[MinPips]

My husband and I are moving to Gaylord with our new baby. We love to snowmobile, be active and have fun. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do once we get there. Also, we are looking for a house to rent... Anyone know of a house to rent with a garage? I am really excited, but I don't know much about the town.
Thanks!

[Bydand]

Well, there ia a ski resort at Sylvan Resort (Treetops) that isn't too bad. There used to be another ski area called Tyrolean Hills in the area, but honestly it was so long ago that I lived there I don't remember where it is located exactly or even if it is still operating. It is the place where most of the locals went to when Lynn Mead sold Sylvan Knob to the developer and it started attracting the richer skiers from downstate. There are several very good places to eat downtown, and overall the town isn't that bad. Schools tend to be good and both of my younger brothers graduated from Gaylord. Summer is the usual Northern Michigan influx of "Fudgies" (Tourists) from all over and the town tend to get a bit crowded, especially on week-ends. Drove through once this Summer visiting friends who still live there and it was crazy traffic for how small the town is. There are a couple of grocery stores, and a neat place to take the kids is "Call of the Wild". (Home Page) They used to have a family membership that was rather cheap for the entire season.

[bluebird39]

Here's the best place to go in Gaylord with kids: Otsego County Sportsplex

Welcome to the area. Gaylord has great schools, it's a very convenient location, being right on an interstate and in the middle of Northern Michigan.

As your baby gets older, here's another neat place about 30 minutes away: About Raven Hill

Treetops also has super-cheap ski lessons for kids.

I don't know too much about the rental market, but it's hard to sell houses right now. If you don't find what you want, you may ask if you can rent a house on the market. You may take the risk of it selling out from under you. I know there's a lot of newer rental properties behind K-mart, but don't know too much about them. Also behind K mart is a really nice set of hiking/biking /skiing trails in Aspen park. It's all non-motorized, so no snowmobiles, but there are plenty of snow mobile trails leading in and out of Gaylord. It's big buisiness during the winter. You'll have to check out "Jay's" a local sporting goods store that's pretty impressive.

HTH

[willymccain]

Nothing much in Gaylord. I would go to Traverse City, It has much more, is much nicer. You have the bay, great views. Lots of shopping, homes are better priced then they have been and they sell ten times faster there then in Gaylord. Gaylord will bore you within a month. Traverse City has some great beaches. Most people form Gaylord go to Traverse City once a month. We used to have to go for shopping. Gaylord has some stores now. Not nearly as much a TC. There is the cherry county play house and community theater. Lots of neat bars with music. The only place left in Gaylord I would go to is Brothers Coffee house. Lots of good places to eat. In summer you can go to folgerellies on front st. in TC, They make a great rachel sandwich. They also have a lot of festivels through out the summer. If you go there you will never regret it. Gaylord.... not so much.

[willymccain]

By the way, Jays is high priced. Their clothing line is outragous. 190$ for a sweater, The same brand I can find on line for 65$. Yes if you do not want to wait or need it right now they have a good stock. But $ is way to high. They are not doing good right now. I know the Jhonson family who owns the building and rents to the Jay's out of Clair, He said they are not doing well and there has been talk of shutting the Gaylord Jay's down. Nothing official yet. Kevin Jhonson said thay they were saying if this deer season was as bad as last year it would have a neg. affect.

[mofromcheboygankalamazoo]

Originally Posted by willymccain

The only place left in Gaylord I would go to is Brothers Coffee house.

good friends of mine own brothers cafe...they are originally from cheboygan and around my age

Gaylord is IDEAL for snowmobiling! they recently fully opened the mackinaw to gaylord snowmobile route-i guess it is great (part of it runs through cheboygan on the old train tracks)....
there are some nice inland lakes in the area
gaylord is growing and definitely NOT a bad place to live

[bluebird39]

Each place has their own charms. Not everyone can CHOOSE where they live. We moved to the area because of DH's job offer (yes there are still jobs in MI). TC is 2 hours away from DH's job, plus he works on the shore of Lake Huron part time, so there you go. Gaylord is the big city for us. Yes, if I had a choice I'd love to live in Traverse City, but Gaylord isn't half as bad as the previous poster made it out to be. With a baby at home (or kids), bars and restaurants become a luxury. We rarely go to Traverse City... only for medical things and the airport. The only things they have there that we don't have here take money (shops, restaurants, etc), which we have less and less of each day it seems. Plus it now takes us $25 in gas just to go there and back.

I must admit that we have made it over to orchard country a few times to do U-pick over the summer. I wish we had better growing weather like Western MI does, but a lot of the farmers come to the growers market in Gaylord twice a week this time a year.

Good luck.

[mavric99]

Gaylord is not growing. So many people are leaving the area it makes me sick. So many businesses moving away or shutting down. From Gerogia Pacific to K-bite. I have so many friends who have had to move away. Jobs are not expanding and are in fact contracting all over Michigan including Gaylord. I know of several more small down town shops that are thinking of closing, the alphorn shop, The toy shop went out of business a year ago, coutchers designe center, harmoney grounds are just a few. I am very afraid of what is going to happen to North Michigan in the next few years. I do not recomend anyone come here if they need to work for a living. Home prices are dropping every week, and they are not selling. there are a 100 homes to every buyer. People now in the market have the luxury to go to the lake property at a lower value because of the falling prices. If you are determined to come I would rent for a year and come to a full understanding of what you are getting into before shelling out $ on a home.