http://www.RealAdventures.com/vacations/185024_articles-michigan.htm Check out some of the recently updated travel & vacation listings on RealAdventures. Be inspired, go explore! en-us Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:20:06 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:20:06 GMT http://www.RealAdventures.com http://www.RealAdventures.com/vacations/185024_articles-michigan.htm 100 100 http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1026061_Detroit-is-a-great-place-for-a-family-vacation http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1026061_Detroit-is-a-great-place-for-a-family-vacation Articles Michigan Mon, 27 Sep 2004 00:09:00 Detroit offers many ways for families to have fun. You can take a tour of the Ford Rough plant and see a truck built from the bottom up, visit the Motown Museum where Diana Ross used to hang out, go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game and more! -
Detroit offers many ways for families to have fun. You can take a tour of the Ford Rough plant and see a truck built from the bottom up, visit the Motown Museum where Diana Ross used to hang out, go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game and more!


Detroit is a great place to spend a family vacation

See a truck being assembled

By Phyllis Steinberg


Detroit is my home town, so expect me to brag about it! I live in Florida where the weather is warmer, but there are a lot of things in Detroit that you simply can't bring down to sunny Florida.

For starters there is the Ford Factory which is acres long and where automobile history was made and continues to be made. About 20 years ago Ford Motor Company and other car manufacturers stopped giving tours of the automobile plants for various reasons. Among them was the issue of competitors checking out their streamlined methods of making automobiles. Another was the safety issue.

Well, the powers recently decided to open up the Ford Rouge plant to the public for factory tours and I was lucky enough to be among one of the first groups of tourists to take the tour.

We had the opportunity to see the making of a Ford truck from scratch in a spotless facility that not a scrap of paper could be found lying on the ground. We witnessed the car being built from the bottom up as tour guides explained what was going on along the way.

The tour also included exhibits on science and water conservation that the factory is undertaking to improve the environment of people who live in Michigan. The tour includes an interactive exhibit which demonstrates the making of an automobile with live special effects, like smoke and stereo music created to make the trip even more memorable.

A great choice for families is the oneday fun pack which includes the Rouge Factory Tour and admission to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. The Henry Ford Museum has a collection of antique memorabilia including the limousines of several presidents, the bus that Rosa Parks rode on when she fought segregation and the chair that Abraham Lincoln got assassinated in at the theater. They also have a new exhibit on the History of Flight in America.

Greenfield Village is great family fun. Here, you can stroll among pioneer homes and see how the early settlers lived. There are also candy shops and souvenir shops which offer unique items.

Detroiters love cars and once a year, in the summer, they have an event, where they ride in their antique automobiles up and down Woodward Avenue. The event, called the Dream Cruise, has grown into the world's largest oneday automotive event. It takes place on the third Saturday in August and attracts more than 1.5 million people. Spectators line the streets and many familyorientated amusements and attractions take place. The participants drive a 16mile stretch with their antique automobiles.

But Detroit isn't just about cars. It is also is the home of the Motown Museum, a tiny gem of a museum where Barry Gordy lived and where Diana Ross hung out. Here, you can see some of the costumes of the Supremes, Michael Jackson's gloves and hat and visit the Motown studio where many solid gold hits were made.

If rock and roll isn't your favorite thing, you can visit Meadow Brook Hall, the 110room mansion, 88,000 square feet, former home of the Matilda Rausch Dodge, widow of John Dodge, automobile pioneer and cofounder of Dodge Brothers Motors Cars. The home, is one of the finest examples of Tudor Revivial style architecture in the nation. I've been to the Palace of Versailles in France and I must confess that I'm not easily impressed, but this home is really not a home. It's a palace with rooms and furnishings not seen anywhere else. There are secret staircases and hallways, stained glass windows, commissioned by Tiffany and elaborately carved woodwork throughout. The home is a popular site for weddings, but they do alsor public tours of the property.

The Detroit Institute of Arts has a mural by Diego Rivera on the automobile industry that is not to be missed. The museum also has masterpieces from four continents and the ancient world. The Institute has one of the largest art collections in the world. Plan to spend a day at the museum.

If you visit Detroit in the summer, a funfamily outing is Comerica Stadium where the Detroit Tigers play. There is even a carousel in the ballpark for the kiddies.

Detroit now has three casinos where you can try your luck at everything from craps to roulette to slot machines and hear some outstanding music at the same time.

The downtown area of Detroit is also being revitalized. The Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center is the place to stay in the downtown area. It is 72 floors high and has 1,298 rooms. Everyone one of its guest rooms has incredible views of the city. Hotel rooms start on the 40th floor and go up. On the seventysecond floor is the Coach Insignia Restaurant where guests can dine with a breathtaking view of the city and of the bridge across the water to Canada.


