Every time we begin plotting vacation ideas here in the US I am always amazed by the vast size of our country. How incredible it would be if we could just move into an RV and drive, coast to coast, north to south, exploring every state at our leisure.

This year we will visit a few places new to our family as well as places my husband and I visited before we had kids, which we can’t wait to explore with the girls. Also included is a small “wish list” of destinations we would like to make it to, if time and money allow.

The Desert Southwest

Apache Junction

February will find my eldest daughter and I enjoying a long weekend in Chandler/Tempe/Mesa/Apache Junction, Arizona. I have visited in the past, but this will be Brenna’s first time seeing large cactus, mountains, and a real desert. We won’t get to the Grand Canyon, but have it on our “when the girls a re a bit older” list. Read More »

The Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail connects a handful of wineries in the southwest corner of the state, near the beaches of Lake Michigan. One of the most fun wineries to visit along the trail is the Round Barn, in Baroda, Michigan. The Round Barn is more than just a winery. In addition to making wines, they also brew beer and distill a vodka made from grapes, called Divine.

If you associate wine tasting with stuffy snobs who swirl, sniff, and spit, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by Round Barn. Staff here are friendly and approachable and the wine is more often characterized as “yummy” or “darn good” than by traditional tasting terms.

Round Barn

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There are some great rotating exhibits, like the current “Hero or Villain” showcase, which portrays important historical figures who did both good and bad in their lives and ask patrons to decide, does the good outweigh the bad? The permanent exhibits, however, are the best.

The “Streets of Old Detroit” in the Museum’s lower level, recreate the city’s streets and show the progression from the 1840′s to the early 1900′s. Visitors can stroll down cobbled streets, visit a one-room schoolhouse and peer in shop windows.

Streets of Old Detroit Exhibit

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Sunset over Lake Michigan

Michigan has beautiful beaches… dare I say, the best freshwater beaches in the world. Before moving to Michigan I thought only people living on the coasts went to the beach. You know those well known popular beaches you see on TV: Venice Beach, Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Myrtle Beach. Don’t trust what you see on TV. People go to the beach… in Michigan! Believe it!

Michigan is bi-peninsular. The lower peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a left-handed oven mitt, palm down. The upper peninsula is shaped like an ice pick, that jets out from the top of Wisconsin. On the oven mitt Detroit is located below the webbing of the thumb. Lansing, the state capital, is located in the middle lower half, just over the middle finger knuckle. The entire state, besides the Ohio and Wisconsin borders, is surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, thus creating the longest freshwater shoreline in the world. Michigan also has more lighthouses than any other state in order keep an eye on the many beautiful beaches.

The western side of the state, bordering Lake Michigan, is one long sandy beach. Unlike Chicago’s man-made beaches, Michigan’s sandy beaches from Sleepy Bear Dunes to St. Joseph are natural. From May to October these beaches are thriving with locals from Detroit, Chicago, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Canada, and any where near by. The water is clear and fresh, calmer than the ocean, yet bigger and bolder than the small ponds of other states. The waves during the summer are mostly too small for surfing, but every other conceivable activity you’d enjoy at the ocean can be done here. And the beauty of it all… it’s not the ocean. You won’t gag and spit after diving in from all the salt. You won’t see oil rigs out at sea or Carnival cruise lines ruining the view. There are no sharks, man o’ wars, or nipping crabs to worry about. The breeze is warm and inviting; It doesn’t pickup your umbrella and throw it 50 ft towards playing children. And Lake Michigan beaches are as cheap as the coastal beaches – they’re free!

I was born minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, grew up two hours from the Pacific Ocean, bathed ignorantly in the Gulf of Mexico, and have skied on many lakes. Nothing is like the Great Lakes. Michigan has beautiful beaches, and that is why people go to the beach… in Michigan!

Recommended Michigan beaches: every one.

Photo by kevindooley.