Friday afternoon I saw that there was a possibility of Northern Lights in Michigan. When Tammy got home from work, we discussed the possibility of heading north to see what we could see. We went to Wayland Hotel for dinner and formulated a plan. By the time we finished dinner Tammy had a room booked at the Holiday Inn Express in Mackinaw City. The plan was to go north and see if the Northern Lights made an appearance at Headlands International Dark Sky Park.
It had been a beautiful sunny day in West Michigan. I’d been out in the yard raking leaves, but as we headed north it quickly got colder and cloudier. It hadn’t crossed my mind that Mackinaw City would still be recovering from a historic blizzard. We arrived at the hotel. We decided it was a great night to sit in the hot tub. We enjoyed a chat in the hot tub with some snowmobilers who had not made it to Sault Ste. Marie because the Mackinac Bridge had been closed due to ice falling off from the cables.
On Saturday morning we got around in the hotel room and went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. The breakfast was quite good. They had a pancake machine. I had pancakes, potatoes, and a sausage egg and cheese bagel with my morning coffee. After breakfast we checked out and got a quick look at the bridge.
We left Mackinaw City and the first stop was about 30 minutes down the road just outside of Indian River. We stopped at Chillermania. It is the World Headquarters for books by Jonathan Rand. This collection includes the Michigan Chillers series for children. Some titles are “Mayhem on Mackinac Island” and “Terror Stalks Traverse City”. Tammy has read several of his adult novels written under the pen name of Christopher Knight. We bought “Dollar Store Danny and the Scary Snack Monsters” for the grandkids to read and two new adult books.
Another 45 minutes down the road and we had to stop in on the elk in Gaylord.
From Gaylord we went over to Traverse City and out to Mission Point. We saw quite a few turkeys on Old Mission Peninsula.
After our stop at Mission Point Lighthouse, we next visited Bad Dog Deli. I had an Italian Stallion sandwich. Tammy chose a grilled cheese. The sandwiches were accompanied with beverages and chips.
After lunch we stopped at Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park. I’m not sure what was going on there. We’ll have to save this one for a future stop when their glory is not buried under snow.
We continued on to Leland. It was strange to visit Leland and Fishtown when it was not bustling and overwhelmed by tourists. There were some nice views between the snowbanks, but this is another stop to save for better weather.
Our next stop was Arcadia Marsh Nature Preserve. This has been one of our favorites for several years. We took a few pictures there.
Our final stop of the day was Ludington Bay Brewing Company. We had an excellent pepperoni pizza and a beverage. Then we returned home. Our waitress was awesome. Tammy showed her our turkey picture from Mission Point. She showed us the picture she had taken, that morning, of the bear in her backyard.