Heading North to Michigan and Ontario What to See???

[ron6785]

Will be heading North to Michigan and Ontario for August and September. I'm originally from Collingwood on the Georgian Bay and lived most of my life thru college years in Westland Mi. But want to explore the northern part of the lower Pennisula before crossing at into Ontario. Any suggestions???? Traveling in truck camper not on Bout Time.

 

[StratPlan61]

Ron, help us out with this - what are you interested in? Museums, iron mines, coastal villages with seaside boutiques, shops, marinas/boats, natural beauty features like waterfalls, rock formations? Fishing? Are you traveling with children - ages?
If you haven't been there, Mackinac Island is fun, horsedrawn carriages, 19th century motif, etc. Pictured Rocks lakeshore in the Upper Penninsula (Muninsing), natural rock formations. Villages like Charlevoix, Bay Harbor, Harbor Springs, Lelanau, etc. Casinos in a dozen northern towns or more. MI has over 700 public golf courses, many great ones northern Lower Penninsula, also over 14,000 inland lakes. Check out www.michigan.org for vacation planning tips, dates, etc.

 

[TopHattandTails]

Pentwater, Charlevoix, Bay Harbor, Petoski, Harbor Spring are a few of my favorites that would accessible via car.

 

[ron6785]

Ron, help us out with this - what are you interested in? Museums, iron mines, coastal villages with seaside boutiques, shops, marinas/boats, natural beauty features like waterfalls, rock formations? Fishing? Are you traveling with children - ages?
If you haven't been there, Mackinac Island is fun, horsedrawn carriages, 19th century motif, etc. Pictured Rocks lakeshore in the Upper Penninsula (Muninsing), natural rock formations. Villages like Charlevoix, Bay Harbor, Harbor Springs, Lelanau, etc. Casinos in a dozen northern towns or more. MI has over 700 public golf courses, many great ones northern Lower Penninsula, also over 14,000 inland lakes. Check out www.michigan.org for vacation planning tips, dates, etc.

I'm interested in all of the above,except fishing. There will be just the Admiral (Charm ) and me. When my mother passed in 2001, I took my dad up the west shore of the lower peninsula thru the upper and then to door county wisconsin.

I trailered a sailboat up to the Mackinac one summer and spent the summer there and in the north channel. Spent three days in the Mackinac Marina due to weather so I became very familiar with the "Fuggies".

I'll be spending a few days with relatives and friends in the Westland area and then am looking for something to do for a couple of weeks up north before crossing into Canada to visit more relatives and friends. Many of my relatives live in the cottage country about 2.5 hours north of Toronto and most are well up there in age so I want to see as many as possible before we take of for a 3-4 year cruise on the boat.

By the way , we've been lucky to do alot of traveling worldwide and I don't think there is a more picturesque coast line anywhere than Michigan or the Great Lakes in general for that matter.

 

[ron6785]

Pentwater, Charlevoix, Bay Harbor, Petoski, Harbor Spring are a few of my favorites that would accessible via car.

Yes, thanks for reminding me those are beautiful areas. We will be traveling by truck/camper so we will be staying at State Parks , RV parks etc.

We sold our big RV rig about five months ago. Since we are now live aboards we decided to keep one vehicle and the most flexible is the truck/camper.

Guess what I'm looking for is something unusual, most people who live in an area have a neat resturant, museum etc something eclectic that is special and so the reason for this request is to find something unusual, nautical is of course on the top of the list.

Thanks,

Ron

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Nah!!! That's where everybody goes. You can't even breathe in those towns this time of year. My wife and I are jest finishing an Eastern Michigan vacation. East Tawas, Tawas Point and ankle beach are great. Next to Oscoda, Au Gres. The Ausable river canoeing trips are great and beautiful. Next we worked our way north through Harisville and Alpena to an awesome haebor at Presque Isle. What a beautiful area and the restraunt at the harbor serves a wonderful dinner. Cheboygen is next with a day trip to Bois Blanc island. The ferry goes from Cheboygan and you take your car. To finish our driving trip off we spent a day on Mackinac Island. 2 or three days on that island at the Island House would be even better.

