From the Mackinac Bridge we headed south through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Staying close to the Lake Michigan shore we eventually reached Empire, Michigan, near the entrance to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. One of only three National Lakeshores,…
St. Ignace, Michigan, sits on the north side of the Straits of Mackinac. On the south side of the Straits, across the Mackinac Bridge, is a town named Mackinaw City. I'm sure I'm not the first tourist to ponder pronunciation,…
As I'm sure you would expect, the shape of a National Lakeshore is long and narrow. Pictured Rocks extends 42 miles along the Lake Superior shoreline and covers 73,236 acres. Fifteen miles of this coastline consists of sandstone cliffs rising…
We went to Munising, Michigan, with plans to visit Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Like National Parks, National Lakeshores are managed by the National Park System (NPS). According to The National Parks Foundation, the NPS oversees 423 units that fall into…
Except for our usual summer week on Washington Island, we haven't traveled anywhere in almost two years. With the weather forecast for a warm sunny week, it was time to make an escape! So, we loaded up the car and…
On Washington Island there's a small store -- I don't know its name -- that sells what only can be described as "junk." So, I guess I should just call it the junk store. As you drive from the ferry…
As you would expect to find in many large old European cities, Munich has palaces. The Residenz, on the edge of Old Town in central Munich, is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. It was not…
Sitting only 30 miles from the Alps, Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria. It's Germany's third-largest city behind Berlin and Hamburg. Many consider it to be one of the most livable cities in Europe. Arriving at…
(After a holiday hiatus, this post continues from Walls and Wine.) Following a nice breakfast in Bacharach, we took a short train ride to St. Goar for a day trip. This is another quaint town with half-timbered buildings along the…