[Bluefly]

I guess "Up North" is relative. Having lived in the U.P., a trip to Traverse is considered "heading downstate for the weekend".

If you're up for the drive, you might consider the Landmark Inn in Marquette. It's a great old hotel owned by a wonderful local woman with very European stylings - great little pub that draws the locals, strong Mediterranean restaurant, a small skybar overlooking the city from the top floor, perhaps a jazz trio in the lobby... the rooms are each individually themed around local events and visitors (very classy, no Scooby Doo rooms) and there are definitely a number of friendly old spirits still hanging around the place. It's the place locals go for a night to get away. Be sure to get a jacuzzi suite.

It's on a bluff overlooking the picturesque harbor, where you can do all the Marquette art galleries / museums / good restaurants (my favorite is the Thai House - best Thai food I've ever had, and I've traveled much of the world) 5 minutes away, there are small mountains to climb in about 20 minutes to an hour for gorgeous views of the coastline, beaches to discover (some quite isolated), as well as the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and glass bottom shipwreck tours about 45 minutes away.

The nice thing about Marquette is if it were closer to big cities, it would have cheesy things like waterparks and have been destroyed by subdivisions and strip malls. Being so isolated, its tourist infrastructure is quite limited and so is its population, but it's quite a vibrant city with a lot of traditionally tourist attractions that are where the locals hang out.

[GoBlue2]

Ludington is a great place to spend time in the summer. Your 3 year old will love the beach, walking to the lighthouse, and exploring the beautiful state park. The Silver Lake dunes are within 20 miles, as well. There is plenty to explore by foot, as well. There are 2 marinas, a temporary children's museum, a waterfront playground and some fun shopping and dining.

[jetengineman's wife]

Wow! Lots of "west coast" options, but no Sunrise Side! I live in the Tawas area, and it is gorgeous in the summertime! Head north on US23 from Standish... we are about 1 hour north of Bay City or so. Tawas State Park has awesome swimming beaches and a neat lighthouse that you can actually pay to stay the night in (they are refurbishing it... I just toured it the other day with my son's cub scout pack and it is sweet!) There are also some nice hotels in East Tawas and Tawas City, as well as quite a few cabin rental resorts along the lake. Downtown East Tawas has a nice shopping district (and the most awesome chocolate shop I've ever been to...) and a great fishing pier and playgound at the end of Newman Street. The "powers that be" are planning a huge festival around 4th of July this year... I believe it's going to run for an entire week.

North of here is the AuSable River for great canoeing and many scenic vistas. There is also Lumberman's Monument out River Road from Oscoda which is set along the AuSable and has some nice displays from the lumbering era... just up the road from there is Iargo Springs... a beautiful stairway climb from the top of a bluff overlooking the AuSable down to the river banks... little creeks and waterfalls all tucked into the trees... very magical (and a good workout climbing back to the top!). Yankee Airforce museum is located on the old Wurtsmith Airforce base in Oscoda... nice for plane enthusiasts.

Wow! I guess I do like living here! (At least in the summer!) I would recommend a 2 or 3 night stay unless you plan on doing a lot of relaxing on the beach!

[suydam]

Originally Posted by jetengineman's wife

North of here is the AuSable River for great canoeing and many scenic vistas.

In my opinion, this is the best canoeing in the state. the Au Sable is a real treasure.

[bluebird39]

Tawas beach is probably the best beach I've been to, maybe ever! It's fanatastic! I grew up near the Gulf of Mexico, and lived on the West Coast, and that place (Tawas) is AMAZING! It's fresh water (which I prefer over salt), gentle slope into the water, incredibly beautiful, and sandy, clean, off the beaten path, and better yet, overlooked.... I spent an entire day there with my kids and a good book, and never had to spend a minute "helping them", or disiplining them, or entertaining them, because they were incredibly happy to play all day in the lake and on the beach. Kids and beaches were made for eachother!

If you want a more urban experience, go to Traverse City, or Petoskey. Both have beaches too, as well as shopping, hotels, etc... My boys LOVED Sleeping Bear Dunes, especially the "Dune Climb". Yes, there's Boyne Falls, and Great Wolf Lodge in TC, but IMO, you'll be missing out on the whole "Up North" experience if you stay there. TC has a children's museum, but I've never been to it. There's a place in East Jordan that's really neat for kids... Raven Hills Discovery Center. My kids loved that. Charlevoix is a nice place too, with some great beaches to explore.

My advice would be to avoid T Falls with a 3 yr old. Too many places for them to get in trouble. I hate places where I have to be on constant alert with little ones. The Dunes on the Lake Michigan side is like that too.... VERY steep dunes going straight down for what seems like a mile! My kids are older, so it was fine, but when my kids were 3, they would have been making b-lines for Lake Michigan!!!

Higgins Lake State Park (North side) is another great place to go with little ones, but it can get really crowded in the summer. HTH

Oh, Cherry Festival is a fun time with kids too, but the place is crowded! Then again, you're from Detroit, so you may be fine....

[MainStreet]

We took kids to the Soo Locks and they loved it. SSM is very touristy, but I found that parking was continuously being freed up and people were polite.

I have to agree about T Falls and little ones. They won't appreciate it...it's all stairs and falls. Kids getting too far ahead while their parents are catching their breath on each landing.

The Cherry Fest in TC is over the top in activities for little ones.

Sleeping Bear is a great choice, kids love running up and down the dune...don't forget lunch at the Cherry Republic in nearby Glen Arbor.

There is the fort at Mackinaw City that is very kid friendly...and of course more ice cream cones in town.

Combine that with a ferry to Mackinaw Island, bikes, horse and wagon tours; more ice cream, lol (hand wipes are a must!)....not to mention the view of the bridge.

What a wonderful state....I miss it so much.

[ImaMichigander]

We just went up to Boyne over Easter break. The skiing was AWESOME. Our 3 year old was not so into ski school-- she only made it through 30 minutes of her 3 hour lesson. However, the hotel -- I think the Grand Mountain Lodge-- was OUTSTANDING and the 3 year old was able to go onto everything--EVERYTHING-- at Avalanche Bay, the indoor waterpark, with a parent. She loved it all!

We did go to Traverse City too, and the hotel there sucked, but they were under construction and we shouldn't have booked there.... We did the drive through the Leelenaw Peninsula, hitting the Sleeping Bear Dunes and a winery. Our 3 year old liked climbing the Dunes-- but I have to say that sunny and 40 was the way to go, since hot and sweaty is not fun and then throw in sand into every crack and crevice and I can only imagine how cranky my 3 year old would have been. We spent about 30-40 minutes climbing and we only got so far as to see a bit a water on the horizon. She probably could have gone farther, but we had other kids, grandma and great-grandma in the car too.

I would suggest a dvd player for the car, as we enjoyed the scenery a lot, but the kids were not into the beauty that was Northern Michigan.

Also, there is a Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse that we didn't hit this time around, but it is much nicer than the Lodge in Sandusky, Oh, apparently there is a children's museum in Traverse, but we didn't try it on this trip.

Having gone to Mackinaw Island when our girls were little, they weren't so much into it.... But still was a nice trip.

I guess try to find fun where you can for the kiddo, but don't ditch the trip because there isn't a ton for little ones to do. In my experience, as long as there is a pool in the hotel, life is good!

[theboysmom]

Thanks again for all your ideas and suggestions. Dh is taking the last week of July this summer (oh how I wish we were leaving in the next few weeks but he's got some business trips in the pipeline). We also plan on making another trip sometime in the late-late fall/not quite winter!

You guys have made this a great thread!