A One-Day Trip to Grand Rapids đșïž
A One-Day Trip to Grand Rapids đșïž As Michiganâs second-largest city, Grand Rapids totally surprised me with how clean it is! The highways here are pretty decent tooâunlike the ones near Detroit, which feel a bit run-down in lots of spots. Overall, my first impression of this city was super positive đ. And since itâs close to Lake Michigan, there are tons of fun beaches to exploreâtotal bonus for a day out! Our first stop on the weekend was Pere Marquette Park đïž. The best part? Itâs free to enter, and parking is a breezeâonly $10 for an all-day pass (such a steal!). The water was clear, and the sand was nice and fine, perfect for walking barefoot or building tiny sandcastles. We were having a great timeâuntil the sky suddenly turned gray and it started raining! â We had to pack up quickly and switch plans, but even that short time at the beach made me want to come back on a sunnier day. Next up, we headed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum đ§©. Hereâs the lowdown on tickets: adults pay $12, kids $5, but if youâre a local, itâs even cheaperâ$10 for adults and free for kids! I heard there are also some membership discounts, but I didnât look into them too much since we were just passing through. For parking: there are a few street meters nearby (theyâre free on weekends, but spots are super limitedâgood luck snagging one!), and a dedicated parking lot right next to the museum. The rate there is around $2 for 30 minutes, with a $24 daily cap. The museum has three floors total, with all kinds of themed exhibitsâfrom local history displays to interactive science stationsâand a whole area just for kids to play and learn. Unfortunately, we only had 1.5 hours there before it closed (time flies when youâre having fun!), and my kid kept saying, âI didnât get to play enough!â đ„ș Honestly, you could easily spend half a day hereâespecially if you have little ones. Itâs super family-friendly and way more engaging than your average museum! After the museum closed, we saw a post online that the Hot Air Balloon Festival was happening nearbyâso we decided to swing by! đ The festival itself is free, but parking was $10. When we got there, though, we found out the weather was too iffy for the balloons to lift offâbummer! đ But the staff said theyâd do âglow showsâ (where they fire up the balloon burners to light up the balloons) in about an hour and a half. We were about to leave because it sounded kinda boring⊠until we noticed a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road, with people waiting outside the festival fences. My kid begged, âWe already cameâletâs wait a little!â So we pulled over tooâturns out the spot was a parking lot for a local office, and since it was the weekend, no one was there to stop us. We waited for about 30 minutes, then decided to walk into the festival grounds (the staff werenât checking parking passes anymore, so we just wandered in!). Turns out, the glow shows were way cooler than we expected! They lit up multiple balloons one after another, and the bright colors against the dark sky were so pretty. We grabbed some snacks (classic festival foodâhot dogs and popcorn đż) and joined the crowd. Hereâs the thing about this festival: it made me think, âAmerica really has great mountains, great waters⊠and super boring days!â đ Like, this isnât the most exciting activity ever, but there were so many families thereâpeople brought folding chairs, spread out blankets on the lawn, and just chatted while waiting for the glow shows. Everyone looked genuinely happy, and the vibe was so laid-back and cheerful that we couldnât help but get swept up in it. Even though it wasnât what we planned, it ended up being one of the best parts of the day! #GrandRapidsDayTrip#MichiganTravel#FamilyFriendlyFun#HotAirBalloonFestival#LakeMichiganBeaches
