Trip Report
for
Ludington, Michigan (8/6-8/2010)
Location: Ludington, MI
Date: August 6-8 2010
Days/Nights at location: 3 Days / 2 Nights
Would we go again?: Yes. But find a place to stay outside Ludington to hopefully save a couple bucks.
Weather Forecast: Possible rain Saturday evening into Sunday
Narrative:
…Day 1…
We headed out of Chicago at a normal time in the morning with plans to hit the Mac Wood’s Dune Rides up at Silver Lake. It just so happened that lunch time put us near Benton Harbor, MI so I used my iPhone to do a search for a local place to eat and we hit upon the Charlies’ Piggin’ and Grinnin’ BBQ joint. It was highly rated so we decided to give it a shot. When you get off the highway and head into Benton Harbor you are smacked full in the face with the bad economy.
Many abandoned homes and an obviously poor neighborhood. Where the BBQ joint is located looks to have been a focus of an attempted redevelopment in a few block radius. The area is well maintained but not very busy for a Friday lunch. The food was acceptable and they had a constant flow of a couple people. The BBQ was nothing to write home about, but better than a chain restaurant meal..so I was happy with the choice.
Another few minutes north and we made our first stop at the DeGrandchamp Blueberry Plantation. It makes for a nice stretch your legs stop and we got a chance to look around the shop. I asked what looked to be the manager if they had any heather plants in the warehouse and he said they did. I told him I would be back on Sunday and would like to buy a few and he promised to have them out front when we came back. I shook my fist towards Chicago and all the gardeners who told me growing heather in Chicago was impossible. Watch me!
Another few minutes north, or was it an hour?, and you are at the Mac Wood’s Dune Rides up at Silver Lake. They charge about $15/person for a 45 minute ride but having done the ride the previous year it was still worth the $15. Technically we could have taken our Jeep Wrangler out on the dunes in the public area but it would have been a pain-in-the-butt compared to getting into someone else’s vehicle. And besides, I don’t know what I would be doing. Better let Mac Wood’s do the driving.
Another few minutes north, or was it an hour?, and you end up in Ludington, MI. We arrived just in time for a late dinner and to check out their street festival. I got to meet a local beekeeper and purchased a jar of creamed honey to take home. Using my iPhone again, I steered us over to the Jamesport Brewing Company for dinner. The food was excellent and I would highly recommend the place. I tried a blueberry/apple hard cider that was very tasty.
Off to the hotel for sleep. Oooh look! There’s a brochure on a local Diary Farm you can tour…that might be fun.
…Day 2…
About an hour south of Ludington is the Country Dairy Farm which offers “Moo School” for kids and adults. Essentially it’s a 1hour and 30 minute tour of their 1000+ head of cattle dairy farm. The tour was excellent and I actually learned a lot. The kids were kept entertained and found many of the aspects educational and entertaining…especially the milking part. You get to stand about 5 feet from a worker milking cows. Pretty cool. You can see a short video of this below. The most interesting to me was the simplistically brilliant cooler they use for their long-term cheese storage (8 year old cheddar!). A refrigeration truck! If it ever breaks you just pull up another one into the loading bay and you’re good to go. The picture above with the slat boards is the cheese room.
We stuck around for lunch and ice cream (of course) and then headed back to the hotel for swimming and naps. Afterwards we headed down to the Ludington lighthouse and played on the beach. A good, but slooooow dinner, was had at the House of Flavors. I took the opportunity to be a pig and eat their 2 scoop pig trough. Yum.
…Day 3…
A morning dip in the hotel swimming pool and then off for a drive south towards home. We tried to stay as close to the lake Michigan shore as possible and ended up driving through the small resort town of Pentwater, MI. Wow! I want to live here! Awesome cool downtown area and the homes and land are just beautiful. Too bad you need about $1mil to get a lake front property. *sigh*
Off to the DeGrandchamp Blueberry Plantation for blueberry picking and to purchase my heather plants! We had to cut the blueberry picking short as the girls were complaining of mosquitoes and we still had blueberries in the freezer from last year. 5 hour drive home (thanks DOT construction crews who don’t know how to keep traffic flowing) and that was the end of a fun weekend away with the family.
