Michigan Lake to Lake
Bed and Breakfast Association

When the weather turns fair, ML2L-member bed and breakfast inns turn to fresh. And in mid June, the freshest, best fruits on the vine are strawberries. Yum! B&B’s serve the best breakfasts.

Dewey Lake Manor in Brooklyn has its own strawberry patch. Innkeeper Barb Phillips has already picked five quarts and made her first batch of freezer jam. Guests love it year around, she says, especially on English muffins. She also made a strawberry bread so good last Thursday, half of it was gone after only one breakfast. Here’s how she makes it:

Dewey Lake Manor Strawberry Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9X5 loaf pan.
1-1/2-cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg,
1/2 tsp soda,
3/4 tsp backing powder
1/4 tsp salt
Mix ingredients above in a bowl.
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh mashed strawberries
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup mashed banana
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp orange zest.
Combine incredients above in a large mixer bowl and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add the flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Fold in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Bakc 50 – 60 minutes. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool.

It’s great warm with butter, cream cheese or fresh strawberry jam.

Sandy White puts Adventure Inn Bed & Breakfast on the map with a simple breakfast parfait. Just drizzle cinnamon-accented vanilla yogurt over berries in a Candlewick goblet. Serve with home-made granola. It’s a crowd pleaser at this Lake Huron beach home, nestled between Port Huron and Lexington.

Laurel Parrott, Innkeeper at Kalamazoo House Bed and Breakfast, has another take on strawberry parfait. She calls it incredibly simple and a sure-fire hit. Mix equal parts of sour cream and vanilla yogurt, stir in a good handful of brown sugar until it’s well dissolved and layer with strawberries in a pretty crystal bowl or parfait glass. For something more playful, serve separate bowls of strawberries, sour cream and brown sugar. Then just dip and roll for a mouth-watering treat!

Margaret Hull, innkeeper at Twin Gables Inn in Saugatuck, shops for her strawberries at Earl’s Farm Market in nearby Fennville. She says Earl’s has strawberries that are small and deep red. When popped into your mouth, they burst with an explosion of flavor reminiscent of those from Grandma’s garden. Buy them now while they last, cut them up, add sugar if you wish, then cut a chunk of angel cake, douse it with the fruit and dollop with freshly whipped cream. This is truly “summer heaven” at Twin Gables. Be sure to visit Earl’s when you stay here. With its ice cream shop, homemade pies and special classic car nights, it’s a slice of small-town America.

At Fennville’s Kingsley House Bed and Breakfast, Innkeeper Dave Drees prefers not to “hide” his fresh strawberries in recipes, but to use them in ways that really exploit their flavors. He cores a pineapple with a tool from Williams Sonoma that leaves the pineapple shell intact. He then places the shell and top on a platter, slices the fresh pineapple and arranges it on the platter with fresh, plump strawberries. He fills the pineapple shell with a mixture of one large container of low-fat strawberry yogurt and an 8 oz. bar of cream cheese softened and pureed in a blender. The dip is a great compliment to the fruit and healthy to boot!

Try the Strawberry/Rhubarb Tart recipe Ruth and Herb Boven serve at Castle in the Country Bed & Breakfast Inn, located in the peaceful countryside just outside of Allegan. Another great blog source is the White Swan Journal, written by Innkeeper Cathy Russell, The White Swan Inn in Whitehall. Here is her recipe for Strawberry Streusel Muffins.

Just when it seems there can’t be any more uniqe ways to serve the season’s freshest and best fruit, along comes this coffee cake, served by Janice Duerr at The State Street Inn in Harbor Beach, a Lake Huron harbor village. Give it a try.

State Street Inn Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 ounce cream cheese – softened
¼ cup sugar
1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced

Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter

Preparation:
Sift together the 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk, egg, and melted butter; beat 2 minutes. Spoon half the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan. Mix the cream cheese and ¼ cup sugar together and drop by spoonfuls on top of batter. Top with half the strawberries, then drop remaining batter on top of that. Top with remaining sliced strawberries. Combine 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add chopped pecans. Sprinkle crumb topping over the strawberries. Bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes. Serves 8.

TRY THEM ALL. ENJOY!

Linda Singer, Executive DirectorMichigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association 6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546 (616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

First Friday Art Walk gets underway this coming Friday — the first Friday in June — and continues across Ypsilanti every first Friday of the month all summer long. Depot Town and Downtown businesses will host area artists and their works for sale. The beauty of Art Walk is you can stroll to it and back from Parish House Inn, in the heart of Ypsilanti.