 

[spartonboat1]

Nah!!! That's where everybody goes. You can't even breathe in those towns this time of year. My wife and I are jest finishing an Eastern Michigan vacation. East Tawas, Tawas Point and ankle beach are great. Next to Oscoda, Au Gres. The Ausable river canoeing trips are great and beautiful. Next we worked our way north through Harisville and Alpena to an awesome haebor at Presque Isle. What a beautiful area and the restraunt at the harbor serves a wonderful dinner. Cheboygen is next with a day trip to Bois Blanc island. The ferry goes from Cheboygan and you take your car. To finish our driving trip off we spent a day on Mackinac Island. 2 or three days on that island at the Island House would be even better.

True above, great drive up US23 along Lake Huron. Lots of marinas to tour in Bay City. Also, you skip all the crowds of the carriage trade on the West side towns. The Plaunt Ferry that runs to Bois Blanc is very convenient and well run by experienced crew. If you like working boats, the Cheboygan River is full of them. US Geologic, US Fisheries, Tug Boats and barges and the Ferry. If timing is right, the USCG Mackinac will be in port, largest USCG vessel on the Great Lakes and possibly the weekly 500' gasoline tanker near the drawbridge; except of course for the original 290' Mackinac which is moored permanently in Mackinaw City, and open to tours.

Three marinas can be toured in Cheb. to rubber neck at boats: Cheboygan County Marina at the mouth of the river, Duncan Bay Marina (mostly 35-60 footers), and Walstrom's (a Hatt dealer), which is right downtown next to the draw bridge. Best food down town there is Mulligan's and Top of the Greek. I like the StepInn which is quaint. Out on Mullett Lake, it is hard to beat the HackMaTack Inn.

Three lighthouses can be seen from the Mouth of the Cheboygan River- 14 Foot Shoal, Poe Reef, and, on a good day with binoculars, Spectacle Reef, 14 miles north and east. The Mackinaw Bridge is also visible from there and Bois Blanc (BobLo) Island across the Straits.

If you go to Mack Isle, make sure you try the Ryba's fudge, Starbuck's coffee, and Mary's Restaurant. (my relatives). Tell Les in Ryba's that his Uncle Quincy said Hello.

Cross the Mackinaw Bridge and drive into the Upper Peninsula (UP) and enter a different mindset. Lots of ferry boat traffic to and from Mack Isle from St. Ignace; try the Driftwood Restaurant and the Whitefish, fresh out of the lakes by Indian Fisherman, 200 feet away. Go up to the Sault and tour an old original 600' GL Ore Carrier at permanent mooring. Also, the Whitefish Bay Shipwreck Museum is interesting, esp. since it has many Edmund Fitzgerald (the 720' Laker sunk on Lk Superior around Nov, 1975) artifacts, including a badly damaged lifeboat. Also, see the Sault Locks.

Pure trivia. If you start on US23 in Cheboygan and drive south, you will go right through/past the UofM campus in Ann Arbor. Keep going South and you drive right through the Ohio St U campus (High Street), home of burning sofa's in the Fall.

 

[chris piazza]

Hey Maynard, you happen to see a beautiful 53C at East Tawas?

Chris
Superior Nights 53C

 

[ron6785]

Nah!!! That's where everybody goes. You can't even breathe in those towns this time of year. My wife and I are jest finishing an Eastern Michigan vacation. East Tawas, Tawas Point and ankle beach are great. Next to Oscoda, Au Gres. The Ausable river canoeing trips are great and beautiful. Next we worked our way north through Harisville and Alpena to an awesome haebor at Presque Isle. What a beautiful area and the restraunt at the harbor serves a wonderful dinner. Cheboygen is next with a day trip to Bois Blanc island. The ferry goes from Cheboygan and you take your car. To finish our driving trip off we spent a day on Mackinac Island. 2 or three days on that island at the Island House would be even better.

