We are home from Michigan–although the older I get, the more I realize home means a lot of different things.

We are home from home, settled back into our routines, comforted by the simplest things we missed–my favorite coffee mug, the way the steering wheel turns in my own car, lighting the candle on my desk when I first wake up, the familiarity of my kitchen and our beds and the whir of the dryer from the laundry room late in the afternoon before Brett comes home. But home is also what we left–where I grew up, where my family will still be enjoying summer for weeks to come–tall pines and scenes of lakes and docks and a sky that stays lit long into the night as if it knows Midwesterners have too much to enjoy in one summer day.

I like loving two places–where we live with the ocean and the palms and the friends and family we couldn’t wait to return to, and where we long to be in the summer and again in the fall when we see pictures of golden tree lines and hear descriptions of what the cider mill smelled like and how the air is just cold enough to wear a sweater. I’m thankful we get to enjoy both.

There are some massive impressive lake houses on my dad’s lake, and yet this little blue cabin tucked in the woods is one of my favorites.

I figured the best way to neatly package a labyrinth of Michigan moments into a blog post would be a wrap-up of ten favorite things I love about a Michigan summer. We do a pretty good job of exploring hidden corners of Michigan, and I can definitely play tour guide when it comes to places we’ve been; but keep in mind Michigan is large, full of so much goodness, we’ve barely scratched the surface. The upper peninsula, for example, is a playground of picturesque beauty we haven’t even begun to explore yet. And there are still so many experiences we haven’t yet enjoyed on our Michigan bucket list (like sleeping in this light house–can you even?!). That said, if you’re considering Michigan for summer travel, DO IT. Head north (although Detroit is fun too!). The Great Lakes are where the spell begins. My dad’s cabin is in Lewiston, Michigan–a very small town with several lakes. It’s great because it offers us a landing spot for the summer where we enjoy calm, quiet lake life away from tourism; and yet it’s drivable for day trips to the most beautiful sightseeing landmarks–Sleeping Bear Dunes, Mackinac Island, Petoskey and Harbor Springs, Leland, etc. With that said, my top 10 Summer Michigan treasures:

1. Sleeping Bear Dunes and Glen Arbor

I haven’t seen a Sleeping Bear Dunes photo yet that really does it justice, but something happens when you’re up there on those dunes looking out on the water. It’s breathtaking, and there’s a reason Good Morning America awarded it THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN AMERICA a few years back.

We stay for hours, and no one gets bored. We drive the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive up to Overlook #9 where we set out a blanket and snacks and drinks, and the kids climb and jump and explore. There’s also a Dune Climb entrance where you can start at the base of a dune and then walk trails through the dunes all day.

Whatever the case, you cannot explore Northern Michigan without visiting the dunes. The sistering town Glen Arbor complements the dunes with its northern charm and unique location gift of being snuggled between two of Michigan’s most beautiful lakes–Lake Michigan and Glen Lake (turquoise waters!). The whole town feels like a summer movie–the shops, the bookstore (it’s a log cabin), the little bars, the kayakers on the river, the ice cream shack, the art galleries, the side streets. It’s all glorious in that this-belongs-in-a-coffee-table-book kind of way.

Some Glen Arbor favorites: The M22 store (and outdoor bar), Riverfront Pizza (so good! and super cheap soft serve ice cream with toppings), The Totem Shop, Andersons IGA (upscale little grocery with good wine), Cherry Republic (go to the Wine Tasting room!), The Cottage Book Shop, Boonedocks, Imagine That, Cottonseed Apparel, Bay Lavender Trading Company.

Our view from the Riverside Pizza dock where we ate dinner and watched the kayakers.

2. Ocqueoc Falls

New to our Michigan trip this year, we were completely charmed. “Don’t tell anybody about this,” my niece instructed, “This is too good to be shared–needs to stay a secret.”

The falls are the perfect height for climbing and exploring, and yet there are pools throughout deep enough to wade waist-deep through and a small little pool even deeper to jump. We brought wine flasks and snacks and wished we would have arrived earlier so we could have stayed longer. And it’s in the middle of NOWHERE (we drove an hour through mostly empty roads to it), so it feels like a good summer secret.

3. A Rainy Day

Because we do so much adventuring in the summer, I welcome the rainy days that invite us to dive into some of the quieter things on our summer bucket list–doing puzzles, writing post cards, reading books, watching Parent Trap, baking cookies. There’s something enchanting about rainy days in Northern Michigan–all the trees that soften the sound of the rain, the smell of a storm on a lake, how quickly it gets cold, giving us a chance to wear the sweatshirts we packed.