Come back to the Parish House when you visit the “don’t miss” the Ann Arbor Art Fair — one of the biggest in the country — July 21-24. Make your reservations early! The event draws a half million visitors each year. Since Parish House can’t sleep everybody, you can check B&B availability in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Plymouth and other nearby communities.

The same weekend, June 4-5, enjoy top-quality artwork — paintings, sculpture, ceramics, wearables and more — at the 60th Annual Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Fair Fair. It’s Friday from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Plan your overnight stay at any of these elegant, art and artist-friendly bed and breakfast inns in Kalamazoo and nearby.

The next weekend, June 12-13, join 10,000 art lovers expected to descend on Bay City, right on Lake Huron just west of the tip of The Thumb, for the YWCA Riverside Art Fest. Besides more than 100 artists lined up along Water Street and Center Avenue, enjoy walking entertainment, a magic show and a silent auction. At the end of either day — or both, rest your head in the magnificent Historic Webster House, a “new” Bay City treasure, or at the equally-historic Chesney’s Keswick Manor, a long-time Bay City favorite.

Look Northwest, then Northeast the last weekend in June. On June 26, Art Rapids! plays in Elk Rapids, nestled prettily along the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. This one-day, juried fine arts event begs a weekend stay at world-class B&B’s in the surrounding communities of Bellaire, Central Lake and Ellsworth.

On Michigan’s extreme northeastern Great Lakes shoreline, find more than sandy beaches at Oscoda Beach Park on June 26-27. More than 150 juried artisans line the Lake Huron waterfront for Art on the Beach. Discover everything artistic from jewelry to photography, crafts to wood works and more. After enjoying the live music, food and art, let yourself be pampered at Oscoda’s Huron House B&B or at East Tawas Junction B&B, just 15 miles south.

Each of the inns linked in this blog is a quality-inspected, quality-assured member of the state B&B association of Michigan. You can’t go wrong with a Michigan Lake to Lake-member inn waiting to welcome you at the end of a summer day of play.

Linda Singer, Executive DirectorMichigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association 6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546 (616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

The entire southern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula is home to some of the finest antique stores, malls and emporiums anywhere. Imagine a road trip that combines the joys of antiquing with the warming weather and its profusion of blossoms, then culminates in an overnight stay at a luxurious, hospitable bed and breakfast inn.

WEST MICHIGAN LAKESHORE
Explore antiquing in West Michigan. Work your way north along the Lake Michigan coast starting at Murphy’s Antique Mall in the quaint harbor town of South Haven. Local Innkeeper Carol Ann Hall just got home from shopping its two brim-full floors and and is pleased with her “new” treasures. Her B&B, Inn at the Park, is a showplace for antiques and features items for sale.

Just a short hop north in Saugatuck/Douglas, you can stay at Sherwood Forest B&B and receive a coupon for 10% off any individual item over $25 at the Blue Star Antique Pavilion. It boasts more than 175 booths of antiques, collectibles and consignments with dealers from Detroit to Chicago.

In Holland, don’t miss the Wooden Shoe Antique Mall with over 70 dealers; and the Harvest Antique Mall with 130 dealers. When you’re plumb tuckered out from all that shopping, rest your head at the lovely Dutch Colonial Inn B&B.

This image suggests the incredible mix of new, used, re-invented and re-purposed furniture and decorative items creatively staged at Colby’s Hokey Pokey. It’s located downtown in Whitehall, just a two-block stroll from the White Swan Inn B&B. Colby’s is open daily from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

EAST MICHIGAN SHORELINE
The incredible 200-mile-long Annual Antique Yard Sale Trail along the Lake Huron shoreline is set for this August 13 – 15 and starts in Algonac, home of the Algonac Antique Mall. Algonac is also home to Linda’s Lighthouse Inn, overlooking the vividly-blue North Channel of the St. Clair River.

While the Antique Trail ends at the tip of Michigan’s Thumb in Sebewaing, along the way you’ll want to explore the charming lakeshore community of Lexington. A Night to Remember B&B, located right on the main drag as you drive north into town, actually boasts its own antique emporium (not to mention an ice cream shop to die for). Before you leave Lexington, stop by Captain’s Quarters, one of several nearby inns, for a good night’s rest and to pick up Innkeeper Pat Cutler’s personal “Trip Around the Thumb” guide to all places of interest.

