Frankenmuth - Michigan's Little Bavaria

When I visit Michigan, most of my time is spent in the southwestern area -- either in Grand Rapids or at our Latvian camp, Garezers. While I've made a few trips to northern Michigan (such as this one), there are many areas of Michigan I have yet to explore. One was the town of Frankenuth, which is known as Michigan's Little Bavaria. Because my sister and I both speak German and we as a family lived in Germany for a year at one point, we have a love of most things German. So, we a short family trip to Frankenmuth was planned. (Our mom did point out that we had both visited it a few years ago -- when we were about 3 and 4 years old!)

Located in the eastern part of the state, about half-way between Flint and Saginaw, Frankenmuth was settled in 1845 by immigrants from southern Germany. We arrived at lunchtime, and immediately headed to the Frankenmuth Brewery to eat. Having been founded in 1862, it happens to be the oldest brewery in the entire state.However, the building in which the brewery is located is relatively new, as the previous building was destroyed by a powerful tornado in June 1996. We all enjoyed our meals (enormous portions!), though the sauerkraut which came with the bratwurst dinner was underwhelming.

The brewery

The bratwurst

After lunch our plan had been to walk along the town's Main Street, but the uncomfortably chilly temperatures and off-and-on precipitation put a damper on our plans, so instead we headed to Bronner's, which bills itself as the world's largest Christmas store. This does not seem to be an understatement. We drove over in two cars, then had difficulties finding one another in the store itself -- even with entrances marked "The Southeast Entrance", etc. As I later learned from the website, the store is the size of one-and-a-half football fields. 

Welcome sign: Latvian is in 2nd column from left, Lithuanian in 2nd from right.

The store's thousands of Christmas tree ornaments are categorized into rather specific categories. Whether you are looking for something sports-related, or maybe a food or beverage-related ornament, you have plenty to choose from here! And to help orient you, store maps are available!

Every nook and cranny of the store is Christmas-themed, whether it's a choir of caroling teddy bears...

or Santa Claus himself...

Today the town of Frankenmuth is home to about 5,000 people and offers wholesome (maybe because the original founders were conservative Lutherans who apparently came to the U.S. to try to convert others) family fun. My sister, brother-in-law, and the kids stayed at Zehnder's Splash Village, which is popular with families as it has a two large indoor water parks. Because we didn't need a water park, my mom and I stayed at the Marv Herzog Hotel, which I can highly recommend. Each room has a balcony - with either a view of the river or of Main Street, plus amenities include parking underneath the hotel (nice bonus on this visit as it did ice overnight), an evening happy hour, and an enormous breakfast buffet in the morning.

After enjoying our wine, cheese, and other snacks during happy hour, mom and I met up with the rest of the family for dinner. Frankenmuth has two large competing restaurants, both supposedly famous for their fried chicken dinner. Confusingly - or helpfully - they are located across the street from another. We chose to eat at the Bavarian Inn. 

All of the portions were gigantic - whether for the kids' meals, appetizers, or dinners. My broiled chicken was surprisingly moist and flavorful, and my sister and I both particularly enjoyed the cranberry relish side dish, which was a mixture of cranberries and apples. With its German heritage, the restaurant does offer some German dishes as well -- the apple strudel dessert was absolutely delectable.

The next morning I was happy to discover Harvest CoffeeHouse, which certainly has the best caffeinated beverages in town. Soon it was time for me to head to the airport for my flight home, but I certainly would not mind returning to Frankenmuth in warmer weather!

Butterflies and Flowers at Meijer Gardens

While I have many visits to Meijer Gardens under my belt -- including at Christmas-time and in the summer more than once and fall, this was my first experience with the hugely popular butterfly exhibit. It snowed the day we visited, which led to scenes like this with vibrant spring flowers inside, and large snowflakes outside...

and this, from the warm and humid conservatory where the butterflies live...

Once inside the conservatory, it was easy to forget the bone-chilling temperatures outside as colorful butterflies of various sizes flitted about the bright greenery and lovely flowers, enchanting young and old alike.

Enjoying rotting fruit. These butterflies had bright blue interior wings -- but were impossible to photograph while flying.

If you look closely, you can see a bit of the blue!

Upon exiting the exhibit, we had to spin around in front of an employee to ensure that no butterfly was trying to hitch a ride out on us!

