The 8th annual Magical Ice Carving Festival will transform State Street in downtown St. Joseph into a gallery of ice carvings, February 10 – 12.  Watch as professional sculpters turn blocks of ice into stunning creations all three days and evenings of the event, sanctioned by the National Ice Carving Association. Warm up at Schu’s Festival Tent featuring live entertainment, food and spirits at the corner of Pleasant and Lake Boulevard.

For a change of pace and despite the time of year, embrace the tropics at the Waikiki Weekend party at Silver Beach Center.

You heard right. Surely you’re wishing for warmer times and sunshine. Wish no more! Enjoy warm island fun starting Friday evening with the Fire & Ice Party, featuring the hot music of Joshua and Jeremy Sprague and a cash bar with tropical drinks as well as beer and wine. Flip flops and tropical wear are optional, but encouraged. Waikiki Weekend continues through Sunday with kids’ activities and rides on the famous Silver Beach carousel.

All that fun can be exhausing. So when it comes time to put your heads in beds,  come on in to the comfort of our guest rooms. Wake up to a delicious homemade breakfast. Ahhh! Enjoy.

When you call to make your reservation, mention the Magical Ice Carving Festival and we’ll take 10 percent off the room rate!

But if we’re full up and out of rooms, we invite you to enjoy a nearby inn that is also quality assured as a Lake to Lake-member B&B. Here are those in our neck of the woods.

Wander among and over 17 cement folk art-style bridges spanning a stream that meanders over 42 acres. The cement sculptures look like wood and rope — a style the French call faux bois or fake wood. Built in the 1930s by two Mexican artisans from Texas, the style is also referred to as El Trabejo Rustico or rustic work. It is actually enjoying a resurgence of interest today.

Here is how a local website describes McCourtie Park:

W.H.L. McCourtie, owner of the now-defunct Trinity Portland Cement Co., had a fondness for concrete and whimsy. His estate, known as Aiden Lair, was the perfect place to create a fantastical garden. Cement chimneys created to look like tree trunks rise out of an underground rathskeller built into the side of a hill where McCourtie played poker with such Detroit bigwigs as auto baron Henry Ford. Local lore says tunnels ran underground here, perfect for bootleggers to smuggle liquor for those all-night poker games.

If that’s not enough to tempt your adventurous spirit to come visit, perhaps knowing it’s officially haunted will do the trick. McCoutrie Park made the Spirit Society’s Haunting Report. And as neighboring innkeepers Joe and Barb Phillips will tell you,  it’s just plain fact that a lone woman has been seen wandering over the bridges and along the wooded paths at dusk. The only issue in question isn’t whether she’s a ghost, but whether her gown is  black or deep midnight blue.

The Phillips own Dewey Lake Manor, a bed and breakfast inn on Dewey Lake in Brooklyn, in the heart of the Irish Hills not far from McCoutrie Park. They want to share another secret with you  — because two secrets are always better than one. When you come visit, be sure to stop by The British Pantry – a tea garden and rooftop cafe in downtown Tecumseh where everything is about tea and features an authentic British menu. “Mushy peas” or “Heinz baked beans on toast,” anyone?

The British Tea Garden offers a loose tea selection second to none. Whether you prefer black, green or herbal, the variety of teas is sure to satisfy your taste buds.

The gift shop features all the proper tea accoutrements as well as fine china tea service, table toppers, kitchen linens, children’s tea sets and books on tea.

Once you’re in that neck of the woods, you won’t want to miss a visit to Toasted Mud, a pottery painting studio in Hillsdale. That little secret is shared by Lori and Mike Venturini who own the Munro House B&B and Spa in neighboring Jonesville. It’s a great spot for kids and couples and friends to try their hands at creative play. And it’s a great way to top off your visit to  the south central part of the state.

Click here to discover more Lake to Lake-member B&Bs in the area. Why B&Bs? They’re the better way to stay. Why Lake to Lake-member B&Bs? They are the best way to stay. At a member inn, you are assured of the highest standards of cleanliness, safety, professionalism and comfort. You can count on it.

