The first thing to do is to actually get to the island. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to take a ferry, either from Mackinaw City on the Michigan mainland, or coming from St. Ignace, on the Upper Peninsula. There are three main ferry businesses serving to take you to the island, each with rides taking less than an hour: Arnold Line, Shepler’s Ferry, and Star Line. Transportation between St. Ignace & Mackinac Island is also available via Great Lakes Air. More information regarding transportation to the island can be found here.

Once you’re on the island, you’ll need to get around. Most of us have a pair of good sturdy legs for that purpose, and the island is small enough that it’s all you really need, but at 3½ miles long, and almost 2 miles wide, you may want something more. Now while motorized vehicles are banned on the island, that doesn’t mean you can’t get around. There are a host of bicycle rental places on the island, and the island itself is a cyclist’s paradise. You can also take a ride in a carriage or buggy with Mackinac Island Carriage Tours or Jack’s Livery Stable. If you want to go trail riding, stop by Cindy’s Riding Stable. Click this link for more information about getting around on the island.

Okay, so you’re on the island, and you can get around on the island, the next step is to find the buried treasure! Oh wait, it’s not one of those islands. Humbug! Even without buried treasure though, Mackinac Island isn’t without any treasure in its own right. The number one treasure of Mackinac is most definitely their fudge, famous in Michigan, and known to some degree the world over. With more than a half dozen fudge shops gracing the island, your visit will be Truly Scrumptious! It’s been said that over ten thousand pounds of fudge leave the island every day, in dozens of delectable flavors & varieties. In August each year, the Mackinac Island Fudge Festival is held, with special events, contests, Golden Tickets, and more! Find out more about Mackinac’s fudge at this page.

Mackinac is not short on activities to keep you occupied, with three historic sites, a handful of museums (from art to carriages), and countless other things to do:

• Become terrified at the Haunted Theater
• Visit the Butterfly Conservatory
• Go to the Equestrian Center
• Take a kayak out on the water
• Hike or bike around the island
• Dip your toes in the water
• Play golf at the Grand Hotel
• Enjoy a classic vintage baseball game
• Go to Skull Cave
• Fly a kite
• See the sights

As you go downtown you’ll find a multitude of gift shops, eyeing to exchange their trinkets for your hard-earned cash. A number of grocery stores and art galleries will also happily aid you in parting with your money. Once you get hungry, stop at one of Mackinac’s fantastic restaurants, and enjoy eating a meal that will double your hunger once you see and smell it.

Mackinac wouldn’t be Mackinac without the iconic Grand Hotel, which has played host to Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Vladimir Putin, and five US Presidents. While not everyone can afford stay at the hotel, everyone simply must see it. The hotel contains several interesting shops, and a great ice cream parlor. Non-hotel guests must pay $10 to see the grounds and tour the hotel. Also consider enjoying one of the hotel’s perfectly prepared five-course dinners, or delicious lunches. The Grand Hotel is certainly grand, but there are a host of other lodging options as well, if you feel so inclined.

If there is anything else you want to find out about Mackinac Island before you visit, check out the official website at MackinacIsland.org, and be sure to take a look at their calendar of events, to see if anything extra-special is happening during your visit.

Tourism is a significant portion of Holland Michigan’s economy, driven largely their beautiful abundance of tulips and their crown jewel, Tulip Time. The festival began in 1929, with 250,000 tulips planted specifically for the event. Through the years this has only grown, with six million tulips planted, and ready to burst forth in color in early spring. These tulips are spread throughout the city, in parks and gracing the sides of streets. Beginning 85 years ago as just a tulip festival, Tulip Time has grown to be so much more, with it now a much broader time of festivity, and celebration of Dutch culture. Each day during the festival, traditional Dutch dances are performed throughout the city by nearly a thousand costumed locals, with shows lasting 5–15 minutes.

There are a number of great events and attractions throughout the festival, including multiple parades, a carnival, art and craft fairs, quilt shows, Tulip City tours, and even a town crier competition! Click here for a full calendar of events, and here for more special attractions. More information about the festival can be found at the official website: TulipTime.com

The festival only happens for about a week at the beginning of may, but Holland is a great town to visit no matter what time of year it is. Spring is certainly a great time to enjoy new life, and the tulips everywhere, but the other seasons offer just as much of a reason for you to visit. In the summer you can enjoy the beaches, sail on lake Michigan, golf, go biking, or camp. Autumn is a great time to visit the farmer’s market, listen to live music, or visit a museum. During the winter months you can get some great exercise cross-country skiing, ice skate, or stay indoors and see a show, or go bowling—and don’t forget to drink some nice hot coffee or hot chocolate at a local restaurant. Whenever you choose to go, you mustn’t miss the uniquely Dutch experiences, including the production of wooden shoes! Whatever it is you want to do, you’ve got hundreds of things to choose from in Holland Michigan.

