Bay City, Michigan: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Breweries, and more

We have visited the beautiful riverfront town of Bay City several times, and you can find more information about the area by clicking on the Bay City label at the bottom of this post. You can find more information about the DoubleTree Hotel in my March 2019 blog post.

Sunset from the riverwalk behind Real Seafood Company in Bay City

 November 2022, weeknight, one night, suite 431

Other than the fabulous suite upgrade, this stay was similar to previous stays. I have previously stayed in this hotel with gold and diamond status, and have always received an upgrade to a river view room. This time, when I looked on the app before arrival, our room assignment was a suite on floor 4. I had noticed that there is also a suite on floor 5; however, I did not try to exit the current room assignment to see if that one was available. I did not want to take a chance of losing the suite we had been assigned! 

Suite 431 in DoubleTree Hotel in Bay City, Michigan

We stopped at the front desk to get an extra key, cookies, and water when we arrived. The front desk agent did not say anything about breakfast, so I asked if I just needed to provide the guestroom number for breakfast. She said yes, although she did not recap how much I would receive. Our entire meal was comped the next day.

Balcony and view from suite 431 in DoubleTree Hotel in Bay City, Michigan

Michigan Tri-Cities Area: Saginaw, Frankenmuth, Bay City, Midland

 March 2021, Weekday and Weekend days

Covered bridge in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Recreation: hiking, bicycle trails, etc.

We loved all the hiking and biking trails in the towns we visited! We were disappointed we missed a few, which we will try to visit next time.  😊

Gunzenhausen Street Walkway in Frankenmuth looking south.
Holiday Inn Express straight ahead on the right.

In Frankenmuth, we walked through River Place Shops, over the covered bridge, along Cass River (Gunzenhausen Street Walkway, and the area north of the bridges), and to Frankenmuth Brewery. All of the walkways are paved, and beautifully landscaped. Some of the concrete and landscaping was brand new.

You can cross the river in three spots: the covered bridge, the pedestrian bridge next to Main Street, and there is a walkway alongside the road on Main Street.  

Bavarian Inn Lodge in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Riverwalk Trail is located in Heritage Park north of Bavarian Inn Lodge. We did not walk this trail because it was windy and cold out, and we did not realize until later, that we could have gotten to the park by walking through the Bavarian Inn parking lot and then out to the sidewalk. This would have been an easy addition to the route we took, if we had known. 

White peacock in front of Bavarian Inn Lodge in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Be sure to stop and see the peacocks and doves on the grounds of Bavarian Inn Lodge near the covered bridge!

Bavarian Belle Riverboat area, and River Place Shops
in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

We enjoyed a peaceful and scenic walk through River Place Shops, as the stores were still closed when we walked through the area in the morning.

Woodland Trail map in Saginaw, Michigan. 

In Saginaw, we hiked Woodland Trail [nature area]. I could not find a trail map online before our visit, so I have included a photo of the map that is in the parking lot. I suggest printing this, or taking a photo when you arrive, as the trails are not well marked. There were signs at the beginning of the trail where River Trail splits off; however, we did not see any signs when we rejoined Woodland Trail from the river.

Tittabawassee River from River Trail in Saginaw, Michigan.

Bay City & Midland, Michigan: Holiday Inn, Tri-City Brewing, Midland Brewing

 December 2020, Weekend, 1-night

Michigan restaurants, breweries, wineries, and the like are all currently closed for inside service due to COVID-19. Many businesses have gotten creative with how they are offering service. We were getting a little stir-crazy at home, and decided to visit a few places that were offering outside service. I neglected to take photos the day we started, so this is more of a brief informational post.

Breweries

We loved the beers at Tri-City Brewing Brewing Company in Bay City. Giant Slayer and Cherry Torchon were two of our favorites. The service and pricing were also excellent. We were able to get our beverages at the bar (after waiting a safe distance with masks on behind patrons filling their growlers to-go), and then take them outside to their patio area. The outside area has seating, fire pits, and heated lamps. A couple of other souls were also braving the cold to support this local business while we were there. 

Midland Brewing Company has a spacious outside area with a very large gas fire pit. The service was also excellent, although my husband and I both preferred the beers at Tri-City Brewing. We were not cold at either location, and it was not crowded at either location. Both breweries are in the 2020 and 2021 Hop Passport. Midland Brewing would only let us use the passport discount on their staple beers, which no other brewery has ever told us before. 

Holiday Inn Midland, king whirlpool suite #525

This was another good choice this trip. We reserved a whirlpool guestroom, because we thought it would be safer than going to the public pool area, even if the capacity was limited. I brought disinfectant with us; however, I am not sure if we really needed it. Our guestroom looked clean, and it smelled fresh. The bedsheets were silky, and the pillows were comfy. 

Shower across from beverage area in
whirlpool suite 525 at Holiday Inn Midland

Bay City, Michigan: State Campground and Recreation

 August 2020, 3 Nights, Weekday-Weekend

I had not planned to write another post about this location, since not much has changed since my last review; however, the state website information is still incorrect for campsite 68, and I felt it was important to share this information.

