Unless you use the holidays as an excuse to get away to Florida or your family is like ours and builds a whirlwind trip into our Christmas traditions, it may be tough to travel this time of year. However, a short trip combining a little adventure, a bit of discovery and some Christmas shopping is just what the season calls for in my book. I call them Christmas day trips—little excursions you can easily complete in a day’s time. And now that gas prices are at least temporarily down around $1.60, you may find them easier to take than ever.
If you visit Michigan.org, you can find plenty of shopping destinations and lots of ways to celebrate the season. Some of their suggestions may be a stretch for a day trip, given the vagaries of Michigan weather, but you’ll have to make that call.
Looking for something deliciously different this year? Try one of the two locations (Detroit and Royal Oak) of the Astoria Pastry Shop in Detroit’s Greektown. Visit them online or call 313/963-9603.
For more than a century, Petoskey has been a visitor favorite, regardless of the season. In addition to the great shops, the gorgeous location—even more resplendent in its holiday finery— the city is also home to one of my favorite coffee watering holes, Roast and Toast Café at 309 Lake Street. For more, visit the Petoskey area website or call 800/845-2828. Of course, if you’re in this neck of the woods, a visit to Traverse City (or 800/872-8377) is almost a must.
No list of this kind would be complete unless it mentioned some of the West Michigan favorites: Marshall, Grand Rapids, South Haven, St. Joe and Holland. They’re close and have lots of shopping and dining choices. Besides you can round out your day trip with a short visit to other attractions or just stroll up and down the decorated streets. We like to do this—especially in Marshall and St. Joseph.
If you’re more ambitious and willing to stray a little further from home, here are a couple other options that are among our favorites. The first will be very familiar because I just wrote about it: Nashville, IN. Working your way south to Indianapolis, then on to Nashville and the big outlet center south of Indy makes a full but very manageable day trip. You don’t even have to pause in Indy if you don’t want to, but there’s a ton to do and see there.
A day outing I enjoy even more is the Auburn, IN/Bryan,OH loop. Auburn, of course, is home to the spectacular Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum (260/925-1444), a national historic landmark. There are actually several good museums in town, but this is my favorite. Auburn is a very reasonable drive from this area so you’ll have plenty of time to take in the next leg of this day trip—the Christmas Manor in quaint Bryan, OH. It’s just a little north and east of Auburn.
If you’re not yet in the Christmas spirit, a visit to the Christmas Manor (419/636-3082) is a sure bet to get you there. An 1874 Victorian Italinate home, the Manor is brimming with thousands of Christmas decorations for tree and home. Looking for unique ornaments? Here’s a new place to try. Enjoy.
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