Fun Camping at Wilderness State Park

Features:

• 6 Rustic cabins with 4-8 bunks
• 3 Rustic bunkhouses with 24 bunks, available for families or groups
• 250 sites
• Average Nightly Rate - $27 (in season)

The majority of the sites are the perfect size for tent camping or pop-ups and mid-size campers. There are only a handful of sites large enough to accommodate the large RVs and none of the lakeside sites offer space for these.

The 8,000-acre Wilderness State Park is open all year and offers park visitors a variety of activities. Winter activities include twelve miles of cross country ski trails and places to snowmobile. Summer activities include sixteen miles of hiking and mountain biking trails in the park. Picnic areas are available along the 26 miles of beautiful shoreline and provide great places to observe nature and catch a glimpse of a Great Lakes Freighter making its way through the Straits of Mackinac.

The campground area of Wilderness State Park is divided into three areas. The East Lakeshore, West Lakeshore, and The Pines. The Pines campground is on the south side of Wilderness Park Drive within walking distance of the shore. Each of these three areas has their own playground and modern restroom and shower facilities.

A summer 2002 visit to site 64 in the East Lakeshore campground was quite pleasant. Site 64 is within a stones throw of the water allowing for great views of sunsets and moonlight upon Lake Michigan. The site was also far enough away from the restrooms to avoid the noise and extra traffic near those facilities, but not too far of a walk to make it inconvenient.

Many Pine trees surround all of the sites, which are small, but roomy enough to not feel closed in by your neighbors. The sunsets into the water were picture perfect and the waves crashing on the sandy beach made a pleasant lullaby for sleeping.

If you go:

Take Wilderness Park Drive 11 miles west of Mackinaw City. If you need extra food or other camping supplies don't stop for them in Mackinaw City. Stop in at the B&L Campstore for ice, groceries, souvenirs, or camping supplies. It might not look like much on the outside, but their prices are much lower than you can find in town and their unique items for sale inside make the stop worthwhile.

Make your reservation today at www.midnrreservations.com.

Catch a Movie at the Capri Drive In

Sometime this summer you need to take a trip to Coldwater and see the double feature at the Capri Drive-In Theatre. Family owned and operated since 1964 this is rated as one of the nation’s top ten drive-ins. The Capri features two screens, which allow it to accommodate up to 850 cars and four different movies each night (two features on two screens). The Capri’s snack bar even made headlines when it was featured on the Food Networks “Top 5 Drive-Up Joints.” With its large menu and excellent prices it is no wonder the snack bar has reached critical acclaim status.

The Capri is one of the few drive-ins that are open seven nights a week. We attended a mid-week show and even the light rain couldn’t dampen our spirits or drown out the fun. Everything about the Capri Drive-In was great. The entire place was clean from the parking area to the bathrooms and snack bar. They even show nostalgic advertisements for the concessions and the intermission includes a timer that counts down the minutes until the second feature begins.

All in all the Capri Drive-In rates as a top-notch night of family fun. Everything about the Capri is family oriented and friendly. It was great to see carloads of families and friends get there early and toss a football around and set up their lawn chairs for the show. We had a blast and will definitely make it a point to go at least once a summer. Absolutely worth the drive and worth not getting home until two o’clock in the morning.

The other neat thing about the Capri is that they have different events for some nights of the week all summer long. Sunday night is Buffet Night (as in Jimmy Buffet, not Old Country Buffet). Wear a Hawaiian shirt and receive $1 off the already low admission of $7 (for adults) and receive $1 off a cheeseburger. Tuesday nights you pay only $15 for a carload so pack everyone in and enjoy a night of entertainment on the cheap! Visit their website for information on their other special events.

Please note that the Capri is extremely popular and on weekends I have seen lines stretching half a mile or more down U.S. 12 so get there early (box office opens at 8pm). For more information about the Capri and the history of the Drive-In please visit their website at http://www.capridrivein.com/index.php.

Stay at Great Wolf Lodge for Only $139

The current special at Great Wolf Lodge runs from April 23 through June 10, 2006. Family suites start at $139. Go to tc.greatwolflodge.com and use the promotional code TSPRING to receive the discount. If you have never stayed at Great Wolf Lodge you just don't know what you are missing. Just so you know, regular room rates for Family Suites usually start at $279 so you are saving 50% with this deal. The important thing to remember with this deal is that you must book by April 30 to receive the special rate.

National Cherry Festival is July 1-8

The 80th National Cherry Festival takes place this year July 1-8. Traverse City will be bustling with all kinds of cherry-themed items and thousands of visitors. The festival's mission statement is, "to promote cherries, tourism and community." They definitely do that. 9,000 pancakes will be served up for breakfast on the 4th of July (with cherries on top, of course). On July 1-2 the Blue Angels will be showing off their aerodynamic skills over the waters of West Grand Traverse Bay. The National Cherry Festival will close with the Cherry Royale Parade on July 8.

For more details and information check out the National Cherry Festival website. For information on other fun things to do in the Traverse City area head over to the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau website.

Traverse City also has a new Frontier League baseball team - the Traverse City Beach Bums that will be playing a handful of home games during the weeklong National Cherry Festival. From the photos on the team website it appears that they have a really unique stadium. The main stands look like a beach resort. What a neat atmosphere for baseball.

National Cherry Festival article in the Traverse City Record Eagle.

Gas Prices Bad for U.P. Tourism Business

It goes without saying that when it costs you $40+ to fill up your car with $2.79/gal. gasoline you watch your driving habits a bit more closely. Perhaps you consolidate your errands or shop more from home online. The one thing high gas prices will definitely do is change where you will drive on your summer vacation. Michigan's Upper Peninsula is approximately 325 miles from where we live. That is roughly the number of miles we get on one tank of gas. You have to figure with stops along the way and any side trips plus the drive home you will be filling up at a minimum of three times.

So, just to get up to the U.P. and back home again you need to figure on a $150 to $200 budget just for gasoline. Add in meals, assorted souvineers, and lodging (or campsite fees) and you just bought a fairly expensive vacation to the pristine wilderness that is Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

I would gladly go to the U.P. for a vacation. It is beautiful and a lot less crowded than going to DisneyWorld. A lot of people won't though and that obviously concerns U.P. businesses that rely on summer tourism dollars.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula tourism industry would like you to remember how inexpensive it is to enjoy places like the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore or the numerous hiking and biking trails that they have to offer. I don't think I will be making it up to the U.P. this summer, but I do plan on doing some camping around Frankfort this summer. I love the Sleeping Bear Dunes area.

Read about the Upper Peninsula's concerns in The Mining Journal.

The Internet is on at Traverse City State Park

The Traverse City Record Eagle reports that you can now log on to the internet through a wireless connection at Traverse City State Park. Michigan is the first state in the country to offer wireless internet access outdoors. Wireless internet access is also available at Ludington, Holland, and Grand Haven state parks.