Tag: Michigan

Winter escape to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan with a five year old

Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Tahquamenon Upper Falls

During covid in November 2021, my husband and I escaped with our five year old (me helping him do remote learning during part of the eight-hour road trip) to explore the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was to be our first of many trips to the UP (yet we didn’t know it at the time!) We fell in love and had to come back with the rest of the family.

Tahquamenon Giant Pines trail
Miners Castle Rock
Miners Fall
Miners Fall
Miners Beach
Craig Lake State Park
Hiking in Porcupine Mountains
Lake of the Clouds
Miners Beach

We rented the cutest little cottage right on Lake Superior in the small town of Paradise on the east side of the Upper Peninsula. The chilly fall days were perfect for exploring sin bugs. After morning coffee on the deck, we spent our days hiking and nights lounging by the fireplace watching Christmas movies.

Since we were on the eastern side of the UP (we could see Sault Ste. Marie in the distance), we planned for daytrips to the eastern side state parks (Tahquamenon) and central parks (Pictured Rocks, Craig’s Lake) while saving the western parks (Porcupine Mountains) for when we would head home. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to Estivant Pines old growth forest in Copper Harbor during this trip due to logistics and limited daylight.

  • Day trip 1: Paradise cottage –> Upper Tahquamenon Falls State Park (20 minutes)
  • Day trip 2: Paradise cottage –> Pictured Rocks State Park turned Miners Castle/Miners Beach/Miners Fall day when I couldn’t find the trailhead (1 hour, 45 minutes)
  • Day trip 3: Paradise cottage –> Craig’s Lake State Park (3 hours, 30 minutes)
  • Day trip 4: Paradise cottage –> hotel near Porcupine Mountains State Park (five hours)
  • Day 5: hike Porcupine Mountains State Park (Lake of the Clouds overlook)

Summary of five day trip across the Upper Peninsula

Lessons Learned:
  • A spontaneous Upper Falls hiking trail almost kept us in the woods until after nightfall (wolves? bears?), and while these adventurous hikes tend to be my favorite, don’t underestimate how dark the forests get near sunset (see Upper & Lower Falls Hiking Trails picture below).
  • Plan out the trailheads for Pictured Rocks ahead of time! Tip: It does not start at Pictured Rocks National Headquarters… but the closely located Miners Castle, Beach, and Falls are a beautiful substitute for when you’re running out of daylight. We knew we would come back for Pictured Rocks, so we were not worried about missing it this time.
  • Don’t drive on Craig’s Lake State Park entrance road after a snowfall without snow tires! We had snow tires, but the ice was a little intimidating for our suv. We met one person on this trail and had no service. It was maybe a little too adventurous.
  • Make the hike to the Lake of the Clouds overlook even if it is 30 degrees, windy, and snowing! It is beautiful.
Our “quick” hike through the Giant Pines forest (in red) that nearly made us bear food

Four day trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto!

May 2017

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Travelers:

The entire crew (four kids, Orlando and Emily) plus the in-laws.

How did we pay for this trip:

We decided to do a road trip from Chicago to Canada. We paid for food, gas and an overnight hotel stay on the way to Niagara Falls.

How did we get there:

We have a 2017 Toyota Sienna SE. If you are familiar with the SE model, the van comes with a wide-screen TV and a Blue ray player. If you have small children then you already know that TV + Blue ray = peaceful drive. If you are thinking about buying a Toyota Sienna, this is how we rate our van:

Comfort: 10/10 – Pretty spacious seats even for the back row. Everyone was comfortable and we had a full van (8 people).

Performance: 4/10 – It’s a van and that is all there is to it.

Gas mileage: 6/10 – Yes, we load this van with 8 people plus luggage. It all fits, but at a cost. We get about 22 MPG Highway.

Entertainment: 9/10 – Widescreen TV, Blue ray player, HDMI inputs, video inputs and nice sound system. Do I need to say more?

Where did we stay:

Our first stop was Toronto. We stayed at the The Westin Prince, Toronto. Overall, it was a beautiful hotel with a good breakfast and good amenities. However, the restaurant staff was limited and it took a while to get an omelet and even a cup of coffee.

