed it was our favorite part although the hothouse and sculptuture tour was cool too.

When we first got there, our arrival was perfectly timed to jump on the $5 Tram for a look-see and a tour of the Sculpture Park. Da Vinci never did get to do his horse sculpture but someone else did the work in his vision. The second sculpture below was a Rodin. That was the only other sculptor we heard of. You might recognize the last sculpture though. Hehe...

We ran out of things to do, so when Brad's cousin Mickey recommended we visit Saugatuck and Holland, we took him up on it. We grabbed a tasty waterfront lunch and checked out both cute, lakeside towns.

Grand Rapids had a ton of breweries. We went to three but two were worth mentioning. At Brewery Vivant we had duck confit and brie crema nachos that were out of this world and we had a good time hanging with a great beer tender at Speciation Cellars.

Our next stop was a 260 mile, 4.15 hour drive to Mackinaw City...destination Mackinac Island. From here on out, now called, our "favorite Island in America".

Of course taking into account an RV trip to Hawaii is out. It was a quick 20 minute scenic ferry ride to the island. The island was quaint, adventurous, busy, wholesome, clean and had lots of character. No cars were permitted on the island. Only horseback and lots of e-bikes. We didn't bring ours but that's a story for another day.

The ferry drops you off into town that had a ton of bike rental places, shops and restaurants along with historic buildings.

We took a three trail hike to Arch Rock. The trail was residential yet woodsy and when we got to Arch Rock it turned touristy. It was a neat adventure with plenty of payoff.

The real gem of the Island was the Historic Grand Hotel. Whoa! This place was palatial, absolutely stunning. We toured the hotel and the grounds, but spent most of our time on the largest deck in the world. Really, this 660 feet long deck is grand as grand can be. We sat on the rocking Adirondack chairs and had a beer. Enjoying the splendor of the hotel and the outstanding view of Lake Michigan.

Our last stop before catching the ferry back to Mackinaw City was dinner at Mustang Lounge. It was excellent! The service and food were right on point and it had the best fish spread we've had anywhere in the USof A. Phew...Our 15,000 step day was done.

The Mackinac Bridge was staring at us from our campground and throughout our local travel so we decided to cross it. We took a car ride, then stopped at a scenic overlook of the bridge while touring the small Town of Ignace. It wasn't much but it had a pretty marina and an Ace Hardware that we needed.

On a side note, our RV Park was beautiful. It was HUGE and right on Lake Michigan. They were having a biker rally so the campground was packed. It added even more personality to the stay. We took a fun bike ride along the lakefront while there and the campground's store was like a department store. With more personality.

We're off to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Cleveland and Canton as our next two stops before we hit Lake Erie. Out Great Lake adventure continues. Thanks for reading down this far and thanks for following our journey(even though we're home :0). Kathy and Brad