Christopher had a work trip to Michigan last week, and I’d never been, so I booked myself a ticket and off we went on another adventure. 

My Uncle Jeff grew up on a working dairy farm in Michigan, so as far as I knew Michigan had a ton of cows, got snow in the winter, and touched a few Great Lakes. 

Apparently the cows have mooooved along, because we didn’t see a single live cow, just the chick-fil-a cows on billboards. Along with other states in the middle of the country Michigan has great food, beautiful views, cool stores not found anywhere else, and ample parking. Parking so ample, I went to a Trader Joe’s in Grand Rapids that had EMPTY parking spaces, at a Trader Joe’s right after work time on a weeknight. I didn’t even know what to do with myself. It was like petting a unicorn. 

Anyway, let’s jump into the good stuff. 

In the first 24 hours we had Potbelly (one of my favorite subs) and Tim Hortons.

For over a decade I have longed for a Potbelly to open near me and if it didn’t happen in Orlando, it’s most likely not going to happen in Abingdon, VA, population 12 (it’s more than 12, but I don’t feel like looking it up). I always get a turkey sub and Christopher gets the wreck (turkey, ham, roast beef) and of course we get at least one oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

I have heard about Meijer from Jessica Braun on YouTube for years, and there was one across the street from our hotel. They sell so many things! It’s kind of like a Walmart but more grocery-ish, and has huge aisles, God bless the middle.

We were staying in a suburb of Detroit, so we did a little Detroit sightseeing. The architecture in Detroit is incredible. There are so many old stone buildings with intricately carved entries and window casings, cool old clocks, and gilded accents.

Libraries are one of my favorite places to visit on a trip, especially in long established cities. The Detroit Public Library is located in a stunning Italian Renaissance inspired building that opened in 1921. I find it magical to walk around in buildings that have been around and experienced so much history. 

While I can appreciate bottle of Veuve Clicquot and a good book, you can’t just leave your empty bottle on the sidewalk next to the parking meter. Clean up after yourselves, ya filthy animals.

While exploring in Detroit we had brunch at Karl’s in the Siren Hotel. We shared a turkey club sandwich and a giant stack of pancakes. And when I say these were the best restaurant pancakes I’ve ever had, I am not exaggerating. These pancakes were fluffy but didn’t fall apart when you tried to cut a bite, soaked in butter and real maple syrup, and so fucking delicious. I will probably think of these pancakes until my memory fails or I die, whichever comes first. The club was also very good, but all hail pancakes. 

Because we were so close, we decided to pop across the border and visit Canada. That obviously meant a trip to (real) Tim Hortons. The location we went to even had a little fireplace to sit by. 

GoCleanCo. on instagram, talks about Canadian Tire a lot, so obviously we needed to find one and check it out. It turns out Canadian Tire is like if a hardware store and a bed bath and beyond had a baby and then they adopted mini PetSmart and mini Party City and they all moved into one retail space. It was incredible. They had hardware, garden supplies, kitchen appliances, outdoor work/hunting wear, a petsmart aisle, a Party City counter, and every scent of car air freshener ever made.

Then we moved on to some nature sightseeing focused on the Great Lakes. First up, Lake Huron. We stopped at Brights Grove Beach in Sarnia, Ontario to enjoy the view, dip our toes in the cool water, and I might have stolen a couple of the super smooth stones from the shore, shhhhh.

After our visit to Lake Huron, we drove south to Lake Erie where we caught the beginning of the sunset, had another little toe dip, walked along the shore, and maybe stole a few more silky stones.

Driving back to Michigan, we passed fields and fields of windmills, which I love, some stunning views of Lake Erie, and so many beautiful farms growing all kinds of produce and raising cute farm animals, not to mention tons of deer nibbling on whatever deer snack on.

While Christopher was working during the week, I read at coffee shops, slept in, got a manicure, and took advantage of being near a Hand and Stone location, massage and facial? Yes, please.

