Join our 8 day tour around Lake Michigan departing from Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, & Des Moines and visit the Whitefish Point Lighthouse, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the Soo Locks, Mackinac Island, the Grand Hotel, Traverse City, the "Mighty Mac" bridge, enjoy a little gambling when we overnight in Manistee at the Little River Casino, tour Holland, MI with a step on guide, ride on the Kalamazoo River in an authentic paddlewheel and enjoy the The Navy Pier in Chicago on the way home. Our rate of $799/personDO or $999/personSO includes a deluxe touring motor coach, an on-board tour coordinator, luggage handling, 7 nights lodging, 7 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 2 dinners.

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Day one begins with pickups in Lincoln, Omaha, Council Bluffs, and Des Moines. Continue your travels across Iowa and into Illinois, where you will spend the first night in Chicago. After breakfast on day two, sit back and enjoy the ride as you skirt the west side of Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is wholly within the borders of the United States. The surface area of the lake is 22,400 square miles, making it the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. The lake is also the fifth largest lake in the world.

You will arrive in the quiet little city of Munising, MI, one of the most beautiful cities in the Midwest, for your second night's stay. Munising is a city on the southern shore of Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula in the state of Michigan. The Munising area boasts the gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Hiawatha National Forest, Grand Island Recreation Area, numerous waterfalls, and a host of other natural wonders. Read More....

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Today we will visit the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. First lit in 1849, the lighthouse overlooks Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior, and marks the end of an 80 mile stretch of shoreline know as Shipwreck Coast. This light has shined onto the big lake unfailingly for almost 150 years except for the night when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. To many lake sailors the light is more than a navigational marker, it is a welcoming call from home.

Here you will also visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The museum is the only one of its kind dedicated to the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes. Throughout the museum gallery visitors see dramatic shipwreck legends come to life. Artifacts and exhibits tell stories of sailors and ships who braved the waters of Superior and those who were lost to her menacing waves. The bell of the famous Edmund Fitzgerald is displayed in the museum as a memorial to her lost crew. Whitefish Point marks the critical turning point for all ships entering or leaving the lake. Experience the gripping tales of ships and men who braved Superior's cold deep waters and violet storms.

Our next stop will be the Soo Locks which are located in Michigan's oldest city, Sault Ste Marie. The Soo Locks have been referred to as one of the great wonders of the world and it is still the largest waterway traffic system on earth. Your boat will travel along the international shoreline of the lower harbor.

Overnight in St. Ignace, MI., the third oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States behind only St. Augustine Florida and Sault Ste. Marie Michigan.

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Welcome to Mackinac Island! When you step off the dock, you will be in a real Victorian Village. According to Anishinaabe-Ojibwe tradition, Mackinac Island is a sacred place populated by the first people and was home to the Great Spirit Gitchie Manitou. Mackinac Island, by virtue of its location in the center of the Great Lakes waterway, became a tribal gathering place where offerings were made to Gitchie Manitou and where tribes buried their chiefs to honor the Great Spirit. Native Americans traveling the Straits region likened the shape of the island to that of a turtle's back and named it Michilimackinac, Land of the Great Turtle.

After the Civil War, Mackinac quickly became a popular resort destination and Mackinac's business switched to tourism. Its healthy environment and beautiful scenery attracted visitors weary of war and eager for relaxing vacations. By 1875 Congress created Mackinac Island National Park, the country's second national park (the first was Yellowstone). Military operations at the Fort had ceased and soldiers were removed from Fort Mackinac by 1895. Mackinac Island National Park became Michigan's first state park in 1895 when the park was transferred from the U.S. Government to the State of Michigan.

Today, Mackinac Island State Park land covers more than eighty percent of the Island; the remaining land is privately owned and includes the boat docks, shopping district, restaurants, resorts, hotels and summer homes. By the end of the twentieth century, tourism had replaced furs and fishing as the Island's only viable industry.

