We just completed our first family vacation ever and wow, it was just what we needed. When we first began talking about taking a trip with our little family I knew that wherever we went I wanted there to be water. And lots of it.
Since we're from the North, it was much more economical for us to spend our vacation at one of the Great Lakes rather than taking a trip to the ocean so we chose the shores of Lake Michigan as our destination.
Accomodations
Once we knew where we wanted to go, my husband began searching for a reasonably priced cottage for us to rent because it would be cheaper and easier than staying in a hotel. We settled on the little beach town of Frankfort, Michigan and it was perfect.
Frankfort is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and is about 45 minutes from Traverse City, Michigan. The beaches in Frankfort are clean, beautiful and so relaxing!
Choosing a cottage was so much more relaxing for our family of six because it gave us the freedom to call it our own for a week and was much roomier than a hotel room. The cottage was extremely well-equipped providing us with just about everything we needed in a kitchen in addition to extra items such as basic condiments and even some baking supplies. Since I prepared all of our meals ahead of time, having a fridge, freezer and stove for our homemade ready-made meals made meal time come together very quickly.
I loved our meal times together around the big wooden table in our cabin. While it required a lot of work before our departure, having our meals made up ahead of time gave me the break I needed from the bulk of food prep while we were on vacation. This made it easy to transition from activity to meal time and back to activity again.
Our little cabin was nestled right in the middle of the woods, which was perfect for our children who loved looking out the window at breakfast one morning and seeing some deer standing across the road. The surrounding cottages were well-spaced out so the area we were in was quiet and secluded.
Our cabin was perfect for us. It was small at only about 900 square feet but considering we live in a home that is only a couple hundred more square feet than that it was no big deal for us. It had a nice open layout, a fireplace furnished with wood, two bedrooms, a spacious bathroom and a small washer and dryer set which was very helpful to have.
I couldn't have been happier with the cleanliness of the cabin we stayed in and the caretakers and owners went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed. They were so wonderful to talk to that I wish we had more time to spend with them!
Activities
One of the things that was important to me about this vacation was that we took time to just relax (preferably at the beach!). We didn't schedule any activities but we did look ahead of time at ideas of what there was to do in the area. It was also important to me that all of the activities we chose be either free or very inexpensive and because of the area where we were staying, we were able to accomplish that. The most we spent on an activity was $20 and that was for a pass for our entire family to visit both the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.
Other than that, our activities were free and included bike riding, playing in the sand, throwing rocks in the waves of Lake Michigan, water color painting on the beach, visiting the Point Betsie Lighthouse, visiting The Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum, walking in downtown Frankfort, lots and lots of reading on a swing overlooking Lake Michigan, fishing, exploring the gorgeous Leelanau Peninsula (which leads you to the Old Mission Point Lighthouse), spending time talking with and learning from local shop owners at The Bookstore and The Petosky Stone and combing the rocky beach for fossils, chain coral and petosky stones. I also loved visiting the only Organic Tea Farm in North America and could have spent hours there!
The memories we made as a family are priceless and I am so thankful to the Lord for answering my prayers and providing a family vacation for us.
Old Mission Point Lighthouse
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
Point Betsie Lighthouse
I hope you enjoyed my trip spot light as part of The Best Road Trips Around the Globe Series. For more road trip ideas, click on the picture below.
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2 comments:
I've always wondered what the shores of the great lakes were like, from the pictures you really couldn't tell that they weren't the ocean. Is the water warm or cold?
They often remind me of the ocean. In fact, we were just in Mackinaw City this weekend where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet. They are so beautiful! When we went the water was cold, but it does warm up later in the summer (with the exception of Lake Superior---which never warms up!!!)
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