Ludington, Michigan: The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast

April 2022, The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast, Carpenter Room, 1-night, weekday

If you want to stay near downtown Ludington, the choices are small inns/motels, bed and breakfast type lodging, or a rental property through places like AirBnB. The closest campground, Cartier Park, is about 1½ miles from town. More campgrounds and chain hotels are located outside of town. Although we do not often stay in bed and breakfast lodging, we chose The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast because it is only a few blocks from town, and the reviews were all excellent.

Fireplace in the common area at The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast

Reservations and arrival

I made our reservation with Jen over the telephone. You can also make a reservation online; I called because I had a couple of questions. Check-in is between 4PM and 6PM, and we arrived shortly after 4:00. Jen provided a warm welcome, a brief overview of the amenities, and area information, as needed.  

Carpenter room in The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast

Carpenter room, floor 2

The Carpenter room is also room #1; the first room at the top of the stairs on the second floor. We did not have any trouble getting to the room with our one small bag. Jen and Dan both offered assistance with luggage during our stay, if needed. This guestroom looked exactly as described and pictured online. I loved the silky soft sheets and pillow quality. The guestroom was comfortable and incredibly clean.

Carpenter room in The Lamplighter Bed & Breakfast

Plush bathrobes were provided, along with bath amenities: soap, shower gel, shampoo, and a hairdryer. We were the only guests the night of our stay, and we had a peaceful evening. 

Ludington, Michigan: State Park and Local Brewery

 May 2021, Weekend, 2-nights, Middle Beechwood campsite 293

Sunset from Beechwood campsite 293 at Ludington State Park.
Camper on right is on campsite 295.

Reservations and arrival at Ludington State Park

We made a reservation online, and checked in via the yellow phone when we arrived. We waited behind one camper, who did not pull ahead while they were checking in. Traffic at the booth can quickly backup, when there is no one working to direct traffic, and someone has not been to this state park before. There is no room to drive around when a vehicle is stopped at the booth, unless the vehicle pulls ahead into the small area just past the booth, or into the parking lot beyond that. There are signs telling campers to pull ahead while checking in, although they are apparently not visible enough. The camper not pulling ahead did not affect us, since we had to wait to check in after them anyway; however, the 3 or 4 vehicles lined up to enter behind us were probably not too happy! We were surprised that none of them entered the campground through the exit side instead of patiently waiting. As soon as the camper ahead of us pulled away, my husband pulled ahead into the pullover spot while I called to check in.

Looking toward lake from Beechwood campsite 293 at Ludington State Park.

Middle Beechwood campsite 293

It is about 1 mile from the check-in booth to Beechwood campground. Our campsite was empty when we arrived shortly after 2:00 PM (it had been rented the night before our arrival). Checkout time is 1PM, and check-in time is 3PM.

Sunrise through camper window on Beechwood campsite 293 at Ludington State Park.

This site is fairly spacious and mostly flat. There are several exposed roots making it better for campers than tents. There is some area suitable for a tent, although not much. The ground cover is mostly dirt. 

Looking toward lake and boardwalk behind Beechwood campsite 293 at Ludington State Park.

The fire pit was in a good location away from camper placement on the site, although it was on the line between this site and campsite 295. I felt like we were somewhat in the neighbor's backyard when sitting at our fire pit. Fortunately, our neighbor did not seem to mind, and we chatted with him a couple of times.

Beechwood campsite 293 at Ludington State Park from trail behind campground.

Lost Lake and the islands are visible from this campsite. It was easy to access the trail, and to launch our kayaks.

Recreation: hiking, beach, kayaking, fishing

It was calm around the small islands on Lost Lake for exploring from a kayak. You can also kayak on Hamlin Lake, and the short section of Big Sable River from below the dam to Lake Michigan. There is parking and a portage area on the southwest side of the bridge just before you get to Lake Michigan. This is the bridge on M-116 that you will cross before arriving at the check-in booth entrance to the campground. We observed people fishing by the dam, and many fish jumping in the river just upstream of the bridge portage area.

Ludington, Michigan / Harbor View Marina, beach, shopping, boat launch, and trailer parking

August 2018, 2-nights, Harbor View Marina Slip #D24

Anchored on Lake Michigan in Ludington

This post is not very detailed, as some time has passed since our stay. I thought about skipping it; however, we learned some new information that I would like to share with others, and that I want to be able to find next time we visit.

