Northern Michigan Memories

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, Michigan

If you live in Michigan, chances are you have gone “up north” at least once in your life. Some of us travel about, stay in different areas, while others have had permanent homes that have housed decades of memories, or even rentals that their families have stayed at for decades as well. Some people camp, some stay in hotels, but regardless, you are up north.

We went a few times when I was a kid, sometimes all the way up to Traverse City, sometimes a little bit south of the TC for my grandma’s birthday which was in July. I remember swimming in the lake with my cousins at a rental on Houghton, endless video games in the game room at the Holiday Inn in whatever city that was we stayed in, walking up really hot sand dunes with my mom and dad when my legs were only 4 years old long. (Not the big dune!)

Billy and I always used to head toward Mackinaw or the UP on our trips. We camped, we stayed in a hotel that was really little tiny cabins, we stayed in a big hotel. We walked on beaches, hiked through the woods, visited the Sawmill at Mackinaw at least a dozen times.

We’ve eaten fudge like the fudgies we are, visited historic Fishtown, shopped in Glen Arbor. Spent days in Traverse City, sampled the wines at Mission Point, and visited the lighthouse. Just so much. So many memories that I can’t do them all justice in this post. My dad took me and the family all the way up to the Upper Peninsula in high school when I was considering Northern for college. We saw Copper Harbor, mighty storms on Superior, waterfalls, Paradise, the shipwreck museum, and ate in a restaurant that was the living room of a home. Billy and I have ventured to the UP as well, to Germfask renting a tiny cottage and visiting Pictured Rocks. Thomas Dambo just built a troll up there in Germfask, so we will have to go back!

It’s been fun watching these two through the years. They are so big now it seems! And now our pictures will have tiny Bebe too!

We may never get anywhere like Disney together, but to me these days up north are precious and full of fun. Of game nights, crafting, sitting around the fire. Kayaking, swimming, stories, and laughter. Looking for Petoskey stones (and now I want to find a Yooper Stone!), cedar forests, the scent of conifers, one of my favorite things in the whole world. I always know when we have reached “up north” – when the road at the side of the highway is just lined with all the big evergreens, reaching toward the sky, pointing our way ever north.

Look at that little face!

Thanks for looking back with me!

22 thoughts on “Northern Michigan Memories”

  1. marsha57's avatar marsha57

    I love the UP! I remember going to Sault Ste. Marie to see the locks when I was a little kid. For some reason, I think we actually got to go in between the locks. There’s just something about those locks that freak me out! But, the rest of northern Michigan…I love it! We went to Traverse City one year during my Fall Break. Most of the shops were closed for the season, and it snowed as we drove. And, I fell in love with Mackinac Island when I was a kid, too. We never stayed at the Grand, though. Mike and I were able to do that three times over the last several years. Fort Wayne’s Parks & Rec would sponsor a bus trip there in the last weeks of it being open. It really is an experience! I hope to go back again some day. Disney World is so overrated IMHO. Give me beautiful scenery and museums anyday.

    The pictures of Wyatt as a little(r) guy are so charming and cute, especially that last one! And, now adding another to the bunch is such fun!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. The UP is so beautiful and wild! I love it.

      We have never been to the locks, and we really should go. We were actually pretty close to them this trip but it was just far enough away that we decided no. Lol.

      Disney – I am sort of disgusted with how much money it is to be honest. I feel like we could possibly make it happen but I don’t want to on some level out of sheer principle of the thing. Lol. And we are happy with the trips we do take, so it works!

      Thanks Marsha!

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  2. I love this!!! Some of my favorite summer memories are “up north” in Caseville. Our Mackinaw trip when I was about 10 always makes me smile. I took my older boys to Traverse City for the Cherry Festival one year and had a blast. My wife and I are planning on going to the “straits” with our two little ones in a year or two. Michigan truly is a beautiful state. Fantastic pictures!

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    1. Thank you! Right, soooo many memories! We still need to get to the Island. We were going to go but I need to do more research into accessibility for Wyatt. It didn’t seem super accessible but I will read more and find out.

      Traverse City is probably one of my favorite spots in Michigan, besides the West Side, near Saugutck and Holland. We love it there.

      This trip we went to Indian River. It was pretty and very close to Petoskey which was nice!

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      1. NM was for a guy, WI and IL were to visit a friend who lived in Madison, then Chicago, on trips to see the guy, too, AL was for work (head office in Birmingham) and GA I had to change at Atlanta on the way to Birmingham so I took 4 days there on the way home. So it all makes sort of sense!

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  8. Jennifer's avatar Jennifer

    Oh, I so enjoyed this post. Loved your memories and your sweet face! Yes, that cute face!! Here’s to many more summers and the memories that can be made!! Thanks for all the sharing:)

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