We used to have a summer cottage in caseville, but I've never traveled the eastern shoreline , so by gosh we're going to do it. Thanks for the information. Ron.

 

[ron6785]

True above, great drive up US23 along Lake Huron. Lots of marinas to tour in Bay City. Also, you skip all the crowds of the carriage trade on the West side towns. The Plaunt Ferry that runs to Bois Blanc is very convenient and well run by experienced crew. If you like working boats, the Cheboygan River is full of them. US Geologic, US Fisheries, Tug Boats and barges and the Ferry. If timing is right, the USCG Mackinac will be in port, largest USCG vessel on the Great Lakes; except of course for the original 290' Mackinac which is moored permanently in Mackinaw City, and open to tours.

Three marinas can be toured in Cheb. to rubber neck at boats: Cheboygan County Marina at the mouth of the river, Duncan Bay Marina (mostly 35-60 footers), and Walstrom's (a Hatt dealer), which is right downtown next to the draw bridge. Best food down town there is Mulligan's and Top of the Greek. I like the StepInn which is quaint. Out on Mullett Lake, it is hard to beat the HackMaTack Inn.

Three lighthouses can be seen from the Mouth of the Cheboygan River- 14 Foot Shoal, Poe Reef, and, on a good day with binoculars, Spectacle Reef, 14 miles north and east. The Mackinaw Bridge is also visible from there and Bois Blanc (BobLo) Island across the Straits.

If you go to Mack Isle, make sure you try the Ryba's fudge, Starbuck's coffee, and Mary's Restaurant. (my relatives). Tell Les in Ryba's that his Uncle Quincy said Hello.

Cross the Mackinaw Bridge and drive into the Upper Peninsula (UP) and enter a different mindset. Lots of ferry boat traffic to and from Mack Isle from St. Ignace; try the Driftwood Restaurant and the Whitefish, fresh out of the lakes by Indian Fisherman, 200 feet away. Go up to the Sault and tour an old original 600' GL Ore Carrier at permanent mooring. Also, the Whitefish Bay Shipwreck Museum is interesting, as are the Sault Locks.

Pure trivia. If you start on US23 in Cheboygan and drive south, you will go right through/past the UofM campus in Ann Arbor. Keep going South and you drive right through the Ohio St U campus (High Street), home of burning sofa's in the Fall.

Thanks, so much for the information as mentioned earlier I have never traveled up the east coast of Michigan, so your suggestions will come in handy. My Grandfather used to build lake boats in Collingwood, Ontario for Canadian Steamship lines. When you were coming into town you would always see a huge Lake boat at varying degrees of completion right at the end of the main street looked like it was sitting in the middle of the road. The yard is long since closed and they've built Condo's where it used to be. Thanks Again, Ron

 

[Nonchalant1]

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park is always interesting, and stop at Leland to get the smoked beef jerky at the fish smoker next to the marina.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Hey Maynard, you happen to see a beautiful 53C at East Tawas?

Chris
Superior Nights 53C

No I didn't Chris. The only Hatteras I saw was a very nice 56' mid 80s motor yacht. Wow, was it ever beamy.

 

[ron6785]

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park is always interesting, and stop at Leland to get the smoked beef jerky at the fish smoker next to the marina.

I've been to Sleeping Bear Dunes but the smoked beef jerky sounds great. I've just about decided to go up the east coast of the LP have never seen any of it north of Saginaw Bay. I'm currently at Joe Wheeler State Park in the NW corner of Alabama on the Tennessee visiting with friends we met last summer when we had the boat up on the Tennessee for the summer and fall. Got here from Port Aransas,TX in two days in the truck takes almost three weeks by boat ( 1200 miles ). Times to stop and smell the roses for the next two months.

Are you on the great lakes??

Thanks,

Ron