Here we go again! Covid has really messed with our travel plans. This summer we had originally planned to visit California for Alan’s 40th. We had a whole thing planned and were so excited, then Covid happened and everything changed. So I asked Alan what he wanted to do for his birthday, I threw out ideas and he replied I wanna just sit by a lake on a porch and whittle, that would be the perfect vacation. So I threw out the plans for heading west and started looking at lake front properties…I guess Alan should have specified a temperature range for which he wanted to whittle in because soon enough I found a resort with a porch on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota! I decided it would be so awesome to see some northern states in the winter, and Alan has never set foot in three of those states, so why not chunk some states off his list in the process!

So here we go!!!!

 

Since we were already in Cleveland we started from there! First stop, Alan’s 47th state, Michigan!

Alan’s Papa retired from Ford after 30+ years with them. Alan really wanted to see the Ford Headquarters in Michigan.

After we checked this off the list we headed to Frankenmuth! A little Bavarian town!!

We went to the world’s largest Christmas store and spent over an hour checking out all the Christmas goodies! It was such a fun store!

When we came outside it was dark enough that all the lights in the town had come on!

We made sure to visit the cheese house too!

Our next stop was the musical Christmas tree in the center of town! It plays Christmas carols and the lights dance to the music! It was so neat!

Next up, dinner. Michigan is closed down so we had to order to go from the famous Chicken place! Note to others…the chicken was nothing to write home about! 🤣

We enjoyed dinner, then headed out on a drive thru light hunt. We had a map and some clues to help us find all 26 spots. It was so fun!!!

It was a great day and we enjoyed beautiful Michigan!

Frankenmuth, a total Hallmark Christmas movie town!