Another “don’t miss” antique store is McNally’s, located just four blocks from The State Street Inn (shown to the left) in Harbor Beach. It’s one of four antique shops within seven miles of this lakeside community.

INSIDE MICHIGAN
Yes, Virginia! A wonderful world awaits your discovery between the two Great Lakes that hug Michigan’s eastern and western lakeshores.

With the aroma of corndogs and elephant ears spicing the air, the Allegan Antiques Market opened last weekend and continues each Sunday through September. Held at the Allegan County Fairgrounds, it’s just six miles to Castle in the Country B&B. Owner/innkeeper and former antique dealer Ruth Boven promises to share her insider tips as a frequent shopper.

If you’re in the market for antique furnitue, don’t miss The Emporium in downtown Kalamazoo — just a little over a mile from Hall House B&B. In Schoolcarft, just 16 miles south, Norma’s Antiques and Collectibles offers a wide range of general line antiques.

The great little burg of Allen boasts four big antique malls, three smaller ones and a “gaslight village” — over 1000 dealers in all. Among them are Allen Antique Barn and Hog Creek Antiques. All the malls are open daily from 10-5 year-around. Best of all, the Munro House B&B is located just five miles east of Allen on Hwy 12 in downtown Jonesville.

Williamston is another antiquers’ paradise. Sign of the Pineapple, Red Cedar Antiques and Old Planck Road are centered downtown, with the Antiques Market of Williamston just south of the city limites. You can spend a day or more antiquing here, then stay the night at Topliff’s Tara B&B — a working llama farm. (Thanks to innkeeper Sheryl Topliff who provided the photo at the top of the blog.)

EACH INN FEATURED HERE IS A MEMBER OF AND INSPECTED FOR QUALITY BY THE MICHIGAN LAKE TO LAKE BED AND BREAKFAST ASSOCIATION.

Linda Singer, Executive DirectorMichigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association 6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546 (616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

One of the oldest, best and broadest-based parades in Michigan is waiting to be discovered by you in downtown St. Joseph on May 1. The Blossomtime Festival’s Grand Floral Parade features more than 125 colorful, creative floats, including units with community queens and their courts, antique cars, bands and costumed characters. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Motorcycle Drill Team will lead the parade as it has for the past 46 years.

Blossomtime Festival began in 1906 and has annually celebrated Southwest Michigan’s incomparably-diverse agricultural industry ever since. The festival spans 25 communities and hosts some 250,000 parade watchers from across the Midwest.

If a May Day parade on a sparkling day in a Lake Michigan Harbor Town sounds like your cup of tea, join us on the parade route from Main Street and Pearl in St. Joseph at 1 p.m. Enjoy two glorious hours of pageantry while the parade marches along the main drag and across the river to neighboring Benton Harbor.

When evening nears, choose from a host of Lake-to-Lake-member bed and breakfast inns in and around St. Joseph. You’ll find quality-inspected inns right in town, next door in Stevensville, and just down the road in Lakeside and in Union Pier. Why choose a Lake to Lake-member inn? The Michigan Lake to Lake Bed & Breakfast Association guarantees you will “rest assured.” Our member B&Bs are the best of the best.

Linda Singer, Executive DirectorMichigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association 6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546 (616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

Michigan Wine Month is one bright spot in the betwixt and between month of April.

A don’t-miss highlight of Michigan Wine Month is the SE Michigan Pioneer Wine Trail self-driving tour. Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18.

For a mere $25 per ticket, enjoy food and wine pairings like smoked salmon canapes with Chardonel cream sauce and cucumber relish. The wine? You guessed it: Chardonel, produced by the Chateau Aeronautique Winery in Jackson.

Take both days to explore the seven participating Southeast Michigan wineries and their nearby communities. At night, lay your head in one of the fine Michigan Lake to Lake B&B Association-member inns located along and nearby the Pioneer Wine Trail. From the wineries in Jackson to Brooklyn to Grass Lake, Tecumseh and Parma, you’ll discover a wealth of member inns, each professionally inspected for quality, cleanliness, safety, comfort and professionalism by third-party reviewers. Look for inns in Jackson, Albion, Chelsea, Jonesville, Brooklyn, Ann Arbor,Pleasant Lake,Ypsilanti and beyond. We guarantee you will “rest assured.”

