Michigan – Page 2 – Travel Smart With Jodie

Tulip Time returns to Holland

Tulip Time is almost here in Holland, Mi. (J Jacobs photo)

After a bruising winter it’s time to go to a town that celebrates brightly colored flowers with dancing, art, music and windmill-ground flour. No passport needed.

It’s Holland, MI where everything Dutch is celebrated year ’round but where when May comes tulips line the streets and the town is in festival mode.

Plan now to visit because accommodations fill fast. Tulip Time is May 4 through May 12, 2019. Week days are less crowded but to catch the events you want, check the schedule. To see the schedule visit Tulip Time events.

Dutch dances begin May 2, Tulip Town Tours, the artisan market and Art in Bloom, Tall ships, Tulip Time Quilt show are May 4. But many of these events continue through the festival.

Tip: Don’t limit your time to just the main festival site.

Windmill Island has an authentic, working windmill. (J Jacobs photo)

My favorite stop is Windmill Island Gardens on the edge of the downtown. It has a real, from-Holland, working Dutch windmill. There is also an antique children’s carousel and replica Dutch buildings. For Tulip time there is a Dutch Trade Fair and Dutch food.

Next are two places on the outskirts of town near the highway that feature gardens and Dutch goods: Veldheer’s Tulip Gardens /DeKlomp Wooden Shoe & Delft Factory where you can watch shoes being made and delft painted, and Nelis’ Dutch Village Family Theme Park & Wooden Shoe Factory which is geared to kids.

Accommodations I like the Courtyard by Marriott Holland Downtown and CityFlats Hotel that is also downtown. To see more choices visit Holland Hotels.

Dining. I haven’t had a bad meal there. Among my faves are Alpenrose Restaurant and Curragh Irish Pub.But walkthe main street, 8^th Street, and explore. There are lots of boutiques and good restaurants plus good sculptures to see and photograph.

Go. Enjoy!

Jodie Jacobs

An unexpectedly grand trip

Picture a Midwestern river town that celebrates a favorite son with a presidential museum, its furniture history with a public museum, its appreciation of sculpture with an amazing garden and appreciation of art with a mega fall fair that awards half a million dollars in prizes.

Grand Rapids, Mi., a former U.S. furniture hub on the Grand River and childhood home of Gerald R. Ford is fun to visit year round. But come in the fall when the colors paint the scenery and ArtPrize paints the town. An art fair where the public gets to votes and thus, choose where some of the prize money goes, ArtPrize attracts artists from across the globe and visitors from across North America.

Sometimes ArtPrize works can be seen in the Grand River and on its bridges.

Unlike fine art exhibits that are confined indoors to one museum or outside to a single city plaza or street, ArtPrize blankets Grand Rapids from banks to bistros and breweries to bridges.

Because works are displayed throughout the city visitors walk through buildings and neighborhoods they may not normally get to on a brief vacation.

For ArtPrize 2018, the numbers as of mid-August were 1,417 artists working on 1,271 entries at 166 venues. The event runs from Sept. 19 through Oct. 7.

Among the places that have been venues in past years but are destinations anyway to put on the must visit list are the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, the Public Museum across the road from it downtown on the river and the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park on the eastern outskirts of town.

This opera house is on an old Grand Rapids street inside the PUblic Museum — This opera house is on an old Grand Rapids street inside the Public Museum.

At the Ford Presidential Museum learn more about Watergate and Ford’s time in Congress, in the White House and at the University of Michigan. The museum is at 303 Pearl St. NW. Gerald Ford and wife Betty are buried on the grounds.

Cross the road to the Public Museum, 272 Pearl St., NW to browse through rooms of native American artifacts, treasured examples from when the town was the US furniture hub, stroll through some old Grand Rapids streets, sit at consoles as an astronaut and ride a 1928 Spillman Carousel.

Save time to visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.

Sown a Sculpture Park path look for a Henry Moore.

Amble through the Sculpture Park and inside the main building to discover more than 200 pieces by well-known artists. Around every curve in the path come across works by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Jean Arp, Richard Hunt Anish Kapoor, Claes Oldenburg, Jaume Plensa and other pieces to photograph and put on Facebook or Instagram.

There is also a terrific children’s garden that adults would love and a peaceful Japanese Garden. The Meijer Gardens are at 1000 East Beltline Ave NE.

BTW Grand Rapids is a good stop on the way up to Traverse City or when doing a triangle that includes Holland and Grand Haven, MI.

Stroll around tulips and visit a real windmill

Tour an authentic windmill on Windmill Island in Holland, MI. Photos by Jodie Jacobs

Less than three hours north of Chicago there is an authentic windmill that grinds out flour. Surrounded by gardens, small waterways and bridges, it is on Windmill Island and open spring, summer and fall. But a great time to visit is the second week in May when tulips are blooming across the island and its town, Holland, MI.

The whole town celebrates the blooms and its Dutch heritage with dances, art and craft fairs, parades and food during its famed, annual Tulip Festival.

In 2018, it is May 5-13 but don’t worry if you can’t make it or find accommodations during the festival. According to the Veldheer Tulip Farm and Gardens, a company that grows and ships bulbs globally, the tulips should peak the third week of May.

