Trip to Detroit area

hburkholder · 08-21-2013, 07:34 AM

My wife and I are planning a trip to Ohio and Michigan, next month. Ohio we will be visiting friends, in Michigan we are planning to see the ford Museum and Greenfield Village. We were going to go to the Chrysler Museum, but discover it is closed. Does anyone have any other suggestions to visit in the Detroit area?
Thanks in advance............

Janalee · 08-21-2013, 02:32 PM

Yes..head north to the town of Frankenmuth..a Bavarian-themed town ..very quaint and interesting. Good food and entertainment. Park your rv and walk the downtown area to see the sights.Take a look on the web for directions and more info. If you head west to Battle Creek you can tour the wonderful Kelloggs plant and museum.Then in Ohio there are many rv manufacturers to tour and Amish farms and flea markets.

ihsolutions · 08-21-2013, 02:48 PM

I don't think Kelloggs' does tours anymore... they just have a little touristy plant "store" thing where they kind of show you how a plant would look. At least, that was the case 8 years ago when we were there.

As for other things to see, there ain't much... metro Detroit is pretty lame (I live there, so I can say that!). Michigan has many beautiful areas, but metro Detroit isn't one of them.

Janalee · 08-21-2013, 03:38 PM

You are correct..Kelloggs Cereal City is closed! The one to answer though would be SunlineFan...Jon is from Michigan and would probably have some suggestions.If you are near Shipshewanna in Ohio you will find a large population of Amish and a wonderful flea and farmers market.Howver on Sundays,EVERYTHING is closed there..gas,food,etc.!

hburkholder · 08-21-2013, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janalee

You are correct..Kelloggs Cereal City is closed! The one to answer though would be SunlineFan...Jon is from Michigan and would probably have some suggestions.If you are near Shipshewanna in Ohio you will find a large population of Amish and a wonderful flea and farmers market.Howver on Sundays,EVERYTHING is closed there..gas,food,etc.!

Janelle, Probably won't go to Amish country as we live in Lancaster Co. PA

May look at going to Frankenmuth though. Sounds like our kind of place. We were planning to go to the Chrysler museum, bur saw they are closed now. Looking at staying at Wayne Co Campground or Greenfield RV Park.

**Sunline Fan** · 08-22-2013, 12:00 AM

Yeah, definitely not the most attractive place to visit. You'll need easily an entire day (starting first thing in the morning) to see all of Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village. Probably could do a day in each and still not see everything.

I'd plan to do the Ford Rouge factory tour too. I believe it departs the museum and takes you there to see new F150s being built.

The Henry and Clara Ford estate is just down the road in Dearborn and is pretty spectacular.

Going north, I'd definitely recommend Frankenmuth. The historic German charm will remind you a lot of Lancaster County, but the town LOVES Christmas. Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store, is headquartered there and the store is just mind blowing. More Christmas things in there than you can imagine. Downtown, Zehnder's is a popular eatery for tourists and locals- about $22 gets you a full family style chicken dinner with all the sides, all you can eat. They do sit down upstairs and buffet downstairs (plus there's a small cafe downstairs too). The food is excellent and will remind you a lot of somewhere like Shady Maple, both in decor and food. Lots of neat stores downtown to check out too. Easily a full day for all that too. I'd actually recommend staying at the Frankenmuth Jellystone, which is right on the outskirts of town, across from Bronner's. You could actually walk/bike to town from the campground. The sites are a little small unless you get the deluxe ones, but easily doable in a 1950. Birch Run, which is just across the highway from Frankenmuth, has a huge outlet mall, which does include a Coleman store in case you find you need more camping goodies.

If you find you want to head west, there's not much in the center of the state. I actually know of a unique and very interesting bridge park in Calhoun County. Just google Calhoun County bridge park to find out more info on it. I've never been there, but a friend was, and he found it really interesting. It's basically a county park that has many historic and architecturally significant bridges that have been moved to the park and restored.

Downtown Ann Arbor is generally pretty picturesque, but I wouldn't make it a priority stop.

Downtown Grand Rapids is a nice place to visit, including the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. The Grand Haven/Holland area is a nice final destination for a beach town on Lake Michigan.

As for campground around Metro Detroit, you've picked some that are pretty far west, and they're campgrounds I know have existed a while but I've never heard of anyone who has stayed at either. The more common places are near Monroe, specifically Harbortown RV Resort or Sterling State Park. I know the options are quite limited within the Metro Detroit area though. You pretty much do have to go way out to find the nearest campground. Then some of the closer in ones tend to have a different crowd too- a park near me, Haas Lake Park, seems like a nice place, but when I was last in there about 15 years ago, it had a lot of 'seasonals', aka people who never leave since they're open year round. Brighton Recreation Area is also another nice park in the area, but it is electric only at each site and is still a bit of a drive from the tourist places.

hburkholder · 08-23-2013, 10:39 AM

Thanks for the info everyone. You have been a big help!

Sunbob · 08-30-2013, 02:31 PM

I wouldn't leave Michigan without experiencing "up north." Anything north of I-69 probably will suffice, and the drives are wonderful. Remote. Woodsy. Great camping, and the highways will be uncrowded after Sept 1. Anywhere in the state, you're never more than about 2 hours from a Great Lake (not to mention the thousands of georgeous inland lakes.) The farther north, the better...

Janalee · 08-31-2013, 09:07 AM

Also,as Jon stated,Holland sits on the shore of Lake Michigan..has a nice beach state park there. LOTS to see and do in town..good food.Dune buggy rides on the shoreline. Authentic Dutch windmill to tour. Wooden shoe factory and tulip bulbs...tbey have a huge festival in May... Check it out on the web for details. Janalee

wilson3 · 08-31-2013, 10:05 AM

I have been to Holland for the Tulip Festival, was a awesome trip. Hope to go to the UP next summer with our kayaks, will leave the camper at home, farther than we want to tow.

rohdy · 09-14-2013, 05:03 AM

Half way through Sept. hope it's not to late to suggest a stop!

If you are into antiques, the small town of Holly, about an hour or so north of Detroit is mostly antique shops, with some other cute little stores thrown in. September is also Renaissance Festival month. Every weekend that month, just north of Holly, there is a several acres dedicated to re-enactment of this time period.

Between the festival and downtown Holly is a great county park for camping in, called Groveland Oaks.

As for Detroit, I think I'd have to add Hitsville USA museum.....home of Motown records, to the list. There is also a casino or two and once around on the People Mover can be interesting fun. Ooooh, and Greektown (a stop on the People Mover) is good for food.

hburkholder · 09-14-2013, 10:11 AM

Thanks all for your input. We had a great trip, but only had 3 days in MI. We went to Frankenmuth Saturday and Sunday went to Greenfield Village. We are also "car people" and both places just happened to have car shows going on. Greenfiled was exceptionally interesting because the had antique bikes as well as cars, and they were driving the streets all day. Monday we went the the Ford museum. I'll try to post some pix on my albums.

hburkholder · 09-14-2013, 10:42 AM

Ok, now I can't get pix uploaded...............