Autumn Michigan Overnight Trip

[jeffreygebhart]

Hey Everyone,

What would you guys say to the idea of taking an overnight trip to the scenic northwestern portion of Michigan's lower peninsula this fall? The dates are September 26th and 27th. We will leave Chicago relatively early on Saturday morning. The route will be to take I-94 east to St. Joseph, I-196 to Holland, US-31 to Manistee, and then MI-22 up to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore/Traverse City area. We will stay in an as-yet-to-be-determined hotel in or near Traverse City. We will plan on leaving early afternoon on Sunday for the return trip to Chicago. This is a beautiful area - blue skies...dark, star-filled nights...deep forests, and plenty of views of Lake Michigan as well as other lakes. The roads in the area are uncrowded and pleasant to drive. We will not be at a loss for things to do after we arrive. Possible activities include

Canoeing on a crystal clear river (Riverside Canoe Rentals, Honor, Michigan)
Walking/swimming at a sandy Lake Michigan beach (Platte River Campground, Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl Lakeshore)
Visiting Traverse City
Local drives on the Leeleneau Peninsula
Stopping by the Cherry Hut and/or Doug Murdick's for cherry pie and fudge, respectively

(Canoeing would probably be contingent upon a later departure Sunday and taking a more expeditious, albiet less scenic route home. I'm a computer Neanderthal...if you want to learn more about the canoeing, google "Riverside Canoe Rental, Honor, Michigan" for more info. I've gone canoeing there numerous times...it's fun!).

Many of you may be familiar with the area and know how nice it is. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts.

Jeff

 

[Brylek]

I'm in, maybe we can also visit Cody's shop since he lives in that area.

 

[Sketch]

I was kinda hoping for October, as I'm actually pretty busy in September...any chance of pushing it back a week?

Other than that, sounds great. I haven't been canoeing in years, definitely wouldn't mind going again.

 

[Speedmaster]

I would be interested.

Any thought given on taking the ferry across and driving back down from Muskegon? I could research if anyone is interested.

 

[Hass]

I was in St Joseph over the weekend, nice scenery. Spotted a stock GPW on fat fives. I'm in!

 

[jeffreygebhart]

I've PM'ed everyone that I know of who is interested in this trip. Please check your messages!

For anyone else who might be interested, if you're looking to take a nice road trip, not driving over the same old urban roads but getting out into some nice country, letting your car "stretch it's legs", and enjoy some camaraderie with some fellow NSX owners, then consider joining us! There's still plenty of time! :wink:

 

[Josimon]

Thanks, Jeff. I plan on making it and hope to see many of my Pure Michigan friends that I met in Ontario at Est Fest this past May. Thx for the PM tip on lodging too. Will book a room tomorrow. -joe

 

[Brylek]

I just reserved my room for September 26th at Comfort Inn Traverse City.

 

[jeffreygebhart]

For anyone who is considering or undecided about this, the hotel that we're booking in is

Comfort Inn, Traverse City
460 Munson Ave.
US 31

Before we booked a couple of rooms, the hotel had 30 rooms available for the evening of 9/26 as of yesterday. The cost of my room is $188.69, including tax. Nice place.
Wives, girlfriends, significant others, etc. all welcome. :smile:

 

[Sketch]

I've reserved my room as well. See you all there.

 

[RobM]

Are you guys leaving Chicago area on saturday morning? I'm in southeast Michigan but have family in northern Michigan. I might meet you guys somewhere around In/Mi border and drive up with you, sounds fun.

 

[jeffreygebhart]

Hey RobM! It would be great if you would join us for the drive up! We haven't set a time yet, but yes, we'll be leaving Saturday morning and basically driving up the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan (specifics are in the original post in this thread). Should you decide to join us, we'll work out the details as the weekend draws nearer. Hoping to get to meet you next month!

Jeff

 

[RobM]

I booked a room, we're in.

 

[solidol]

Please post pictures. I miss Midwest fall colours. Enjoy your trip

 

[jeffreygebhart]

Hey Everyone,

As the date approaches for our trip, there are a couple of items that we need to consider.

