I have long had the goal of visiting each of the fifty states. In the fall of 2022, I checked off my last two unvisited states – Maine and Vermont. But I always felt a little guilty, in that I had “barely” visited three of the fifty states: South Carolina, New Mexico, and Michigan. 

In the case of South Caolina; while visiting Savannah, Georgia, I drove across the Talmadge Memorial Bridge to get into South Carolina – before doing a quick U-turn and driving right back into Georgia. I was in South Carolina for a matter of minutes.

In the case of New Mexico, I drove a few miles into that state from Arizona to get to “Four Corners” – where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet at a point. While I had spent considerable time in three of those four states, my time in New Mexico was limited to an hour or so that day at Four Corners. 

But the state that has always shamed me the most was Michigan, where my only “visit” was a plane change at the Detroit Metro Airport.

So this fall, partly to remove that guilt, my wife and I took an extended road trip to the state of Michigan, with the focus of the trip being Lake Michigan and Mackinac Island. After driving from Omaha to Chicago, we drove counterclockwise around Lake Michigan. As a bonus, we also got to see and boat on Lakes Huron and Superior. We made it a point to focus on the lakes and their coastlines. In this article, I will write a bit about the Michigan portion of that trip and add a few pictures showing the beauty of both the state of Michigan and the various lakes.

On Day 2 (from Omaha), our main stop was the town of New Buffalo, Michigan, which lies on the lake just a few miles north of the Indiana border. My guidebook identified New Buffalo and its beach as the first place to stop when touring the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Brewster’s Italian Café. Then, while my wife shopped, I walked down to the nearby beach and dunes (where I took the photograph below). The waves crashing over the breakwater at New Buffalo were as high as any waves I saw during our entire trip. We spent the night at a hotel in Stevensville and enjoyed a sunset overlooking the lake from downtown St. Joseph. 

On Day 3, we headed up the coast towards Ludington. Trying to stay as close to the shore as possible, I drove on the Blue Star Highway and Lakeshore Drive (Highways 63 and A-2) as much as possible. Early in the day when it was still a bit gloomy, we stumbled upon a rock collectors dream at Pier Cove Park. There was something of a rock memorial near the stairs leading from the shore to the parking lot. Among many other inscribed rocks, with messages like “In loving memory of Niko” and “I miss you auntie Jayde, love Mia,” was a relatively new addition inscribed “RIP Charlie Kirk.” We shopped and lunched in Saugatuck before heading on to the Windmill Island Gardens and De Zwaan Windmill in Holland. The sun had come out, and the gardens were beautiful. We ended the day watching a sunset at Stearns Park in Ludington (photo below).

On Day 4, we headed up the coast to Mackinaw City. For this part of the trip, we drove on Michigan Highway 22 (the Pure Michigan Byway) along the coast until we reached Traverse City, and then US 31 onto Mackinaw City. Our first stop was brief, at the Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse, near Empire. We then drove to the featured stop of the day – the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore – where we drove the 7-mile-long-loop Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. We walked the dunes and enjoyed the unique view (below) of the Lake Michigan shoreline from the top of the massive lakeside dune. The drive to Mackinaw City (through Glen Arbor, Charlevoix, and Petoskey) was beautiful. 

Mackinac versus Mackinaw: The various cities, straits, islands, bridges, forts, and shops contain one of these spellings for a word pronounced “Mack-in-awe.” The French went with the “-ac” spelling; the British with the “-aw” spelling; and those different spellings were given to different things at different times. I am still a bit confused. A shop owner told me that the pronunciation helps her identify the tourists (Mack-in-ack). To drive north from Mackinaw City to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan you drive over the Mackinac Bridge (pictured below).

Fun Fact: Hydrologically, Lakes Michigan and Huron are “one” lake (the largest, by area, freshwater lake in the world). The Mackinac Bridge is generally considered the dividing line between the two “named” lakes. There is no elevation change under the bridge – thus hydrologically it is one big lake.   

On Day 5, we took the 9 AM ferry from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island. The morning was a bit cool and overcast, so we spent the early hours prowling the downtown shops and sampling the fudge. Shortly after noon, we took the obligatory 2-hour carriage ride from downtown to Arch Rock (pictured below) and Fort Mackinac. We departed the carriage at the fort and enjoyed a tour (and nice lunch) there before heading on to the Grand Hotel. That hotel, with the world’s longest porch, is the building that I associate in my mind with the island and its no-automobile vibe. We returned to Mackinaw City on the 5 PM ferry. 

On Day 6, we moved onto Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan – but with two stops along the way. The first was at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, on Lake Superior at Whitefish Point. The museum, the associated buildings, and the exhibits were great. We then visited the Iroquois Light Station on the way to Sault Ste. Marie. We enjoyed dinner at the Lockview Restaurant and viewed the locks at sunset from the Soo Locks (pictured below). 

On Day 7, we took the 10 AM Original Soo Locks Boat Tour. During the two-hour tour we crossed over to the Lake Superior side, via the U.S MacArthur Lock (pictured) before returning through the less formal and smaller Canadian lock. It was cool when our captain signaled (long-short-long) “hello” to the freighter American Mariner before our cruise ended. We had lunch before touring the downtown area (the Tower of History, St. Mary’s Church) and visiting the Museum Ship Valley Camp.

On Day 8 we headed towards Green Bay, Wisconsin but not before driving west through the Upper Peninsula on Highway 28 to Munising, Michigan. There we took the 1 PM Glass Bottom Shipwreck Tour. During the two-hour cruise we saw the South Lighthouse on Grand Island (pictured), various rock cliffs and caves, and the wreckage of two ships – the Bermuda (sank in 1870) and the Herman H. Hettler (sank in 1926). After the cruise we headed south on Highway 94 and US 41 to Escanaba. From there we took Highway 35 south along the western edge of Green Bay to Marinette, where we exited “Pure Michigan.”

A Final Word

Our time in Michigan and along the three Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron, and Superior) was fun and interesting. The fall weather was great; nary a drop of rain and warmer than average temperatures. We caught a bit of near-peak color (maybe 90%) as we approached Munising on Highway 28. All the people we met were kind and friendly. I am happy that I have now seen more of Michigan than the boarding area at the Detroit Metro Airport.

I have included a few pictures of beautiful Lake Michigan herein. If you are interested in viewing more photographs from our trip – and you are on X/Twitter – check out @BurdettBob.