(updated Sat. Sept. 15, 2014)

Ann Marie grew up in Midland, MI, the home of Dow Chemical.

She wanted to show us the fun places where they camped growing up.

So, for our 2014 summer family vacation, we had a great time, visiting:

1. -South Bend, IN / University of Notre Dame du Lac
   

2. -Warren Dunes SP / State Park
   

3. -Lake Cadillac
   

4. -St. Ignace and Mackinac Island
   

5. -Charlevoix
   

6. -Petoskey
   

7. -Traverse City
   

University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, IN

We had not been to Notre Dame before, but it was just the right place to stop for our first night.

We toured the campus, by bike, that evening and the next morning.

We saw the football stadium, the art hike/trail, rode around St. Mary and St. Joseph lakes, and also visited the Grotto, which is a replica of the one at Lourdes.

Links:

http://www.nd.edu

&

http://tour.nd.edu

“Venite Ad Me omnes”

translates to

“Come to me, all.”

Two statues of Our Lady of Notre Dame

Warren Dunes

Just across the Indiana border, Warren Dunes has a great beach for swimming and very tall dunes for climbing... and running back down

We enjoyed it so much on the first visit, as we were starting northbound, that we made a second visit on the way back home!

The iPhone GPS showed us 170-180 feet above the parking lot.

The water was clear-blue; cool, but quickly warm.

The MI DNR has a snack bar there, too.

Links

http://www.michigan.org/property/warren-dunes-state-park/

http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/details.aspx?id=504&type=SPRK

Lake Cadillac

Lake Cadillac is connected to Lake William Mitchell by a short canal, built to help loggers bring timber across the lakes to the saw mills.

Lake Cadillac is almost 8 miles around and has a nice, flat bike trail around it that passes the town’s skate (and bike) park, and ice cream at Cheryl’s Landing.

We stayed at the very nice Birchwood Resort, which has both RV spaces and nice cabins.  We had a blast playing frisbee and

eating s’mores one evening.  We also rented

their pontoon boat and caught three fish;

Abby cooked them up for dinner.  We also

enjoyed mini golf and go-karts, kayaking and

just being outside.

Links

http://cadillac.uslakes.info

http://www.cadillacmichigan.com

St. Ignace and Mackinac Island

Father Jacques Marquette founded St. Ignace, naming it for the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius.  We connected much on this trip.

Holy Infant students complete an Indian / Native American report each year.  Abby picked the Huron, thanks to Mom’s help.  We learned much about them in that report.

Once we got to Mackinac Island, we learned that Fr. Marquette was with them, as the Iroquois forced them from Canada into northern Wisconsin, then to St. Ignace.  He hadn’t been mentioned in our reference books at all, but he was very important to the Huron and to many others in the area.

Links

http://www.mackinacparks.com

http://sheplersferry.com

http://joannsfudge.com

http://www.mightymac.org/bridge.htm

Fort Mackinac

British rifle demonstration

US Military Court re-enactment

Charge:    Not reporting for kitchen duty.

Defense:  Commanding officer invited the soldier to play the new game - baseball - and the soldier understood the officer had cleared his absence with the kitchen.

Verdict:    Visit... or just ask us.  : )

Riding US 185 around the island - the nation’s only road on which motorized vehicles are prohibited.

Castle Law... “made in Michigan,” via the U.S. Supreme Court.

Museum of Ojibwa Culture, St. Ignace

Fr. Jacques Marquette was a French Jesuit priest who ministered to the Native Americans.  We did not know at the time, but learned at Mackinac Island and at this museum, that he ministered to the Huron Indians.  Abby had written about them the previous year, but we did not hear of how Pere Marquette travelled with them as the Iroquois displaced them from New York and Ontario into Wisconsin, then to St. Ignace.  Pere Marquette named the town for Jesuit founder St. Ignatius. 

Father Marquette’s grave

Colonial Michilimackinac

The British built the mainland’s (southern, Lower Peninsula; Mackinaw City) Machilimackinac before closing it and moving to the island’s Fort Mackinac.

Colonial Michilimackinac is a recreation of the original fort.

We spent much longer there than expected because it was so fun and interesting.

Dressing in a redcoat... which we learned was to instill fear in enemies; you could usually see the enemy coming from more than a mile away, and a tight army, walking properly and demonstrating discipline, also dressed properly, could inspire you to not want to fight; the red also helped soldiers stood out amid the battlefield’s smoke.

Mill Creek Discovery Park

Created around an 1800’s mill, this park also has a public zip line that is $3/ride!

Charlevoix

Names for another Jesuit missionary.

We arrived late, enjoyed the sunset on Lake Michigan,

had a morning bike ride near the drawbridge and lakeshore,

then found Petoskey stones in Petoskey.

Passed driving south on US-31.

Traverse City - Great Wolf Lodge
An awesome swim hotel!

The Great Lakes... one of many sources of information about them:

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/pr/ourlakes/lakes.html