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

Now that March is finally here, it’s time to start scouting ways to break out of winter.

All month long, “Journey to the Sugar Bush” at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter. Experience the history and the making of maple syrup. Tap a tree. Enjoy a pancake breakfast with Pure Michigan maple syrup. At the end of the day, rest assured at a Lake to Lake-member bed and breakfast inn in nearby Chelsea, Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti.

Maybe you prefer a little “up north” fun. Discover All Things Irish in Bellaire, March 12 – 14. If you’re looking for thrills, race down Schuss Mountain at nearby Shanty Creek on a sled you make yourself at the annual downhill Cardboard Classic Race. When you’re looking to put your tuckered-out head in a luxurious bed, look no further than these Lake to Lake-member bed and breakfast inns.

Taste a variety of beers creatively crafted by renowned Michigan beer artisans at The Art of Beer Festival in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, March 27. At the same time, enjoy foods that enhance the tasting experience and groove to a great blues-rock band. Beer-making classes are available. When you’re all beered out, your designated driver can spirit you away to a delectable Lake to Lake-member bed and breakfast inn in St. Joe or nearby Lakeside or Union Pier.

If you crave a themed get-away more than an adventure to shake off that cabin fever, click here. Select Spring Specials from the drop-down menu for great Spring Break Get-Aways offered by our member B&Bs. Of course, Romance is never out of season, so be sure to run your eye over those as well. In fact, there are more than 20 specials’ categories to choose from.

Give yourself a break. A Spring Break. Enjoy!

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association offers three ways to stretch the length of your Valentine’s Day celebration and the cash it costs you. What could be better?

First, do you realize that for many of you, Valentine’s Day s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s into a three-day weekend this year? Saturday, February 13 is Valentine’s Eve. Sunday is Valentine’s Day — and Monday is President’s Day, a holiday from work for many. That gives you three glorious days and nights to revel in romance!

Second, many of our quality-assured bed and breakfast inns are offering great deals and discounts over the three-day – s-t-r-e-t-c-h.

Click here for romantic get-away specials — and click here for more romantic get-away specials. Ahhh, Valentine’s Day!

Third and maybe best, if you can’t take the three-day s-t-r-e-t-c-h this Valentine’s Day weekend, you can give your Sweetheart the gift of a Lake to Lake Gift Certificate to use any time over the next five years at any of our great Lake to Lake-member inns across Michigan. Order online today!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

If you live or work in southwestern Michigan, be sure to tune into “Take Five and Company,” airing on WZZM-TV Channel 13 this Tuesday, January 26 at 9 a.m. The popular talk show is featuring a segment on bed and breakfast inns and their marvelous diversity all across Michigan.

Linda Singer, executive director of Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association (ML2L), will provide the commentary. Time permitting, six inns will be featured in the segment. You can visit them now by logging into their websites. They are all members of the association and all inspected for more than 100 points of quality, cleanliness, safety, comfort and professionalism.

Cocoa Cottage B&B
Prairieside Suites Luxury B&B
Schooner Manitou B&B
Historic Webster House B&B
Wind in the Pines B&B
The Sheridan House B&B

Join us on Tuesday for a peek into the wonderful world of ML2L inns.

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

What makes people choose to stay at a bed and breakfast inn? Isn’t it like staying in the spare room at Aunt Jane’s house? Stuffy? No privacy? Like invading a stranger’s home? Won’t you feel like a stranger yourself, sitting on the edge of a too-soft sofa, feet planted firmly on the floor and hands folded primly in your lap, pretending not to be bored to tears? Being someone you’re not?

Nope. You’d be wrong.

Unlike chain motels or hotels, B&B’s are an uplifting experience whether you’re traveling for business or for pleasure, a romantic get-away or a family reunion. Don’t take my word for it. Take the words of people just like you who have enjoyed the luxury, warmth and hospitality of a Michigan Lake to Lake-member B&B.

Edwin and Karin of Chelsea, Michigan took some down time to get an uplift via a quick B&B geataway in Southwest Michigan’s St. Joseph.

“It felt like being in someone’s home — a very relaxing and friendly atmosphere.”

What did they like most?

“…. feeling welcome, being warmly greeted and the quiet, comfortable atmosphere.”

