Grand Rapids...

I'll throw another hat in the ring for Traverse City as it sounds like it fits what you are looking for a bit better.

Food:
-The Cook's House (foodie PARADISE. Call now for reservations.)
-Chez Perez
-Tratorria Stella (at the GT Commons, aka old state hospital. Great place to walk around with some very cool underground shopping areas in a place called the mercato)
-Underground Cheesecake Co. (not to be confused with the restaurant chain, this is a dessert-only place, also at the GT Commons)
-Frenchie's Famous (TINY hole in the wall with the best pastrami I've ever had)

Beer:
In TC-
-Right Brain
-Brewery Ferment
-The Filling Station
-7 Monks (great beer bar)

Old Mission Peninsula-
-Jolly Pumpkin

Bellaire (about 45 minutes from downtown TC)
-Shorts


Hotels:
Take your pick. The area is full of them. I'd recommend Park Place or Bayshore, but you can't go wrong with most places.


Stuff to do:
-Sleeping Bear sand dunes: great way to kill an afternoon. If you're up to it, I'd pack up a picnic meal and hike in a bit, and watch the sun set. Watch out for the first dune, it's a doozy.
-Wine tour: I prefer the Old Mission tour, but Leelanau has a great one too. It just a great time, even if it's not beer related. Leelanau has Tandem Cider though, which is great, and there's an organic vineyard/cider place that has home brewed beers as well out there, though I can't recall the name. It's out by Northport.
-Beach Bums: TC's minor league baseball team. Get a high top table on the left side of the park (sun will be in your eyes if you get one on the right side), and enjoy a relaxing game with craft beer and some ballpark food.
-High Rollaways: you'll have to search for this, but it's worth the research. It's a state park a few miles down a dirt/seasonal road (it's well kept) on the south side of Kingsley. It leads to an overlook platform, and you can see for miles from there. And it's so far off the beaten path, you usually only see a couple people when you're out there.
-Bike tour: TC is very bike friendly with paths all around the town. Rent a bike from Brick Wheels or McClain and bike around town.

You can go to mynorth.com for more event info and other restaurant suggestions.

 

I don't know much about it. However, it is not downtown and there is nothing there to walk to. There is a Holiday Inn across the river from the Amway which may be an option if there are budget concerns.

Never heard of it. Doesn't seem like a good deal to me as it looks like two stops. From the downtown hotels you can walk to Founders, Hopcat and Grand Rapids Brewing Company. Hop a cab from there to Vivant or Mitten and you are ahead of the game.

 

North Peak Brewery and Mackinaw Brewery are also in Traverse City.

 

When I stayed at the Holiday Inn there was not a huge difference in the price of the other hotels..They also had free parking..BUT the rooms are small and the bathroom is stupidly small..If you eat breakfast there, the meal is on par with Dennys but more expensive..They do have a nice bar, but....

 

My wife and I stayed at that Holiday Inn a few months ago, I agree that the rooms are small, but we thought it was a pretty decent place and we plan to stay there again. Just an FYI, I happened to call Founders' before we went on our trip to Grand Rapids, and the person I spoke with was nice enough to mention that if we were going to stay at the Holiday Inn, mention the "Founders' rate" to get a special deal. If my memory serves me, it was about 20% off the regular rate.

Cheers!

 

As much as I love where I was born and raised here in GR, an anniversary is much better spent in Traverse City. Seriously amazing in northern Michigan.

 

i agree with all of this. id also add Firefly to a list of restaurants to visit in town. it sits right on the boardman river and the food is simply awesome, they also have a nice wine and taplist. another restaurant id include would be Pearls just a few miles outside of town, very unique cajun style menu and some great beers to be had as well.

i would also suggest taking the entire trip up and down the leelenau peninsula but if thats too much id at least suggest visiting Leland(Fishtown). the place is one of the coolest towns in Michigan.

great beaches all over the region including right in downtown TC.

i could really go on about the area forever but i wont. ill just say if you dont visit the place now, then it is at least a must visit down the road and you will likely want to go back again.

 

Atta boy! Sounds like a bad ass weekend... and I live here!

 

Another vote for TC, for your circumstances. It's a beautiful area, you can enjoy good beer and wine, get the scenic aspect and enjoy the lake. Have a great time!

 

good call. Drive through on friday, maybe stop at Founders and/or Brewery Vivant. Take the shoreline south on the way back. You could take the shoreline down to Muskegon or Grand Haven (where Odd Sides is) on the way back.

Also, as you come into the state or just before you leave, don't forget to make a quick stop at Greenbush in Sawyer. It's right off the expressway and they have great beer and food. It's a very good place for a mid-trip pit stop/meal break.

 

Firefly is great, and Pearls is one of my all-time favorites. I also really like Siren Hall in Elk Rapids and their sister restaurant Lulu's in Bellaire. I've done dinner at Lulu's and drinks after at Shorts more than once.

If the threadstarter heads to Bellaire for that, I suggest the back road along Torch Lake. Very scenic.

 

Dude what you want is Sault Ste. Marie!!! As long as you're driving an extra 2 1/2 hours to Traverse City why not drive 3 more to get to the Sault???

Attractions:
Mackinaw Bridge
Fudge
Mackinaw Island Fudge Ice Cream
Soo Locks
Pasties
Roads
Trees

Hotels:
There are literally a bunch

Ha ha just kidding. Traverse City is amazing/beautiful (especially for an anniversary/romatic getaway) and Shorts is one of my favorite bars.

Awful lot of Cherry Heads in here...

 

Since we have so many people talking about GR and TC, I am going to hijack. The wife and I are heading to a wedding in TC this weekend. I am bailing on work Friday and we are leaving mid morning with no agenda. Our thought is to take the long way up the coast. We want to hit Mitten Bar in Ludington and Big Al's in Manistee. Other than that, any recommendations of places to stop off for a beer, lake views, cool shops, etc?

 

I might as well pile on. Traverse City all the way. Stopping in GR is a good plan.

 

TC is just better in pretty much every way, especially for anniversaries. Trattoria Stella is just great, 7 Monks has great taps, there's terrific scenery and you should do lunch at Jolly Pumpkin.

TC...this is what you want.