Shopping and dining in Holland are excellent, with dozens of unique shops, art galleries, antique stores, and more, not to mention the mouth-watering dishes at the local cafés, grills, fine restaurants, and ice cream shops.

Four miles to the west of Holland Michigan is the Holland State Park, which has great campsites, picnicking areas, sandy beaches, and excellent access to the water, for boating, fishing, and swimming.

For more information about the town of Holland, visit the town’s official website at Holland.org

A good way to begin your time at the Sleeping Bear Dunes is to drop by the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center, where there are interactive displays, brochures & maps, and a large relief map of the area! Next, stop by the Maritime Museum, and learn all about marine activity of the past. As shipping activity through the area began to pick up steam in the mid-to-late 1800s, so did shipwrecks, with 214 losing their lives on the Great Lakes during the winter of 1870 & ’71. As a result, Congress allocated funds, and formed the U.S. Life-Saving Service, an organization who’s sole purpose was to save those caught in shipwrecks. Each life-saving station was run by a station keeper or Captain, with an average of 6–8 people from the local community working under him.

In the 44 year period between the forming of the U.S. Life-Saving Service to it becoming a part of the U.S. Coast Guard, they rescued an astounding 178,000 people, with a 99% success rate in their work. With improvements in technology and radio communications, accidents on the Great Lakes became less common, and many of these life-saving stations were discontinued. Today, the station just west of Glen Haven has been converted into a museum, telling the tales of these dauntless men, great rescues, and the maritime history of the area. At 3 pm each day during the summer, there in a reenactment of a rescue drill, with Raggedy Ann & Andy as the shipwreck victims. The rescue is made with the help of the Lyle Gun, which shoots out a rescue line as much as 400 yards, to pull in crew stranded on a ship. The rescue is a great activity to bring your kids to, and they’ll be encouraged to participate.

Throughout the year there are many great events in the community, which you won’t want to miss. Click here for an up-to-date calendar.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes area has a lot of great restaurants, whether you want casual dining, fine dining, or would enjoy to be outdoors, or on the waterfront. Leelanau county also has many great places to shop, selling everything from antiques to ice cream. If you’d like to spend a day indoors, or the weather isn’t at its best, stop by a library or one of several area museums, or enjoy a movie or live music at the theater or the Traverse City Opera House.

A visit to the Sleeping Bear Dunes really ought to last more than one day. If you decide to stay, you can choose from a few campgrounds, or have a memorable stay at a bed and breakfast, or quaint hotel.

For more information about visiting the Sleeping Bear Dunes, visit the Official Visitor’s Bureau Website, or the National Park Service Website.

While AirTime is great fun all the time, it’s especially great for parties, with pizza, bottled water, and juice boxes at your table back stage, and an all-access pass to the trampolines for you and nine guests. Up the party level, and add in ice cream and party favors, or go for Double-Platinum, and have 20 people at your party! More details here.

As big as the place is, it’s popularity is even greater. As such, they recommend you make an online reservation, to ensure a spot. Weekends are usually fully booked a few days in advance! You have to fill out a waiver in order to jump, and children under 18 must have one filled out by a parent.

AirTime is open 3 pm–9 pm Tuesday through Thursday, 10 am–11 pm Friday & Saturday, 10 am–8 pm Sunday, and closed Mondays. Admission is $12 for an hour, and $8 for additional hours on weekdays, and $14/$10 Friday through Sunday. Group discounts are also available.

Address:
662 East Big Beaver Road
Troy, MI 48083

Official Website

Airplanes at the museum include:

• Wright Flyer replica
• Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” scale model
• Ford Trimotor 5-AT
• WWII era P-40 Warhawk
• Vought F4U Corsair
• P-51 Mustang
• Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird stealth plane
• Many more!