Lake to Lake just started a blog series about the best-kept secrets in Michigan as shared by bed and breakfast innkeepers. Then here I come with a blog post about the worst kept secret in West Michigan – the 2nd Annual Kalamazoo Beer Week.

Lake to Lake is nothing if not flexible.

Besides, you need to know the celebration kicks off with a FREE double-decker bus pub crawl this Saturday night, January 14. When I last counted, the week-long beer celebration featured some 75 beer dinners, meet-the-brewer forums, demonstrations and special beer events. It’s especially exciting for us because our downtown Kalamazoo location puts our guests within walking distance of the best beer venues and many of the top Beer Week events. The week ends on the same day as downtown Kalamazoo’s big chili cook-off on January 21, just a short walk away.

Beer lovers also like our “Kalamazoo House Beer Trail” add-on package. We provide out guests a special Beer Trail tote bag, a snack and a map. They end up with souvenirs from places like Bell’s Brewery, Central City Tap House, Olde Peninsula and the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange — souvenirs like beer glasses, T-shirts, stainless steel water bottles, beer cozies and even a gift certificate for food or merchandise.

While our guests love to come back to our inn to enjoy a bedtime snack and a great night’s sleep followed by a delicious breakfast at whenever time they choose in the morning, what happens if we’re full up? Visit this link to explore other Lake to Lake-member inns within a short drive of the festivities. Or search for more neighboring B&B’s using this handy search function on the association website. Each of these inns is quality-guaranteed by the association and assure you of a memorable bed and breakfast experience.

Our first secret garden is a true delight, revealed by Paulette Clouse, innkeeper of J. Paules Fenn Inn B&B in Fennville. Now, you might think visiting Fennville in the middle of winter is…. well…. dull? You would be so wrong. These next two months are when Fennville comes alive with the Salt of the Earth Mid-Winter Concert Series providing world-class musical entertainment every Sunday night starting January 8 and continuing through February 26.

Starting Sunday, January 8 with the Midnight Cattle Callers performing country swing; and ending Sunday, February 26 with Riely O'Connor, Molly Moon, Dave Boutette and Josh Rose in the "Winter Songwriters Summit," enjoy concerts at 7 p.m. every Sunday evening. Table reservations are a must. Call 269-561-7258.

Shoud you go, be sure to make reservations in advance — both for the music and for lodging. If J.Paule’s Fenn Inn is full up, The Kingsley House is a half-mile away and Heritage Manor Inn is just six miles out.

Search for nearby B&B’s here. Or use this handy search tool, pictured left, located on the home page of the Lake to Lake website.

If you’re new to our blog, you need to know that B&Bs are not only a better way stay, B&Bs that are members of the association are the best way to stay. They are virtually guaranteed to meet, if not exceed, your every expectation for comfort, safety, cleanliness and professionalism. First to become a member, then regularly thereafter, Lake to Lake members must pass intensive “Quality Assurance” inspections conducted by third-party professionals, passing a demanding checklist of more than 100 standards. When you choose to stay at a Lake to Lake-member B&B, we promise you can “rest assured.”

Take Traverse City, home of the 2nd Annual Cherry Ball Drop. The festivities are centered in the heart of downtown, right in front of the official Christmas tree. Stage show entertainment starts at 10 p.m. and features a light show throughout the night. When your party hat starts drooping, you’ll want to snuggle into a luxurious bed at a nearby Lake to Lake member B&B and awaken to a scrumptious, home-made breakfast. That’s how you start the new year on the right foot!

The Ludington New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Celebration includes an entertainment tent in James Street Plaza, a Pub Crawl all around downtown and, of course, the midnight ball drop. Welcome the new year with a 6-foot-diameter ball of thousands of lights lowered on a countdown to midnight. As the celebration winds down, relax and refresh in the unique ambiance of a bed and breakfast inn. Here are those in and around Ludington.

Kalamazoo’s long-established New Year’s Fest features 24 performing artists in 10 buildings surrounding downtown Bronson Park, all lit up as Candy Cane Lane. “Pop into” musical entertainment encompassing classical, rhythm and blues, jazz, bluegrass and Christian contemporary. Performing artists include magicians, clowns, jugglers and storytellers. Admission is just $5 for anyone over four years old.  After the festivities, rest your head in one of the clean and comfortable beds that uniquely identify Lake to Lake-member B&Bs in and around the city.

