Midwest Vacation - Traverse City, MI?

[wtwo3]

We're thinking of taking a road trip the 1st week of July (July 1st-6th/7th) - it would be me, my wife, 4 year old daughter and 3 month old son. Currently live in the suburbs of Chicago and have kicked around a few options, but thought of maybe checking out Traverse City, MI. We've heard about it but have never been before.

Anyone ever been and would you recommend it? What are some things to do and places to stay? Hotels and Airbnb seem to be pretty pricey considering it's Michigan...

Any other recommendations for midwest destinations?

[GTF]

As long as you're as far as Traverse City, continue North to Petoskey / Harbor Springs. Worth the extra distance.

[thrilla]

You’ll have fun in Traverse city. Downtown has lots of good restaurants, you can go wine tasting at the peninsula, enjoy the beach, or drive through the outskirts. Also, take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City while you’re there.
Good luck finding lodging, since it gets really busy in the summer.

[BMWCCA1]

Sleeping Bear sand dunes aren't far away. There are many better places to stay near there that are not in such an urban environment. Charlevoix, Frankfort, Chrystal Lake...

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by thrilla

Good luck finding lodging, since it gets really busy in the summer.

Yeah it's insane how much of a price difference it is between now and July. I'm considering staying at the Delamar which seems like a decent hotel right on the lakefront. If I booked it for end of this month it's a relatively cheap $220/night. But booking in July? The price shoots up to $550/night. I'm not averse to spending good money on lodging, but I usually like to splurge on international trips as opposed to more local ones.... oh well

[Tommy-G]

If you end up shying away from Traverse City, have you guys been to the Dells? I know thats pretty close and maybe not enough of a getaway for you.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

If you end up shying away from Traverse City, have you guys been to the Dells? I know thats pretty close and maybe not enough of a getaway for you.

You know.... I've driven past the Dells so many times and never bothered to stop there. Will definitely have to make that happen at some point. I can always pitch the idea and see what my wife thinks. I'm personally not a big fan of water park type stuff, and with a 3 month old not sure we'll be able to enjoy too much theme park-like attractions.

[wtwo3]

Ok I was able to priceline a great deal on the Indigo Hotel which is right across the street from where the 4th of July fireworks will be.

So far things on the list:

4th of July events
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Petosky
Great Wolf Lodge

[Alfisti]

$550 a night??????????

Stay fucking home, seriously that is bonkers.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

You know.... I've driven past the Dells so many times and never bothered to stop there. Will definitely have to make that happen at some point. I can always pitch the idea and see what my wife thinks. I'm personally not a big fan of water park type stuff, and with a 3 month old not sure we'll be able to enjoy too much theme park-like attractions.

I wasn't sure ages on the lil one

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

$550 a night??????????

Stay fucking home, seriously that is bonkers.

Would have if it was that much... but I was able to priceline a pretty good deal... got it at $350 a night

[Alfisti]

I tell the wife, at some point it is just NOT worth travelling. You're still dealing with kids killing each other just in a nicer setting and you're out $10K before you fucking blink.

I find renting a cottage with another family the best bet, $2K for the week each all in including gas etc. Kids have cousins to occupy themselves, you only cook half the time etc.

Like seriously $10K to go south for a week all inclusive or whatever..... fucking no.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I tell the wife, at some point it is just NOT worth travelling. You're still dealing with kids killing each other just in a nicer setting and you're out $10K before you fucking blink.

I find renting a cottage with another family the best bet, $2K for the week each all in including gas etc. Kids have cousins to occupy themselves, you only cook half the time etc.

Like seriously $10K to go south for a week all inclusive or whatever..... fucking no.

That's basically what we've been doing for the past 5 years. Haven't travelled anywhere internationally as a family since our daughter was born. Now that our son was just born a few weeks ago.... I guess the clock resets. Don't want to spend tens of thousands on an extravagant international vacation only to be spending half the day changing diapers and the other half the day feeding/dealing with cranky kids.

Domestic trips, while cheaper, have been very hit or miss. Some of them have been pretty nice while others have just been stressful. Kids...such temperamental people....

I think when our son is 5 and daughter is 9 that may be a good time to take a really nice international trip. Just 5 years to go.....

[Alfisti]

Mate I have gone to Australia 5 times since kids were born, flying with kids is the ultimate cuntish experience. What a complete fucking NIGHTMARE. That's different because I have to go and once there we don't spend on accommodation but FMD I wouldn't go overseas with kids until yeah they are at my kids age of 10 and 6. Last trip home was MUCH MUCH better at 4 and 8. Once they can watch TV it becomes way easier.

Dealing with women is the issue, zero logic, like from another fucking planet. Always wants to go away even with kids, i am like jesus H, why drop all that coin to just deal with kids all week> Pre-covid I convinced the sister in law to take our kids for a week and the mrs and I did french riviera for a week, we then returned the favour. This was not only WAY more enjoyable but cut the cost in half.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Mate I have gone to Australia 5 times since kids were born, flying with kids is the ultimate cuntish experience. What a complete fucking NIGHTMARE. That's different because I have to go and once there we don't spend on accommodation but FMD I wouldn't go overseas with kids until yeah they are at my kids age of 10 and 6. Last trip home was MUCH MUCH better at 4 and 8. Once they can watch TV it becomes way easier.

Dealing with women is the issue, zero logic, like from another fucking planet. Always wants to go away even with kids, i am like jesus H, why drop all that coin to just deal with kids all week> Pre-covid I convinced the sister in law to take our kids for a week and the mrs and I did french riviera for a week, we then returned the favour. This was not only WAY more enjoyable but cut the cost in half.

I hear that... I've been trying to get my wife to leave our daughter with her grandparents so we can take a trip for years, but she seems to think our daughter would miss us too much and be devastated.

When our son was born, we were in the hospital 4 days, and my wife's biggest concern (aside from our son's health) was how our daughter would be coping without us. Meanwhile daughter's having the time of her life because she gets nonstop attention from her grandmother and gets to skip school for a few days.