The airplanes alone are a huge reason to go, but the Air Zoo goes a step further with nearly a dozen great rides and activities. Journey in a 3D Space Shuttle simulation to the International Space Station, join in a mission to Mars, take a ride on the Flying Circus Bi-Plane, or experience weightlessness on the paratrooper jump ride. If you’d like to try flying for yourself, try your hand at one of their full-motion flight simulators! If you’d like to take it up another notch, take a 15 or 30 minute flight ($25 & $39, respectively) in the advanced simulator. There are even more other rides besides these, and lots of great activities for kids, with science experiments, spring break science day camps, and summer camps, or even have an overnight camp out under the SR-71 Blackbird! More information about all this, here.

The main campus is open 9 am–5 pm Monday through Saturday, and noon–5 pm Sunday. The East campus is open 9 am–5 pm Monday through Friday, and noon–5 pm Saturday & Sunday. The Air Zoo is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

Admission to the museum is $10, and includes four rides, the $16.50 admission includes those four plus five other additional rides. Individual ride tickets cost $2 each, with each ride requiring one or two. Admission for children four and under is free.

Address:
6151 Portage Road
Portage, MI 49002

Official Website

Henry Ford had a passion for preserving history, and the great advancements of his day. As such, he founded Greenfield Village, to keep that part of the past alive through the ages. Many of the buildings he moved in are extremely significant parts of history, including:

• Orville & Wilbur Wright’s bicycle shop and home.
• The home of Noah Webster, where he wrote his first dictionary.
• An exact replica of Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory.
• Henry Ford’s birthplace.
• The birthplace of William Holmes McGuffy, author of the McGuffy Reader, one of the best selling books of all time.
• The Illinois courthouse where Abraham Lincoln first practiced law.
• The Cape Cod Windmill, built in 1633, and one of the oldest in America.

Besides all of these landmark historic buildings, Greenfield Village contains many other sorts of buildings needed to make up a good village, with costumed interpreters demonstrating their craft—watch farming, glass blowing, sewing, cooking, pottery making, and so much more, and learn firsthand what life was like a hundred plus years ago.

While there is a great number of things to see there, there are also several things to do, as well: Take a ride in a horse-drawn omnibus, a Ford Model T, a steam locomotive, or a historic 1913 Herschell-Spillman Carousel!

You’re bound to spend much of the day touring the place, so stop and have something to eat at one of the great dining options, with tasty southern cooking, barbecue, or have a meal served by authentic costumed servers at the Eagle Tavern.

Every Memorial Day weekend the village hosts a Civil War reenactment, remembering and honoring those who died during that great conflict. On the weekend after Labor Day each year, Greenfield Village hosts an Old Car Festival, with more than 500 cars attending! There are many other events that happen throughout the year as well, which you can find here.

Admission to the village costs $24 for adults, and $17.50 for children 5–12. Hours vary with the seasons, but you can see an up-to-date schedule and purchase tickets here.

Address:
20900 Oakwood Blvd.
Dearborn, MI 48124-5029

For more information, visit the official Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village website

Detroit

1. The Detroit Institute of Arts.
2. The 10 story Fox Theatre Building.
3. Detroit Symphony
4. Visit the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
5. The Detroit Historical Society.

Flint

1. The Flint Institute of Arts.
2. The Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad.
3. Learn about the stars at the Longway Planetarium.
4. Tour the Buick Automotive Gallery.
5. Hike to the beautiful Stepping Stone Falls.

Traverse City

1. Visit the beautifully restored State Theatre.
2. Toure the Grand Traverse Distillery.
3. Traverse City State Park offers beautiful hiking, biking, and swiming!
4. There’s lots of fresh air to be had on the TART Trails.

Grand Rapids

1. Tour the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
2. Tour the incredible Meyer May House designed by Frank Loyd Wright.
3. See the Gerald R. Ford Museum.
4. The Grand Rapids Public Museum.
5. Walk in the beautiful Blandford Nature Center.

The Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, commissioned Leonardo to create the world’s largest equestrian statue in 1482. It was to be called only Il Cavallo, a monument to the Duke’s father. Over the course of the next 17 years Leonardo drew sketches of the horse, constructed a 24-foot clay model, and amassed several tons of bronze in preparation for the final casting. But then politics got in the way of art–faced with a French invasion, the Duke confiscated the bronze to cast cannons. Even so, his firepower proved insufficient. The French, victorious, invaded Milan. Bored French crossbowmen used Leonardo’s model as target practice until the clay horse fell to pieces. Leonardo never attempted to remake his mighty horse. His notebooks containing the sketches were lost and Il Cavallo faded into legend.