Peter Copeyon Park boat launch and trailer parking

We learned about this boat launch when I inquired during my call to the marina to make a reservation. We liked it better than the more popular boat ramp in the arms on Lake Michigan (Loomis Street). The charge is the same at both places; $10 per launch, and overnight parking is not allowed. Peter Copeyon Park is about a 1 mile walk from Harbor View Marina, and Loomis Street ramp is just a tad closer (.8 mile). 

Ludington, Michigan / State Park Beechwood campground

September 2016, Weekend, 2-nights, Beechwood Campsite 275

This is the third time we have camped in Ludington State Park. My blog post from November 2015 provides a lot of information about many of the campsites in this park. Additional campground information and photos can also be found in the Ludington State Park album on our Facebook page. This is a condensed review of our most recent stay.

Reservations, check-in and arrival

There were not many sites available when we made our advance reservation. After I reserved site 275, I noticed it is an ADA site. The description on the website does not say it is handicap accessible; however, my confirmation email said it is.

The first entrance booth, in the parking lot by the sanitation station, was open when we arrived, and we checked in there. Usually we camp off-season, and this is the first time we checked in in this area. We needed to provide more details than usual during check-in: the names of all people on our site, and our complete vehicle(s) information. Our son was coming to stay with us the second night, and we were told he had to stop and get an overnight pass, even though he has a recreation passport on his vehicle. When we walked through the overflow parking lot while hiking during our stay, we noticed several cars with tickets for unauthorized parking on the windshield. It took us several minutes to check-in, and it took our son several minutes to get his overnight pass when he stopped the next day.

Site 275

This is a average size site on the inside of the second Beechwood loop. It is level, and does not hold water during rain. Parking was a bit tight after our son arrived, and we had two vehicles.

View from site 275; click photo to enlarge and view details

Ludington, Michigan / State Park Beechwood Campground

November 2015, Weekend-weeknight, 3 nights, Site 352

Lost Lake - photo taken from
Lost Lake Trail near Beechwood campground

State website and advance reservations

The activity information provided on the state website for Ludington State Park is great; however, the campsite photos and information for the campground are the worst I have ever seen. This is the only state of Michigan campground I have researched that does not provide the lot sizes. Not only that, many of the photos look deceiving as they are pictures of only the ground cover and no surrounding elements. Several photos are fuzzy, as well. The two photos below show the kind of photos on the campground reservation site.

Lot 311 - photo from state website
showing only the ground cover 

Lot 314 - fuzzy photo from state website

We thought lot 310 looked like the lot we wanted; however, since there were only two lots reserved in the entire park, and a few things about the lot information were unclear, we decided not to make an advance reservation and save the $8 reservation fee. Just our luck, that three days before our stay, someone checked into lot 310 for the rest of the week!

Arrival

There was not anyone working in the ranger station when we arrived Friday evening, so we used the yellow telephone to check-in. When you register for your lot this way, you can pay by credit card over the telephone, or drop a check in a locked box. Several more lots had been taken before we arrived, and we ended up choosing lot 352. Beechwood campground is not close to the ranger station, and it was almost dark, so we did not drive back to look at the lot first. This was out first experience setting up in the dark! It was dusk when we arrived to check-in, and we needed our flashlights by the time we got checked in and backed on to our lot.

Beechwood campsite information - sites 352, 354, and 338 - 354

SS Badger Lake Michigan Car Ferry

July 2013, Tuesday, one-way for two adults and one vehicle, 9:00 a.m. departure

Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Purchasing and check-in

We made our reservation over the telephone because we had a 20% coupon, and there was not a way to enter the coupon online. Reservations can be made and paid for on the SS Badger website, if you do not have a physical coupon. We made a $25 deposit during the reservation process, and then we had to present the coupon to pay the balance due before departure. We were told to arrive at the dock at 8:00 a.m.

We arrived in Ludington the day before, so we decided to stop and take care of our payment then, so we did not need to do it in the morning. Our payment was quickly processed, and the agent who assisted me said that our tickets would be at the boarding door at the back of the ship, when we arrived the next morning. I had sent an email to the reservation office to ask if we could complete the payment beforehand. I received a pleasant reply stating that the office is open until 9:00 p.m. 

