Looking for something a little different when it comes to bedding down in Michigan? Besides four-diamond hotels, there are lodgings that range from quaint bed-and-breakfast inns to rustic fishing resorts in the North Woods. There are lodgings on farms, in former warehouses and old company stores.
Here’s a sampling:
The National House Inn
The two-story red brick National House Inn in Marshall has been greeting visitors since 1835, when it began as a stagecoach stop along Chicago Road from Detroit (now Interstate Highway 94). One of the Michigan’s first buildings made of brick, it also is the oldest inn still operating in the state.
The 14 guest rooms and two suites are outfitted with antiques including Queen Anne beds. The inn does not have a restaurant, but breakfast and afternoon tea are available to guests.
From the beginning, the inn was better than most stage stops. Since the founding of Marshall five years earlier, town fathers had set lofty goals. Marshall was determined to be the new state capital after the legislature voted to move the original capitol in Detroit to a more central part of the state. As part of the enticement, Marshall built a governor’s mansion and enticed political leaders into building showy estates with Greek, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, Italianate and other architectural designs. The capitol went to Lansing.
The National House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with more than 850 other Marshall homes and businesses. The Honolulu House, now a museum of local history, is open to the public, along with historic downtown buildings that now are home to shops and restaurants. Museums include the U.S. Postal Museum and the American Museum of Magic.
Stop by the Marshall Chamber of Commerce (424 E. Michigan Ave.) for a walking tour map. The weekend of Sept. 9-10 is the 37th Annual Marshall Historic Homes Tour, with eight private homes open to the public. Other events that weekend include shows featuring antiques and arts and crafts.
Marshall also has upscale boutiques, galleries and antique shops. Restaurants include Schuler’s, which dates to 1870.
For more information about Marshall, contact the chamber at 800-877-5163. Web site is www.marshallmi.org. The chamber also has information on lodging and restaurants.
Big Bay Point Lighthouse Inn
Twenty five miles north of Marquette at Big Bay is a dramatically different bed-and-breakfast: the 1896 Big Bay Point Lighthouse Inn, which stands on a cliff above Lake Superior. The seven guest rooms are filled with contemporary furnishings and antique accessories.
In the public room, overstuffed sofas and chairs make for comfortable seating around a brick fireplace. Shelves are lined with local histories, including stories about the village and the filming of “Anatomy of a Murder,” which took place here in the 1960s.
The sturdy red brick keeper’s quarters with a white light tower is one of two lighthouse inns in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the other being the Sand Hills Lighthouse Inn at Ahmeek.
The 60-foot light tower has a sweeping view of one of the best sunsets Lake Superior has to offer. The light was automated in 1941. It was privately owned by a Chicago physician until converted to an in inn the 1970s. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Public lighthouse tours are scheduled on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoons from 1 to 2 p.m. during the summer season.
Guests can take shoreline walks, explore waterfalls or hike through the woodsy trails.
Manitou Tall Ship
Few things are more romantic than sails in the sunsets, unless it’s being on board the windjammer Tall Ship Manitou for one of its evening sails across Grand Traverse Bay at Traverse City. For July and August, the 114-foot two-mast, gaff-rigged topsail schooner operates as a floating B&B.
In season, the 12-cabin schooner, a replica of an 1800s cargo ship, pushes off for evening sails across the blue bay waters fed by Lake Michigan to the north. As 3,000-square-foot sails billow in the breeze, passengers can have their picnic-type meals either on deck or in the main cabin.
Passengers board at 6:30 p.m. for a two-hour sail on Grand Traverse Bay; the ship returns to the dock at Traverse City for the night. The next morning, bed-and-breakfast passengers leave the ship after breakfast. (Space permitting, passengers can book the ship for a cruise-only evening sail and meal for $38.)
The Manitou is a no-frills ship. Cabins are equipped with comfortable double bunks, wash basin and electric bedside reading lights. Red geraniums, petunias and trailing vines lend cheerful touches to surroundings.
Sand Hills Lighthouse Inn
The peach- and cream-colored brick Sand Hills Lighthouse of Italian Renaissance design stands on a point along a stretch of sand and pebble beach of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula about 16 miles northeast of Houghton.
Built in 1917, it was among the last lighthouses to be constructed on the Great Lakes. Now it’s an eight-room bed-and-breakfast filled with Victorian antiques and various artworks from the collection of owner Bill Frabotta.
Six rooms have views of Lake Superior; some have balconies. Breakfast includes at least two entrees. Homemade pastries, coffee and tea are offered to guests each evening. For dinner, guests have to drive into one of several villages within 15 miles of the inn.
This is a complete getaway. There are no telephones or televisions. Guests can explore the rest of the peninsula or hike the inn’s 3,000 feet of private lakeshore. Most, however, prefer to stay put and strike up a conversation with other guests — or, if they’re ambitious, climb the stairs to the top of the 101-foot tower with its panoramic view of Lake Superior and watch the sunset.
The Garfield Inn
A strong lure of the romantic lingers at the 1800s French Second Empire Garfield Inn at Port Austin in Michigan’s Thumb, spun around the legend of a love affair between the wife of lumber baron Charles G. Learned and President James A. Garfield.
In the 1850s, Learned followed the timber business from New York to Michigan. In 1857, he purchased the two-story country home with turrets and balconies. Garfield and Marie Learned had become friends in New York. They continued their correspondence. His visits here are recorded in his diary, including a rush to her bedside when he feared she was near death.
Dinners are served in the elegant oak-paneled dining room, the same dining room the president and the Learneds would have enjoyed. Upstairs are six overnight guestrooms. The inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Terrace Inn
Some inns and hotels are said to house their own resident ghosts. For the last 30 years, guests at The Terrace Inn at Petoskey’s historic community of Bay View have told of unusual occurrences, especially in Room 312. Guests report occasional rattling noises and sightings of an old lady roaming the halls, calling “Edmond, Edmond. Where are you?”
The 1911 country inn on a hillside of the Chautauqua community is undisturbed by the wandering soul.
“I am told that soon after the inn opened, a couple by the name of Elizabeth and Edmond were guests. Apparently Edmond died here, and Elizabeth has been overseeing the Terrace ever since,” said owner Tom Earhart.
Wicker furniture lines the front porch and the back gallery that opens to a small park lined with towering maple trees. The inn has 44 guestrooms, each with Victorian dcor.
Wood floors in the dining room and lobby creak underfoot in a friendly way. Chair groupings around the fireplace are perfect for conversations. The inn offers full-service dinners and continental breakfasts. It is designated a National Historic Landmark, one of more than 400 Victorian cottages in Bay View.
Earhart operates narrated cruises on Little Traverse Bay. Other diversions include Petoskey’s Gaslight Shopping District, museums and galleries.
IF YOU GO
INFORMATION
Big Bay Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast, Big Bay. Doubles from $85. 906-345-9957.
Sand Point Lighthouse Inn, Ahmeek. Doubles from $132.50. 906-337-1744.
Garfield Inn, Port Austin, Doubles from $70. 517-738-5254 or 800-373-5254.
Tall Ship Manitou Bed and Breakfast, Traverse City. Doubles from $181. 800-678-0383.
The National House Inn, Marshall. Doubles from $70. 616-781-7374.
The Terrace Inn, Bay View. Doubles from $44. 800-530-9898.