In Whitehall, swing into the New Year with the George Cole Quintet at the historic Howmet Playhouse. Direct from San Francisco, the quintet offers an elegant and sophistated evening of jazz, followed by an afterglow party on the theater’s stage. You can combine your visit with a specially-designed two-night New Year’s special right across the street at the White Swan Inn. Or choose from among these member B&Bs in and around the White Lake area.

Last but certainly not least, the Hot New Year’s Eve Party 2012 invites you to ice skate at Rosa Park Circle downtown, adjacent to the stage featuring musical entertainment starting at 6:30 p.m. An encore by headliners, The Romantics, will herald in the New Year just after the countdown to the midnight ball drop. Add dozens of great clubs and restaurants within walking distance to this unique venue, and you’re off to a fabulous 2012. Prairieside Suites Luxury B&B in suburban Grandville is Lake to Lake’s pick as the best close-by place to end the night and start the new year right.

For your peace of mind, all Lake to Lake B&B members are inspected regularly for more than 100 points of quality including safety, cleanlines, comfort and professionalism. We ensure you can rest assured at any of more than 100 member inns statewide.  Questions?  Call us at 888-575-1610.

Inn at Old Orchard Road

The Inn at Old Orchard Road in Holland is all dressed up for Christmas. Innkeeper Elizabeth DeWaard even decorates the gazebo for the holidays with green swags, red bows and a "santa" sleigh filled with presents.

The Wellington Inn B&B (Antiquites’ Wellington)

Innkeeper Barbara Rishel annually hosts "The Inn at Christmastime" in Traverse City, opening the doors of the The Wellington Inn downtown to give the public an opportunity for a "look see" on the two Sunday afternoons preceding Christmas. Local designers "deck the halls," covering every square inch of the landmark home with holiday decorations. Musicians perform throughout and hot mulled cider and traditional sweets are served in the third floor ballroom.

Few B&Bs — or businesses of any kind — are open for business on Christmas day. Jittka and John Nelson, innkeepers at Dove Nest Bed and Breakfast in St. Joseph, found themselves looking at an empty nest this season and decided to open their B&B on Christmas Day. Since their Christmas no longer looks the way it used to, they figured other people equally dread facing the holiday alone. So they are opening their home on Christmas to overnight guests.

Dove Nest offers this unique special: Arrive December 24 and stay two nights or more. Wake up late on Christmas to a three-course, from scratch breakfast. Enjoy the day. Walk the Lake Michigan beach or window shop downtown.  Return for Christmas dinner in front of a log-burning fireplace and the real Christmas tree.  Then go to sleep in peace and awaken to another scrumptious three-course breakfast.

Come alone or as a couple or bring a friend. Dinner includes appetizer, soup, main course, salad, desert, coffee, tea and beverage. Snacks and beverages throughout the day are included in the $60 per person package added to the cost of the guest room. Book through the Dove Nest website or call 269-429-2211.

The Kalamazoo House

Laurel Parrott is innkeeper at The Kalamazoo House in downtown Kalamazoo. She collects Santas like these and places them all around her holiday-dressed Victorian B&B for the amusement of her guests. She calls these her "resting Santas."

Munro House B&B and Spa

This Christmas tree at Munro House B&B and Spa in Jonesville is twice as tall as innkeeper Mike Venturini. He, his wife, Lori, and friends who don't mind climbing ladders decorated all 12 feet of this fabulous fir with a grand total of 3000 lights and 3000 decorations.

Visit more Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Inns on the association’s website. All are regularly inspected and approved by trained, third-party professionals. Enjoy a night’s stay any time of year.

If you haven’t heard of it before, Buy Michigan Now is a nonprofit association that delights in promoting Michigan products. It annually hosts a Michigan products’ expo in the Detroit area — and it annually publishes a Michigan Holiday Shopping Guide. Enjoy a wide range of quality merchandise and — again — the convenience of online shopping.

