Need a Destination for an Inexpensive Vacation?

Because I am always looking for a fun place to visit with the family and someone to tell me about such a place, I thought I would share our experience.

Camping is one of the least expensive vacations next to visiting family (which for many is merely an event to be endured). So if you are the camping type, I have an awesome place for you to go. Let me first tell you that we are not expert campers. Due to Cub Scout Camp we have had some resent practice at it, but by no means are we camping connoisseurs.

The Aloha State Park in Northern Michigan is beautiful. It is next to a lovely and large lake and has a beach for the kids to play. The camp sites were large and the bathrooms were clean and maintained daily. Each site had a wonderful metal fire pit. Entrance into the park is quite strict. You are stopped every time you enter. It costs $30 per night with an additional parking fee of about $8 per day. What is cool is that you can register online and pick your site from a map. They will even send you a confirmation email.

The other campers there were obviously professional campers. Each site generally had an RV camper and a tent. There was even one camper who each evening put up a projection screen and showed movies. What a great idea! Our kids made instant friends with the other children and were constantly racing around between camp sites. The weather was very nice with low humidity and around 75 degrees each day. The nights were a little cold with the temperatures sinking into the 40s. You could purchase stacks of wood nearby. Frequently you could buy from locals who had a lock box next to the wood and you just had to deposit money into it and then take the wood. Just outside the park there is a camping market that has everything you forget in it. It even has delicious doughnuts in the morning according to my husband (because they never seemed to make it back to me). There are two impressive nearby towns to explore, Petoskey and Harbor Springs. Both have a lot of local artwork which you can purchase. Mackinaw Island (only horse and buggy transportation and really cool) is less than an hour away.

You really felt like you were part of a neighborhood while there. The only less than positive incident that occurred was the rather loud vocal performance that a nearby tent put on around 2 am. While the adults snickered about it around the fire the next day, it is probably not something you want your kids to hear!