Frankenmuth – September 7-8, 2015

Back in 1959 someone had the idea of revitalizing the German heritage of a small Michigan town by refurbishing one of its buildings using Alpine design, and it is now the number one location to visit in the State and Mackinac Island is number two.  There are over 3 million visitors a year who come to see this Alpine village with all things Bavarian including hotels, restaurants, cheese shops and everything else you can imagine.

Bavarian Inn on main street – Frankenmuth, MI

This was our Labor Day excursion from our campground just 20 or so miles away in Vassar.  (Who knew I would ever be able to say, “I went to Vassar”).  We arrived in time to take a paddle boat cruise on the Cass River that runs through the town.  This boat is authentic to the extent it can navigate in shallow water and is propelled by the paddle wheel that only dips into the water 1 foot deep.

Bavarian Belle Paddleboat on Cass River, Frankenmuth, MI

Wooden Covered Bridge in Frankenmuth – Built in 1979

Smokestacks down to go under bridge

It docks between a concrete walkway and a wooden covered bridge but its smoke stacks are too high to fit under the bridge so they, (like other boats of the era) can dip the smoke stacks when they need to.  Kind of ingenious, I think.

After walking around to see all the shops, we had a dinner of their famous chicken and Wiener schnitzel, or as we call it in the South, Fried Chicken and breaded veal cutlet with cheese potato puffs.  I never realized that German cooking involved so much frying.

Yesterday was a rainy day so it was a good day to catch up on our chores around the RV but we went to Famous Dave’s BBQ for dinner where we ordered a feast for two.

They are not exaggerating with that name because it included ½ of a chicken, ½ pound of pulled pork, ½ slab of ribs, the best French Fries ever, baked beans, cole slaw, steamed broccoli, and corn muffins served in something that looked like a trash can lid and sat on a rack.  Trust me, most of that food is now in our refrigerator and will become a few more meals for us this week.

The rain has stopped and a cold front will be moving in soon.  Our adventure for today is back in Frankenmuth to Bonner’s Christmas Shop touted to be the “World’s Largest Christmas Shop”.  We’ll see.