Travel Michigan’s Pure Michigan Campaign has blossomed with innovative fund-raising and promotional merchandise — available to you right here at the click of your mouse. In the event you really, really love to rub elbows with fellow Christmas shoppers, Pure Michigan merchandise can also be purchased at Meijer’s stores across the state.

I discovered this gem in a Pure Michigan Connect blog I subscribe to. The Gift Insider describes its website as “an ultra-hip and highly curated website that reviews and recommends the most under-the-radar and cool gift ideas.”

In today’s blog, it features made-in-Michigan gifts that are truly one-of-a-kind and, as promised, totally cool. Because the Michigan section of the company’s website displays very few of the gifts featured in the blog, I’m connecting you separately to the source of each gift item not included on the web page:

Detroit Inspired Art Work by Metro Devious (Detroit)

Personalized Wood Creation Wall Art (Pure Michigan Store)

The Harley Bracelet from Marlaina Stone (Birmingham)

Signature Clutches from Hydrangea BLU (Traverse City)

Buy a Frame in the Lemonade: Detroit Film (Detroit)

Do you agree these are some cool gifts?

Do you agree that we should make a habit of buying Michigan-made products and merchandise no matter what the occasion?

Tell me what you bought! I’d love to know.

What transforms Michigan’s beachtowns into winter play havens? A mantle of pure white snow, of course. The bed and breakfast inns that are members of Michigan Lake to Lake B&B Association invite you to celebrate winter their way all season long.

At The State Street Inn in Harbor Beach on Lake Huron, you can let it snow while cuddling up to cozy fireplaces in its Victoriana or Lighthouse Point guest rooms. This is after you return from a stroll along the beach to marvel at the spectacle of the big lake frozen over. Be sure to find out about the inn’s special winter package available through March 31. It’s listed on the webpage as “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!”

At Adventure Inn in North Lakeport, a bit to the south, you can enjoy a beach walk in snow boots every bit as much as a beach walk in flip flops.  This beautiful stretch of Lake Huron beach, as seen from either of the two guest rooms, leads to the trails and solitude of Lakeport State Park. What a perfect way to enjoy a day of cross country skiing. Be sure to check frequently for winter-time packages and specials.

Ski trails range from beginner levels to the extremely advanced at Saugatuck Dunes State Park and the Allegan State Game Area. The Kal Haven Rail Trail is close by as are many others, including groomed trails. You can rent skis or snowshoes in downtown Saugatuck from Landsharks.

When you’re all done in from a day spent in the great outdoors, enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and a biscotti at  Serendipity Bed & Breakfast and Suites or hot chocolate and table-top s’mores at Park House Inn.  Fine dining, clubs and boutique shopping are accessible on foot from either B&B.

Right across the Kalamazoo River in Douglas, Sherwood Forest Bed and Breakfast has Lake Michigan with its majestic, glacier-like icebergs just a block away — and one of the best sledding hills in West Michigan right down the street. Best yet, they provide the sleds!

Lest we forget there are lakes other than the “great” ones all across Michigan, think about bringing your cross country skis to Dewey Lake Manor in Brooklyn. Skate on the lake once it freezes solid or at nearby Hidden Lake Gardens, Michigan State University’s botanical gardens, as snow cover permits.

Michigan’s first snow always seems a little magical, filled with promises of rosy cheeks and chubby snowmen. With the second and third and fourth snowfalls comes reality. Expectations turn dreary. Don’t despair: not only are Michigan bed and breakfast inns the Better Way to Stay, they’re the best way to ensure that winter keeps its promises.

A promising winter composition at At Willow Pond. Read on.

 

White Swan Inn in Whitehall invites guests to enjoy cross country skiing at nearby Muskegon State Park Winter Sports Complex, home of one of only four luge tracks in the U.S. For a unique experience, buy tickets now for the fundraising “Dine and Glide,” January 21 and February 11 and 17. Enjoy three dining stations with delicious food along the 5K trails, with blazing bonfires at each stop. A heated outdoor tent with music and dessert wraps up the event.

For a special skiing and dining get-away, look at the inn’s “Nordic Nights” package on its webpage.