Boarding

We arrived shortly after 8:00 a.m. the day of our departure. The vehicle lines were not too long. Personnel directed us to a lane, requested our name, and then instructed us where to leave the car and board the ship. Passengers did not drive their own vehicle on board, although passengers with motorcycles did. Passengers with motorcycles were directed to a different area with their bikes, which they then rode on board.

We were on board fairly quickly, and easily found a comfortable seat out front in the sun.

view from the front

Seating areas

The front of the ship has high sides, which is great for blocking the wind. It was kind of cool the day that we went across. The seats in the front area included lounge chairs, stacked plastic chairs, and a few plastic adirondack chairs. We did not have any trouble finding a seat in this area when we arrived, or when we returned later.

I thought the adirondack chairs were the most comfortable of these choices, although not many people used them. They were in the very front, behind the observatory step, so I wonder if people did not notice them. When I got my chair, it was wet, so I went inside to get paper towel to dry it. The chair was not dirty; it looked like everything was wet because it had been cleaned before we boarded.

The lounge chairs were the older style white plastic loungers with blue covering. A few of the chairs were damaged, and the backs could not be adjusted on the loungers with broken or missing parts. Many guests used the stackable chairs, which could be easily moved to different areas outside, depending on the passenger's preference.

We sat out front for a while, and then we moved to the back of the ship, down one level. The seats in this area were also in the sun, and completely protected from the wind. The seats were similar to seats I have seen in train stations--a row of attached seats. The seated were rounded, and slightly cushioned. They were comfortable for a while.

After this, we moved to a table inside at the back of the ship, back up on the top level. This room has windows on all of the outside walls, so we had a good view. We sat there for quite a while, as we had something to eat, and enjoyed the view. After we were seated in this area, we wished we had brought a deck of cards with us.

There were other seating choices, which we did not try: rows of cushioned seats inside on the lower level near the back, inside tables and seats in front of this area when Badger Bingo was played, and seats in the movie theater.

Food & Beverage

We had brought a sandwich on board, and we each purchased a beverage on board--a vodka and orange juice, and a Bloody Mary. The beverages were $4.50 for a drink with Gordon's vodka, or $5 for one with Absolut. Of course, we opted for the Absolut! The drinks were a decent size, and they tasted great.

Gift shop

I browsed in the gift shop, although I did not see anything I wanted to purchase. One passenger on board won a credit at the gift shop. Each reservation document came with a raffle ticket to fill out and enter for this prize.

Arrival and Debarkation

Manitowoc Harbor

We arrived in the Manitowoc harbor at 12:02 p.m. (our scheduled arrival time was noon). The boat was docked, and we were off the boat by 12:15. We got off the boat near the start, and passengers were still disembarking for another 10 minutes or so. Even though the car runners hustled back and forth to get the vehicles off, we still had to wait 15 minutes for our car. Most of the cars had been unloaded by this time, although there were still many people waiting.

The vehicle line to board when we left Manitowoc was very long! I was surprised to see so many vehicles in line when it was still 1/2 hour before they needed to arrive. I guess they were excited to get to Michigan.

Misc. and overall
We enjoyed this trip very much. The boat is spacious, and even though the trip takes four hours, we did not become restless. We were comfortable, the ride was smooth, and we felt safe. With our 20% coupon, the cost was about $175 for a one-way trip for two adults, and one vehicle. This was more than $100 less than what we had planned to spend to ride the Lake Express back. The cost for the same trip on the Lake Express was $288. The Lake Express, however, cancelled our trip in a very unprofessional manner. Here is the link to that review.

Every Badger employee that I had contact with was exceptional! Everyone was professional and helpful. In comparison, the Lake Express employees I had contact with were neither professional nor helpful. In addition to the Badger employees that we had contact with while boarding, and on board, I called the Badger twice before our trip, I had email contact with them, and I stopped in the ticketing office the day before our trip.

This was our second trip on the Badger. Our first experience was about 20 years ago from Manitowoc to Ludington. We had a good trip at that time with two children--our son and nephew, and things have not changed much since then.

Ludington, Michigan / Summer's Inn

July 2013, Weekday, 1-night, Queen deluxe room #14

Check-in

I could not find check-in times on the website, and I did not receive the confirmation email after I had made our reservation on the telephone, so I sent an email to the hotel before our stay to ask about this. The reply provided our confirmation details; however, there was no reference to check-in time or my other question (I had also asked if there is a hairdryer in the guestroom).

