Family Vacation GRIND

vacation grind :a. family who visits the same vacation destinations, year after year for lack of imagination or energy; b. family that owns a vacation home and rarely goes anywhere else on vacation; c. family who does, sees and plans too much while on vacation - feeling like they need a vacation from the vacation. A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear together and seemingly make sense, an oxymoron.

Our teenage son injured his knee, making our most recent 'wakeboarding/summer family vacation' plans null and void. For the past 8 years, our family has spent a week 'on the lake', any lake, to unwind and soak up some Vitamin D. Great times, no kidding, lots of good memories and sunscreen and roasted marshmallows. When our plans changed abruptly last month, I set out to find a low impact, vacation destination that was fun for the whole family. No easy feat or so I thought...

Unbeknownst to us, we had fallen into the dreaded 'family vacation grind'. In year's past while coming home (from the just finished vacation) we'd discuss... where to go next year...always looking for the same type of destination we had just left. Some people will say, "So what, you like what you like and it's your vacation". Au contraire, it's our vacation. The Family Vacation.

It wasn't until I was completely immersed in the new vacation search, did I realize what was going on - we were stuck. How about New York City! I was excited. "Will we fly or drive?" Road Trip, baby. "Too long in the car..." How about Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? "So we drive to Cleveland and spend one day in the hall of fame and drive home? No way - Cleveland? Seriously Mom?" Every suggestion I made was quickly vetoed, places I had forgotten about and wanted to see, great places, fun places, beautiful places - all ignored. Even my husband was having a hard time with change.

I gave up, told them it was a sad day when a family armed with a little time and money couldn't find a place to spend it. Tourist traps all across this great land were mourning another lost vacation soul... Later, the boys realized how foolish they were being and gave me carte blanche, "we'll go wherever you choose". Indulging my slightly OCD side, I set up the parameters and got to work.

1. Low impact activity.

2. Under 9 hour drive (Milwaukee, WI to destination)

3. Little to no boat time. We needed to avoid the dreaded teenage, "I'd rather be wakeboarding..."

4. Pretty, informative and somewhat relaxing for the old folks.

5. Exciting, new and delicious for our 18 year old, soon to be college student.

After four hours online, searching the Midwest's hottest vacation spots a plan began to emerge. Mackinac Island in Upper Peninsula Michigan. The UP. It's all about the journey on this one folks and what a journey it is... Within the first two hours of our trip we found ourselves on US 41 traveling the northwestern shores of Lake Michigan. We have grown up on this great lake and were pleasantly surprised to find that some of it's shoreline was dotted with trailers and more conventional vacation homes instead of the skyscrapers and city parks. We also found out that miles of Lake Michigan's shoreline is uninhabited. The sand dunes on both sides of the highway and crashing waves sometimes only 100 feet from the road, reminded us why Lake Michigan is such a great lake. The lake is so large and desolate in areas it brings to mind the ocean, our very own Midwest 'ocean'.

First stop, Seney, Michigan. Dead center on the UP, Seney boasts of 119 registered voters. Turn back time, you've just entered the land of mom and pop motels, town parks with metal playground equipment and gas stations that sell ice cream, souvenir tee shirts, pasties and of all things - gasoline. The Fox River Motel, where we ended up, was roadside and rented ATV's. Newly remodeled by mom and pop, this little treasure has great rooms, even nicer bathrooms and a beautiful Servicemen/women Memorial in the front yard. Small town Americana at it's best. Seney's Fox River Motel wins this family's Award for Best Lodging Value EVER - a double room cost a whopping $54.00 a night.

Our first full day started with breakfast at the Jolly Inn in Germfask, Mi. because Andy's Bar (Seney's only, ahh restaurant?) doesn't serve breakfast. The Jolly Inn is great, big plates of steaming hot breakfast in an 'up north' lodge setting. The Seney Wildlife Refuge separates these two lazy Michigan hamlets, so the short drive was beautiful. Off to a full day of 4-wheeling on brand new and state of the art ATV's. The UP has hundreds of miles of groomed snowmobile trails that during the summer double as ATV trails. We rode the trails for almost 50 miles to Gran Marais, MI on the shores of Lake Superior. Had lunch and made our way back to the motel. We were out in the middle of nowhere and loving it. In six hours we encountered only 3 other ATV groups and rode on paved roads a mere 4 miles of the 94 mile round trip. Covered in dust but happy, we traded our 4 wheeled 'iron horses' for our SUV and headed to St. Ignace, Michigan and Mackinac Island on the shores of Lake Huron.

US Hwy 2 is a beautiful road and part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour that brought us to Mackinac Island. More charming motels with 60 year old metal lawn chairs on each doorstep and day's gone- by advertisements and attractions prompted a history lesson for us all. We ended this leg of the journey with the Dirty Dancing favorite...'I had the time of my life'...sung out of key, embarrassing our son. More and bigger sand dunes welcomed us to St. Ignace and the majestic Mackinac Bridge. St. Ignace to the north and it's step sister, Mackinaw City on the south side of the bridge are quite unremarkable tourist towns. Mackinac Island, due east of the bridge and only accessible by boat is Upper Michigan's real gem.

Day 3 and we were boarding a 'fast ferry' to Mackinac Island. A quick 20 minute boat ride (not the fastest but fun) continued our history lesson. I don't want to ruin it for you but Mackinac Island is a really cool place. It's history is amazing...first American Indians, then a missionary priest, lots and lots of wars with cannon balls flying over and onto the Island, then a Fur Trading monopoly which ended badly. No cars, 400 year round residents, one school with an average graduating class of six (6) students, seventeen (count 'em -17) fudge shops and one Grand Hotel. Today, the Island has numerous hotels, Inns and B & B's priced from $200. - 800.00 a night. We stayed in St. Ignace where they offer a wide variety of family priced hotels and utilized a local ferry company for transportation to the island. While on the Island, my husband announced that 'he was lazy' so we passed on the bicycle and walking tours and took an Island Carriage Tour. With 80 % of the Island designated Michigan State Park, a rocky east shore complete with natural rock arch formations and a "holy" woodpecker inhabited forest, taking advantage of a 'tour' is the only way to go. Self guided tour or otherwise, there is lots to see and eat. Everything, and I mean everything is horse and buggy even the UPS man. By the way, the streets are clean and the gardens are a blooming.

Our last day in the UP took us on a quick round trip of the Mackinac Bridge (it's a toll bridge but well worth it), and a visit to Big Spring (Kitch-iti-kipi). Kitch-iti-kipi is a beautiful, natural spring with self powered rafts that travel to the center allowing 40 ft deep views. No go-carts, we were a little disappointed and mentioned to a local restaurant owner that he might want to open a track. It was a good ole' fashioned road trip, exciting yet relaxing. My son brought out the laptop only twice in 5 days, and only then at 2 A M when my husband's snoring woke him up. His snoring is legendary and keeps everyone awake (except him). Gorgeous and interesting, right in our own backyard - 3 great lakes, 3 states in 6 days. We dropped our son off at school in Chicago (Illinois) on the sixth day. I cried, hell - I'm still crying but looking forward to a couple nights at the Grand Hotel next summer (adults only this time) and the Sioux St. Marie Locks and Canada and...or maybe...we'll discover someplace new!