Or we’ll head to the small town theater a half hour away, coming back after a few hours to my dad’s grilled cheese and tomato soup and our pajamas laid out (warmed in the dryer, of course). Every summer, I’ve been fortunate to tuck away at least one middle-of-the-night storm when I wake up in the bunkhouse, alert just enough to make note of the blessed fact that I am sleeping in a tiny cabin in the woods and it’s pouring outside.

4. “The Other Lakes”

Michigan is, of course, known for its Great Lakes which are truly impressive, but I love all the little lakes in between. You can’t swing a stick in Northern Michigan and not hit a lake–any lake–and the smaller lakes are better for swimming and fishing and independent kid exploration. In just my dad’s tiny little town–population 1,392–there’s West Twin Lake, East Twin Lake, Tee Lake, Snyder Lake, Big Bear Lake, Little Bear Lake, Wolf Lake and Spectacle Lakes.

Smaller lakes can also offer cheaper places to stay and are great locations for quiet summer lake days.

I love our memories on this lake. Like Pontoon Breakfast Day where my dad prepares and packs up the most amazing breakfast right down to the coffee carafe and whipped cream topping, and gives the kids all chances to wear the captain’s hat while they drive the boat in their pajamas.

5. Traverse City

We’ve always stopped in Traverse City as a midpoint to some of our other destinations, but this year is the first year I went beyond the tourist Front Street and beach area, although we did really enjoy Little Fleet, a family friendly food truck park, for lunch. This year, we drove toward Old Mission, down the strip of land between the arms of Grand Traverse Bay, and Traverse City charm exponentially increased. The view! The wineries! The produce stands! The farms!

We found a little lavender farm, wandered through its barn full of dried lavender bouquets, picked cherries straight from the trees, ate lavender ice cream, brought home lavender tea and candles and handmade soaps and promised we’d never visit Traverse City again without driving this stretch of heaven.

6. Lake Parks

Where there is a lake, there’s a park; and we’ve made it our mission to swing on as many swings we can find overlooking a lake.

7. Mackinac Island

We’ve been singing the island’s praises for years now and wrote a whole post dedicated to it last week, but I can’t make a Top 10 List without including it. There’s something to be said about making the effort to get on a fairy and leaving everything behind to enter a place with no cars, stunning views and true summer cottage living. Summer magic.

8. Inhaling Nature

Yes, we have beautiful nature in Florida too, but Michigan’s summer nature is simply intoxicating, an irresistible invitation to slow down and enjoy it. The wildflowers (they’re everywhere!), the birch trees, the birds, the dirt roads, the water, the rocks… Lake Michigan’s shores are covered with the smoothest stones you’ve ever seen. I collect so many to bring home.

There are so many hidden roads and faraway highways up north lined by forests like I’ve never seen anywhere else. The tallest trees, all lined up–rows and rows of them–with sunshine seeping through and spilling out in a way that is so enchanting. I always want to pull over, walk in and get lost but also I don’t want to be a national headline.

9. Familiarity

Perhaps this is my favorite of all–that we’ve come back to this same place summer after summer, and all its magic is now part of my kids’ childhood, part of them. I’ve offered other summer explorations to them, but they get upset just at the suggestion. It’s like coming home to them, and they’re perfectly content to repeat the same experiences in the same place.

They’re subconsciously stockpiling goodness that will cushion, comfort and guide their future experiences. These night swims, these bonfires, these cold sweatshirt mornings with Poppa’s pancake breakfasts. They’ll tell their kids about them someday, and there will be generations of Michigan lovers to come–I am sure of it.

10. Coming Home

It’s sad to leave a place you love, especially after a month of so many wonderful experiences…

…but I love the reflection that comes in the closure and the excitement of returning to our home and our life here. We cannot have Michigan summers without real life the rest of the year. The juxtaposition is what makes it so good.

Now it’s time to tuck our new souvenir mugs in the cabinet, drop our favorite summer photos in our family album, break out the cherry preserves and lavender lotion we brought home, and move forward toward all the good that is in store.

Back to School posts coming!

It’s our last week in Michigan, and as glorious as this month of summering has been, I’m looking forward to the “flow” tide after this much needed “ebb” has restored us. I’ve done very little work the past few weeks, trading my usual creative hustle for long, slow days with the kids where we walk to the lake, intending to return after ten minutes, and three hours later finally make it back. I never knew blessed nothingness could feel so full and take up so much time.

