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Frankenmuth - "Michigan's Little
Bavaria"
For a taste of Germany and Christmas
Year-round in this Fun Town
Well, it's getting close to that time of year again when thoughts turn to
preparations for Christmas and family visits, where stories about family
members will dominate the gatherings.
With those two thoughts in mind, we thought a visit to
Frankenmuth, Michigan's Little Bavaria and home of the World's Largest
Christmas Store, would give our family a head start on the Season.
We also wanted to give our boys a taste of Germany, which is a
part of their heritage.
We were sure that Frankenmuth would make a great
feature for a www.hotelfun4kids.com
"Visits...".
While in Frankenmuth we stayed at the Frankenmuth Bavarian
Inn Lodge - go to www.hotelfun4kids.com
"Visits..." Bavarian Inn Lodge - located within walking distance
of Main Street and worthy of a "Visits..." feature article all on its own.
The Town of Frankenmuth
Frankenmuth is located between Flint and Saginaw,
Michigan, just over an hour north of Detroit. Settled in 1845 by a
group of German Missionaries, today great pride is taken by its residents
to preserve the German heritage. Through local shopping, dining and
attractions, every visitor can enjoy the most authentic Bavarian community
in all of the United States year round.
And if Christmas is one of your favourite times of the
year, Frankenmuth is the place to be. Not only is the World's Largest
Christmas Store - Bronners - located just outside town, but other stores
also feature Christmas decorations and collectibles.
Annual festivals and events also bring families to
Frankenmuth, including the popular Snowfest at the
end of January and the Frankenmuth Auto Fest in early September.
For
more information on Frankenmuth, including special events go to www.frankenmuth.org.
Our visit in late October made for a great fall family
getaway and here are just some of the highlights we recommend for families
visiting Frankenmuth.
A Walking Tour of Main Street
No matter what the weather, a walk up Main Street is not
to be missed. We strolled over the covered bridge from Frankenmuth
Bavarian Lodge and headed north. You can also take the shuttle from the Lodge to the Bavarian
Inn Restaurant and start from there.
Our first stop was Rau's Country Store and what a stop
it was. This unique mercantile has the largest collection of
die-casts and miniatures imaginable. Every make, model and just about
every colour of vehicle, air plane, tractor and more line the
shelves. When I asked the boys what their favourite store in
Frankenmuth was (silly me I thought it would be one of the candy stores),
this one topped the list. Watching my husband and the boys look at
all the models still brings a smile to my face.
If you have a sweet tooth, my personal weakness is
chocolate, Frankenmuth is THE PLACE TO GO. There are quite a
few places to get great fudge and candy along Main Street and also at
River
Place.
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Zak's Bavarian Kandy Haus is a quaint old house
featuring hand dipped chocolates. We had a few samples and just had
to buy some to take home too.
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Further down the street we had an opportunity to watch
some real experts make fudge at the Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen.
It
takes 10 steps and first rate ingredients to make this delicious
treat.
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We watched and learned as fudge was cooled and creamed on
giant marble slabs. Of course we didn't leave the shop without
choosing our favourite of the 14 flavours.
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Among some of the many other stores we visited along the
street was the Frankenmuth Woolen Mill. The fall nip in the air
meant I couldn't resist browsing at some of the beautiful sweaters
before making my choice.
We stopped in at the Frankenmuth Historical Museum to learn more
about the history of the area, including its early settlers.
| The visitors guide, video and audio displays help families
explore all eight gallery exhibits. Hands
on exhibits bring kids closer to those early days in Frankenmuth. |
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There is more shopping at The Castle Shops, located under
the Bavarian Inn Restaurant. While the boys headed off to the
Dragon's Den Game Room, I toured the Bear, Doll & Toy Factory.
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At the nursery, tears came to my eyes as I watched the
"Nurse" present a baby doll, complete with a birth certificate
to this young girl. I want to thank her for letting us show you the
smile on her face. |
Dining
No visit to Frankenmuth would be complete without having a
meal at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant, located on Main Street.
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We
enjoyed a wonderful all-you-can-eat chicken dinner in one of the 12 German-themed dining
rooms. A children's menu is offered that includes chicken meals.
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The Bavarian Inn Lodge's Oma's Restaurant was our choice
for hearty breakfasts and casual dinners. The Lodge's Ratskeller
serves lighter fare in a cafeteria setting. See www.hotelfun4kids.com
"Visits..." The Bavarian Inn Lodge for more information.
Across the street from the Bavarian Inn Restaurant is
Zehnder's of Frankenmuth - a large family restaurant featuring world
famous chicken and more.