Snapshot from DNR reservation site with added notes by me

Bay City State Park campsites 68 - 71

The first time we stayed at this campground, we had reserved site 68 because the description says this site is 60 x 70, that it can accommodate a trailer up to 40', and the map shows a gray area between sites 64 and 68 (grayed areas are usually unusable areas next to campsites, often creating privacy). Campsite 68 is 60' wide; however, that measurement includes the gray unusable area, and a large RV will NOT fit on this site. We had our 30' fifth wheel when we had reserved it, and fortunately, another site was available when we arrived that time. Campsite 68 has a small area big enough for a tent, or possibly a pickup camper, right next to site 64, which is where the electrical outlet is located. There is another small area on the other side of the grayed area where the fire pit and picnic table are located. The people who stayed on this site set up two tents next to the fire pit with one of their tents mostly on our site (#69). Since our bedroom is in the front of our camper, and we know that is a crappy site, we did not say anything. There were several other empty sites, so I did not understand why they would have chosen site 68. They could not use their fire pit, as their tents were so close to it, and I do not think they knew that their power source was next to site 64. We greeted them when they arrived. They did not seem to want to talk much, so we just let them be. Maybe they thought we were on their site! I am sharing a few labeled pictures here to show the details.

Bay City State Park campsite 69

Campsite 69 is a large site (70 x 70), although there is not much privacy on the sides. Campsite 70 is not private at all, and it has obstacles to consider, like a large tree trunk and the location of the fire ring. People who arrived at site 70 the first day, left, and then returned to set up on campsite 71, which is much nicer. 

View from fire on campsite 69 at Bay City State Park

Here is another labeled photo for reference.

Sunset from trail between picnic area and beach

Bay City State Park recreation: beach, hiking, biking, fishing

Bay City and Mt. Pleasant, Michigan: Riverwalk Trail, Lumber Barons Brewery, Tavern 101, Soaring Eagle Casino...

March 2019, weekdays-weekend

Walking south from the DoubleTree along Saginaw River

Recreation: trails, parks, boating

Bay County Riverwalk Trail runs along both sides of Saginaw River, around Bay City, and as far north as the state park. Future plans include connections to BayZil Rail Trail on the south, and Pere Marquette Rail Trail to the west. I could not find information about when the connections will be completed.

Bay City, Michigan: DoubleTree by Hilton Bay City Riverfront

March 2019, weekend, one-night, king riverview guestroom 602

Diamond perks and check-in

My room had been upgraded to a king riverview guestroom when I checked in on the app, so I chose a guestroom on the top floor. I also received bottled water and breakfast for two. The agent at the front desk said that if I wanted more water, to just let them know.

Sunset view from guestroom 602

King riverview guestroom 602

I chose this guestroom because it is on the top floor at the end of the hall. It is actually a tad smaller than the other guestrooms, because it has a small notch out of the corner, which I had not noticed in the app floor plan. This is easily visible on the guestroom diagram below. Guestroom 630 at the opposite end of the hall looks a tad bigger, so I plan to chose that guestroom, if it is available for our next stay.

Guestroom diagram from back of door

One nice thing about guestroom 602 is that the elevator that goes to the pool area and fitness center is at this end of the hall.

Another view from guestroom 602

Bay City, Michigan / State Recreation Area, Downtown, Trails

April 2018, Weekend, 2-nights, campsite 69

We had a late start to camping in Michigan this year, as it snowed several days in April! We still had a couple of small piles of snow in our front yard when we left for our camping trip at the end of April, which is quite unusual.

Sunset from campsite at Bay City State Recreation Area

Bay City State Recreation Area advance reservations and check-in

We were initially undecided about making an advance reservation once we decided we were going camping. There is an $8 reservation fee, and there was not really a need to reserve a site, as most of the sites were available. Also, we had never been to this park before, and some of the online information was inaccurate, so it was difficult to decide. Site numbers had been changed from 2017 to 2018, and some of the photos were obviously incorrect for the corresponding sites. On the other hand, it is always quicker and easier when we arrive, if we already have a reservation. I decided to call the campground to ask about a few of the sites we had been considering. By the end of the conversation, I learned that if we did not like our site after we arrived, we could call to have it changed, without having to drive back to the office. We decided to reserve site 68 online.

Check-in time is 3:00 PM, and we arrived in the morning. The campground was mostly empty, and we were allowed to check-in early. When we arrived at site 68, we saw that this is a lousy site (details under the campsite heading below). Site 69 is a good site, and we successfully got our site changed over the telephone.

Center sites looking east from bathroom.
Our RV on site 69 in distance. 

Campsites 68, 69, 70, 71, 183, 185, and more

The ground is low in this campground, and more than half of the sites were underwater at the time of our visit. Some of the site descriptions say that the site is low; however, we observed many sites underwater with descriptions that did not describe the ground as low. The rainfall received in the area at the time of our stay was a bit less than usual for this time of year.

Same center section from opposite road.
Looking across sites 77 and 79.