While you are here explore the island by horse drawn carriage. You will also have lunch at the Grand Hotel. The hotel was built in 1887, has 385 quest rooms with no two decorated the same, and has the world's longest front porch at 660 feet. The Grand Hotel's Front Porch flowers include 2,500 geraniums in 260 planting boxes. One ton of bulbs are planted in the fall, including 25,000 tulips and 15,000 daffodils. More than 125,000 planting beds (annuals) are used to create the gardens throughout the hotel grounds.

After lunch take the time to explore or shop on your own on this unique island. Mackinac Island is the truly "all natural" theme park of America. Limited to transportation of horse and buggy, bicycle or foot, surrounded by water, it has escaped the vast changes of time. Many wonderful sights await you, don't forget your camera!

Return to St. Ignace by ferry for another overnight stay.

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Upon leaving St. Ignace, you will cross the "Mighty Mac", the longest suspension bridge in the Americans, with a total length of 8,614 feet suspended. This five mile long bridge over the Straights of Mackinac link Michigan's Lower and Upper peninsulas.

Next another guided city tour of Traverse City also know as the "Cherry Capital of the World". Traverse City is the self-proclaimed Cherry Capital of the World, holding an annual week-long Cherry Festival the first full week in July to celebrate. Besides cherries, the surrounding Tuscany-like countryside produces grapes, and is one of the centers of wine production in the Midwest. Tourism, both summer and winter, is another key industry. Freshwater beaches, a mild summer climate, upscale golf resorts, vineyards, a nearby National Lakeshore, prodigious snowfall, nearby ski resorts and thousands of square miles of surrounding forests make Traverse City (based on AAA's 2005 TripTik requests) the second most popular tourist destination in the state behind Mackinaw City. In addition, the historic downtown area of Traverse City is the home of many shops, restaurants, and offices. Traverse City is a home rule charter city under the Home Rule Cities Act, incorporated on May 18, 1895.

Spend tonight in Manistee at the Little River Casino. Little River Casino Resort is owned and operated by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. Since 1999 they have expanded from 600 to more than 1300 slots, 28 table games, a dedicated poker room, three restaurants with varied styles of dining choices, and a beautiful 292-room luxury Hotel. The most recent expansion is represented in The 1600 seat Event Center called Mawkwa Endaat or in the Ottawa language, "The Bear Den".

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Tour Holland, MI today with a step on guide. Holland was settled by Dutch immigrants in 1847, Holland retains the essence of a Dutch town. An All-American city with a Dutch accent, Holland is home to the Tulip Time Festival. Who would have predicted that the "Best Small Town Festival" in America, with over 500,000 people in attendance, grew out of a Woman's Literary Club meeting in 1927? There, Miss Lida Rogers, a biology teacher at Holland High School, suggested that Holland adopt the tulip as its official flower and celebrate it with a festival.

The idea caught on, and the next year the City Council purchased 100,000 tulip bulbs from the Netherlands to plant in city parks and other areas. Bulbs were also available for Holland residents to purchase at one cent each. In the spring of 1929 thousands of tulips bloomed, and so did the long history of this annual festival. By the mid 1930's, Tulip Time was nationally known.

After enjoying Holland, a short ride will take you to Saugatuck, MI. Here you will ride on the Kalamazoo River in an authentic paddlewheel.

Return to Holland for your overnight stay.

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Today you will leave Holland and head for the Navy Pier in Chicago. The Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. Historic Navy Pier is Chicago's lakefront playground. And it's the Midwest's #1 tourist and leisure destination, attracting more than 8.6 million visitors a year. The Navy Pier has 50 acres of parks, rides, restaurants, exhibitions, entertainment, shopping, dining cruises and tour boats. In 2009 the Navy Pier opened a major new summer attraction - the Navy Pier AeroBalloon. This helium balloon, located in Gateway Park, gives passengers a 350-foot-high view of the Chicago skyline and lakefront. Visit the Navy Pier's website here.

Spend your last night around Lake Michigan in Chicago, IL and on day eight you can sit back, relax and visit with friends old and new about your tour around Lake Michigan!





 
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