But I miss the creative hustle and am ready to pour time into ideas and work I’ve shelved this month. And we miss Brett, and our home, and our beds, and our friends, and silly little parts of our normal routine that will suddenly feel new and extraordinary when we return home–like making coffee in my own kitchen with my favorite mug, or walking to the neighbors to borrow half & half and remembering how much I love our little life at home.

I’ve been sharing photos of summers in Michigan for years now and don’t want to be redundant with travel posts. If you’ve followed here for long, you know the drill–we go to the same places every year, and I gush about my love for these lakes and these woods and the way watching the sunset from the sand dunes is a storybook experience that will feed your soul. I conclude in fifth grade persuasive essay style with a convincing plea to put Northern Michigan on your bucket list, and I support it with good reasons plus 500 photos of beautiful Michigan things.

This Mackinac Island post is a heartfelt ditto to posts of previous years.

Dash went into his annual Mackinac Island Horse Trance.

…and I prepped him with his own tiny horse name journal this year so he could put his kindergarten writing skills to good use. He yells to the carriage drivers, “What’s the horses’ names?!” as they pass and records their answers in his book so that by the time we leave the island, he has pages full of horse duos–Sporty & Oliver, Kelly & Pearl, Amber & Jude.

Our friends who moved from Naples to Chicago last year came with us to the island this year, and it was so much fun introducing them to all our favorite things to explore.

We’ve been waiting years to ride bikes on the island, an experience we’ll never miss now. You can bike the entire perimeter of the island (8.2 miles), and there are no cars competing for road space.

We biked to Arch Rock, a gorgeous natural limestone formation that sits high (240 stairs!) above Lake Huron.

I always receive a flood of direct messages with island questions when we’re there, so here’s a little 411 wrap-up.

Is it super expensive?
There are several different ways to explore the island on different budgets. You can take a morning ferry, explore all day and return home without staying on the island; but staying overnight is half the fun as once the last ferry leaves, there’s a certain magic about being stuck (and we could never cram in everything we want to do in one day!). You could definitely spend a week on the island with family and have enough to explore, but we usually arrive in the morning, stay overnight and take a late ferry the second day for two full days on the island. We always say we wish we would have booked two nights when we leave though because we’re never ready to say goodbye. Star Line Ferry usually offers a half-off ferry ticket sale 1-2 times throughout the year (If I recall correctly, we’ve purchased half price tickets on Black Friday and Valentine’s Day) which saves us a lot of money for the entire family. A regular priced ferry ticket is $25 round trip for adults and $15 for kids. I follow Mackinac Island accounts on social media so I don’t miss any sales (and Michigan Instagram readers who know I love the island are always so good about messaging me when there’s a Mackinac deal–thank you!) We try and book our hotel March/April for a good deal. The Grand Hotel is the most famous hotel on the island, but it’s very expensive. We’ve stayed at the Island House, Harbor View Inn and Mission Point for anywhere between $200-$250 a night. I’d definitely suggest staying off Main Street (away from the main tourist area).

We did the ghost tour this year, and I don’t know if it was our tour leader or the tour itself, but I wouldn’t recommend it. We all got really bored and thought Poppa could tell way better ghost stories.

This was Nella after the tour (we scooted out early): OVER IT.

Where should we eat?
If you eat at only one restaurant on the island, make it Woods, the island’s best secret. It’s literally hidden up in the woods in the interior of the island, next to Stonecliff mansion and away from the main tourist attractions. It was built in 1915 by one of the mansion owners as a playhouse for their children and is now a restaurant with the most enchanting ambience–fireplaces, candles, tables tucked into cozy nooks, a hunting lodge style cocktail bar and a hidden duckpin bowling alley in the back.

Woods is about a 30-minute carriage taxi ride from the main island road ($7.50/adult one way–half price for kids).

Other new experiences on the island this year…

The new Watercolor Cafe hidden behind the Bayview Bed & Breakfast. It feels like a secret–quiet, tucked against the harbor, delicious food (get the peanut butter and banana toast!), the most beautiful view on the island, and so many things for kids to explore–art supplies, kids books, tables set up for creating things. We stayed for two hours and could have easily stayed longer.

Several island lovers messaged me this year and told me about the Grand Hotel’s secret garden in the woods, so we added that to our list this year as well and, per usual, were not disappointed. We explored the trails in the woods next to the Grand Hotel and not only found the secret garden but a flower-filled greenhouse as well.

Everything feels like a children’s storybook on the island…

 

…and we’re always sad to step on the fairy the night we leave and watch our enchanting summer place slowly disappear as we go home.

Until next year…