Up North

Mackinaw Bridge

Up north is a single word if you live in the state of Michigan! It is part of our vocabulary and we all know the definition! We all have our favorite places in the state to visit and most of the time we are heading north.  North can be half an hour north or it can be in the upper peninsula, which by the way is called the U.P.

I am currently going up north this weekend for a little get away with my husband to one of our favorite places, Mackinaw.  I decided to give you a little tour of Up North! If you ever have the opportunity to visit our very beautiful state these are some of the places you might want to check out!

There are many many things to do and see in Michigan and I will only be focusing on a few in a certain area of the state but you could take endless road trips and never get bored or be disappointed.  We live in southeastern Michigan and on our little tour today we will be traveling north on I-75 which ends in Canada to the north and Florida to the south.

About 50 minutes north of our home is the town of Frankenmuth. This has an amazing restaurant called the Bavarian Inn and will give you a truly memorable chicken dinner with delicious sides. You can stroll along the streets and visit the unique shops and visit Bronners, the famous Christmas store, open all year. It is truly a light display to behold during the holidays.

As we travel north we come to Pinconning. known for its cheeses. There is also a huge store in town to visit, called Northwoods.  Wow it literally takes hours to navigate and such an incredible variety.

We now come to West Branch where we stop and do a little shopping at the outlet stores and grab a coffee at Tim Hortons. This is our halfway point to the Mackinaw Bridge. We have now driven 2 hours. In Michigan we call the Mackinaw Bridge “The Bridge“. When we talk about going up north we talk about crossing the bridge and we are always on the same page.

Next is Gaylord. The buildings here are mostly A-frame style reminding us of Swiss chalets and snowy mountain peaks.  We do not have mountains in lower Michigan but in Gaylord we have lots of snow! It also has many beautiful golf courses if you don’t want to brave the snowy slopes to ski.

Onward north to our destination, Mackinaw City.  A small town on the shores of Lake Huron to the east and the straits of Mackinaw to the north. The majestic, 5 mile long Mackinaw bridge starts here and spans the straits to the U.P. and the city of St. Ignace.  Mackinaw Island is just to our east and is a wonderful place to visit in the summer. You take a ferry boat and arrive to the intoxicating aroma of fudge and horse drawn carriages.  A walk down memory lane for sure. No cars allowed just bikes and horses.

We have arrived and the city is pretty desolate as most businesses are closed for the season.  It is a typical cold rainy November day.  It is so peaceful here though so quiet, away from the busyness of this life.  Sometimes we need to get away and just take some time to re charge our batteries. We will only be here a very brief time but we so love this beautiful place and will take advantage of this opportunity up north!