Vacation ideas in Mid-West

lovesmurfs said:

Depending on where you are, if you have to drive through/around Chicago, be sure to add an extra hour to the drive -- there's always traffic.

Sometime when you have longer, look into the southern shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula. We stay in the Au Train area -- there's a sandy beach, but all sorts of hiking, waterfalls, etc. in the area -- just Google "Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore." Lighthouses, boat trips -- we went there every year while the kids were growing up.

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Lilacs4Me said:

I'm glad to see other ideas than St. Joe, MI, Wisconsin Dells, and Lake Geneva on this list! People from Chicago seem to think these are the only three places in existence outside their suburb and the City of Chicago!

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Lilacs4Me said:

I'm glad to see other ideas than St. Joe, MI, Wisconsin Dells, and Lake Geneva on this list! People from Chicago seem to think these are the only three places in existence outside their suburb and the City of Chicago!

I'm from MI, and have lived in the Chicago suburbs for 9 years now.

Grand Rapids is nice, so nice pick! You will like it.

For future trips....

A few years ago, we did a weekend trip to Milwaukee with the kids (ages 14, 10, and 8 at the time). We left the western Chicago suburbs Friday evening (if you start heading north on 294, which turns into 94, at around 6pm you are headed against the traffic, and by the time you hit 94 the majority of the traffic is over), stayed overnight near the Wisconsin border. Sat AM we headed north on 94 to the Jelly Belly outlet/warehouse and did a tour, then headed to Milwaukee and went to the Safehouse for dinner.* The next day we did a Sprecher's brewery tour, who are famous for their root beer and sodas as well as beer, so very kid-friendly! We had a ton of kids on our tour and they all loved the soda/root beer samples at the end. I can't remember where we stayed in Milwaukee, but it had a nice pool which was really all my kids wanted out of a hotel anyway. We were supposed to do a winter hike in the area too, but it started to snow really hard and we left for home earlier than we had planned on Sunday morning.

My kids say it was the most fun vacation they took. And we had even surprised them with a Disneyworld trip the fall before that! (seriously!!!)

Starved Rock is a fun day/overnight trip too, if you like the outdoors. It's near Utica, IL.

We have also gone down to the college towns for sports/football games when our favorite MI team is playing, if you are into that at all. Lacrosse and baseball are both in season right now.

On the west side of MI - Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, Luddington...Muskegon....all have great things to offer and are within a few hours' drive. We go there to visit two of my sisters who live in those areas, but mostly when we go "home", we got to the east side of the state where we are from. If you ever want to go east of Lansing, let me know and I can help! lol

Have fun!

*If you ever decide to go to Safehouse, DO NOT cheat and find out the secret code on the internet! Although I will say to get the most out of it, research it a *little* so that you don't walk right past the surprises. t's a James Bond/spy type of theme, and SOOO much fun!

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cabanafrau said:

Last time we stayed at a Drury Inn and really liked it. It's not a downtown hotel if that's what you're looking for, but it was quite nice, clean, reasonably priced. It was near the Meijer Gardens and the zoo if you're thinking of visiting either of those.

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Pharmgirl123 said:

And I swear if one more coworker or neighbor mentions Lake Geneva or Wisconsin Dells one more time, I might scream! LOL!

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Cindy's Mom said:

I've lived in Chicago my entire 55 years - I freaking LOVE Lake Geneva! I've seen tons of Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin, and LG is the ONLY place I go back to. I also travel to lands far far away, but for quick getaway, LG can't be beat. IMO.

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zoo2tycoon said:

Ohio- Cedar Point or Kings Island

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soccerdad72 said:

Cedar Point won't be open at Easter. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think Kings Island opens in April either.

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Pharmgirl123 said:

I think I’m going to stick to Grand Rapids! Any idea for a nice hotel to stay at?

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antmaril said:

The Amway Grand is a beautiful hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. There is also a nice Marriott downtown.

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bgirl29 said:

The road outside of the Amway is under major reconstruction right now. At least it was all torn up when I went by it yesterday. Also one of the main highways is closed in one direction. Just something you might want to check before booking a hotel.

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bgirl29 said:

The road outside of the Amway is under major reconstruction right now. At least it was all torn up when I went by it yesterday. Also one of the main highways is closed in one direction. Just something you might want to check before booking a hotel.

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bgirl29 said:

There are several hotels downtown that are close to the museums and dining and nightlife. CityFlatsHotel Grand Rapids, Courtyard Grand Rapids, the JW Marriot and Homewood Suites to name a few. Getting to Meijer Gardens will be when you need to watch for the highway closer.

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soccerdad72 said:

Cedar Point won't be open at Easter. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think Kings Island opens in April either.

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