Mackinaw
City, MI -- August 1999
Ever travel with a
- Forget late evenings on the town
- Don't forget to accommodate naps, snacks, bathroom trips
- Boredom -- an ever present threat
- You need more stuff -- diapers, snacks, clothes, toys, etc.
The first hurtle is travel time itself. Small kids don't tolerate several hours of driving.
Our solutions . . .
- Final destination less than 6 hours away
- Frequent stops -- every 2-3 hours
- Early departures (on road at 5:45 am first day)
- Beachfront accommodation (the background of this page was our view)
- Three nights in a single accommodation (less loading and unloading)
Our selected destination was Mackinaw City, MI -- chosen because we'd been there before (1993 and 1997) and knew pretty much what to expect. When our son (the five year old) was two, Mackinaw City was a stopover on our trip (which that year included Traverse City, MI). Since that time, we knew that they built additional attractions, including Mackinaw Crossings -- making Mackinaw City more of a destination unto itself, rather than just a stopover before going to Mackinac Island. Plus, we had been impressed with the beach areas, making the city and it's various beachfront accommodations more attractive.
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Tommy and Alyssa at Mackinaw Crossings |
In our previous stops in Mackinaw, we had stayed in beach view rooms -- but found ourselves in between the ferry docks. This time, we wanted to stay a bit farther down from the city areas to better enjoy the Lake Huron/Mackinaw Straights view. Using the Mackinaw City web site as a guide, we selected Grand Mackinaw Beach Resort for our accommodations. Our requirements were as follows:
- View for mommy and daddy to enjoy during nap time, after bedtime, or just whenever
- An indoor pool for if the weather was uncooperative
- Playground area for the kids (more distractions -- but in the end, the kids weren't interested)
- Free cable movies
- Continental Breakfast
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A room with a view (at dusk) |
Grand Mackinaw satisfied these requirements. If I had any issues with them it would be that they made us wait 'til 3:00 pm to check in (policy, regardless if room is ready) and room features were not what there Web site led us to believe (microwaves and refrigerators were extra -- not included as indicated on the on-line room description).
A month later, it is the view from our balcony, and the beach I remember most fondly. However, our time at Mackinaw Crossings, Mackinaw Island and other local attractions rounding out our trip certainly was enjoyable.
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