Masses of gorgeous tulips greet visitors in Holland, MI in May

No matter when going, Windmill Island is a must see. The windmill really is from the Netherlands. Dismantled and put back together there, it is run by a licensed operator who grinds flour that can be purchased and used at home. The island also features, a Children’s Carousel, a street organ, a couple of delightful buildings with Dutch figures and gifts and there are good walking paths.

But also visit the downtown for its good food, beer and boutiques. Stop in at Austrian Alpen Rose for breakfast, lunch or a coffee and pastry break.

Save time to see wooden shoes made and delftware painted on the outskirts of town at the DeKlomp Delftware and Wooden Shoe Factory on Quincy Street. Entry is free but you’ll want to take home well-made gifts for yourself, family and friends. BTW De Klomp is Dutch for wooden shoes.

Learn about Delftware and watch it being painted.

Another place is Nelis’ Dutch Village that features dancing, shoes, Delftware and playground activities. Entry has a fee because it is an entertainment area.

Room availability is scarce during the Tulip Festival so make plans ahead of time, then go enjoy the Dutch culture of a Holland that is here in the States.

Jodie Jacobs

Five fall trips where color is just part of the draw

Now that leaves on a few trees are changing is the time to figure out where to go to see spectacular color in a few weeks and next month.

Ephraim in the fall in Door County, WI. Door County Visitors Bureau photo — Ephraim in the fall in Door County, WI.
Door County Visitors Bureau photo

But if you don’t want to merely drive some place for fall color and then head back home then consider a vacation destination with great views, hiking, biking, fun shops and lots of lodging and dining choices.

Where: Door County, Wisconsin, near Green Bay

Why:

· Good hiking and biking in state parks
· Really good art galleries
· Fun crafts and clothes shopping
· Excellent dining choices
· Beautiful views of Lake Michigan and Green Bay

. Lots of lodging choices

More information at Door Vacation and Door County

Where: Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois

Why:

· Scenic overlooks, hilly terrain and interesting stone formations
· Good hiking, biking in Giant City State Park
· Shawnee Wine Trail tastings
· Makanda, a delightful artist comunity

More information at Shawnee National Forest, Shawnee Wine Trail, Giant City State Park and Makanda.

Explore the back roads of Brown County in the fall. Brown County photo

Where: Brown County, Bloomington area

Why:

· Good hiking, biking and horseback riding in Brown County State Park
· Fun crafts shops in Nashville
· Scenic hills and Hoosier National Forest
· Renown architecture in nearby Columbus
. Indiana University has a beautiful campus (go on a non-football weekend)

More information at Brown County State Park , Hoosier National Forest and Columbus.

Where: Wisconsin Dells on the Wisconsin River

Why:

. Good river boat scenery
. Nice hikes
. Fun water-parks for kids
. Interesting photo museum in town
. Circus World in nearby Baraboo

More information at Fall colors Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo, and fall color advantage.

Traverse City area puts on a color show each fall. TC Visitors Bureau photo — Traverse City area puts on a color show each fall.
TC Visitors Bureau photo

Where: Traverse City/Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan below the UP

Why:

· Good hiking in a scenic national park
· Excellent wine trails
· Wonderful dining choices
· Beautiful views of Lake Michigan and Traverse Bay.

More information at fall color trip, Traverse City/Sleeping Bear and Traverse

Fall color tips: For current Midwest color reports go directly to a state’s tourism site.

Wisconsin’s suggested scenic drives are at Travel Wisconsin.

Michigan is at Michigan.org and at Fall Color Tours.

Minnesota is at MNUS and Explore Minnesota.

Illinois is at Enjoy Illinois and ILUS.

Indiana is at Visit Indiana and Hoosier fall color. http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/hoosier/docs/fallcolor.htm

Have a fun, safe trip!

Tips for fun fall color drives

But before packing the car and heading out check the following five tips to make the trip fun, not frustrating.

Deep reds are already tipping the tops of some trees. Drops of crimson sprinkle others. Gold leaves are beginning to line parks and parkways. Enjoy the local scenery, however, to feed that inner urge for a vista of color look for state and national forests nearby and in neighboring states. But before packing the car and heading out check the following five tips to make the trip fun, not frustrating.

A state park in Door County glistens with gold

1.Don’t use your neighborhood color changes as the definitive guide. Colors in states or area of your state to the north and west may be in full fall color palette or just beginning to change south or east. In the Midwest visit these state information sites: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

2. Take advantage of local Visitors Bureaus to find accommodations. As an example, Door County in northeastern Wisconsin, and Traverse City in northern Michigan (below the Upper Peninsula) and Brown County (Bloomington and Nashville) in central Indiana keep tabs on what is available and know price points and type.

3. A GPS works some places but not all so stop at the area’s Information Center for maps, brochures and suggestions.

4. Because you are driving, not flying, throw those extra boots, hiking shoes, jackets, sun protector hats and sprays, water bottles, first-aid kits and backpacks into the car.

Bright reds dot a peninsula road near Traverse City

5. Don’t forget chargers for phones, ipads, cameras or whatever other electronics you take everywhere. Also check your accommodations before you leave, they already have enough chargers from previous visitors.

From crimson and copper to delicate pinks and sherbert oranges, colorful leaves surprise drivers around every corner in the upper Midwest. Just get in the car and go.

Photos by Jodie Jacobs