We spent some time in the other conservatories, as well.

No idea what this is -- but it's so cool!

Checking out the caterpillars -- not so easy to spot!

An explosion of colors and scents!

My new favorite flower - so intricate, so beautiful!

These goofballs also enjoyed our Meijer Gardens visit!

A Wintry Spring Visit to Michigan

This winter's most exciting event was the arrival of my fourth niece. I planned an early April trip to Grand Rapids-- hoping that winter would be over with by then. Once that date arrived, however, I found myself stuffing thick sweaters into my suitcase, as my hopes had been dashed and the forecast was calling for cold, snow, wind - and more cold. I sat at the Baltimore airport sweating and feeling overdressed in the warm muggy Maryland temperatures, but landing in Michigan reminded me why wool sweaters and down coats are so useful. Nonetheless, it was a great visit during which I was able to experience two Michigan firsts -- seeing the butterfly exhibit at Meijer Gardens, and visting the state's "Little Bavaria" - Frankenmuth, about which I will write separate posts.

Naturally, my time with the family included lots of cuddles...

Back in DC my time is once again monopolized by working and commuting, but I'm hoping to find time for an outing or two in the coming months. In the meantime -- I hope you're enjoying your spring, and stay tuned for a couple of posts about the Michigan adventures!

Grand Rapids Children's Museum

Located in downtown Grand Rapids, the Children's Museum is a perfect destination for those cold winter days. My mom and I took my niece and nephew there the morning after Christmas Day; going relatively early was a wise decision, as the museum quickly became quite crowded with many children and even more adults.

The museum has a variety of different play areas, some meant for very young children, others suitable for slightly older kids.

The yellow VW bug is popular with all ages!

The area that attracts the most children is "Little GR" -- a small city, just like Grand Rapids, with all of the requisite services one needs in town.

The post office

The library

Properly checking out library books is serious work!

The pizzeria

The chef at the pizzeria

The bank

This supermarket shopper apparently loves fish!

Small selection of supermarket items

The friendly supermarket cashier

The museum has numerous other areas, but this is where our kids wanted to spend the most time. It's also where we ran into other Latvian-Americans -- because it's a small world when you're Latvian!

Christmas in Michigan

Maybe I should write about Christmas before another big holiday is upon us! This year my trip to the Midwest was quite short - only three days. I was blessed with good flying weather (left Grand Rapids a few hours before they were hit with some sleet and ice!), and with on-time flights. Flying is a true blessing when it functions smoothly.

As opposed to last year's huge family gathering, this Christmas was smaller and quieter, but also very enjoyable. 

One of the cats keeping watch over the tree.

When my sister and I were young, our most important job to help prepare for Christmas dinner was to make name cards for all of the guests. This year my six-year old nephew, with help from Oma, continued this tradition - with a tasty twist, as each name card was in a plastic baggie with piparkukas!

In addition to celebrating Christmas, we did have time for a few outings, a couple of which I will write about separately. A couple of us even found time to see a movie; if you've not caught "Brooklyn" yet, all three of us highly recommend it! The film has been Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, as well as Best Actress -- Saoirse Ronan did an incredible job acting the part of an Irish immigrant in New York City in 1952.

We also had plenty of time for reading and for playing. My niece loved the floor puzzle I gave her as a gift, but I found it surprisingly difficult to assemble--too many pastelly colors and too many curvy lines.

Although my nephew was excited about his Kristaps Porzinigis jersey he received from Santa (judging from post-Christmas photos chatter, the Porzingis jersey and shirt were the most popular Christmas gifts among Latvian-Americans), when I asked what his favorite gift was, he answered, "The fact that you are here!"

Looking Back to 2015, Looking Forward to 2016

2015 will soon be seen only in the rear view mirror, and recalled in memories and via photographs.