We arrived between 2:30 and 3:00, and our room was ready. Suzette cheerily checked us in, as she provided information about the property and Ludington area.

Guestroom #14

This guestroom is located in the same building wing as the office, which is in the West building. There is parking in front of the entrance door, and two outside chairs were set up between each guestroom.

The guestroom was spacious and tastefully decorated. It contained a flatscreen TV on the wall, a low armoire, two chairs, a small coffee table, queen size bed, two nightstands attached to the wall, a clock, and lights at the head of the bed. There was a hanging lamp in the seating area. A few hangers were hanging on hooks behind the door, and there was a large mirror on the floor near the armoire leaned up against the wall. 

The large windows along the entrance wall had dark closing blinds for privacy. There were nice looking wood blinds high on the opposite wall by the bed. There were windows behind the blinds; however, the blinds were permanently attached, so we could not open the windows. A wall HVAC unit was mounted on the wall under these windows. The floor was laminate wood with a throw rug/runner at the entrance, and a rug in the seating area.

The bathroom was tiny. It contained a tile walk in shower, a toilet, sink, small amount of counter space, ice bucket with plastic cups, and a basic quality hairdryer mounted on the wall.

The shower was a good size; it was just the outside area that was small. There was no light in the shower, so it was kind of dark with the curtain shut. There was not an exhaust fan in the bathroom, so we were glad that the bathroom window opened. 

The guestroom had several well thought out items, such as a box of tissues, folding luggage rack, clean towels and washcloths, good quality bedding, and the lights over the bed.

The guestroom was comfortable until we went to bed. The bed was extremely hard, and we had a difficult time sleeping. In addition to the hard bed, the guest in the next room (#16, I believe), had the TV on almost constantly. We were awakened at 4:50 a.m. when he turned the set back on in the morning. I did not expect to encounter any disturbing noise, because when we booked our stay, the inn was listed as "adults only," and quiet times were posted on the website. The website is in the process of being updated since our stay, and I no longer see that information online. The Summer's Inn website looks nicer now, and it will probably provide even more valuable information than it did before our stay.

The guestroom was clean and well maintained for the most part. We observed only a few minor oversights: The entrance rug contained several small bits of debris, there was a hair on the register in the bathroom, and the floor strip between the bedroom and bathroom was missing. A piece of strong tape was on the floor between the rooms. 

Food & Beverage

The inn offers three room options: just the room, room with continental breakfast, or room with hot breakfast. We opted for just the room, so I do not have any breakfast details to share.

Good quality coffee and tea with condiments was available in the office after 7:00 a.m. Suzette had told us that this is usually ready between 7:00 and 7:30, and it was out when my husband checked shortly after seven.

The inn sells Michigan wine, and they offer wine tastings. Suzette had told us that there is wine tasting from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. when we checked in. When we arrived at 4:00, we saw a sign on the counter that said wine tasting was available after 2:00. Wine tasting prices were listed on the sign, although I see that the new website says that wine tasting is free. I thought we could have gone earlier than 4:00, after we had noticed the sign; however, the new website also has the wine tasting times listed as 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. We purchased a bottle of wine, which actually costed a few dollars more than what it sells for in the local market. We were not charged for the wine tasting though, and the inn had everything ready for us when we returned that evening--the wine was the right temperature, and they provided two wine glasses for us to use in the room or in the garden.

Amenities and Secret Garden

There is an ice machine and microwave in the East wing of the inn. A spacious sitting area and pond are located behind this wing. It contained several cushioned seats and tables. The pond view was beautiful and serene. Some of the guestrooms in this wing overlook the garden. We did not see anyone in this area both times that we visited, even though there were several vehicles in the parking lot.

An inside library room in the South wing is accessible from the garden, or from the South parking lot. We did not initially realize and see the inside sitting room/library from the garden because we did not see a sign. We then remembered that our host had told us about the library when we checked in. We easily found where it is located when we returned to the garden, and looked for it.

Misc. and overall

This inn is located one mile from Lake Michigan on the North side of the road. It was an easy walk to town for dining and shopping. We had found a post on TripAdvisor for a guestroom special of $69. The $69 guestroom was a small queen bedded room with no sitting area, so we paid $10 more for the deluxe queen guestroom. I was happy with the price that we paid, and if plush mattress pads were to be added to the beds, we would stay here again!