Our Midwest Extravaganza Roadtrip

Illinois

This was the first stop on our long road trip, with a 15 hour drive from Fort Worth, Texas to Chicago. We stayed with one of my dad’s high school buddies in a suburb about a 45-minute drive from downtown Chicago. We planned this trip around a wedding; my parents were at wedding festivities most of the time while my brother and I stayed with my dad’s friends. We did spend a full day enjoying Chicago, which included swimming in Lake Michigan. I would highly recommend this even though it is pretty cold, especially for people from Texas. We also went to the big science museum in Chicago (Griffin Museum of Science and Industry) and spent a good three to four hours there. My dad really enjoyed this, but I, being the non-museum-goer that I am, did not have the best time. We then explored downtown Chicago, including visiting The Bean and Maggie Daley Park. The park was fun for those under the age of 13, but near the park, there was also a mini bungee jump thing and roller skating, which we had a lot of fun doing. To end our day in Chicago, we went to a Chicago Cubs game. I would definitely recommend this even if you are not the biggest baseball fan. I am one of those people who don’t really enjoy baseball but I had a really great experience and enjoyed my time doing this. Two of the standout meals that are worth mentioning are Chicago deep dish pizza (which was not what I expected) and a Chicago dog. Basically, I was expecting the Chicago-style pizza to be my favorite because I really like thick crust, but the tomatoes came on top and were chunky so I kind of had to scrape them all off which was really sad. Now that you are warned, go ahead and enjoy any of the Chicago-style pizza places and don’t forget to get a Chicago-style hot dog!

Wisconsin

The cheese state! My brother hates cheese so we stayed away from the famous Wisconsin cheese. For the state of Wisconsin, we left Chicago at about 8 in the morning and headed towards Green Bay. After a four hour drive, we finally made it to the Green Bay Packers Stadium. There are tours of the stadium year round and we got to walk all around the stadium, see the locker room, and go onto the field. Going onto the field was probably my favorite part and getting to attempt the Lambeau Leap was also pretty fun. After the tour, we went and had Beast Burger and my mom loved the burger. Sadly, they are no longer open in that location. After lunch, we headed to a small amusement park called Bay Beach Amusement Park. We went on an old wooden coaster called the Zippin Pippin, those spinning swings, and a few other things. We were here for about an hour and had a really fun time! Then we continued our drive towards Michigan.

Michigan

The mitten state, the home of the great lakes, and also moose maybe? After leaving Green Bay, we drove up to the northern part of Michigan that is touching Wisconsin. Our friends once went to a place on Lake Superior called Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and they recommended that we go there so we did! The place has beautiful rock sculptures along the lake along with a pretty blue/turquoise water. We stopped at one of the iconic spots called Miners Castle and took a few photos. Also, there are paddleboard tours along the lake that look really fun if you have the time while you are there. After Miners Castle we headed on a hike on the Miners Beach Trail that led down to the shore. The trail was 3 miles long and was a nice hike that anybody can probably do. When we were there, the water was actually not too cold and I wish that we had brought our swimsuits to go swimming. After the hike we headed to a pizza place called Pictured Rocks Pizza. I thought the food was pretty good and it was a very quaint and aesthetic location. Then, we got back on the road and started driving to Mackinac Island. We arrived in Mackinaw City at about midnight and stayed overnight at a Holiday Inn Express which was just your basic, run of the mill hotel. If you haven’t heard of Mackinac Island, it is a small island in Michigan that has a circumference of about 10 miles. There are no cars allowed on this island, so you have to get around by walking, biking, or horse carriages. Looking back, this was a super cool island that had a bunch of shops, fudge stores, ice cream shops, and delicious restaurants. Some of the things that we did on the island were going to an armory where we got to forge our own knifes (this place was called Forge a Memory), explored Fort Mackinac, an old military post (I didn’t really like this but my parents did), biked around the entire island (highly recommend), and ate REALLY good fudge 24/7 (lol). A restaurant that I would suggest is The Pink Pony. We stayed at the Lake View Hotel. It was really nice and had a porch that we enjoyed going out and reading on during the day as it was on the strip of the central town. If you have the money to spare, a really popular place to stay is called Grand Hotel and it was a stunning hotel we saw on our trip. Overall, I highly recommend visiting Mackinac Island and also Pictured Rocks if you are in that area. We spent two days on the island and then took the ferry back to lthe mainland and began another long drive down to Indiana.

Indiana

So, I hope that you are not looking forward to any types of trip recommendations for Indiana because we did pretty much NOTHING here. We came here after we drove through Michigan, and added an extra hour to go and see the campus of Notre Dame. It was really pretty but we just took a photo at touchdown Jesus and then drove around the campus and ate at Chipotle for lunch. After lunch, we headed off towards Cincinnati Ohio.

Ohio

Every time I hear of Ohio I think of the word "sus" and how it originated from there (not really but who knows what happens in Ohio). For this state, we came here during our super long road trip and came to Ohio after driving through Indiana. We came to the city of Cincinnati and had dinner at a place called Yard House. After dinner we went and walked down by the river, got our state photo with the nice Ohio River in the background, and then strolled through Smale Riverfront Park. That about sums it up for all that we did in Ohio!

Kentucky

When you think of Kentucky you most likely think of one thing: Kentucky Fried Chicken. And yes, of course we ate there, and yes, I also forgot where exactly it was. In Kentucky we went and visited the Ark Encounter. If you do not know what this is, it is a life-size replica of Noah’s Ark with a bunch of cool models, exhibits, and history. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I recommend everyone go and see. You can spend 2-3 hours there or make it a whole day. There are also other activities that go along with the ark like a small zoo with some of the animals that would have been on the ark. This is also a great activity for all ages as everyone can enjoy it! We stayed at the ark from 9:00am - 2:00 pm and then drove about 2 hours to Louisville where we had our fried chicken.

Missouri

We stayed in Missouri for three nights at a resort called Big Cedar Lodge and this place was the highlight of the trip for me. The resort sits on Table Rock Lake and is about a 20-minute drive to Branson, Missouri which is a town kind of like a Las Vegas for kids. More of a description about Big Cedar Lodge is that it is a giant resort with a large number of included activities with your stay. When we were there we did an evening scavenger hunt, went fishing, relaxed at their sand beach/took the kayaks out, visited the arcade, did the ropes course, went hiking, and played mini golf. There are so many activities available here and you will definitely not run out of things to do! I would still enjoy this as an older teen but I think that the resort is more catered towards younger families. There is also a really nice golf course that we saw but did not play on. We had dinner at a place called Osage for my mom’s birthday. The place is pricey but the view with a sunset makes it worth it. We mainly just ate at places around the resort, but had a few places in town and one of them was Pizza Ranch which is like a better version of Cici's Pizza. This resort is a splurge, but I think that with all the things that it has to offer along with how fun it is, I would highly recommend it! After checking out of Big Ceder, we headed off towards home.

Oklahoma

To me, I just think of Oklahoma as the state that is north of Texas and has a lot of tornadoes. Anyways, even though Oklahoma is only an hour away from us we have never really done anything there. Our state picture is literally us at Braum's because I guess that’s where it was founded? I have been to Stillwater for tennis camp for 3 years and enjoyed that! I know that a lot of people from Texas go to Broken Bow for hunting, hiking, and lake activities, so if that is up your alley it is a great thing to do for Oklahoma.

That about sums up our trip! With approximately 52 hours of driving and covering a distance of 3,223 miles, we finally made it home.

Awards

Best Restaurant: Pizza Ranch

Favorite State: Michigan

Favorite Activity: Visiting the Ark

Worst State: Ohio