Pure Michigan Travel - Michigan Israel Business Bridge

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Sault Ste. Marie
Mackinaw City
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Petoskey
Charlevoix
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Hit The B.O.B., a Big Old Building
that houses four floors of entertainment,
multiple restaurants, microbrewery, dance
and comedy clubs, wine cellar, cigar lounge,
and live jazz.
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Visit the Gerald R. Ford Presidential
Museum; the 38th president grew up in
the city. Take in the works at the new
Grand Rapids Art Museum, the first newly
constructed, LEED-certified art museum
in the world. Awaken all of your senses
at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture
Park, which includes a striking, five-story
tropical conservatory, outdoor sculpture
collection with works by Auguste Rodin,
Henry Moore and Claes Oldenburg, several
themed gardens and “American Horse,” the
24-foot-tall sculpture by Nina Akamu based
on Leonardo da Vinci’s original drawings.
Travel Michigan
Michigan Economic
Development Corporationsm
300 North Washington Square
Lansing, Michigan 48913
michigan.org
greatlakesnorthamerica.co.uk
greatlakes.de
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Visit the charming town of Frankfort on
Lake Michigan’s Betsie Bay, known for its
world-class salmon fishing. Photographers
love the Point Betsie Lighthouse and
Frankfort Breakwater Light.
A Great Day in Grand Rapids,
Michigan’s second-largest city
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Travel time: 3 hours
DAY 1 0
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West Michigan Meandering:
Frankfort—Manistee—
Grand Rapids
L A K E
DAY 9
Frankfort
Traverse City
Manistee
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Detroit
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Point Betsie Lighthouse
Continue your drive along Lake
Michigan to the Victorian port city of
Manistee. Its elegant mansions, opera
house, churches and other ornate structures
recall the 1800s lumber boomtown that had
more millionaires per capita than anywhere
else. There are plenty year round resorts for
fun on the links and winter snow sports.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Frankfort-Elberta
Manistee
Grand Rapids
frankfort-elberta.com
manistee-cvb.com
visitgrandrapids.org
VISITOR INFORMATION
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum
fordlibrarymuseum.gov
Grand Rapids Art Museum gramonline.org
Frederik Meijer Gardens
& Sculpture Park
meijergardens.org
The B.O.B.
thebob.com
2606-130214
Check into your accommodations in
Grand Rapids, the state’s second largest city,
on the banks of the Grand River.
Leonardo’s Horse
photo credit: Midwest Living
Michigan has been shaped by
freshwater seas—four of the
five Great Lakes—and carved
by glaciers more than 12,000
years ago. Its two peninsulas
are visible from the moon and
instantly recognizable on any
globe or atlas.
The upper and lower peninsulas
enjoy four distinct seasons
and are dotted with more
than 11,000 inland lakes, laced
with 36,000 miles of rivers
and streams and defined by
a 3,200-mile Great Lakes
coastline. That shoreline is
filled with more than 100 public
beaches, some of the highest
freshwater sand dunes in the
world, stunning multi-colored
sandstone cliffs, two national
lakeshores and the only
national marine sanctuary in
the Great Lakes—the Thunder
Bay National Marine Sanctuary
on Lake Huron. Numerous
maritime museums, shipwreck
diving preserves, historic
military fortifications and 116
lighthouses also rim Michigan’s
Great Lakes shoreline.
Its cities are special, too, from
Detroit’s automotive history
and Motown sound and
sparkling new developments,
to lovely resort towns on the
Lake Michigan shore.
DAYS 1 – 3
Discover Detroit: arrive in Detroit,
check into downtown accommodations
Since its founding in 1701, the city on the
Detroit River has had many identities,
including fur trading post, shipping center,
automotive capital and home of the Motown
sound. Enjoy dinner in Greektown, a lively
corner of the city known for its restaurants
and nightlife.
Visit the Cultural Center and view the
impressive collection and newly reinstalled
galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts,
including Diego Rivera’s massive “Detroit
Industry” murals. Stroll to the Charles H.
Wright Museum of African American History,
the world’s largest institution dedicated to
the African-American experience. Check
out the display of General Motors vehicles at
Renaissance Center, a multi-towered office,
retail and hotel complex overlooking the
Detroit River.
Spend a day at The Henry Ford and its
collection of Americana, from light bulbs and
cars in the Henry Ford Museum to historic
structures like the laboratory of Thomas
Edison, relocated from New Jersey to the
outdoor Greenfield Village. Tour the famous
Ford Rouge Plant and F-150 pick-up truck
assembly line.
photo credit: The Henry Ford
VISITOR INFORMATION
Detroit Institute of Arts
dia.org
Charles H. Wright Museum of African
American History
maah-detroit.org
The Henry Ford
Detroit
thehenryford.org
visitdetroit.com
DAYS 4 – 5
Head north to Mackinaw City;
catch a ferry to Mackinac Island
Travel time: 5.5 hours
Yes, it’s spelled both “Mackinaw” and
“Mackinac,” a reflection of the British and
French influences on the straits; the area
where Lakes Huron and Michigan meet and
separate the two peninsulas is pronounced
“mack-in-awe.”
