Huge Sand Dunes, Cherry Festival, and Beer (Day 4)

After two very long days on their first days of vacation, my family was tired and needed a more laid-back vacation day. We decided to take a leisurely 45-minute ride west of Traverse City to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I heard great things about this National Park before heading to Michigan, so I really wanted to go.  

I was told by someone staying at the hotel that it gets pretty how on the sand at Sleeping Bear Dunes, so to head there early in the morning or when it is cloudy.  So we did that, getting there at around 11:30am EDT.  The sand at that point was not too hot and there was some clouds in the sky.

The first thing we noticed as we drove into the parking lot was hot massive the dunes were.  We had no frigging clue how massive.  Standing 450 feet above Lake Michigan, all I can say is that we were in for a heck of a hike up the dunes.  It was like every two steps forward is a step back in the sand.  Your calves burned from all the walking in the sand, but overall the view was amazing and worth it.  

We climbed up the first section of the dunes which is outlined in the picture of my wife.  

Avery was fast to run up the first section and she took a nice rest at the top.

The view from the first section was nice, but it got nicer as we went higher.  

The second and third sections to hike up were much steeper.  The girls were having fun and went up the really steep section.  Manina and I went up the less steep section, meeting the girls on a bench at the top, 450 feet above Lake Michigan.  

The views from up there were outstanding and so beautiful.  It was well worth the grueling hike in the hot sand.  We rested up there for about 20 minutes before heading back to the car.  This was where the fun began as the girls wanted to run down the dunes.  They are pretty steep so they got running pretty fast and wildly.  Norah even belly flopped on her way down.  

Here's the aftermath of Norah's belly flop on the sand.  She had sand all over her face, in her nose, hair and mouth.  

I was happy as I was able to get a really beautiful picture of the girls up there (even though they were squinting from the sun).

Once we made it to the bottom, we decided to drive the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.  By the time we got there (1:00pm EDT) there was quite the line to get in there.  

One past the payment station, we were able to drive around and take a few beautiful pictures.  The drive was fun, but it wasn't close to as fun as the dune climb.  

It was around 2:00pm by the time we got out of the scenic drive, so we went to eat lunch at a place called the Shipwreck Cafe.  They had subs and ice cream for the win!

After lunch, we hopped over to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Visitors Center in Empire, Michigan.  There the girls did their Junior Ranger activities and were sworn in as Junior Rangers, getting yet another set of badges.  

On our way back to Traverse City, we stopped downtown to go to the National Cherry Festival.  For those who know me, you know I love all things cherry.  So it was so much fun that we were in town for this festival.  When we made the plans to go to Traverse City, we had no idea the festival would be going on, so this was a great bonus.  For some reason, I never took may pictures of the festival.  Probably cause I was having such a good time and running around feeding my face with cherries.  But before we got to the actual festival, the girls found a place to swim in Lake Michigan at the Clinch Park Beach.  The beach was adjacent to the Cherry Festival and they also had a playground, splash pad, changing rooms, bathrooms, and activities like ladder ball and cornhole to play.  The park was right downtown, absolutely beautiful and the girls had a blast!

After a brief swim, we went to walk around the National Cherry Festival.  My favorite part was that I could buy a pint of cherries and walk around eating them while checking out all the activities.  That is the reason you won't find many pictures of the festival, other than in the butterfly tent (pre-cherry purchase).  I was feeding my face the whole time with cherries and never stopped to take pictures.  Take it from me though, they had all sorts of activities for the kids, a butterfly tent, a beer garden, concerts, pie eating competitions, and vendors selling anything you can imagine would be cherry related.  

The family did get some cherry related swag.  Norah got a really cool black and red National Cherry Festival tie dye t-shirt (I was jealous they didn't have one in my size) and a cherry hair clip.  Manina got some cherry earrings.  Avery got some cherry related key chains and stickers.  I got a National Cherry Festival foam koozie.  

At some point we got hungry and went looking for food.  Manina was told by a friend to go to the Cherry Republic.  They had tastings for all things cherry.  This place was awesome.  Norah and I must have eaten a ton of cherry chocolate covered pretzels and other cherry spreads that they had while Manina did the wine tasting.  It was all so good and really spoiled my dinner.  

For dinner we went to a brewery next to where we parked the car.  It was called MiddleCoast Brewing Company.  We sat out on the patio (the weather there was amazing) and Norah was excited to grab a drink with me inside a trailer they had which people could eat in.  

After dinner, the girls played some Twister before we headed back to the hotel.  They had so much fun on their "laid back" day of vacation.  

Back at the hotel, the girls wanted to go to the pool and get some swimming done while the wife went out back to sit by Lake Michigan and read a book.  Considering it was a laid back day, we all got to do a lot of things and had so much fun.  We all really loved everything Traverse City had to offer.  

