Lemonade In Michigan

The old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” and that is just what my family and I did this summer. For an entire year, we had planned an extended trip west to see some of America’s most beautiful national parks and other sites, only to end up canceling due to high fuel prices and washed-out roads in Yellowstone. To ease our disappointment, we decided to make a trip closer to home up north in the great state of Michigan. Earlier in the summer, Larry and I traveled to the Manistee area with our daughter and some of her family, but for this journey we ventured a little further north to Petoskey and Mackinaw City.

Not owning an RV, Larry and I rented a 33-foot trailer through Outdoorsy.com, one of several sites through which you can rent a camper all over the United States, either for pick up or to be delivered to the site of your choice. On August 6, our home away from home for the week was delivered to Petoskey’s Jellystone Park campground and completely set up for our use. Right beside us in their own trailer was our son Marc, our daughter-in-law Jessica, and their kids, and just a couple of sites away were our daughter-in-law’s parents, Steve and Tracy Farmer. The Farmers had secured a very nice 5th-wheel camper through another rental site, RVshare.com. Both Larry and I and the Farmers had very good experiences using these sites to rent our trailers for the week and would highly recommend them both to anyone looking to take a camping vacation without the hassle of having to own your own equipment.

The first day and a half of our time at the campground was a bit soggy with constant rain falling on us, but it was a warm rain, and the grandkids didn’t let it stop them from riding bikes and joyfully playing in the water puddles. They were soaked to the gills, but had fun while the adults relaxed under the awnings watching their childhood antics, reliving doing the same things when we were kids. On Monday, when the rain had slowed to a drizzle, we filled up the vehicles and drove 36 miles south to check out Torch Lake on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.

Having heard that this lake was named the third most beautiful lake in the world, we wanted to see it for ourselves. Many celebrities have homes here including Kid Rock, Eminem, Michael Moore, Christine Lahti, and others. Even with the overcast skies, we could see the draw to this lake with its Caribbean-colored water, but we were quite disappointed to find almost no public access from which to enjoy the area. We learned that the land owners around Torch Lake are very protective of it, which is probably why it remains so beautiful. At 19 miles long, it was an easy drive all the way around the lake and we did enjoy a nice lunch at the Dockside Bar and Grill toward the southern end in the town of Bellaire.

The next morning our gang ventured northeast a bit to Mackinaw City and across the bridge to St. Ignace where we caught a Shepler ferry out to the big island for the day. With temps in the low 70s and a nice breeze blowing, it was perfect. The nine of us saw the island by using the horse-drawn carriages for rent, a good investment considering the heavy traffic of bike riders and pedestrians on the 8-mile-long island. Two adults paid $72 for the carriage ride and children much less.

The carriages transported you to the most scenic areas with stops for photo opportunities along the way. Some of the most beautiful stops were at Arch Rock, The Grand Hotel, and the cemetery, with graves dating back to the War of 1812. We learned many interesting facts about the island, its 600 horses and its 800 or so permanent residents as we leisurely rode along the carriage route. Of course, we had to take advantage of the numerous gift shops, fudge stores, and eateries on the island.

After boarding the ferry in the late afternoon for the return trip to St. Ignace and crossing the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge once again, we stopped at the southern end of the bridge to take pictures from the shore of Michilimackinac State Park, a lovely and unique park area tucked under the huge bridge, a perfect spot for picnicking and family photos.

Wednesday found us enjoying the sandy beaches and dunes at Petoskey State Park just a few short miles from our campground. Arriving at 11 a.m. or so, the beach had a scattering of people and the waves were calm enough that even our youngest grandchildren could play in the water with ease. We hunted for the elusive Petoskey stones, finding a few small ones to bring home. Our son’s family built a sand castle together and we all enjoyed playing in the waters until around 1:30 p.m. when the big lake got really rough and choppy and the wind began to blow hard enough to make being on the beach not so much fun anymore. So we packed up and headed back to our Jellystone Park where we took advantage of the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

On Thursday we all drove to Indian River located near I-75 about 21 miles east of the campground. We stopped at Big Bear Adventures just across the road from Burt Lake State Park and rented two rafts, taking a 2-2 ½ hour raft trip on the Sturgeon River. In the first raft were the four “old people,” in the second were our son and his family. The river had a nice flow to it but was not white water, so those of us not experienced in piloting our own raft did well. There were people tubing the river who we literally ran into and who were having just as much fun as we were. Shallow in many areas, the river had sand bars and stony areas where we could stop and rest and allow the kids to get out and play in the water. After we exited the river, we spent some time at the beach at Burt Lake State Park, just a short walk from our exit point on the river.

On our last full day in the Petoskey area, we made a trip into town to visit Kilwins Chocolate Shoppe for ice cream and to buy some of the famous fudge and chocolate made there. The final day was quite eventful as our 6-year-old grandson Charlie lost his first baby tooth and scored some good money for it from the tooth fairy and our 9-year-old granddaughter Alivia learned to swim, immediately turning into a mermaid in the pool.

Our 11-year-old grandson Garett had a great week making lots of new friends near his age with whom he played basketball and rode bikes all week. Jellystone Campgrounds are known for being kid-friendly, and this one did not disappoint. We all enjoyed the amenities here and hope to return again one day. Sitting around the campfire on our final night, Alivia declared that “these days in Michigan only lasted like 5 seconds.” The adults agreed with her. Lemonade in Michigan for sure.

This trip was taken Aug. 6-13.