Michigan Road Trip

This was our first large scale road trip as a couple, and it ended up exceeding all of my expectations. We had so much fun and covered so much ground.

This trip was inspired by a lot of Michigan love I’ve seen over the years - but my primary motivators were Emily Henry books and Kelle Hampton of Enjoying the Small Things. The Michigan love is strong with these two and they were not lying about any of it. Hunter and I also had a lovely time listening to Funny Story on audiobook throughout the trip - his first EmHen novel, and I loved understanding all of the Michigan references even more!

This was a bucket list trip, and it fulfilled everything I hoped for but also did not satiate my curiosity fully - instead, I actually can’t wait to go back someday and visit some favorite stops, and add more of western and central Michigan onto our to do list.

Dearborn

We stayed with friends nearby, and were lucky enough to have them show us around. You can’t visit this area and miss a trip to the Henry Ford Museum and the village. We spent over six hours here and did not even cover everything - I could have spent ten hours or two full days there and enjoyed every second of it. The museum building is beautiful, the exhibits are varied and interesting, and the village is a wonder all its own. We had stunning weather and had such a great time. Our factory tour was cancelled due to a power outage, so we’ll have to go back someday!

We ate brunch at Avenue Brunch House, which was delicious.

We also had coffee and tea from Qahwah House, which I would highly recommend.

Detroit & surrounding area

We ate ramen at Ima Izakaya in Detroit and it was SO GOOD.

We also had a great takeout meal from Levant Kitchen, which was fresh and generously portioned Mediterranean food.

On our drive up north, we stopped at Bay City State Park and walked around. The coastline as well as the visitors center were worth the visit, and were a welcome respite to walk around during our long drive.

Ann Arbor

This was the sweetest town, and we only spent a few hours there but it was enough time to fall in love. It has my recipe for everything I love about a location - small enough to walk around, with water/green space, excellent food and shops, and cute indie bookstores.

We ate brunch at the Dixboro Project, which was such a beautiful space with delicious food. This was right outside Ann Arbor - it features a large remodeled barn, a sit down restaurant, a small cafe/window for takeout coffee and pastries, and outdoor space to sit and relax. It was a wonderful experience.

Some favorite shops in Ann Arbor were Literati Bookstore, Rock Paper Scissors, and Vault of Midnight. We had delicious food/snacks/drinks at MK Cannelle and Toastique. And we had our first taste of Cherry Republic at the store here - as someone who doesn’t even like cherries, this place won me over quickly. My only regret is not picking up a passport to stamp, since we ended up stopping in at almost every location by the end of our trip (lol).

We also visited the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, which are a part of the college campus. They were beautifully maintained and even had an extensive bonsai garden.

Petoskey

Our “home” base was an adorable little tiny home outside of Petoskey. We adored this town so much and I would 100% move there tomorrow if I could! It sits right on Lake Michigan, and it once again had all of the perfect ingredients for a wonderful town. So many great food options, such good shopping, and beautiful waterfront parks.

We had some meals here that we still talk about. Mim’s Mediterranean takeout was so unexpectedly and unbelievably good. We had an excellent meal at Pallette Bistro. We also enjoyed food from Roast and Toast, and picked up some prepared foods and drinks at Grain Train. Symon’s General Store was another standout. We had amazing sandwiches here and also picked up some packaged food as souvenirs to give to family. Another place that we will never stop thinking about is Petoskey Pretzel Co. We are fans of soft pretzels - from the Salzburg pretzel stand to Auntie Anne’s when the craving hits haha - and this place was so freaking fun. It’s right next to the entrance to the riverfront, and they have hot fresh sweet and savory pretzels all day. Instant high both times we were able to grab one - I only regret we couldn’t have gone more.

Walking down to the waterfront and out on the break wall is a must. All of the shops were so cute and fun to browse, but my favorite was McLean & Eakin Bookstore. They have their main storefront, which is extensive and so beautifully curated. They also have a used bookstore a few doors down, which was so fun to shop through.

Mackinac Island

We used Shepler’s Ferry to get to Mackinac Island for a day trip. We drove from Petoskey in the morning and opted to take the ferry that included a “bridge tour”. This was so fun and well worth the slight additional time on the trip - it costs nothing extra and you get a little bit of history and some extra sightseeing.

Mackinac is packed full of so much activity and opportunity for adventure. There are no cars on the island and very limited electric vehicles/bikes. The main transportation is horse drawn carriage and bicycles - even the delivery trucks are horse drawn. We did all of our touring this day by walking - so, we covered a lot of ground, but not nearly all of it. If I go back, we will definitely bring or rent bikes to do the full bike trail loop around the island and to visit more of the sights!

We had stunning weather and arrived just as the crowds were setting in. We hit so many things on our list and I had so much fun.

We started the day at the Watercolor Cafe for delicious food in the cutest setting with the best views. Doud’s Market is a the “oldest grocery store in America” and was worth a visit - I think we only grabbed waters here, as everything is obviously quite pricey as an island market.

We ventured up to Arch Rock and the information center along a path that brought us by Fort Mackinac. We visited the Sugar Loaf on these trails as well. Our walk back brought us by so many beautiful homes.

We walked to the Library, which was so cute and had great views from the back deck. We walked along the boardwalk by the water, which passes the Mackinac School and playground - it was overrun with families having the best time. We walked to the Grand Hotel and explored the area as much as we could (fair warning that they charge a fee to walk through the hotel, which we opted not to do). The Secret Garden (pictured above) was a must see. I also got the Mackinac Island peanut butter fudge flavor from Sadie’s Ice Cream and it was quite good.

