Are you taking a vacation this summer?

[TK 421]

I'm still planning on going on my annual trip to my place in the U.P. with my kids but I was curious about board members here and whether or not they're making similar travel plans.

My place in the U.P. is extremely remote, middle of the woods in fact. I could travel there without coming in to contact with anyone else if I pay at the pump with a credit card and bring our food in a cooler. I'd have to shop for groceries once we got there but other than that my family would have virtually no contact with locals. I'm not particularly worried about being in contact with others anyway but I do have the benefit of isolation due to my choice of vacation spot.

So are you still planning on vacationing out of state this summer or no?

Click to read more...

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

My vacation starts Saturday. Family traveled here from a couple different states. We’ll enjoy the beach and a lot of quiet home activities.

 

[The Note]

We may drive up to Vermont to camp, or to Maine and stay at a beach rental. We were supposed to go to Prague and Budapest in August but can't imagine that will be on the table still.

 

[Alklha]

I've just booked a flight from London to Kyiv in a few weeks time. Not sure how I'll get down to London yet, but when I get to Ukraine it'll be a few days in Kyiv and then driving down to Odessa.

 

[BlueKnight]

I had a vacation booked for next month to go to Vegas, And of course that ain't happening. I also have my yearly trips to the okanagan and kootenays in BC probably isn't going to happen either. Most likely be home bound and will probably pitch my tent in my back yard.

 

[SaintLouHaintBlue]

I wish I had a place in the UP.
The only place I've ever been in the UP was St. Ignace.
Was not going to turn down an opportunity to cross the Mackinac bridge.

 

[Robb_K]

I'm still on a vacation I started in November, and will probably continue until at least next March! That's a one and a quarter YEAR vacation!!! It was not without my working, but over a year away from my 3 homes! Good thing we have The Internet and the post, and international banking connections, and video telephone software. If this had happened in 1985, this would have been a disaster for me.

 

[Brockon]

Well, technically this is my vacation... I was about to start field training at a new position - now I've been told the earliest we'll resume the classroom portion of the training (interupted on March 13th) is the end of the 3rd Quarter (September sometime).

So, I can help my folks replace their fence, rebuild their deck and go kayaking at local lakes just outside of town just about any day I want.

Had I started the field aspect of my new job, I wouldn't have any vacation time until next year (pro-rated for up to 2 weeks, so I'd have earned 10 days paid vacation for 2021).

 

[TK 421]

I wish I had a place in the UP.
The only place I've ever been in the UP was St. Ignace.
Was not going to turn down an opportunity to cross the Mackinac bridge.

That bridge is quite the experience and biking Mackinac Island is memorable as well.

I went to Copper Harbor at the top of the Keewanaw Peninsula last summer. It was crazy traveling that far north but the history...200+ year old remnants of mining buildings and a mountain lodge with a golf course! Very touristy but super cool summer fare. Oh and I got to tell Michigan people the great news about the 2019 Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. That was so good. So, soooooooo good.

But the U.P. is definitely at it's best in those places off the beaten path like my family's camp. It sits on a small spring fed lake so you can fire up the sauna, tour the lake in a kayak or just walk 50+ feet of sandy shoreline bass fishing. The lake is private and the residents are mostly descendants of people who have had these camps since the 1950's(mine included). During the week it's solitude incarnate because those people are all closer to civilization working. There's something magic about the U.P., it has that primal feel of untamed nature combined with clean, cool northern air that invigorates you.

 

[simon IC]

Not this year. I had ideas of going to one of two places: The U.K. to revisit my birthplace and extended family, or NYC, because I just love that city and I have a romance with it. Both destinations are looking pretty bad right now, so all my plans are on hold until at least next spring.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

People still take vacations in the summer?

How quaint.

 

[simon IC]

People still take vacations in the summer?

How quaint.

I figure I might as well, right? Not like I have a job to go to anymore.

 

[SaintLouHaintBlue]

That bridge is quite the experience and biking Mackinac Island is memorable as well.

I went to Copper Harbor at the top of the Keewanaw Peninsula last summer. It was crazy traveling that far north but the history...200+ year old remnants of mining buildings and a mountain lodge with a golf course! Very touristy but super cool summer fare. Oh and I got to tell Michigan people the great news about the 2019 Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. That was so good. So, soooooooo good.

But the U.P. is definitely at it's best in those places off the beaten path like my family's camp. It sits on a small spring fed lake so you can fire up the sauna, tour the lake in a kayak or just walk 50+ feet of sandy shoreline bass fishing. The lake is private and the residents are mostly descendants of people who have had these camps since the 1950's(mine included). During the week it's solitude incarnate because those people are all closer to civilization working. There's something magic about the U.P., it has that primal feel of untamed nature combined with clean, cool northern air that invigorates you.