Here are some Tips for your walk along Frankenmuth's Main
Street:
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 Make sure you pick up a walking map and look for the
smiley faces for photo ops. Here is one of ours at the Frankenmuth
Cheese Haus Mouse.
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Seven times daily the Glockenspiel at the Bavarian Inn
Restaurant puts on a display telling the story of the Pied Piper - best viewing is from the Restaurant Parking
Lot.
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Stop in the Visitor's Center for
coupons, brochures and directions to the best Frankenmuth has to offer.
River Place
A fairly new addition to Main Street, near the covered
bridge, is River Place with over 30 shops and attractions styled as a
miniature European Village.
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A definite must visit for anyone with kids is BeeBee's Fun
Place featuring the Beehive Foam Ball Factory, Video Games and
Arcade.
Inside the Foam Ball Factory are thousands of foam balls
that kids collect to fill up the center
fountain and watch it blow the balls out the top.
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activities, ball vacuums and more the play with inside this enclosed area.
The boys thought the foam blasters were "the best". |
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Other attractions at River Place include a Mirror Maze
called A-Maze-N Mirrors and, although it was too cold during our visit, you can also
tour the Cass River aboard the
Bavarian Belle, a paddlewheel that docks at River Place from May to
October.
We did however, catch and enjoy the free laser light show
offered nightly most of the year except January to March where shows are
only on Friday and Saturday nights.
As I mentioned earlier, River Place has more than one
place to sample delicious fudge, chocolates and ice cream.
Bronner's CHRISTmas WONDERLAND
No visit to Frankenmuth would be complete with out a stop
at the World's Largest Christmas Store - Bronner's CHRISTmas
WONDERLAND. Over 5 1/2 football fields of everything Christmas
will get anyone in the mood for this season.
We have a family tradition of collecting Christmas ornaments on every trip that started when our first son arrived and we
reminisce about where each ornament came from as they hang it on the Christmas
tree.
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Bronner's was going to make the choice of adding to
our collection very difficult indeed. I hope that when the boys have
families of their own and put these ornaments on the tree they will remember
where each decoration came from.
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| First stop for the boys was the sports section - do you
believe it - thousands of ornaments on every sport. While not their
ultimate selection, they did get quite a kick out of this display.
Mitchell finally settled on a crystal and gold dove and
Stephen, who we refer to as "Tiger" decided on a glass and gold
tiger as his choice. |
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I, on the other hand, found it very difficult to
choose. Here's some facts about Bronner's that will help you
understand my dilemma:
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More than 50,000 trims and gifts with
over half of them priced under $10.00.
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No less than 500 different Nativities
from one inch to life size.
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Over 350
Decorated Christmas Trees of varying themes
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6,000 styles of ornaments
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Above the sales floors over 700
animated figures are on display.
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Personalized ornaments
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over 200 styles of nutcrackers
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Specialty and collectibles
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50% of the glass ornaments are
Bronner's own designs.
After about an hour I finally settled on a Hummel for my
collection, but it was a tough choice for this Christmas fan.
Every year this Christmas shopper's dream store welcomes
over 2 million visitors from all over the world - the welcome sign
is in more than 75 languages. Indoor and outdoor displays as well as
special events including Santa and the Easter Bunny make great family
photo opportunities as well.
Be sure to include a stop at this Christmas Wonderland and
I hope your family will enjoy it as much as we did.
Parks
While during our visit the weather wasn't warm enough for
a picnic, there are a few nice parks in Frankenmuth with playgrounds and
one that includes an outdoor pool and tennis courts. When you stop
into the Visitor's Center - See tips for a Walking Tour of
Main Street, be sure to ask for a map and directions, particularly for
Kid's Kingdom and Memorial Park.
As one of Michigan's top tourism destinations,
Frankenmuth welcomes over 3,000,000 visitors annually. As a www.hotelfun4kids.com
visit destination, Frankenmuth surpassed all our expectations for a family
vacation, bringing with it a chance to experience German culture and enjoy
the Christmas spirit that thrives here year-round.
For more information on our visit to Frankenmuth go
to
www.hotelfun4kids.com
"Visits..." Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Lodge
For more information on Family Attractions go to Michigan Family
Attractions
For more information on Hotels and Resorts go to Michigan Hotels and
Resorts
www.hotelfun4kids.com"Visits
..." is an unique opportunity that encourages you to ask us
questions about the Visit location. Go to www.hotelfun4kids.com/contactus.htm
to submit your question and we will do our best to answer
it. By
Maureen Hall
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