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These pictures were taken in July 2011 with a Fuji camera. I first visited Michigan in 2007. I crossed over into Canada on that trip. I believe I crossed the Mackinac bridge in 2007 but I don’t remember. I went back in 2011 after four years of being gone. I also moved to Michigan in 2007. After being there for a couple of weeks I liked it so much I moved to Chesaning, a tiny town situated halfway between Saginaw and Flint. I often drove the 45 minutes to Flint to go to the mall, a grocery store I liked there(I think it was called QC or something like that) and a coffee shop(Coffee Beanery) that was inside the store. I think the grocery store has been taken over by someone else. I went to a lot of businesses on Corunna Road so I’m pretty sure that’s where the grocery store was located. There’s a Kroger on Corunna Road and there’s no longer a Coffee Beanery inside any grocery stores according to google. And no there coffee shops according to google. Here, we have Starbuck’s inside Ingles Markets but not in Michigan as far as I can tell.

I rarely went to Saginaw because I didn’t like it. There is a grocery store in Chesaning but it’s small. The closest town is Clio and there’s a Walmart there and I would go when I needed an oil change or wanted to get on the interstate.

The Mackinac Bridge is the window to the Upper Peninsula and I’ve been a few times. In 2007 I drove all the way to Minnesota. In 2011 I again drove to Wisconsin and in 2013 I drove to Minnesota and drove the scenic North Shore byway.

I absolutely love driving US Highway 2 through the Upper Peninsula. Aside from being beautiful I was driving nest to the beach areas all the way. There are so many gorgeous places to stop and walk the beach and there’s never anyone out there. I probably only saw one maybe two people walking the beach for the whole of every time I visited. I always went during the summer. But it gets cold at night. The last time I was in the UP it dropped to 45 degrees at night. I had to let my engine idle to stay warm. This was before I got a valve job and knew how bad idling is for an automobile engine and before I started covering up with a comforter and layering to stay warm. Now that I do this, I can sleep through the night without letting the engine idle even when it drops into the forties.

On one occasion I drove US Hwy 2 at night. I stopped at 9 PM at the McDonald’s in St. Ignace and ate something, then I took off for Escanaba and stayed there for a few days before heading to Duluth, Minnesota. I tried stopping at the Burger King but I couldn’t get through the drive thru for all of the seagulls. I tried to get out of my car and go inside but they flocked to my car and squawked for food so I went across the street to McDonald’s. I think they kept their parking lot cleaner because when I went through and I’ve been through more than once, an employee was outside hosing the parking area down.

Information about the Mackinac Bridge in Mackinaw City Michigan is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Bridge. The Mighty Mac it’s called. St Ignace is right across the bridge in what is considered the Upper Peninsula.

These were taken in July 2011 on my second trip to Michigan, in Mackinaw City, Michigan. It was a wonderful trip. I used two different cameras on the trip. These were taken before I learned how to use the camera properly or they might have been a little better.
I went first at night taking pictures with one camera then went back the next morning taking pictures with a better camera. I then headed to the upper peninsula and on to Minnesota stopping just after Grand Rapids(and yes there is also a Grand Rapids in Minnesota not just Michigan) then headed home. On the way home I stopped at a great little restaurant called the Great American Roadhouse in the town of Swan Lake. I almost forgot I stopped at a car show in Minnesota too. I talk more about that in another post.

I got sick at that restaurant and got upset stomach after leaving the restaurant and there aren’t very many places to stop, at least not when I was there.

I wanted to go to Michigan last year but after exploring South Dakota and surrounding states I didn’t have time because I don’t know go to Michigan when it gets cold. I went one year in June and it was freezing. Another time I went in February and the roads were so slick from the ice and snow that I nearly ran off the road several times. That was the last time. I couldn’t stay and drove as long as I could and finally had to stop in Kentucky and woke up the next morning with snow on the ground and the weather didn’t clear up until I got on the other side of Knoxville, Tennessee. That must have been a bad year.

I love it in Michigan and have visited many different areas there. When I lived there I went to as many places as I could. I also travel the Sunrise Coast every time I go to Michigan. I very much enjoy the drive through all of the beautiful towns and it goes straight to Mackinaw City. In the Upper Peninsula I really like the small town of Manistique.

The downside of the US highway scenic drive is there are no truck stops, no Walmart’s until you reach Escanaba and no 24 hour gas stations until you reach the same place. At least the last time I drove it there were none. There is one maybe two rest areas but only two from St. Ignace to Duluth, Minnesota. When you get to Duluth there’s one there which is off Interstate 35. It is 140 miles from St. Ignace to Escanaba. According to google there are three rest areas in Wisconsin on US highway 2. According to the MDOT there are a total of four rest areas on US route 2 in the Upper Peninsula now located in Ironwood, Iron Mountain, Naubinway and near the town of Cooks. The only rest area was in Naubinway which is 40 miles from St. Ignace when I last traveled through the UP. There are three rest areas on the Sunrise Coast(US Route 23) which also weren’t there when I last traveled it. Here’s a list to all of the rest areas in Michigan here: https://www.michiganrestareas.com/

There aren’t many truck stops in Michigan, at least not in the areas I travel. Here’s a link to a website that has all of the truck stops on major highways and not so major ones here: http://www.findfuelstops.com/truck-stop-in-MI

There is a truck stop in Mackinaw City. I’ve stayed there. For whatever reason I wasn’t too comfortable maybe because there weren’t too many people there but there were a lot of people coming in and out and I prefer truck stops and I used to like to stop at Walmart’s which I no longer do unless I have to because they are no longer 24 hours.

There are so many cool and interesting places to visit in Michigan and here’s a great book on it. I’ve visited almost every cool place the internet and this book and others recommend.

Here are some more interesting books. The Great Book of Michigan and Stories and Events That Shaped Great Lakes History.

References: Pure Michigan, the first time I ever saw that sign in front of the welcome center as I entered Michigan I looked at it and said, “so, do you welcome me Michigan?” I was so excited that I had made it because my Dad talked about Detroit all the time when I was a kid. He worked there during the 1950’s and it has changed a lot I’m sure.

Things to do in the UP, 15 Top Rated Tourist Attractions in Michigan and Top 20 Attractions.

Upper Peninsula Lodging, Events and Attractions and 20 Things to do in the Upper Peninsula.

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