HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. I noticed that these enterprises were very clean, and seemingly all dressed up, as if expecting a crowd. As a native to the Pacific Northwest, I will be the first to admit to my coastal bias. Hell, I survived losing my mind in a zero visibility hailstorm outside Marfa, TX not long ago too. Trips around lake Michigan give you the unique opportunity to explore over 1,600 miles of the American Midwest! Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore offers towering multicolored sandstone cliffs, miles long sparkling beach strands, dashing waterfalls, a huge area of sand dunes, inland lakes and streams! Twelve million people live along the coast of Lake Michigan. A ferry between Manitowoc, WI and Ludington, MI make it easy to bisect the huge body of water. While the year-round population is only 28,000, during the summer season the "Cape Cod of the Midwest" plays host to 200,000 visitors daily. We want to include a day on Mackinaw Island plus visit other lesser known towns near the shoreline. We appreciate your patience! Pancakes are a great way to cheer up. The two of us have been dodging the clink together for over a decade now, and in that time you'd think I'd have learned to just sit back and enjoy the ride when with him, but I haven't. It looks like a fine place to live. Motorcycle Rides & Roads Around Lake Michigan Ride Rating: 5 Vote it Up Vote it Down Ride Stats: Distance: 1068 miles / 1718.8 km Ride Time: 3 days Approximate Fuel Costs: $81.17 States Visited: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana Submitted by: rwchet Turn by Turn Directions Download for GPS (GPX file) Download KML file Mark as Favorite We arrive in Grand Rapids for a restful evening. Ate at: 18th Street Brewery in Hammond, IL. Perhaps also a short hike at a State Park or Foredt if possible. Join me as I travel up the shipwreck coast exploring the lighthouses along the way. The Great Lakes Circle Tours are a total of four routes circling each Great Lake, with the exception of Lake Ontario. It makes you look funny, and even though literally no oneNO ONEcares what you look like when youre hurtling down a remote highway at a mile-a-minute in pissing rain, its still funny. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-41511658', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');Mackinaw Island and wanted to finish the trip coming home on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, going through the Upper Peninsula and then back down through Wisconsin to finish up in Chicago on Sept. 2. The beaches of Lake Michigan, especially those on the Michigan side, are known for their exquisite beauty. As an empty-nester, Annick enjoys sharing her tips for traveling for those with champagne taste and beer budgets. Circling Lake Superior means driving around the lake through Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario (Canada)! 500 people lived there before the blast furnaces closed. A relaxing drive brings us to Navy Pier in the heart of Chicagos lakefront. Experience the rich history of railroads in America at the National Railroad Museum through a series of fascinating displays and actual railroad cars including the Big Boy and Dwight D. Eisenhowers command car. It doesn't sound super relaxing to me, but okay. Save this Lake Michigan Round Trip Itinerary post for later: share it or pin it! Thanks everyone. Several of the state parks around the lake, which offered plenty of hiking. It is a gorgeous city, with flowers everywhere, and lovely restored Victorian mansions lining its main avenue. Our small group of 4 are planning a circle tour of Lake Michigan in Sep, starting and ending in Chicago. to Green Bay,Wi and Door County,WI. Scheduled activities may require physical effort or have distinct changes in altitude or temperature. All of the tours combined comprise the Great Lakes Circle Tour. Spend a day or a week exploring this lakeside road. Door County is known for its 12 lighthouses, cherry orchards, and fish boils, which feature the locally caught whitefish. The Traverse City area is a great place to live or visit. Palms Book is home to a very special lake. I would be starting and finishing in Chicago and I would like to do it in 3 nights/4 days. You may choose to visit Fort Mackinac where costumed guides, memorabilia, and original buildings recall military life during the War of 1812. Go walking or cycling on car-free Mackinac Island. It's one of the most scenic areas in the Midwest, and its a fun filled. Nick laughed at the idea of camping this far into fall. I went Mossy Oak, like a real local. Updated on Nov 17, 2021 | Published on Nov 17, 2021 | United States | 0. Four rivers run through the city. Any suggested itineraries? Since I plan to write a future article about from whence I came, I won't get into that now. Milwaukee is therefore heavily populated with Catholics and Lutherans. The "Well-being Index" ranks Holland as the second healthiest and happiest city in America. Because I'm stubborn, and because camping is fun, and because I thought itd make for some nice photos. We thought about taking 500 last year, but ultimately decided not to. This gave us a chance to really freshen up before the final drive home! Our route passes through evergreen forests, hardwood forests, and along portions of Lake Michigans scenic shoreline. Perhaps also a short hike at a State Park or Foredt if possible. Jun 18, 2016 - Seven-day Lake Michigan Circle Tour road trip itinerary roundtrip from Chicago. It still suckedmy foot took the bulk of the 550+ lbsbut at least the damning sand offered a soft landing. Some days scheduled activities last longer than others. The Best Sunflower Fields in NC to Visit 2022. The Lake Michigan Circle tour delivers just that and with a good mix of great food and lazy winding roads - it's the perfect weekend ride. It was windy as all get out. More than 1,000 miles long, the Lake Michigan Circle Tour would take about 14 hours without stops to complete. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Birmingham - Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, Fayetteville/Bentonville - Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, Little Rock - Little Rock National Airport, Phoenix - Sky Harbor International Airport, Los Angeles - Los Angeles International Airport, San Diego - San Diego International Airport, San Francisco - San Francisco International Airport, Washington - Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington - Washington Dulles International Airport, Fort Lauderdale - Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Fort Myers - Southwest Florida International Airport, Jacksonville - Jacksonville International Airport, Tallahassee - Tallahassee International Airport, West Palm Beach - Palm Beach International Airport, Atlanta - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Des Moines - Des Moines International Airport, Fort Wayne - Fort Wayne International Airport, Indianapolis - Indianapolis International Airport, South Bend - South Bend International Airport, Wichita - Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, Louisville - Louisville International Airport, Baton Rouge - Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, New Orleans - Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Boston - Boston Logan International Airport, Baltimore - Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Detroit - Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Grand Rapids - Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Kalamazoo - Kalamazoo-Battle Creek Airport, Lansing - Capital Region International Airport, Minneapolis - Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, Rochester - Rochester International Airport, Kansas City - Kansas City International Airport, Springfield - Springfield-Branson National Airport, St Louis - St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Gulfport - Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Jackson - Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, Billings - Billings-Logan International Airport, Bozeman - Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, Charlotte - Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Greensboro - Piedmont Triad International Airport, Raleigh - Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Grand Forks - Grand Forks International Airport, Newark - Newark Liberty International Airport, Albuquerque - Albuquerque International Airport, Las Vegas - McCarran International Airport, Buffalo - Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Rochester - Greater Rochester International Airport, Syracuse - Syracuse Hancock International Airport, Cincinnati - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Cleveland - Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Columbus - John Glenn Columbus International Airport, Oklahoma City - Will Rogers World Airport, Portland - Portland International Airport, Allentown - Lehigh Valley International Airport, Harrisburg - Harrisburg International Airport, Philadelphia - Philadelphia International Airport, Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh International Airport, Charleston - Charleston International Airport, Greer - Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, Sioux Falls - Sioux Falls Regional Airport, Nashville - Nashville International Airport, Austin - Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Dallas - Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Houston - George Bush Intercontinental Airport, San Antonio - San Antonio International Airport, Salt Lake City - Salt Lake City International Airport, Richmond - Richmond International Airport, Seattle - Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Appleton - Appleton International Airport, Green Bay - Austin Straubel International Airport, Milwaukee - Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Your 9 day trip is much different so you really should start your own question. Looking for fun and educational mini-trips for you and your kids? The majority of the citizens are of German descent. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. Classic Great Lakes Self-Drive Tour 14 days from 3,560pp Jump to: Day-to-day Itinerary Reviews When to go USA trip ideas Tour highlights Visit the cosmopolitan city of Chicago. Driving south from St. Joseph along the Lake Michigan shoreline, we reach the Indiana state line in 30 miles. Thanks everyone. What should I pack for a road trip in the USA.? Take a week and drive around the fifth-largest lake in the world. From the mainline Lake Michigan Circle Tour route at the western jct US-10 & US-31, the route heads westerly along US-10 into downtown Ludington, turning southerly via US-10 /James St to the S.S. Badger carferry docks. Both are pretty neat little towns, and a world apart from those we passed in the UP. Located along Sturgeon Bays busy waterfront, the Door County Maritime Museum highlights the areas intriguing maritime roots. Pinterest. The Indiana Dunes National Park takes up 15 miles of shoreline around Lake Michigan and features a unique ecosystem with lots of native birds and plants. Easy peasy. Reader's Digest named the Tulip Festival "the best small-town festival in the country.". One look at its harbor and I could see why. Here we drive across the Mackinac Bridge, one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. I grew up on Lake Michigan, the only Great Lake located entirely within the United States, and the largest lake on earth entirely within one country. Jun 18, 2016 - Seven-day Lake Michigan Circle Tour road trip itinerary roundtrip from Chicago. Many, many more old, wealthy white folks in this corner of the state. 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