Alpena, Michigan: Holiday Inn Express and more

December 2024, week night, one night

View from king suite 407 in Holiday Inn Express Alpena, Michigan
Sitting area in king suite 407 below

Holiday Inn Express, king suite 407

I reserved a basic king guestroom in this hotel.  As a platinum member, we received an upgrade to a suite. Although we did not have a river view, the extra sitting area in the room was great. I also received the opportunity to pick a gift from the Christmas tree in the lobby, and received an extra 250 points. Some of the gifts were worth 5,000 points, so I guess I was not so lucky on that draw. 😁

King suite 407 in Holiday Inn Express Alpena, Michigan

This Holiday Inn Express still had Keurig coffee machines in the guestroom. They did not have a fresh brew machine in the lobby, like the location in East Lansing. The guestroom was spacious, comfortable, and very clean. The bathroom shower had glass doors, and a safe was provided in the entry closet.

Breakfast in Holiday Inn Express Alpena, Michigan

Grayling, Michigan: Lake Margrethe State Forest Campground, Hanson Hills Recreation Area, Local Breweries

May 2022, 3 nights, weekdays-weekend

Picnic/beach area from road in Lake Margrethe State Forest Campground

Arrival at Lake Margrethe State Forest Campground, campsite 5

This campground is about 1½ miles off M-72 west of Grayling. The picnic and beach area is located across from the check-in spot before the campsites.

Campground map of Lake Margrethe State Forest Campground

The campground has three loops. If this is your first visit, I suggest stopping at the check-in board to view the map (photo above) to see how the park is laid out, because there are no sign posts with lot numbers or info at the drives in. The only signs at the campsite loop entrances and exits are one-way signs. This was our first visit, and fortunately, our instincts took us to the last loop in, and the first waterfront site was vacant.

Campsite 5 in Lake Margrethe State Forest Campground

Northern Michigan Breweries and Activities

February 2021, Weekdays and Weekend

We try to go out on less busy days, so most of the following visits were on weekdays. Our Saturday visits were earlier in the day when places are usually less busy (with the exception of Walloon Lake at the bottom of this post).

Grayling, Michigan

We visited three breweries in Grayling: Paddle Hard Brewing, Rolling Oak Brewing Company, and Dead Bear Brewing. All of these locations are within walking distance of the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying, although I would not recommend walking to Dead Bear Brewing after dark in the snow. That location is on a busier stretch of road, whereas, the other two are in the downtown area.

Rolling Oak Brewing Co

This was our first visit to Rolling Oak Brewing Company, which also happened to be our favorite of these three locations. We learned about this brewery because they are in the Hop Passport. We liked all of their beers, and if we had known they were having discounted growler fills ($12), we probably would have stopped in the car to fill ours. They have inside and outside seating. We got the last table inside, we thought, until we went to the bathroom. The bathrooms are located down a couple of steps near the entrance. There is a fireplace and a couple of tables in this area before the restrooms. 

I got the flight sampler at Dead Bear Brewing, which is a great value with the BrewVine Passport. I liked most of their beers when I got this a few years ago; however, this time I did not like any of them. They were out of their IPA, which is probably the one I would have liked best. Their bar seating area is spacious and comfortable.

Keg urinals at Paddle Hard Brewing

Grayling, Michigan: Borchers Bed and Breakfast

February 2021, Weeknight, One night, Au Sable room

Lodging choices in Grayling consist of mostly small motels, a couple of Bed and Breakfasts, and two name brand hotels (Days Inn and Ramada). We decided to try a local Bed and Breakfast for our stay. We had tried to stay at this location during off-season last year; however, our trip was cancelled due to shutdowns caused by the pandemic.

Reservations and check-in

There are four rooms at this bed and breakfast. Two of them have a second guestroom door directly onto the baloney: Au Sable room and Main Stream room. We made our reservation online, and chose Au Sable room, because it looked like a corner room. All rooms were available when we made our reservation, and Main Stream room had also been reserved when I checked online the day before our stay. When we arrived, there were actually two other rooms rented besides ours.

I received a telephone call from Cheri the day before our stay. She confirmed our reservation details, and inquired whether we had any food allergies or dietary needs. She provided her cell phone number, just in case we arrived before 4:30PM. We did not expect to arrive that early, and we arrived as expected, shortly after 5PM. Cheri was waiting for us, and our room was ready. After a brief tour and quick settling into our room, we walked downtown to a couple of local breweries (information about that in my Northern Michigan post). Even though it was snowy and cold out, this Bed & Breakfast is close enough to walk downtown. 

Views of Au Sable River from Borchers Bed & Breakfast Au Sable room

Au Sable room

We loved this room. It was clean and spacious. It is located on the southeast corner of the house, and the french doors walk out to the balcony facing the river. Even though the mostly overcast skies caused our view to be more dreary than bright, we liked the view. 

View through french doors from
Au Sable room at Borchers Bed & Breakfast

5 Fabulous State of Michigan Parks!

A reader requested a list from me of the top 5 state parks in Michigan. We all have different thoughts about what makes a park great. I like parks with spacious campsites and recreation onsite or nearby. Following is a list of 5 of my favorite State of Michigan parks (in no particular order), and what makes them great. This list is based solely on State of Michigan campground parks, and does not include state forest, private, or national parks. I have been to about half of the State of Michigan campgrounds; mainly in west and northern Michigan. I have been as far south as Warren Dunes State Park and Fort Custer Recreation Area, as far east as Bay City Recreation Area and Harrisville State Park, and as far north as Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula.

