favorite Michigan Vacation

[Patrick]

Frankfort OR Paradise, MI.

[gibran]

RAy if that is where I think it is I used to canoe near there with the band of brothers...schools of sunfish would swim in the shallows...getting to the pond that opened up was always interesting with spiders dropping into the canoe...I thought by now it would have been developed...your secrets safe with me...I most likeley couldn't find it again...

[LodgeDodger]

Oh Dodger, that is soooo sweet I almost got a toothache while reading your post! - No, seriously...how romantic. You've got a great guy there, and I can tell you appreciate him cause you always refer to him as your betterhalf. It must be a match made in Heaven!

It is a match made in Heaven. I'm the winner in this duo. Any guy who can put up with my sh*t is a saint.

[EMG]

The northwest Lower Peninsula and St. Ignace/Mackinac Island. Petoskey was a particular favorite of mine.

[littlebuddy]

Camp Dearborn was a favorite when I was young.

[FerndaleDamon]

Small world, DW. Our cottage was at the corner of Ash/Forest sts. I remember going to the General Store and getting a double dip of "Blue Moon" ice cream. Both grandparents are buried in Pioneer Cemetery. Those were the days.

[DW313512]

Pioneer Cemetery is halfway to our cottage. It was on the stream. You were in town, we were in the wilderness. I was envious of kids who lived in Sand Lake. All that stuff to do in town? The Sugar Shack, paddle board rentals, Warners stables and the lake. Pete and Gladys ran the store. We spent weeks at at time every summer "up north". I think my foks bought the cabin in the 50's too. I was there last year. It is really nice up there. Tawas, Au Sauble and all the other lakes.

[FerndaleDamon]

DW, we used to think that place was nirvana. My cousins had a tree swing that we used to play on for major leauge hours. The adults loved it, because they didn't have to keep a close watch on us, and they could do- well what adults do. We used to spend our time/petty money @ the Sugar Shack, and @ Ponke's store when we could.

[FerndaleDamon]

P.S. I forgot to say, I'm going up to Long Lake tomorrow morning- just for a getaway.

[Johnnny5]

Actually, one of my favorite spots is this one, just forty miles from the Detroit City limits. I ain't tellin' where it is, but that road is a dead end, so traffic is negligible; thus, it's quiet. And the largemouth bass that lurk in that creek are big and plentiful. Let a bobber float down towards the reeds and just wait for the action. On the horizon, the water opens up again and more bass lurk where it's not so tough to avoid snags.

I have spent hours, and hours, and hours, with my butt planted on the edge of that culvert, and enjoyed every second. Night time is best.

I know that spot well. It has silted in a bit over the years, but still holds a few Bass and Bluegills. I actually spent an hour or so kayaking the lake just downstream from there today. It was covered with Canada Geese, tons of Mallards and I even saw a few Buffleheads, which is a bit out of the ordinary for that area.

[DW313512]

Damon,
Have a great time "up north". BTW Google Maps will let you go by the Pioneer Cemetary on Old State. You can also see the old store. Why does the name Ponke seem familiar?

[maxx]

Many years ago I took my kids up to Taquamenon Falls before they put a ban on wading in the water. Later we went back and found a lovely KOA camp near Newberry that had a hot tub. We also did some canoeing in the UP.

[FerndaleDamon]

Ron Ponke owned the gas station/San Lake towing service on Saginaw st. across from the Miller paddle boat place. There used to be a putt-putt golf course in that field where he later built a newer station.

[Corn.Bot]

Many years ago I took my kids up to Taquamenon Falls before they put a ban on wading in the water. Later we went back and found a lovely KOA camp near Newberry that had a hot tub. We also did some canoeing in the UP.

I was not aware there was a ban on wading in Taquamenon Falls. Summer of 1988, which I remember as extremely hot, we took our 2 kids on a vacation in the U.P. All of us played in that water for hours.

More recently, wow, I did not realize 20 years between visits until just now... In 2008, we took kid #3 [[11 yrs younger than his closest-aged sibling) on a trip to Taquamenon and again went wading, though we did so more to get from point A to point B than to play because #3 was nearly 13 and not so little anymore. Figures it was me who managed to slip on the rocks in the stream above part of the falls. The current was pretty strong there, and this incident marked the only time in my life I was glad to have enough natural ballast to keep me from going over.

[douglasm]

If I were to come back [[from Washington state) for a visit, the two places I would most dearly love to see again are Frankfort and the mouth of the Two Hearted River where it flows into Lake Superior. Alas, at 61 and in so so health, I don't think that will ever happen.....

[Wingnatic]

My dad was born in Boyne City so we used to vacation every year on Deer Lake behind Boyne Mountain , my mother was born in Tawas , many of my family have lived there , so thats where I've been going the last 30 years or so on a regular basis , but have been going to Tawas since I was a baby . Matter of fact , I've been going to Tawas so long , I remember the Tawas Point State Park , before it was a State Park and I believe the city made a deal with the State to build the big dock downtown , and they would deed them the land . I can almost smell the freshly made waffle cones at Marion's ....... yummy !