But in 1966, several of Leonardo’s lost notebooks were discovered in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, while others fell into the hands of the British royal family. A decade later, National Geographic Magazine ran a story on the unrealized sculpture, entitled “The Horse that Never Was.” Retired airline pilot and art collector Charles Dent read the article and was immediately enthralled. He devoted the rest of his life to the creation of a tribute sculpture fashioned after Leonardo’s original ideas, founding a corporation for fundraising and building a life-sized clay model of the eventual horse. Dent’s death in 1994 did not put an end to his vision. A full-height version was cast, but structural problems necessitated that the horse be resculpted.

Thanks to additional funding by billionaire retail-chain founder Frederik Meijer, Nina Akamu was hired, first to improve the original horse and then to begin it again from scratch, combining Leonardo’s drawings with the study of equine anatomy. Two 24-foot horses were cast. The first was unveiled in Milan on September 10, 1999, exactly 500 years after the destruction of Leonardo’s original. The second found its home in Grand Rapids. Smaller versions were placed in the Pennsylvania hometown of Charles Dent and the Italian city of Vinci, Leonardo’s eponymous birthplace. An eight-foot version entitled Homage to Leonardo is located in the Meijer Gardens as well, in addition to a tiny replica meant to be handled by blind visitors unable to take in the grandeur of the three-storey original.

Following a series of fatal shipwrecks along the Michigan coast in the 1850s, Congress appropriated money for the construction of a lighthouse at Big Sable Point. An Anglicization of the original Grande Pointe au Sable, the word Sable is still pronounced roughly like the French, rhyming with “wobble.” The lighthouse was not actually built until after the Civil War, in 1867, originally of yellow brick. At the turn of the century the tower was given a metal sheathing to protect it from erosion, which is today painted in 30-foot black and white bands. The Big Sable Point Light didn’t switch from oil wicks to electricity until 1949, the last Great Lakes lighthouse to make the transition. The advent of electric lighthouses made the job of keeper obsolete, but the SPLKA continues to operate at Big Sable, maintaining the buildings and providing tours to visitors.

Lighthouses are often said to be haunted, and Big Sable is no exception. Previous keepers often noted the unaccountable smell of baking bread, and psychics’ hair reportedly stands on end when passing through one of the doorways in the second story of the keeper’s quarters, which is now the volunteers’ residence and off-limits to the public. A strange photograph of the lighthouse that may contain an image of a ghost hangs near the entryway, and a book in the gift-shop was once seen to levitate across the room by multiple observers.

Visitors can make the two-mile trek through the park to merely look at Big Sable year-round, but from May to October the tower and keeper’s quarters are open daily, allowing for a much richer experience. You can watch a documentary about the historic lighthouse in the video room, look at period artifacts on display or purchase souvenirs in what was once the keepers’ living room. And for a $3 donation, you can climb the 130 steps to the top and take in the stunning view.

Address:
5611 N Lighthouse
Ludington, MI 49431

• Driving America, perhaps the most obvious display given the museum’s name, is still one of the finest. The world’s foremost automotive exhibit, it includes a stunning array of historical vehicles, interactive digital kiosks filled with multimedia information, and the stories of hundreds of people–from ordinary Americans to celebrities–about the first car they ever drove.
• Made in America, a celebration of home-style innovation from the 18th century to the present day. Focusing on manufacturing machines and historical sources of power, the exhibit includes the world’s oldest extant steam engine and the automatic lubricator invented by Elijah “the real” McCoy.
• The Dymaxion House, a prototype dwelling of the future designed by polymath R. Buckminster Fuller over the course of the first half of the 20th century. A round aluminum home containing waterless toilets that shrink-wrap waste and an energy-free ventilation system based on the structural properties of silos, the Dymaxion House is a vision of a resource-efficient future that never was.
• Greenfield Village, a historic town put together by Henry Ford containing many important buildings of his day, including the Wright Brothers’ house & bicycle shop, Noah Webster’s home, and the prototype garage where Ford built the Quadricycle.

And there’s much more to do than just take tours and look at exhibits. You can eat regional cuisine at the Michigan Café, grab a hot dog at a 1950s-era Oscar Meyer Wienermobile or have an old-fashioned breakfast at Lamy’s Diner. Want a souvenir? You can choose from a wide selection of unusual items at the Henry Ford Museum Store, or get something for the kids from the Genius at Play Store. An in-museum state-of-the-art IMAX theater regularly shows feature films and documentaries in 3D. Rated among the Top 10 Tourist Attractions nationwide, the Henry Ford Museum is sure to surprise and inform. Address: 20900 Oakwood Blvd. Dearborn, MI 48124