Midwest Travel
All our adventures from around the midwestern United States. The often overlooked middle section of the U.S. that we call home. Midwest Travel is full of beautiful cityscapes, rolling farmland and beautiful forests. We love sharing all the best there is to explore here.
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Touring Tulips: Holland Michigan Festival
My Bestie Krystle always finds the best new places to check out. She put me on to this Festival in Holland, Michigan which was no exception. It was about a three hour drive from Chicagoland area but it was worth it and we put in an excellent stop off to break it up as well. This small Michigan town hosts the festival every year to celebrate their history of Dutch heritage towards the beginning of May. They plant rows and rows of Tulips which make up the crowning glory of the festival and we were excited to check them out and hopefully take some beautiful photographs. read more
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Michigan’s Upper Peninsula RV Trip
For my wonderful friend Krystle’s 30th Birthday (and surprise proposal!) we planned an epic springtime road trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We found sitters for the pups and rented an RV and a trailer to pull their Jeep for the Memorial Day long weekend. The natural beauty was beyond what we even imagined and our first RV trip was both a fun adventure and definite success. We made the seven hour trip up from Chicago with an epic road trip playlist and stayed our first night pulled over at a surprisingly beautiful truck stop. The next morning we made our way to Jack Pine Lodge and Campground and set up…
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Top Five Travel Craft Projects
Travel and crafting are my two favorite hobbies. Whenever I can find ways to combine these two loves together, I jump at the chance. Plus, creating beautiful projects are a great way to commemorate and reminisce on great memories for years to come. To this end, I have compiled my top five travel craft projects because you too can create beautiful and fun projects from your travels. Travel Map This project is pretty inexpensive, and evolves throughout the years as you travel. All you need is to purchase a U.S. or world map such as this one that has both and then you can start printing our your photos. For…
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Top Chicago Attractions: Worth it or Not?
There are a lot of Chicago attractions but they are not all created equal. Some of them are worth the hype and some truly are not. We have drafted our list of the top Chicago attractions and whether they’re worth a visit or whether they’re not. And when they are not, we have suggested a great Chicago alternative that is more worth your time and money. Chicago has so much to offer you may never experience it all; better to spend your time visiting only the best of it. Willis Tower: Not Worth It We often joke with family that we are willing to drop them off at the Willis…
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Chicago Prop House Tour
Have you ever wondered about how movies get the props they need for their films? Those items that make a room look authentic, that actors interact with and bring action scenes to life are all generally provided by companies like Zap’s Props. Their website says they’re the Midwest’s largest, renting out items for film, television, stage productions, commercials, photography, events, and more. I discovered them through Atlas Obscura’s Chicago Facebook group. They are a great resource for all kinds of history, events, tours and lesser known Chicago sites and attractions. The tour of Zap’s Prop house is offered exclusively through them and I don’t think I would have found it…
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Kids Day Out in Rockford
Over the Holiday Break my family and I were able to all get together, which is always an impressive feat given that there are six siblings total in addition to partners , kids and my parents. It can be a lot to coordinate. I am so grateful we continue to find ways to make it happen so we can spend quality time together. During the break, my parents planned a day out for the kids in nearby Rockford, IL which was the perfect outing for the group. We visited both the Burpee Museum of Natural History and right next door, the Discovery Center Museum with a break for lunch in…
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Christmas Night Out in Wrigleyville
After being suggested to us by a friend we decided to head in to the Wrigleyville neighborhood in Chicago to check out the Santa Baby pop up Bar. Regularly the Bar -ups Bartending academy, they transform their location for Christmas each year. The website videos looked amazing and the decor inside definitely lived up to the hype. You can check out their site here. Once we got there we found that the majority of the street has been prepped for Christmas and had a lovely Christmas night out in Wrigleyville. read more
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Our Favorite Fall Orchard Near Chicago
I am an absolute autumn lover. And not for all that pumpkin spice nonsense ( I mean really? Apple Cinnamon all the way!). One of my favorite traditions growing up has always been going to the pumpkin patch to pick out that year’s jack-lantern and some yummy apple inspired treats. When we moved to the Chicago area I was eager to continue the tradition and touched lucky that my friend found Jonamac Orchard. It had all the great traditional aspects I knew and loved for the kid in me, plus some new extras for the adult visitor. read more
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What to do in Wisconsin Dells Besides Water Parks or Tacky Attractions
The Wisconsin Dells are a really popular tourist location, especially for all the swimming attractions that make it the water park capital of the world. For some reason there are also a lot of really tacky attractions tagging along with the water parks. But if you look a little deeper there are actually a lot of non waterpark, non tacky, activities to check out. To help you weed through it all we have compiled our list of what to do in Wisconsin Dells besides water parks or tacky attractions. Boat Tours Wisconsin Dells has an abundance of boat tours. If you are looking for more of an adventure , try…
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Our Visit to Mattheissen State Park
Although often overshadowed by Starved Rock State Park, we loved beautiful Matheissen State park which is mere minutes away. When we visited we stayed at the cabins in Starved Rock which we posted about here, and were then conveniently close to Matheissen too. For the best experience check it out on a weekday like we did and have the park all to yourself. Whenever you go prepare for some hiking and some beautiful scenery and rock formations. Off the Main Parking lot is a large grassy space with a couple picnic tables and a small bathroom facility. The location of the hiking path is not immediately evident but we did…