Price: $150 per night.

Family friendly rating: 8/10

In Niagara Falls we stayed at the Sheraton on the Falls. The stay came with free passes to a nearby water park. The water park is connected next to the hotel so you never have to go outside to go to the water park. The hotel is a bit outdated, but it’s perfect for the kids. The location is perfect (a few blocks from the falls) and near the tourist area.

Price: $200 per night.

Family friendly rating: 10/10

Recommendations:

The falls during the day and at night:

The falls are beautiful day and night. During the day you get to see the beautiful nature of the falls. At night you get to see the falls illuminated by different colors.  Since we were so many, we did not buy tickets to see the falls up close, but instead walked the boardwalk, which was still plenty misty from above.  Bonus: Go during the winter for an amazing icicle experience.

The tourist area in Niagara Falls:

You will know where this is once you see it. Although it’s full of touristy stuff, it’s worth walking around and watching people.  Our teenagers really enjoyed walking around.  Go to the Hershey store for the ultimate dessert deal ($6 for a shake and a cupcake), but don’t drink it before walking the falls (yikes!).

Downtown Toronto:

Downtown Toronto is easy to walk, but finding parking is difficult and traffic is heavy. St. Lawrence market is nearby and highly recommend you visit the market. Go to the marina and enjoy the outdoor sellers and the music that is randomly played near the food sellers.

Fallsview Indoor Waterpark:

The children had a lot of fun, especially the toddler. The waterpark is smaller than your typical waterpark in the US, but it had enough activities to keep the kids busy for half of the day.

Lessons learned:

We wish we would have stayed a day longer in Niagara Falls. The kids really loved the tourist area and the waterpark. We also wish we had enough time to cross to the US side. Toronto had some attractions that were closed due to the weather and other reasons, so we should have checked ahead of time.

Three day weekend trip to Mackinac Island!

August 2017

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Travelers:

The entire crew plus the in-laws.

How did we pay for this trip:

We decided to do a road trip from Chicago. We only paid for gas and food for the 500 mile road trip.

How did we get there:

We have a 2017 Toyota Sienna SE. If you are familiar with the SE model, the van comes with a wide-screen TV and a Blue ray player. If you have small children then you already know that TV + Blue ray = peaceful drive. If you are thinking about buying a Toyota Sienna, this is how we rate our van:

Comfort: 10/10 – Pretty spacious seats even for the back row. Everyone was comfortable and we had a full van (8 people).

Performance: 4/10 – It’s a van and that is all there is to it.

Gas mileage: 6/10 – Yes, we load this van with 8 people plus luggage. It all fits, but at a cost. We get about 22 MPG Highway.

Entertainment: 9/10 – Widescreen TV, Blue ray player, HDMI inputs, video inputs and nice sound system. Do I need to say more?

Where did we stay:

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express St. Ignace-Lake Front. Price was a little bit higher than usual for a Holiday Inn, but all hotels are pretty expensive near this area. The hotel has a free shuttle to the Island so that was pretty convenient.

Recommendations:

Rent a bike:

You can’t go to Mackinac Island and not bike the entire island. Do you go to Orlando and skip on all the theme parks? Maybe you do, but you just can’t come here and not rent a bike. Rent that bike, please.

The Grand hotel:

We have stayed at this hotel in the past thanks to my previous job. The hotel stay is expensive but well worth the price. It is old-fashioned, grandiose and unbeatable location.

Go into the stores:

Souvenirs are all over the place. It may seem overwhelming seeing all these people in the stores, but trust me, it’s part of the experience.

Headlands International Dark Sky Park:

It’s a short drive from St. Ignace, but it is well worth the drive. This park is basically best seen at night. Ok, so you really can’t see the park at night, but what you can see are the stars! We were lucky enough to go on a weekend with shooting stars on the sky. It was really beautiful and all the kids loved it. We did too. Take lawn chairs and blankets.

Lessons learned:

Our only regret is not staying one night on the island. We liked our hotel, but staying one night on the island is well worth the price.