Sunset at Fayette park from campground area 2015

Fayette Historic State Park, in Garden south of US-2 in the upper peninsula

We have visited this park by boat, and with two different campers. The park has 61 campsites with electricity, and 15 boat slips. The boat slips have undergone renovations since our last visit, and I assume they now have power. I could not find actual boat slip details on the state website; however, a few things have changed since we stayed in 2011: the rate has increased from $17 a night to $30 a night, and advance reservations can now be made for the marina, just like the campground. The campground rate is $25 a night.

Previous dockage in Fayette
Photo taken from edge of historic town in 2011

What makes this park great: The sunsets, historic town, visitor center, and hiking trails on 711 acres! 

Fort Wilkins State Park, Copper Harbor in the upper peninsula

This park is located at the northeastern tip of Michigan's upper peninsula. We have not visited since 2004, although I do not think it has changed much. The current photos and information online looks the same as I remember.

Secluded campsite #141 at Fort Wilkins State Park
Photo taken 2004

Grayling, Michigan / Hartwick Pines State Park

October 2016, Weekday-weekend, 3-nights, Hartwick Pines campsite 71

This was our third stay at Hartwick Pines State Park. This is a brief post to share new information we have learned about individual campsites within the park, and making changes to reservations. You can find more park and area detail in the following blog posts: May 2016, Bicycle Trail October 2015, Hartwick Pines October 2015, and in the Grayling Facebook album.

Making changes to advance reservations at a Michigan State Park

We had made an advance reservation for two nights, and decided we wanted to arrive a day early. Our campsite was available, and I hoped to make the change before our arrival, as the campground was quite full, and we would not be arriving until evening.

Colors in the park were just starting to change in early October

The state of Michigan website says there is a $10 fee to change a reservation. I knew from previous experience that a park ranger can make changes in the park without charging a fee, so I called the park. Unfortunately, the person who answered the call told me she could only do this after we arrived. I then decided to place a call to the State of Michigan reservation line, and hoped for the best. The person who took that call made the change for us, and we were not charged a change fee. Our reservation had already been updated when we arrived at the park, so check-in did not take long.

Hartwick Pines Campsites 71 and 77

We were on campsite 71. This a grassy and spacious site. It is private on the backside with many trees. There is one tree between this site and site 72. The fire pit is quite a distance away, since the site is so large. We were closer and more level for full hookup on this site, than we had been on site 99 in May 2015.

Site 71

Grayling, Michigan / Hartwick Pines State Park - campground and hiking trails, Grayling Bicycle Trail, and Downtown Breweries

May 2016, Weekday-weekend, 2-nights, Site 12

We stayed in Hartwick Pines State Park on lot 99 in October 2015. Additional campground, hiking, and area information can be found at the following links: state park blog post, bicycle turnpike blog post, and Grayling, Michigan Facebook album. Following is new and/or different information that I did not provide before. 

Grayling, Michigan - Recreation within Hartwick Pines State Park and Grayling Bicycle Turnpike

October 2015

We camped in Hartwick Pines State Park in early October, and following is recreation information about the area. If you would like more information about the campground, please visit my Hartwick Pines State Park blog post. More photos of the area can be found in the Grayling, Michigan Facebook album. 

Glory Lake

Bright and Glory Trail

This trail starts in the campground between lots 15 and 16. It is a short foot path, which ends at Bright and Glory Lakes. The trail is about 1½ miles roundtrip, and it is a fairly easy trek. This trail was closed at the time of our stay as there was a large tree across the path near the lakes.

There is a parking lot on M-93, just west of the campground entrance, so the lakes are also accessible from the road. We observed a few fisherman, although we did not see anyone catch anything. Bicycles are not allowed on the trail.

Visitor's Center, Logging Museum, Chapel in the Woods, Old Growth Forest Trail

The Visitor's Center is about two miles one-way from the campground. In addition to the paved road, there is a trail through the woods, which starts near the campground. The trail through the woods is a bit longer than the road. Bikes are allowed on the trail; however, if you do not have mountain bikes (ours are city bikes!), this route is not easy. The beginning of the trail from the campground is flat and firm; however, after turning right, the trail gets very hilly and sandy in areas. The paved road to the Visitor's Center is hilly, as well.

trail down to Logging Museum
from Chapel in the Woods

Grayling, Michigan / Hartwick Pines State Park, Campground and Recreation Info

October 2015, Weekend, 3-nights, Lot 99

Arrival/check-in

There was not anyone working in the contact station when we arrived Friday afternoon. I spoke with a female when I used the yellow telephone to check-in. We had an advance reservation, and I also observed our name on the board for campers checking in that day. Remember that you always need your license plate number when checking in! I always remember to bring this when I go inside to check-in with an employee, but for some reason I forgot it when I got out after seeing that the office was closed. All camper vehicles in Michigan state parks need to have a recreation passport, so I wish the state of Michigan would update the website so we could enter this information during the reservation process.

Glory Lake in Hartwick Pines State Park

This campground was almost full the weekend of our stay, so I was surprised that no one was working in the contact station when we arrived. We observed someone checking campers in on Sunday when we left for our bike ride, and when we returned later that day.

Lot 99

Before I get into the details of lot 99, I want to say that I do not think there is a bad lot in this state park. It has some of the best camping lots of any of the state parks I have visited. There are 100 lots in this campground, and about half of them have full hookup. All of the lots accommodate an RV up to 40', and most of them are partially secluded.