Sunday, June 24, 2012

Yes! Michigan

So I get three weeks of vacation every year and when I take time off work, I like to actually GO somewhere.  I went to Las Vegas in April and my original plan was to visit LA again this month but I couldn't financially do it.  I wanted to take my mom to the "land of sunshine & happiness" but we'll have to go some other time.  Instead, we went to Michigan.  For the first 19 years of my life I ONLY visited the midwest.  Technically I only visited Wisconsin & Michigan so I'm pretty used to going there.  If I'm going to visit a nearby state I'd chose Michigan just because in my opinion, it's probably the prettiest among states in this region.

I'm also referring to the side on Lake Michigan.  Up till last week I had only been as far as Muskegon.  We only had a few days to spend there so we decided to go about an hour and a half further north to Ludington (4 1/2-ish hours from Chicago).  
 We spent 3 days/2 nights in Ludington so this blog is based on that short time.  I will say that I have a "comfort zone" and that being Saugatuck, Michigan.  I will have to blog about that another time because that deserves it's own entry, and it will be long as I've been visiting there for the past 20 years.  

Tuesday 6/19: After an iced coffee stop in Illinois we headed out.  We stopped for breakfast in Chesterton, Indiana.  It's not half way but it's a nice place to stop for gas, to eat, etc. in Indiana just to stretch your legs.  Another interest of mine is WINE and southwest MI has LOTS of wineries to visit.  We stopped off in Berrien Springs at Lemon Creek Winery
I did a wine tasting and bought two bottles :)
Next we stopped in Saugatuck - there is a little store in town that I needed to buy a ceramic butterfly to add to my wall collection from.  It's called Grandpa's Circus.  Mission Accomplished.  We stopped for lunch in Grand Haven and made our way to Ludington.  We stayed at the Ramada which was on the main road and got there right after check in time.  As with everything in life, you get what you pay for...this was a trip on a budget, plus I'd never been there before so I was comfortable staying at a chain rather than some place I just stumbled upon.  This was fine...the staff were friendly, free continential breakfast though my only problem was the bathroom.  Check out my review at Yelp for more info. 
After checking in we decided to spend a little time at the beach so we went to Stearns Park/Beach right at Hwy 10 and the lake.  It's a park, and a beach and also a pier with the lighthouse showed above.  After the beach we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  We had dinner at Jamesport Brewing Company This place was AMAZING!!! Great food & beer!  My favorite part of the trip!  I also wrote a small review about them on Yelp as well. After dinner we watched the SS Badger pull out and head across lake michigan - this is a car ferry that travels back and forth between Ludington, MI and Manitowoc, WI.  We took a walk down the pier to the lighthouse to watch the sun set.  There are beautiful sunsets on the east side of Lake Michigan...It's something I've enjoyed doing since my first trip out there.

Wednesday 6/20:  After our free hotel breakfast we killed an hour in good ol' Walmart while our room was cleaned.  We decided to spend the day at Ludington State Park.  Out of state cars pay an $8 entry fee.  There are many hiking trails, a river that you can tube down, and also a separate lake/beach within the park called Lake Hamlin.  We picked up KFC and had lunch at the beach there before heading to Lake Michigan.  This particular day was WINDY so our experience was not as pleasant having whipping sand blowing at you while you're trying to tan.  Lake Michigan was also pretty chilly so I stayed out of it.  Others at the beach didn't seem to think so though.  We spent a few hours there, then headed back to the hotel.  There isn't a whole lot to do in Ludington...there are a handful of restaurants, bars, etc.  We decided to visit the town just north of there called Manistee and hit up the casino.  We gambled and ate dinner at the buffet at Little River Casino & Resort Of course I liked this place, I won $50 (I'm not big on gambling) This was a decent casino to visit - very clean, etc.

Thursday 6/21: I had to work that night so we headed out before check out time.   It rained the ENTIRE way home.  We were glad we were heading home because we did everything that struck our interest in Ludington and had no idea what we'd do there if it did rain all day.  Indoor pool, perhaps?!
We stopped for gas about 20 miles south and again in Fennville to pick up a few things at Crane Orchards I will write more about that hidden gem on my upcoming Saugatuck blog.  We stopped in South Haven at Big Boy for lunch, again in Chesterton, IN for gas and back home.

Yes, there are lots of things to do in Ludington if you're an outdoors person - hiking, boating, fishing, etc.  There are even sunset  cruises on a pontoon boat on Lake Hamlin for $20 (we wanted to do this but opted for the casino instead.  We were limited on time so it was a short trip.  Personally, I'll travel back to my comfort zone of Saugatuck...I really don't think traveling further north for a small town on lake michigan is necessary, if I'm going to try a new area in the future in MI, I'd probably hit up the Upper Peninsula.  

If any readers have any suggested areas to visit, I'd love to hear about them so please do so in the comment area below.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

$$$ Expensive Travels $$$

I came across an interesting read on the Huffington Post today regarding domestic & international travel.  Check out: Most Expensive Cities To Travel To Around The World