This was another in a long line of trips to Michigan. We've skied there many times, we went to Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes with Luke when he was about the age Sam was here, Matt & I did a 10 year anniversary trip to Holland, and I had done trips there with my family as a kid. However, I had never even seen the Mackinac Bridge or been to the UP. So, we were going to fix that. (Three years before this trip Mackinac even made my list of 5 places I want to visit in the US).
This post will cover our few days on the lower peninsula and then Thursday will be the UP. In our experience, northern Michigan is still CHILLY in June. This trip required pants and sweatshirts nearly daily. Which is why we intended to head south the following year (oh, what we didn't know about 2020).
I wanted to visit Mackinac Island and something on the UP. So that meant we stayed in Mackinaw City for 3 nights and then drove to the UP and stayed there for 3 nights. This was pretty straight forward to plan besides figuring out lodging for the UP. You all, there isn't a whole lot to Munising.
Where We Stayed
We started in Mackinaw City and I found a VRBO cottage within walking distance of the ferry docks. Luke LOVED this place and still talks about it occasionally. It was a very small cottage and their claims that a pack n play would fit with the couch pulled out were true BUT it was super tight. As in we could barely walk when the couch was pulled out for Luke and the pack n play was out for Sam. But there was space for everything. We mostly ate on the porch which got chilly but it did have everything we needed. On one of our cold days we pulled the pack n play into the bedroom so Sam could nap while the rest of us were in the main room which worked just fine. One bathroom isn't such a big deal on non-beach trips since those always require more washing from swimming in salt water. This was fine.
We were driving North on a Saturday and, somehow, were able to time it just right that we went to Saturday evening Mass at the Cross in the Woods on our way to Mackinaw City. We made that with just a few minutes to spare. It was outdoor Mass in front of a GIANT crucifix that did hold Luke's attention very well. I don't go to many outdoor masses so that was fun. We walked around the grounds a little bit after Mass.
On Sunday we took the ferry to Mackinac Island. We managed to hit one of the rides that went under the Mackinac Bridge which was cool. It was a very chilly 50° our whole day on the island which they said was unseasonably chilly, so that part was not great but we still had a lovely time.
We walked around a bit, found a playground for the boys to play at. Then we rented bikes and rode around the entire island. It was incredible how much different the island was once we got out of town. It was GORGEOUS and the biking helped warm us up. We had been talking about this bike ride for awhile and Luke had been insisting that he wanted a Tagalong like he was using at home for longer bike rides. Then he realized it was chilly and was very content to sit in a bike trailer with Sam (who fell asleep almost instantly) and a blanket. We stopped many times for pictures and Luke loved running around a few of the beaches. It was lovely and I'm glad we did it.
Once we were back in town 2+ hours later we got lunch and walked around more. We walked all the way up to the Grand Hotel and got ice cream from the ice cream shop (it was REALLY good ice cream). We used the bathrooms at the Polo place across the way and they were heated which felt really good too. Then we walked back down the hill and played at the elementary school playground for awhile but that was, again, chilly.
We still had some time and so decided to walk through the state park up to see the Arch that we had seen from sea level when biking earlier in the day. Sam fell asleep on that walk and even Luke got himself a carry on the way down (it was a very tiring day with A LOT of walking). Then we caught the ferry back to Mackinaw with minutes to spare.
It was chilly but still a fun day to see Mackinac. And we ate and bought fudge somewhere in there.
Monday was an even chillier and rainier day so we spent a good portion of it just at the cottage. That was cozy and nice too. Sam took a good nap (which he needed) and I read a lot and read to Luke. We need to get out of our house to really have a day where we all relax.
In the late afternoon we walked down to the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse to see Lake Huron and the Mighty Mac and just get out of the cottage for a bit. The boys liked throwing rocks in the water and the sky cleared to blue right before we were headed to walk back. We could see Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel where we had just been the day before!
That evening we went to the Headland International Dark Sky Park because I always am interested in seeing cool stuff in the skies. It was only about 15 minutes from our cottage which was helpful even though in June you have to wait pretty late to see anything cool. We were there about 9:15 until 10:45 and were able to see, I think, 3 planets and used their telescopes to see the moon up close (Matt took the moon picture through the telescope with his iPhone). I would LOVE to go back to see the Northern Lights sometime and the whole Milky Way but I don't think it'll happen when the boys are so little. Sam fell asleep and Luke was very close to the same!
That was our 3ish days in Northern Lower Michigan. I feel like we packed in a lot in just a few days, much more activities than we did in our week in Alabama this past summer! Come back in two days to read about more chilly days in Michigan!
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