It's been mentioned that one thing that we could look into is the possibility of visiting Cody's Shop, Lovefab, Inc.. If this would interest you, please speak up!

The second item is a time and place to meet when we depart. My suggestion would be to meet at the Hinsdale Oasis on the Tri-State (I-294) at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. I realize that that is a little early, but we're looking at a good 7 hours of driving, in addition to the time we take for lunch and the loss of an hour driving into the eastern time zone. Starting much later will have us watching the clock and/or being on a tight schedule, probably just the last thing that any of us want to do this weekend. Should this be inconvenient or objectionable to anyone, again please speak up and we'll come to a consensus. Hass and RobM, when the departure place/time is finalized you guys need to let us know where you want to join us and we'll determine the time we'll meet.

Hope you guys all had a good Labor Day weekend. :smile:


Jeff

 

[RobM]

Sounds good, I'm about 3 hours from Holland Mi, from looking at the map I think you'll go right past there and it's maybe a little over 2 hours for you to get there, so somewhere around there might work. When you work out the details for where and what time you leave, we can figure it out.

Visiting Lovefab sounds interesting to me and doing it saturday probably works better for me, Sunday we may be off on our own, I have relatives in Frankfort so we'll probably end up there for a while before we head home.

Bob

 

[unc0808]

Unfortunately I cannot make this full trip as I have a prior commitment later 9/26 that I cannot miss.

But unless this seems super silly, if nice out I would love to cruise with you Chicago guys to a certain point and head back.
Probably wouldn't want to drive more than 1.5-2hrs one way so if you stopped for gas/breakfast around St. Joseph or before, I would go.

Don't work around me obviously. I'll just monitor your developments and if it makes sense, I may join you for a bit.

 

[jeffreygebhart]

Jim, it would be great if you join us, regardless of the distance that you drive before turning back. I'm sorry that you're unable to take the full trip. Sure, it would be fun if you came along!

 

[jeffreygebhart]

Hey Everyone,

I've only had one person express an interest in visiting Lovefab, so I'll delete that from our plans. When informing Cody of this, I'll let him know where we'll be staying should he care to stop by.

We'll be leaving a week from Saturday!

Jeff

 

[jeffreygebhart]

The weekend is approaching and the weather forecast is promising! Let's all plan on meeting at the Hinsdale Oasis on the Tri-state Tollway (I-294) at 7:30 am Saturday for an 8:00 am departure. If anyone is going to be late, give me a call -- I'm going to send you guys a PM with my phone number -- but our goal is to leave at 8:00 sharp. For the Michigan guys, Bob and Hass, my best guestimate is that we'll be by St. Joseph around 11:00 am and Holland around noon. This could vary with the traffic conditions, so if you guys could PM me your phone numbers and let me know exactly where you would like to meet, we can coordinate it.

We're looking at warm days and cool evenings, so pack accordingly. And bring your cameras (I'm hoping Paul can give me some photography pointers)!

Jeff

 

[RobM]

Are you stopping in Holland for lunch, that would work out great to meet there. Do you know which route you're taking?

 

[jeffreygebhart]

Are you stopping in Holland for lunch, that would work out great to meet there. Do you know which route you're taking?

Without talking with everyone about where to stop for lunch, I can't say for certain, but as it will be around noon we may eat at Holland. The route is I-196 to Holland and then US-31 north to Manistee. Do you know Holland? Looking at google maps, up at US-31 and Riley St. there are a number of restaurants and/or parking lots where we could join up.

 

[RobM]

I haven't been to Holland but we can time our trip to get there about noon and meet you at 31 and Riley St. If you guys change your plans and find somewhere to stop for lunch before that just text me and we'll meet you there.

 

[jeffreygebhart]

I haven't been to Holland but we can time our trip to get there about noon and meet you at 31 and Riley St. If you guys change your plans and find somewhere to stop for lunch before that just text me and we'll meet you there.

Sounds good, Bob. Yeah, just plan on US-31 and Riley around noon, and I'll text or call you when we get there, or keep you in the loop if anything changes or if we're for some reason behind schedule.

Jeff

 

[RobM]

sounds good, see you then