No dirt on our feet & Whooaa Bessie

Vacation to Michigan & Whoaa Bessie

Tom, Jane and I took time off, for a few days, away from the hustle and bustle of the Great City and County life in Wabash. We chose Michigan for our destination. Our original plans were to spend time in Bay City. Those plans got changed to include a trip to Mackinac Island and a stop over in Midland, which was half way to Mackinac Island, and end our trip with a final stop at Bay City. Midland turned out to be a excellent stopover on our journey. We began our tour with the Dow Gardens. After entering, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a wedding was taking place. We were met by a family that were part of the wedding ceremony. Coming over the hill we saw a beautiful little girl in a bright blue and brown dress. You could see that she was very proud of her dress, shoes and fingernails.

Dow Gardens were started by Herbet Dow of Dow Chemicals. They were started on 8 acres, which have grown to encompass 110 acres today. Following are some photos of the gardens.

Jane thinks this looks like the Swanee River

Optical Illusion

A Secret Garden

Following the Dow Gardens, we toured the Bradley Home. It is an example of Victorian Gothic architecture. Visitors are encouraged to experience the home with a hands on policy. Midland offered a few other surprises while we were there. They were having a Solstice Festival in the downtown area. There were food booths, entertainment and games. There were people promoting a Shakespeare Theatre that were wandering amongst the inhabitants of Midland.

Jane and I went down later in the evening to enjoy some country music provided by 'Empty Pockets'. We also were able to enjoy a wedding reception that we could view from our hotel window. Lots to see and enjoy in Midland. Something that caught our eye as we entered the town, was that there were petunias planted along all of the city streets. It would be interesting to be able to return later in the summer to see how pretty the streets are. Jane and I have never seen so many flowers in one city.

Sunday morning we drove up to Mackinac Island. Tom and I loved visiting last year. It is so enjoyable to experience the slow down atmosphere. Of course Mackinac Island is well known for the absence of any motorized vehicles. The only issue we had with the island is the 'deposits' left by the horses.

Downtown Mackinac Island

Main Street Inn... our hotel for our stay

One of the main attractions on the island is Fort Mackinac. While touring it, it makes a person realize how difficult life was years ago. It is an excellent exhibit to see. The only draw back to seeing the fort...... is the long - and I mean long- climb up the side of the forts hill to the entrance. You can imagine how tired I was. Thank goodness I had Tom there! Ladies ca.1900 enjoying Mackinac Island. I don't think the 1900's would be my choice of times to be a woman. Long sleeves, long skirts, gloves, so many layers of clothes and to boot it all, a hat. I am sure I would probably be the woman on the far right. She looks a bit aggravated with it all.

View from the Fort looking down onto the harbor.

Additional views of the island.

Ok..........now this is the noteworthy part of our holiday to the island.

Jane and my proficient skills on our horse and buggy ride,weren't worth bragging about. Did I say skills? Our ride in the buggy was supposed to take approximately an hour. It might have been that way if we had been given a different horse. We, being of little experience with a horse and buggy, were given the gentlest and most pleasant of the horses in the stable. That didn't seem to make much difference with the time it took us to complete our journey. Our horse, Beth, decided to walk so slow, people were passing us jogging! No giddy up, or 'Come on Beth' could get our horsey to move faster than a crawl. She either didn't like us, or was having one of those days. Our experience with Beth has given us many hours, laughing until we cried. Our trip ended up taking us a total of 2 hours. At one point we did live through a trot by Beth! Holy Moly! Below is a photo of the view we saw of 'Beth' along with a pin up photo of her on a flier and a copy of the route we traveled.

Every morning the cleaning crew was busy cleaning the streets and sidewalks of downtown Mackinac. They washed off the left over 'residue' from Beth among other horseys. On the spur of the moment we decided to add Petoskey to our journey. We have been there before, but it was such a beautiful day, we wanted to see the Victorian home section and the bay area. We met some new friends at the Bayfront. We spent over an hour visiting with them. We took some evening photos of the bay and returned the next morning for some more photos.

Visitors to Petoskey Bayfront area...Jane & below her is Tom and myself.

Jane was encouraging me to buy one of these boats. Nah..... I get motion sickness...LOLAcross the bay from Petoskey is a darling little town Harbor Springs. It has lots of quaint little shops. Below is a photo of an art gallery. The next photo is of Tom talking to one of his close friends? I wonder what their conversation was about?Bay City Michigan didn't have much to offer for us to see or do. There is a small area of historic homes, but overall, there really wasn't much to see or do there. We saw a party boat pass by. The River Roar had been the week before and there were fences up along the river to keep crowds in check. Jane and I took a walk along the Saginaw River that runs through Bay City. Below are some photos from our walk.


We certainly didnt let much dirt gather on our feet. We were very busy on our vacation, but we also had time to sit and enjoy the area we were in. Our weather was delightful, our time together was remarkable, the scenery was breathtaking, and people were kindhearted and pleasant.


A memorable vacation is one that you can never forget. Places that you store a memory in your head and heart. We have had several vacations that bring good memories. Sightseeing, visiting places of local interest, sitting in a cafe' or lying on a beach enjoying the wonderful weather. Vacations give you a rest from the routine and everyday life. We are thankful for the time we are able to spend together and with family. May all vacations renew your spirit and invigorate your life.