Michigan

This year our family summer vacation was in Michigan.  Surprisingly, my wife and I never had the opportunity to visit Michigan.  We have some family in the area and decided it would be a nice trip.

Southwest Airlines offers direct flights from Denver which makes for a reasonable 2 hour and 20 minute flight.

I was surprised to learn that Detroit has the largest Iraqi population outside of Iraq.  The upside to that is the incredible food.  We had the Vegetarian Mezza Combo, which featured some amazing Hommous, from Mezza Mediterranean Grill.

Our adventure for the week would be Mackinac Island.  This tourist spot between the upper and lower peninsula has quite a bit of history, being occupied by the French during the fur trade and then by the British.  Fort Michinimackinac was a lot of fun, but we did not have much time there.  The island itself was kind of over the top, but we still enjoyed sampling fudge and a short hike.  I think the highlight was the 20 minute ferry ride to the island and back.

Our hike to Skull Cave

Damn the Redcoats

We also had the opportunity to visit the Henry FordMuseum.  Henry Ford’s tastes certainly covered a broad spectrum.  Greenfield Village includes whole buildings that were transferred to Dearborn including Edison’s lab and the Wright Brothers Bicycle shop.  The museum itself has some great exhibits including Driving America, With Liberty and Justice for All and Heroes of the Sky.  The cars which include 5 presidential limousines are obviously amazing.

On the assembly line for $5/day

Our last adventure was to Windsor.  This was a quick afternoon trip and we did not see much of the city.  We did go along the river walk and dropped by the Fork and Cork festival which was a bust.  It seems Canada is not known for its cuisine.

Fork & Cork Festival, Windsor, Canada

The highlight of the trip was visiting with family and a new nephew.