Taste of Southwest Michigan Itinerary
Day One
Blueberry Orchards
Start your culinary journey in The Fruitbelt of the Midwest. The Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council will assist you in customizing a tour that includes a nearby fruit farm where your orchard tour will take you past trees laden with fragrant blossoms or fruit.
Enjoy an old-fashioned country lunch outdoors with chicken and picnic favorites then visit the farm market. Taste the wines of the region at one of the countryside wineries. Most offer nonalcoholic sparkling fruit juices in addition to their award-winning wines.
Attend a cooking class in St. Joseph. After dinner stop at the North Pie Lighthouse for a group photo before watching the sun set over Lake Michigan.
Overnight at the Marina Grand Resort where you will wake up to a beautiful view of the marina in New Buffalo.
Day Two
Gilmore Car Museum
Travel east to Kalamazoo where you will meet your Discover Kalamazoo step-on-guide for a complimentary city tour. Your step-on–guide will travel with you to a local greenhouse where vegetable plants are growing.
After your greenhouse tour you will travel to the scenic Gull Lake area where you will tour the former estate to cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg and his wife Dr. Carrie Staines Kellogg. The Kellogg Manor House was built on the highest point overlooking Gull Lake. While touring this home you will learn about the history of the company, the corn flake, and the history of this beautiful home. Consider adding lunch at the home to this tour.
After lunch, stretch your legs at the Air Zoo or the Gilmore Car Museum. Air Zoo is a multi-sensory atmosphere that goes beyond anything you’ve ever seen. The Air Zoo features over fifty aircraft, full motion flight simulators, and the world’s largest indoor mural.
Gilmore Car Museum offers a world-class collection of over two hundred vintage cars in a unique rural facility of restored historic barns and period buildings. Before departing this museum make time for frozen custard at the Blue Moon Diner.
In the evening enjoy dinner and a show at Cornwell’s Turkeyville USA. This treasure features turkey dinner with all the fixin’s and a professional dinner theatre. Be sure to save room for a homemade dessert or ice cream from the old-fashioned ice cream parlor.
After the show check into the McCamly Plaza Hotel in nearby Battle Creek.
Day Three
Firekeepers Casino
Before leaving Battle Creek for Lansing, make a stop at Firekeeper’s Casino. This is a great breakfast or lunch stop, as the multiple restaurants in the casino offer something for everyone’s palate and budget. Upon arrival in the capital city of Lansing visit Michigan State University Dairy Store. While enjoying ice cream, visit the observation deck to see the processing facilities and watch a multimedia presentation about the MSU Dairy Plant cheese and ice cream manufacturing.
In the afternoon tour the Michigan Historical Museum in downtown Lansing where you will be surrounded by Michigan’s past from prehistoric times through the late twentieth century. Dine at a local restaurant, recommended by the Lansing CVB. Overnight in Lansing or proceed to another city in this great state.