This is the absolute truth.

Northern Michigan itself is nice, with places like Traverse City, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Leland, etc.
But the moment you enter the UP, it just feels like crossing into a different world.
The foliage different, the scenery is changes.. everything just feels.. exactly what you describe, it's almost like a lumberjack's Margaritaville.

It just seems like time magically slows down or something when you're there.

Maybe someday I'll go on a tour of the UP to see which place makes the best Pasty.

 

[Brian39]

No formal "vacation" like I usually take over the summer. I had originally planned on going to Florida with some family to spend some time with nieces that I rarely get to see, but that has been scrapped.

Instead of the traditional "take a full week off work and go somewhere" vacation, I'll be taking several long weekends to go camping and hiking. There are about 800 square miles of national forest and state park land in the county I live in, so I am able to get to the middle of nowhere quickly. I plan on doing a 4 or 5 day section hike of the Colorado Trail in July.

 

[TK 421]

Not this year. I had ideas of going to one of two places: The U.K. to revisit my birthplace and extended family, or NYC, because I just love that city and I have a romance with it. Both destinations are looking pretty bad right now, so all my plans are on hold until at least next spring.

Simon I'm sorry to hear that, hopefully an opportunity comes up for that to change.

 

[TK 421]

People still take vacations in the summer?

How quaint.

You really don't take a vacation during the summer? Or have I just been trolled by ChicagoBlues lol?

 

[ChicagoBlues]

You really don't take a vacation during the summer? Or have I just been trolled by ChicagoBlues lol?

Lil bitta bof. Winky

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

People still take vacations in the summer?

How quaint.

Quaint?

For me it has a lot to do with seasonal variation to how busy my work is. It makes sense to schedule time off when I’m less busy.

I’m hesitant to talk much about vacations right now since I know a lot of people are struggling and worrying about how they’re going to get by. We are trying to go out of our way to use local businesses and restaurants (eating out more than I normally would) to try to support them.

 

[AVictoryDive]

Rented a camper cabin in Mark Twain national forest for the lady and my pups. Went in the fall a couple years ago. Should be an interesting time

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Quaint?

For me it has a lot to do with seasonal variation to how busy my work is. It makes sense to schedule time off when I’m less busy.

I’m hesitant to talk much about vacations right now since I know a lot of people are struggling and worrying about how they’re going to get by. We are trying to go out of our way to use local businesses and restaurants (eating out more than I normally would) to try to support them.

Yes. Just teasing. Reminds me of my Grandparents’ annual summer vacation to Hawaii or Florida and they’d bring back little bottles of sand.

Enjoy your vacay, whomever is taking one!!!

And God bless those who cannot

 

[Ranksu]

Yes. Just teasing. Reminds me of my Grandparents’ annual summer vacation to Hawaii or Florida and they’d bring back little bottles of sand.

Enjoy your vacay, whomever is taking one!!!

And God bless those who cannot

You cant take vacation?

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I feel like my entire life has been a vacation. That is how I operate.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

We generally take our vacation in the fall, and that will be the case this year. Things are usually calmer.

Our summer trips used to be to here (Santa Fe, NM) for the Indian Market festivities. Now we have a friend from NC that visits us every year for that. That event has essentially been canceled this year (they are doing it virtually, which will be a fiasco in part because the organization that runs the whole thing has become a fiasco), but assuming things are okay, she is coming to visit (and spend money) this August.

In October we are going to Oregon wine country. Seems like most of our vacations are around wineries or taking pictures of flowers, which is my wife's hobby. The scenery is always good around either.

When we were visiting my family in St. Louis some years ago, I took her to the Botanical Gardens. She loved it. If I remember right, that was the trip we discovered Bailey's Chocolate Bar at Lafayette Square, so it was quite a worthwhile trip!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I like flowers.

 

[stl76]

I love how this thread has become the unofficial U.P. appreciation thread!

My family has a place south of Sault Ste Marie on Lake Huron that I try to make it to every year for the 4th of July. The U.P. in the summer time is truly one of the most beautiful places on this planet. I look forward getting back there soon, but this year is looking doubtful. I was actually looking up flights to Chippewa County airport last night (CIU), and they were all absurdly expensive.

Fun fact: Aldo Leopold spent a lot of time in the U.P. when he was growing up. Can't say for certain how much spending summers in the U.P. as a kid influenced his later writings, but I like to think the profound natural beauty of the U.P. played a role in shaping his love of nature.