 

More Ford, Getting Our German On, and Arriving in Traverse City (Day 3)

On Tuesday morning, we got up, ate the continental breakfast at the hotel, and made her way over to the Ford Museum of Innovation just after they opened.  This is a huge museum, much larger then I expected it to be. When we arrived we used our new membership card to bypass the lines and head right in.  

Once in the museum, we immediately went to look at the presidential vehicles. It was so cool seeing several of the various vehicles used by presidents over the years.  My favorite was the 1972 Lincoln Continental that Ronald Reagan rode in, as well as the 1902 Brougham that Teddy Roosevelt rode in.  I know cars were relatively new when Teddy Roosevelt was president, but I had no idea he didn't like riding around in them.  

Next, we decided to look around at the driving in America exhibit which included a bunch of really neat vehicles from the past.  I especially loved the vehicles that were used for road trips and some of the cool neon signs.

My kids had a good chuckle at the display on some of the first car seats that people installed in cars.  

I also loved they had a 1971 Honda motorcycle, similar to the one my dad had when I was a kid.  

Then we went to an area dedicated to race cars. We watched a really neat 4D movie on what it was like to be a racer.  After that, we tried our hand as a family at changing tires on a race car.  The girls handled the tires, I handled the jack, and Manina filled up the gas.  We're able to do that in less than 30 seconds.  The two families before us, did it in about a minute.  So I was proud of my family.  The girls looked like professionals.  

Just before lunch, we walked through the steam engines and airplanes section of the museum, before seeing the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.  It is so cool, I got a Mold-A-Rama of it to bring home as a keepsake.

After lunch (we saved 10% on food with our membership), we visited a special exhibit at the museum on the Disney princesses and their costumes from the movies. It was really cool seeing all of the costumes in person.

After the Disney princess costume exhibit, we went into an exhibit with a Dymaxion House.  I remember watching cartoons and old TV shows as a kids on the house of the future.  This Dymaxion House was the house of the future.  It was pretty cool to walk around it and see what it looked like inside as I've never seen one in person.  

Next, we went to a section to look back at life through the decades.  I was able to show the girls some interesting items from my childhood.  My wife immediately went to show the girls what it was like to be in a classroom back in the 1950's.  

I fell in love with a Wurlitzer and an old radio.

I also had to show the girls what electronics looked like when I was a kid.  This came in handy as later on in the trip, the girls were at a brewery and were able to play a Simon game.  

Finally, before leaving, we took the kids over to look at the bus on which Rosa Parks was arrested and learned about the importance of that day and what she did.  The cool thing is they have the same bus Rosa Parks was arrested on back on December 1, 1955.  The girls and I got to sit in that exact same seat she sat in.  

There were other exhibits and cool things we saw in the museum.  Far to many to explain here, but here's a few other cool pictures.  

Before heading out, two things took place.  The girls had fun getting their Mold-A-Rama figurines.  

I also went to the restroom and sure enough they had those beautiful large porcelain urinals that had to have been at least 50 years old.  It's the small and sometimes weird things in life that make me happy.

We Departed the museum around 2:00 p.m. and made it to Frankenmuth, Michigan around 3:00 p.m. our first stop there was at the Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland.  This place was Christmas on steriods and I loved every minute of it!!!

This place has hundreds of thousands of ornaments and Christmas themed items.  The count is endless.  You walk through room upon room of Christmas items.  There is no occupation or hobby in which they do not have an ornament.  In fact, I was able to find a meteorology ornament!!!  Do yourself a favor and take their virtual tour online.  It's so impressive.  

We spent a solid hour in the store browsing Christmas items.  We bought a ton of ornaments for our tree (and for presents) and because of the breakable nature of the ornaments, decided to have Bronners ship them back to our home for us.  They were on our doorstep and in one piece when we got home.  

Next we needed some food so we went to the Bavarian Inn for dinner.  Of course Avery and I had the fried chicken dinner and I got beer with mine.  The wife and Norah both got some pasta they shared.  I ate enough food for a small army of men.  The chicken and sides were outstanding and plentiful.  I was in heaven!

After dinner we walked around the downtown of Frankenmuth.  Our first stop was the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus.  So much cheese!  I was hoping they would do some samples, but with COVID still going, they had no samples.  We did buy a blueberry cheddar cheese though.  

On the way back to the car, we stopped to get the girls some ice cream before the 3 hour ride to Travese City, Michigan.  While getting ice cream, Avery and I stopped to talk to a guy making one of the most amazing murals we have ever seen.  

After a quick stop for gas  along the way to Traverse City in Grayling, Michigan, we arrived at the Bayshore Resort around 9:30pm.  To my children's delight, the pool was open until 11:00pm, so they were very quick to unpack the car and get swimming.  Total win!!

Overall, we had a crazy busy day, just like the previous day.  Everyone had fun, but needed to rest.  So we promised the girls that the next day would be much more laid back.