Photos by Phyllis Steinberg


Details & Reservations: Detroit is a great place for a family vacation
RealAdventures | Michigan Articles

]]> http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024960_Step-back-in-time-at-Grand-Hotel-on-Mackinac http://www.RealAdventures.com/listings/1024960_Step-back-in-time-at-Grand-Hotel-on-Mackinac Articles Michigan Wed, 14 Jan 2004 00:01:00 Step back in time at the beautiful Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Here only horse drawn carriages travel on the narrow streets. No cars are allowed. Bicycling is a popular activity on this beautiful island in Michigan -
Step back in time at the beautiful Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Here only horse drawn carriages travel on the narrow streets. No cars are allowed. Bicycling is a popular activity on this beautiful island in Michigan


AllInclusive Vacation is a walk through history

Step back in time at Mackinac Island

By Phyllis Steinberg


Hooves clatter on the narrow streets of Mackinac Island as draft horses pull creaking delivery wagons past tulip lined streets blooming with every color of the rainbow.
The founding fathers of this midwestern resort island outlawed automobiles and other motor vehicles more than a century ago.

You would almost expect to see ladies in swishing skirts and highbutton shoes sipping tea on the wide porches of the wooden homes that dot the island. But this is twentyfirst century and the streets are lined with men, women and children riding bicycles with the typical gear of this era. Other people choose to ride horses around the picturesque island.

Along main street are several gift shops. One of the most popular shops is Ryba&8217s Fudge Shop. The island is known for its fudge, a longtime traditional souvenir to bring the folks back home. Murray&8217s Fudge Shop is another popular purveyor of fudge since 1883, according to the sign above the shop.

The only way to get to the island is by ferry. Ferries start bringing people to the island in June and the season lasts until the fall when the weather gets too chilly to enjoy the pleasures of this small island. An eightmile road circles the island. Six hundred horses come to Mackinac each summer and they take vacationers around the island for the small sum of $3.50.

The highlight of the island for me was staying at The Grand Hotel, an allinclusive resort built in 1887 by two railroads and a steamship company to meet the needs of the Victorian traveler. The hotel&8217s builder was Charles Caskey, who used more than 1,500,000 feet of Michigan white pine to erect the enormous classic revival structure. The early commitment was to provide guests with something more than simply elegant accommodations and superb cuisine and this tradition still continues today.

The Grand Resort&8217s most unforgettable architectural feature is its seemingly endless front porch with rocking chairs that stretch the entire length of the hotel&8217s elegant faade. People sit on the rocking chairs, sip cocktails or iced tea and look out to the beautifully landscaped grounds and the Straits of Mackinac which surround the resort.

Today eighty percent of the island is a state park. Mackinac Island was named a national park in 1875 and later became Michigan&8217s first state park in 1895.

The aweinspiring sight of the Grand Hotel from the water sets the tone for a visit to the island. The pace is slow as horsedrawn carriages, bicycles and shoe leather are the only forms of transportation. However, my carriage driver said the island does have a fire department with fire engines in case of an emergency.

A five course dinner and full breakfast are included in the room rate. The favorite dessert of guests is the Grand Pecan Ball. This dish is so popular that the chef told me that more than 50,000 are served each season. Every afternoon there is a mile long buffet for lunch. The dining room is impressive. It is a 3,400 square foot room that can comfortably seat about 750 guests.

There are a few extra charges, $18 for the afternoon tea service, which is accompanied by a strolling violinist and a piano player. Evenings are elegant at the Grand with an orchestra playing dancing music in the Grand Auditorium. In keeping with the theme of the plush resort of yesteryear, guests must dress up for dinner. Jackets and ties are required for men. Women can wear dresses or a dressy pants suit.

The Grand Hotel has many memories for guests. There is the spectacular Esther Williams Swimming pool nestled among the enchanting gardens of the hotel. The heated, sparkling 500,000 gallon serpentineshaped pool is ideal for sunning, swimming or just soaking up the beauty of a summer day. The 1947 film" This Time For Keeps" was filmed there in 1947. Although Esther Williams did swim in the Grand pool, most water scenes were filmed on MGM&8217s back lot.

Many weddings are held at the Grand Hotel. Although it was originally built to cater to America&8217s elite, today it is available to anyone who seeks an unusual summer resort experience. When I stayed there, the majority of the guests were seniors, but the resort does have activities for families and children.

I found the dcor in the rooms and the hotel to be very elegant and uplifting. I would however suggest earplugs as the insulation between rooms is rather sparse. I had to call the front desk to have my neighbor turn his television down so I could get to sleep. The assistant manager promptly fixed the problem by telling the people to turn down their television, but earplugs would have been a simpler solution. The Grand Hotel allows vacationers to step back in time and to have a wonderful time doing it.

For reservations at The Grand Hotel, call 9068473331.
For more information about Michigan, log on to michigan.org
Photos by Phyllis Steinberg


Details & Reservations: Step back in time at Grand Hotel on Mackinac
RealAdventures | Michigan Articles

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