If you prefer shopping over skiing, visit Holland’s downtown and enjoy unique stores, restaurants and breweries along snow and ice-free heated sidewalks. Enjoy downtown activities all winter long including Kerstmarkt, an outdoor Dutch holiday market, holiday open houses, carolers, ice sculpting contests and more. After spending all that time on your feet, go “home” to Crimson Cottage Inn the Woods to relax in front of any of several fireplaces and enjoy winter wonderland views of the woods and pond outside. Visit holland.org for more Holland activities.

When you’re talking Grand Rapids, winter in the city is about more than shopping. Bring your hat and gloves when you stay at Prairieside Suites Luxury B&B in suburban Grandville. Spend an evening ice skating at Rosa Parks Circle in the heart of downtown, just minutes from the inn. Admission is only a buck — and ice skates are free! While you’re downtown, enjoy at least one of more than 90 privately-owned restaurants and night clubs, all within walking distance of each other and of Rosa Park Circle. 

Then there’s neighboring Kalamazoo. While its downtown offers year-around galleries, shops, a wealth of restaurants featuring innovative local and seasonal dishes, brewpubs (think Bells), wine bars, live theater and even a dueling piano bar, its holiday season makes it all the more special.

“During the holiday season,” says Laurel Parrott, innkeeper of The Kalamazoo House, located downtown, “guests always talk at breakfast how they enjoyed strolling through Candy Cane Lane and seeing all the beautiful lights of the park right next door to the inn.”

Prefer riding to walking in the snow?

This winter, enjoy romantic sleigh ride packages at DeLano Mansion Inn B&B in Allegan. En suite massages can be arranged for your after-ride pleasure. Are you beginning to envision just how well winter can keep its promises?

 

There are a lot of ways to ride. If horseback is your preference, head to At Willow Pond B&B in Fenwick, near Greenville. They are ready for winter, with warm German flannel sheets on the beds and a fire flickering in the fireplace. Innkeepers Jerome and Claire Vandenburg keep their horses outside, so they’re not to cold to ride. Bundle up and enjoy as long as the footing is more sure than slick.

 

Here, you can cross country ski the way it’s meant to be: no sounds louder than your own shush. Or borrow a set of snowshoes and enjoy acres of wildlife. Afterward, cuddle  in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa or steam in the hot tub under the stars.  

 

We’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended). Come back in a few days for even more ways to make winter keep its promises.

 

All the inns featured in this blog post are members of the Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association. They are regularly inspected for multiple points of quality, including safety, cleanliness, comfort and professionalism. Never think twice about staying at a Lake to Lake-member inn: it’s Quality Assured.

 

 

 

 

Need some ideas? How about scouring a multitude of Amish shops within a two mile radius of Teaspoon B&B in Mio, armed with a picnic basket stocked with home made goodies prepared by the innkeepers?

Capture the colors, still vibrant along the southwestern Lake Michigan shoreline, while enjoying half off your third night’s stay at beautiful Victoria Resort B&B in South Haven. Take advantage of some of the best apple picking, corn mazes and all the trappings of the fall harvest season when you stay at Sherwood Forest B&B near Saugatuck.

Book at two-night stay at At Willow Pond B&B near Greenville, and enjoy a complimentary trail ride on horseback and an open fire cookout at the pond, topped off with s’mores and hot cider.  From Parish House Inn in Ypsilanti, you can enjoy the autumn foliage while strolling along the Huron River from Downtown to Depot Town.

“Up north” in Bellaire, innkeepers at Grand Victorian B&B will supply you with driving maps, insider tips on where to go and what to see — and give you $20 to help pay for your gas. Just a sneeze north of Detroit, enjoy star gazing from the dock at Linda’s Lighthouse Inn in Algonac on the St. Claire River or warm cider and a bonfire on a private piece of Lake Huron beach at Adventure Inn in North Lakeport. 

These are just a few of the autumn specials offered by a host of members of the Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association. Many offer rate discounts in addition to unique packages and activities. You can find them all right here.

These specials are part of monthly “eDeals” published by Travel Michigan. Discover even more fall deals by visiting its Pure Michigan website.