DAY 6
Ferry across the Straits of Mackinac
to the Upper Peninsula and
Whitefish Point
Travel time: 2 hours
The Upper Peninsula, surrounded by
the waters of the Great Lakes Huron,
Michigan and Superior, is connected with
the “mitt” of the Lower Peninsula by a
suspension bridge that spans the five-mile
wide Straits of Mackinac. With just three
percent of the state’s population living on
about one-third of its landmass, the air in the
U.P. is clear and refreshing, the woods are
thick and green, wildlife is plentiful and most
roads are two-lane.
At the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior learn
about the majesty and danger of the Great
Lakes and the ships they have swallowed,
especially the Edmund Fitzgerald, which
went down off this point.
DAY 7
Depart Sault Ste. Marie
for Petoskey
Travel time: 2 hours
Return to the Lower Peninsula across the
five-mile Mackinac Bridge, a 50-year-old
engineering marvel soaring above the Straits
of Mackinac. You may choose to travel the
winding “Tunnel of Trees” scenic drive along
Lake Michigan, especially beautiful during
fall color season. Shop and lunch in the
Victorian-era resort towns of Charlevoix,
Petoskey and Harbor Springs, which enjoy
“million dollar sunsets.” This is where Ernest
Hemingway spent the summers of his youth,
and referred to in several of his stories.
DAY 8
photo credit: Brian Walters
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Travel time: 1 hour
Poet Carl Sandburg said, “The dunes are to
the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to
Arizona and the Yosemite is to California.
They constitute a signature of time and
eternity. Once lost, the loss would be
irrevocable.” One of the most impressive dune
areas is just west of Traverse City at Sleeping
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Scramble
up the popular Dune Climb, motor along the
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, or tackle the
strenuous Dune Trail to Lake Michigan, a
3.5-mile stretch of sand (each way).
Cherry blossoms
Continue to dinner and
overnight in Traverse City
Travel time: 1 hour
Grand Hotel
Check into your accommodations on
the island, where transportation is by foot,
bicycle, horseback or carriage—no cars are
allowed. Explore the 1780 Fort Mackinac,
bicycle the island’s eight-mile perimeter,
stroll past Victorian-era cottages, delight in
the winged creatures at the Butterfly House.
Visit Grand Hotel with the largest porch in
the world (660 feet) and the Esther Williams
swimming pool; the 220-foot serpentine pool
was named for the Hollywood star following
the filming of the 1949 movie This Time For
Keeps at the Grand Hotel. Grand Hotel has
welcomed guests since 1887.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Mackinaw City
Mackinac Island
Grand Hotel
mackinawcity.com
mackinacisland.org
grandhotel.com
photo credit: Jeffrey Foltice
Overnight in Sault Ste. Marie, the first
European settlement in Michigan and the
third oldest in the nation, established as a
Jesuit mission in 1668. Here, at the rapids
where Lakes Superior and Huron meet,
the Soo Locks were built in 1855 so that
ships could negotiate the 21-foot difference
between the waters. Take a boat tour through
the locks, and you may be fortunate to pull
up alongside a 1,000-foot freighter.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
shipwreckmuseum.com
Sault Ste. Marie
Soo Locks Boat Tours
saultstemarie.com
soolocks.com
Michigan’s “Little Finger” area and
the northwest region are a year-round
recreational wonderland, boasting resorts
that offer world-class golf in the summer
and skiing in the winter. Where logging
operations once flourished, recreational
fishing, snowmobiling, boating and other
four season sports now thrive—including
famed fly fishing rivers and streams.
At the heart of it all is Traverse City,
overlooking the beautiful Grand Traverse
Bay, and known for its annual National
Cherry Festival, fine shops, restaurants,
entertainment spots, and several nearby
vineyards and wineries.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Mackinac Bridge
mackinacbridge.org
Charlevoix
charlevoixlodging.com
Petoskey/Harbor Springs boynecountry.com
Traverse City
visittraversecity.com
National Cherry Festival cherryfestival.org
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Winery Tour
The fertile soil, lake effect and temperate
weather that made this region the nation’s
Cherry Capital are also create ideal
conditions for growing the fruit of the
vine. Wind down your stay in Traverse
City by spending some leisurely hours
touring the wineries of the Leelanau
Peninsula Vintners Association.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
National Lakeshore sleepingbeardunes.com
Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association
lpwines.com