Looking ahead to 2014, several local trips on the radar

Reviewing my post from earlier this year on where I'd like to go in 2013, I realized only one of those trips actually happened. It happens, but with less vacation time this year because of a trip with my new wife to Hawaii, I suppose it was bound to happen. And no, I don't regret going to Hawaii. Fantastic place to visit.

Going forward, with less planned on my calendar in 2014, here's hoping I can find a way to visit a few other sites that I haven't seen or it's been a while since I was last there. I've got some places I plan to see, what I'd like to see and what I probably won't see.

What I plan on seeing

Island Lake State Recreation Area

This is an annual trip, but it's one I enjoy so much that I've practically gone every year for the last 15

Here's hoping there's snow this year.

years. Usually in the third weekend in January, the weekend consists of sledding, cross-country skiing and tobogganing, as long as the weather holds up its end of the bargain with providing snow.

Combine the winter activities with a group of great people and some tasty eats, and it's a trip. The backwoods cabins tucked in the back of the park make for that up-north feel when you're only in Livingston County. No electricity inside means lanterns light your way. The sounds of snowmobiles and mountain bikes come through the brush along the trail. It's a great place in the winter.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park

It's been almost 10 years since I last visited this park with the same group, but they are planning on returning for a weekend trip in May. The falls are a spectacular view and visiting Lake Superior is something I always long for, with it being my favorite Great Lake.

For a weekend trip, Tahquamenon Falls is a lengthy drive, but will hopefully be worth it. Seeing the shipwreck museum near Whitefish Point is something I enjoy seeing, and hiking in the spring will be a new experience for me up there.

What I'd like to see

Sunset near Oscoda.

Michigan's Sunrise Coast
I was able to make it to Oscoda this past summer for a long weekend, but there's no guarantee that I'll
make it up there again this year. I've spent many summers driving the stretch of US-23 along the eastern coast of Michigan's Lower Peninsula and find it more fulfilling than visiting the west coast of the state. It's less crowded and there are more hidden gems to find.

Bay City State Park

It's been several years since I went to Bay City State Park when I lived in Bay City, but going back to view the Saginaw Bay is up there on my list. While it might not be the cleanest water, the view is great and it's located nearby Bay City, a town I really enjoyed living in, albeit for four months.

Grand Haven State Park

The pier at Grand Haven.

I've been here several times, the last being in 2012. The pier is beautiful and the walk along it to the lighthouse is well worth it to see the view of Lake Michigan. Watching the boats come into the harbor on the Grand River is beautiful. One of my favorite places in the entire state.

Places I probably won't see

Mackinac Island

It's been several years since visiting Mackinac Island, and this year will probably be no exception. While I've wanted to take my wife north of the Mackinac Bridge, with costs and other life events getting in the way, I don't see a trip to Mackinac Island in the future. But it would be nice.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Another wonderful place to visit, especially off-season. I don't envision a trip here this year, but it's always great to dream. I've been to the dunes several times, and always enjoy exploring the park and the surrounding area near Traverse City. But probably not this year.

Port Crescent/Sleeper State Park

It's been many, many years since my last trip up here, but it's a place I've talked about going for three years now with a good friend of mine. There's not much at the tip of the Thumb, but the view of Lake Huron is great and I've heard Port Austin is a quaint town.


Is there another area I should explore this year? I'd love to hear some suggestions, I'm always looking for new places to explore.

Flashback Friday: Tahquamenon Falls State Park in the fall

The light filtering of taking this picture of a picture using my phone adds a bit of a rustic feel to the photo. I like it.

Keeping with my theme I started a few weeks ago, I've decided to add yet another flashback post of a former trip. This time, it's beautiful Tahquamenon Falls near Newberry.

The falls are beautiful at all times
of the year, especially autumn.

I've been to the falls twice in my life, once in the late '90s with my family and again in Oct. 2004 with the CSB. I haven't been back since, something perhaps I'll convince my future wife to do after we're married next year.

There are two sets of falls at Taquamenon: the upper and the lower. If I remember correctly, we visited both on a hike that fall Saturday. The trip was a weekend one, although it started slightly later for me; a football game that Friday night delayed my travels with the group, and I ended up leaving near 10:30 p.m. that night. We arrived in the morning when everyone was waking up after we took a power nap ourselves, my leader and I.

The falls themselves are a spectacular view, especially for having so few in Michigan and only one in the Lower Peninsula. Brown in color, the colors of fall added to their beauty as they flowed down the Taquamenon River.

Not many can visit the falls without an accompanying trip to Whitefish Point, home of the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

The lighthouse, one of the more iconic along the Great Lakes, has metal supports running up the tower. It's the oldest active light on Lake Superior, the greatest Great Lake of them all.

If you thought Lake Superior was cold during the summer, dip your toes in during October. Brrr.

And the shipwreck museum is worth the visit if there. With the Great Lakes being a hotspot for shipwrecks throughout the times white people have traveled the lakes, there are artifacts from several wrecks, the prize being the bell recovered from the bridge of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The ship, which sank in 1975, was one of the largest at the time to sail the Great Lakes. It sank during a storm on Nov. 10, 1975, and has become folklore and a national curiosity ever since.

It's been too long since making the trip up to Newberry to view these great falls. Things have changed since the Duck Lake fire took place earlier this summer when the blaze forced the park to close. It seems the area is slowly recovering, based on reports I've read earlier this summer.

I'm looking forward to returning to the falls. Anything special I need to take note of if/when going a younger me wouldn't have appreciated?