Up North: Not content with a tropical paradise, I also made two trips Up North. To Michiganders, Up North means the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula is certainly up north, but generally, I believe if you are going to the Upper Peninsula you are going to 'The U.P.' (Da You-Pee), and it is subtly differentiated from simply "Up North". While we did go briefly across the Mackinac Bridge into The U.P., for the most part we were just Up North. By 'we' I mean Miss Kate and H.R.H. Miss Anna. There were two separate trips, one to drop Miss Anna off at her summer camp in Cheboygan, and another to pick her up.

The kickoff was an evening in Beulah, one of the myriad little resort towns peppered along the coast of Lake Michigan. Every summer families from southern Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio, and the Chicago area fill the cars with luggage and troll Up North to little towns like Beulah. Why? Primarily outdoor activities -- camping, hunting and fishing for the self-sufficient types; the rest of us are content with canoeing, hiking, biking, or just hanging on the beach (yes, there are beautiful beaches -- not necessarily in Beulah, but you can find beaches along Lake Michigan that rival the best in the world). The evenings are filled with Norman Rockwell style activities such as walks through town at dusk to get a soft serve and watching the sunset over the lake. Up North is beautiful in a verdant woodsy kind of way. There is really no downside for a family trip, except possibly the traffic on holiday weekends. As usual, there is a reason places get to be recurring vacation destinations.

In Beulah, we did exactly what you should do. Canoeing on the Platte River in the afternoon, followed by dinner at a precious small town diner called...are you ready...here it comes...The Hungry Tummy. The evening was capped with a visit to the Cherry Bowl -- a not-to-be-missed genuine 1950s style drive-in theatre where we saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Miss Anna insisted we get there about two-and-a-half hours before dark (roughly 10pm) to make sure we got the absolute perfect spot for our car. We did, which resulted in this (~710k). But we filled the time with miniature golf and wandering around the playground until dark. This is a great place to bring kids who desperately need to understand what it was like in the pre-On-Demand world. Guess what? There is no remote, no pause, no rewind, and you have to wait for the movie; just like when we lived in caves.

Next up we went yet further back in time for a couple of nights on Mackinac Island, a sweet little semi-Victorian kind of place (Is it necessary to point out that it is pronounced mack-i-naw, as if the terminating c was a w?); no motorized vehicles allowed, so you get around on bikes or horse drawn carriages -- hope you enjoy the smell of horses and their, ahem, droppings.

You get to Mackinac Island from Mackinac City via one of three ferry lines. Nothing complicated about it: park you car, buy tickets ($20 round trip if you don't have a discount coupon), load up your bags and go. Ferries leave and return roughly every half hour. Lots of people bed down in budget hotels in Mackinac City and scurry over to the island for the day, thus avoiding the premium prices for on island lodging at the expense of some inconvenience.

For those enamored of spending exorbitantly, Mackinac is the home of The Grand Hotel most famous for being the shooting location of the enduring chick-flick, Somewhere in Time wherein Superman time travels in search of some Medicine Woman booty from Dr. Quinn.

The Grand Hotel is formal and elitist and unashamed of it. Gentlemen will wear jackets after 6 and women will dress comparably. They even have their own private horse and buggy service. Non-guests are held at bay outside the lobby, although on an earlier trip, Miss Anna and I managed to slip past and wander about for a while -- it's not so hot.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast closer to town called The Metivier Inn. Highly recommended. Very friendly and helpful staff. Decent breakfast. The rooms are clean and tastefully done, if a bit snug. A comfy living room, big shaded porch and beautifully landscaped grounds. Free wireless. Coffee, lemonade and snacks throughout the day. They will pick up and drop off your luggage at the ferry dock. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed. (Unless you come to the island to watch TV. There are no TVs in the rooms, just a communal one downstairs.) It is what people think of when they think of a sweet little B&B.

There is really only one village on the island, maybe ten square blocks. There are five kinds of businesses: 1) Inns, 2) Restaurants, 3) Gift Shops, 4) Bike Rental shops, 5) Fudge shops. Other services are limited. The island is eight miles in circumference (about an hour's bike ride). There are a number of natural areas and a slew of historical structures such as forts and so forth. All of this is very much worth seeing, but the larger point is that you really don't want to spend more than three or four days.

Our days were filled with multiple bike rides around the island, including one which required a flat tire rescue and a couple wherein we took the strenuous route up and over the middle of the island -- great scenery, great views, cool stuff to see, but the ride is not for the faint of heart or weak of leg.

We managed to get in a swim off a very rocky beach. There is no sandy beach on Mackinac so water access can be painful without surf shoes, but once you get out in the water, floating around is a bracing, refreshing experience. The northern Great Lakes are clean and clear.

Another option for getting out on the water is the Mackinac Breeze, a cruising catamaran that will take you (and other guests) on a brief tour around the island, but be prepared for some, well, let's call it risque commentary from the deck hand. (We found out what a 'Hot Carl' is. We wished we didn't, and so will you.) Good times.

Mackinac is a great long weekend destination. In fact, just about anywhere Up North is.

Now, there's a good project: Sketch out an itinerary for a family week or two in Michigan. For out-staters, I would fly into Grand Rapids, rent a car and head for a two nights in Saugatuck area. Then up the Lake Michigan coast to Muskegon for an overnighter and a visit to Michigan's Adventure. Another night or two in the Crystal Lake area for some canoeing and a visit to the Cherry Bowl and hike across Sleeping Bear Dunes if you have the fortitude. Continue on to Charlevoix for a night and maybe take a day trip to Beaver Island, then on up Mackinac Island and settle in at a nice B&B for three nights.

Probably more interesting and fun than a week at Disneyworld. And way, way cheaper.

I should expand on that. It would be a great travel document. Hmmmm...

BTW, here are some pics from Mackinac:

Shore view from the ferry (~590k)
Another shore view from the ferry (~600k)
Yet another shore view from the ferry (~560k)
Mackinac bridge from the ferry (~200k)
Up one side of the village (~720)
And down the other (~620k)
The rocky shores make uncomfortable beaches (~680k)
Hunting for jet skiers? (~660k)
Arch Rock (~470k)
Fort Mackinac (~660)
View from the island high point (~550k)
Another view from the island high point (~700k)
A lighthouse, because I was feeling rustic (~370k)
The lawn in front of Mission Point resort (~1M)