Washington Monument at sunset

Highlights from my year include:

- A fantastic long weekend (way back in January!) in Charleston, South Carolina, which you can read about in this post, as well as in this one.
- I love having visitors! In the spring, my blogging (and real-life!) friend Liene and her family were in the Washington area, so we checked out the enormous Udvar-Hazy Center.
- For Easter, family members visited and much fun was had.
- Spring included an amazing several days in New York City, enjoying a variety of culture - such as the State Choir of Latvia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as exploring Brooklyn in detail.
- Summer's biggest event was Garezers' 50th anniversary, which was so rich and full of experiences, that several posts were necessary to describe it all: intro and art exhibit, an evening movie and nighttime fireworks display, a daylong music festival called Garezers-Palooza (with a second post about that in Latvian), and the closing event, as well as a bit about the church service and market.
- Other summer activities included a wonderful weekend in Boston, visiting Havre de Grace for the first time, checking out the new Japanese Garden at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, and celebrating mom's birthday with an outing to Grand Haven.
- A fall visitor for several days meant that there was more time for adventures: a cider brewery, a visit to Mount Vernon, wine, history and autumnal delights in Winchester, as well as a foliage drive and hike in Shenandoah National Park.
- At the beginning of the year I had made the decision to read more, and to make more arts and culture related outings. I did quite well on this resolutions. According to Goodreads, this year I read 39 books, far surpassing my original goal of 21. Honestly, a few them were barely books - more like essays - but given how little the average American (though I certainly never claimed to be an average American, ha!) reads nowadays, 35 or so is still a sizable number. Only one did I write a review about here, and in another post I mentioned a few others I had read. Among books that I enjoyed this fall were Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic" and Moises Velasquez-Manoff's "An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of Undestanding Allergies and Autoimmune Disorders," as well as Iris Carmon's "Notorious RBG: The Life and Time of Ruth Bader Ginsburg."

Washington Monument after sunset.

While there are many more memories I could mention and blog posts I could link to, I will stop now so that I can devote time to writing new posts, and planning for 2016!

May your New Year be full of love, friendship, successes and many adventures!

An Evening in Grand Haven

The main reason for a late summer visit to Michigan was to celebrate my mom's birthday. For the celebration itself, she had requested that we make a short trip to the lake town of Grand Haven for dinner, so one afternoon we all piled into the car and drove west. Located on Lake Michigan at the shore of the Grand River, Grand Haven is one of several picturesque beach towns in Western Michigan.

Yathzee anyone? One of several games folks can play at the marina.

Blessed with a fantastically mild summer's day, we arrived before dinner to stroll near the water and enjoy the waning warmth of August. After parking near the marina on the river, we walked along the boardwalk until my brother-in-law spotted the sailboat on which he'd recently taken some foreign business associates. The captain invited the kids on board -- they particularly enjoyed watching the adorable little dog who makes his home on the boat, and who is also a Michigan State fan like my nephew. (I did not manage a good photo of the pup in his kelly green MSU jersey.)

(Photo credit: my brother-in-law)

We continued our stroll, but stopped to take some photographs, and to watch both boats and people coming and going. It truly was one of those gorgeous summer evenings that you wish would not end! 

Family fun!

We loved these bright red benches!

However, we had dinner plans and made our way to the restaurant, Snug Harbor, which is located on the River. Although it does offer some outdoor seating, we sat inside, but next time I would certainly sit on the patio or find another restaurant, as this establishment's redeeming quality seemed to be location. (Though I must say the kids' portions were very generous, and my niece and nephew both enjoyed their mac-and-cheese and chicken tenders. Two of the adults also had meals that were quite tasty.)

After our meal we drove to the lakefront to continue savoring the weather and good cheer. It's possible we may have parked illegally, as the beach  is part of Grand Haven State Park, and one needs a special permit to park in the lot, yet it was late enough that open spaces were available and no one seemed to be checking. My niece immediately discovered the playground, while my nephew noticed the paradise found just beyond it - twenty-one beach volleyball courts! He stood next to an ongoing game, watching intently, then was transported to cloud nine when the incredibly friendly folks invited him to join their game. 

My nephew and brother-in-law were busy playing ball, but my niece realized the warm soft sand was perfect for other games as well.

I had wanted to walk out to the lighthouse, but we determined that the stroll was a bit too much for our capabilities or needs on that evening. Plenty of other people, however, were making their way down the long pier to one of Michigan's iconic lighthouses.

Then it was time to find ice cream for dessert, and after our treats we headed home. Due to its late starting time (9.50pm on that particular date), we couldn't stay for Grand Haven's famous musical fountain, though I would love to see that some day! (Interestingly, the large anchor which overlooks the river was until very recently a cross.) Judging by the short time we spent in Grand Haven, it is certainly a place to which I would happily return.