We shopped a bit downtown, including at Little Luxuries and the Mackinac Island Art Gallery. There are also fudge shops and many places to eat. We opted to leave in the afternoon and venture up to the Upper Peninsula, and ate dinner closer to Petoskey.

Upper Peninsula

We ventured further into the Upper Peninsula after getting off the ferry in St. Ignace, purely with the goal to see Lake Superior on our trip. We opted to visit Point Iroquois Lighthouse. The lighthouse, beach, rocks and lake here were worth the stop. We found some stones that were so unique to this area. The water and wind was a bit rougher and felt more wild up here. It was worth our side trip to experience it, and I know there is so much more nature and sights to see here.

Harbor Springs

This was the sweetest lakeside town that was absolutely bustling with people (it was a holiday weekend, the weather was gorgeous, the farmers market was up). We had to stop at Tom’s Mom’s for cookies - this spot can’t be missed. The most charming setting for the most delicious cookies, and my only complaint was that there were basically too many good options. We grabbed some juices from Little Juice, which is immaculately designed and produces delicious food and drinks. Between the Covers Bookstore wins the prize for a very punny name and a great selection. Harbor Boys was hard to resist - it felt like the Midwest’s answer to the Black Dog and I could have bought everything there if money was not a factor.

Tunnel of Trees (the route we took)

For our Tunnel of Trees drive, we started at Pond Hill Farm. We could have easily spent all day here - there are so many activities, so much beautiful scenery, adorable animals, plenty of options for food, and so many sweet and unique goods to buy.

The Tunnel of Trees was spectacular, and was another phenomenal spot for viewing dream homes. We stopped at Trillium Coffee. We visited Good Hart for their general store and the other two shops there. We stopped at Church Beach and loved it. One of our favorite locations was Sturgeon Bay Dunes/beach. There is plenty of roadside parking, an expansive and beautiful cove of a beach, and so much great rock/fossil hunting. We enjoyed it so much that we came back another day for a full beach day - it was stunning, we were the first ones there with the plovers, the water was so clear and refreshing. Basically, we loved it.

We also drove by the Bay View Village houses on our way north from Petoskey, which reminded me of Martha’s Vineyard gingerbread homes with their own Midwest flair.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

This was so magical and is so hard to describe. We started off at the National Park Visitor Center (Philip A. Park) and did some learning and shopping. We were very ignorant/self confident and should have asked for better directions while we were there, as we ended up being pretty confused about where the park actually was, but had happy accidents with discovering other beautiful stops. And I maybe unintentionally went off-roading on unpaved hills through the woods and tested out the off road setting in my new car 😬

The spots we discovered due to this happy accident were Empire Beach - which had stunning views of the dunes from the southern side, a well maintained beach and amenities. We stopped just long enough to change into hiking shoes, but would otherwise have to pay for parking to remain here. North Bar Lake is a must visit. We parked and walked out along the beach and dunes - the views were so magical and there was a park ranger and someone doing some sort of testing in a canoe in the lake. It felt like a children’s book come to life. North Bar Lake is pictured in the second photo above, with Lake Michigan to the right.

When we successfully made it into the park, we discovered that it’s a loop of paved roads with designated lookouts. This setup is so ideal, and we stopped at as many overlooks as we could. Overlook 9 and 10 are where you can walk out onto the dunes. This was such a unique park and is such a wild geological feature to experience.

Lake Leekanau/Suttons Bay

We drove up and around and found dinner at Fiddlehead, which was yet again some of the best food and in such a cool space. They were playing music from records, had outdoor seating, and everything was fresh and local and delicious. We drove through Suttons Bay and added it to our list to visit next time. It was so charming.

Glen Arbor

If you’re sensing a theme, it’s that I will be stopping in at every possible bookstore wherever in the world I am. The Cottage Book Shop was a perfect fit to its environment. They had an expansive selection, including a ton of local authors/locally set books. The main Cherry Republic compound is here, and we saved all of our shopping for this location. It was packed and there are so many options - a winery, a restaurant, the gift shop. We bought some things for ourselves and some souvenirs/thank you gifts for family, sampled so many of the delicious options, and fell in love with the atmosphere of the whole place. I grabbed ice cream from the Pine Cone (another amazing name). We also stopped at the beach by LeBear.

We didn’t do this but will be next time and so I’m telling you to do it if you can - Crystal River Outfitters kayaking looked like an absolute blast from what we could see. I also want to eat at The Mill and visit Bay Lavender Trading Co. - unfortunately, the shop was closed when we stopped by. The pontoon boats out in the shallow sand bars of Glen Lake were also immediately added to our bucket list - this would be such a fun group trip.

Michigan was magical and I truly hope to go back someday. Thank you to this great state for such a lovely road trip, and apologies for the sheer length of this post. More to come (someday) as we stayed in the loveliest town in Canada on our way home.

General Michigan food recommendations!

-Moomer’s ice cream - any grocery store should have, one of the best chocolate peanut butter ice creams I’ve ever had

-Leelanau drinks (cherry limeade variety pictured above)

-Cherries in any form! Our personal favorite was the cherry salsas from Cherry Republic

-Boathouse Wine - Pinot Grigio (based in Leelanau)

-Better Made potato chips - these were so freaking good, I brought a bag home and just finally ate them recently