Linda of Grand Ledge, Michigan, a recent guest at a Cheboygan B&B in Northeast Michigan, said she chose it because it offered “total comfort over a regular hotel — a warm and friendly atmosphere.”

What about breakfast? “….over the top! Each day I didn’t think yesterday’s beakfast could be beat, but the breakfast was even more superb every single morning.”

Marcia and Gordon of Grand Rapids, Michigan raved about the guest room at the B&B they enjoyed in Fremont, located in lower Northwest Michigan.

“The room was beautiful — so cozy it felt like home.”

Nobody had to twist the arms of John and Pam of Carmet, Indiana to stay at one of Bellaire’s luxurious B&Bs in upper Northwest Michigan.

“Friends brought us here. They had stayed here several times and wanted us to see it and enjoy it too. The innkeepers thought of everything to make for a very comfortable stay.”

Here is what Paula of Johannesburg, Michigan had to say about the inn they chose in the Upper Peninsula at Eagle Harbor:

“We had never stayed at a B&B, found this one online and it lookd good. It turned out even better than we imagined. We loved the view of Lake Superior, the room, the amazing breakfast with delicious pancakes — everything was great! The innkeepers were very welcoming and made us feel completely comfortable.”

About the B&B experience they enjoyed in Albion, nestled in Southeast Michigan, Bud and Jeanne of Cumberland, Maryland, said, “We felt very much at home and as if we and the innkeepers were old friends. It was our second stay here. We love B&Bs for their convenience and their personal touch.”

It’s echoed over and over again. Warm. Comfy, Hospitable. Like home — only more luxurious. Fabulous and plentiful breakfasts elegantly presented. Glorious gardens. Relaxing.

B&Bs range from contemporary log homes to Victorian mansions. Each is unique unto itself. B&Bs can be found in forests, rural countrysides, the heart of cities, a block off Main Street in resort or historic villages….. on inland lakes or overlooking Lake Michigan. There isn’t a region in Michigan that doesn’t offer B&B alternatives.

Innkeepers are innkeepers because their passion is to make their guests feel special. While they are immensely proud of the beauty, history and comfort of their homes, few actually live in the areas you enjoy during your stay. Most have their own living quarters apart from the common areas. Many have culinary arts training. All are outstanding cooks!

This isn’t back in your Grandma’s day when the cheapest overnight rooms were found in “Tourist Lodgings.” In the “old days,” these accommodations were literally spare bedrooms with shared baths in the homes of people needing extra cash to make ends meet.

So revel in the coming-of-age of bed and breakfast inns. But remember that not all B&Bs are created equal. When choosing a B&B in Michigan, be sure it’s a Lake to Lake-member inn, regularly inspected by professional and dispassionate reviewers for more than 100 points of quality, safety, cleanliness, comfort and professionalism. Michigan Lake to Lake Bed & Breakfast Association guarantees that when you stay at a member inn, you will “rest assured.”

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax

Not far north of Detroit, discover the least-discovered playground in Michigan. The stretch of Pure Michigan between Algonac north to Port Austin along Lake Huron is a blend of breathtaking fall color splashed against a backdrop of the bluest water you’ve ever seen. Now, at the height of autumn’s blazing display, is the perfect time to explore Michigan’s East Coast.

Center one of your evening’s plans in Lexington, a short drive north of Port Huron, to enjoy the wealth of music theater presentations, festivals and events that flourish all year long.

Raise a stein downtown at Lexington Oktober Fest on October 10. Snuggle into Fall Flannel Days, October 24. Music Theater Company presentations include Cowboy Junkies, October 3; Terry Lee Goffee – the Johnny Cash Experience, October 9; Jeff Daniels, October 17; and Toxic Audio, October 24.

Then, after a glorious day of play, stay at one of the area’s luxurious bed and breakfast inns. You’ll find Michigan Lake to Lake-member inns all along the East Coastline, from Algonac to Marine City, North Lakeport, Lexington, Port Sanilac, Harbor Beach, Port Hope and villages and towns all the way to the tip of the Thumb. Every Lake-to-Lake member inn is regularly and professionally inspected for cleanliness, safety, comfort and professionalism. You can “rest assured” at any ML2L-member B&B.

Linda Singer, Executive Director
Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association
6757 Cascade Rd SE Ste 241, Grand Rapids MI 49546
(616) 575-1610 Office (616) 575-0270 Fax