As any good millennial rap fan knows, you gotta get Mom’s Spaghetti when visiting Detroit. It was solidly ok, the meatballs were a little spicy for me, but the noodles and sauce were good enough. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there again, but it was a fun late night snack.

As I mentioned before the Midwest has food figured out. We had dinner and dessert at Guernsey Farms Dairy and DAMMNNN. We obviously tried to get everything that had dairy in it. We started with the homemade chips and French onion dip, followed by French onion soup, half a fried chicken, honey butter biscuits, Mac and cheese, and applesauce. After dinner we got a pint of their World’s Best Chocolate Milk to go and shared a scoop of Mackinac Island Peanut Butter Fudge. Everything was incredible and I’d go back to Michigan just to eat here again. Get a load of that Mac and Cheese cheese pull, YUM!

We got lucky and happened to be near a sweet cider mill on opening weekend, so we grabbed a quart of cider, a couple apple cider doughnuts and enjoyed ourselves outside on a cool evening in August. As a native Floridian, cool and august do not go together unless you mean a cool beverage or cool pool. Cool temperatures in August = boggled mind.

As a library/museum/History nerd, I was determined to see the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Throughout the pandemic Christopher and I have been within visiting distance to four or five presidential museums, but they have all been closed due to Covid-19. So now that they are back open I FINALLY made it to my first Presidential library/museum.

Ford’s presidential library is located on the University of Michigan Campus in Ann Arbor, but the museum is in Grand Rapids, making this a complicated task. While Christopher was working, I drove down to Ann Arbor to see the library on my own. The library at UM is small and has just a few artifacts, but the University of Michigan campus was nice, and the drive to and from through farmland was lovely. I don’t think anyone NEEDS to go to this library, but if you’re nearby it’s free and a quick little stop.

After Christopher was done working in the Detroit area we spent a weekend in Grand Rapids. First things first, I needed to make my dream of starting and filling a Presidential Library Passport come true. So off to Gerald R. Ford’s Presidential Museum.

In addition to the permanent Gerald R. Ford presidential exhibits, the museum was hosting a traveling exhibit about Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel paintings. It was really cool to read about them and see some of the finer details in the large prints. Some of my favorite things in the museum’s permanent collection was the room about Betty Ford (why don’t First Ladies get their own museums?), this Girl Scout project above of the Declaration of Independence made with macaroni letters, and the water bowl for doggies at the front door.

I purchased my Presidential Library Passport and got my very first stamp! I can’t wait to visit more of the Presidential Libraries and fill my passport with stamps.

After nerding out at the Presidential Museum, it was time to continue our tour of the Great Lakes. We drove over to Muskegon, MI to have dinner on Lake Michigan at The Deck. Before we went to dinner we walked in the sand and put our toes in the freezing cold water of Lake Michigan. So many people have told me it’s exactly like being at the beach and I have 100% rejected these claims, but now that I’ve seen it myself, it’s absolutely true. The only differences between Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico are the water temperature, lack of seaweed and creatures, and no salt. Other than that, it’s stunningly similar and stunningly beautiful. It was so nice to walk around in the sand and hear the small waves crash on the beach. After we froze our toes, we checked in at The Deck for a table and were treated to an epically gorgeous sunset while eating BBQ and sipping on frozen cocktails. It was such a lovely evening and I want to go back to Lake Michigan again when we have more time to enjoy the water and the views.

And in true dairy loving Midwest fashion, we ended our trip with an ice cream date at Jersey Junction. Christopher had Michigan Pothole (which accurately describes the road conditions in Michigan) and I had Pumpkin Pie because I’m a basic, fall loving, bitch.

Our trip to Michigan was fantastic and I was blown away with how beautiful Michigan is. I don’t know what I was expecting, but Michigan more than delivered. I’ll never turn down another chance to visit the mitten.

P.S. I might have added Grand Rapids to my list of back up towns in case living near my parents doesn’t work out.