Like the old kid’s game, Connect-the-Dots, a carefully planed vacation to parts unknown based on visiting sites chosen for their recreational activities, historic significance, natural beauty, creature comforts and gourmet delights— can produce a completed picture that reflects the sum of its parts.

The following travelogue represents a dot-by-dot exploration of the lower Michigan peninsula, “the Mitten,” as it is known to Michiganders, that great promontory of land surrounded on the east by Lake Huron and on the west by Lake Michigan.

Dot 1: Lock Stock and Barrel: a visit to the Henry Ford’s Museum and Greenfield Village.

Nearly every trip to Michigan begins in Detroit— the Motor City—which was founded in 1701 by the French adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac on the shore of the Detroit River, which means River of the Straight.

After you’ve explored the downtown area with its appealing river walk, you’ll want to take a short drive to the town of Dearborn. It was here in 1928 that Henry Ford, the man that revolutionized the auto industry, laid the corner stone for a unique museum devoted to America’s technological past. Today the museum is a four-star attraction offering a cornucopia of remarkable objects and exhibits: from Ford’s original Model Ts, to gargantuan steam locomotives, Buckminster Fuller’s visionary Dymaxion House, even the limousine that John F. Kennedy rode through the streets of Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.

Adjacent to the museum, on 90 acres of land, is Ford’s painstakingly collected and reassembled homage to an America gone by— Greenfield Village. Constructed from actual historic buildings (and tourable by Model T), this living history museum is a hands-on community where weavers work on traditional looms, potters turn out ceramic crockery, along with tinsmiths, metal workers and glass blowers. There’s even a working roundhouse. But the greatest treasure of Greenfield Village is its brick-by-brick, piece-by-piece reconstruction of Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratories. This is not a recreation. Ford bought Menlo Park lock, stock and barrel. To enter these laboratories is to enter the past. You can almost hear Edison reciting, “Mary had a little lamb” into the first phonograph. Greenfield Village provides a wonderful way for parents and their children to connect with an America that was.

The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
Open” 9:30-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Christmas and Thanksgiving. Tours available. Information: (313) 982-6100 or www.TheHenryFord.org.

Dot 2: Go Blue!, a visit to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

Driving north from Detroit on Michigan Route 23, it was obvious we were approaching Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines, when the entire side of a rustic old barn proclaimed, “Go Blue!”

Founded in 1937, the university dominates the town, from its gothic-revival architecture, to the throngs of students that fill its bookstores, coffee bars and specialty shops. One of the best ways to explore the campus is to take a self-guided walking tour that includes visits to the President’s House (1840), Tappan Hall (1894), the First University Hospital (1869), site of the original Native American land gift (1817) and the impressive Clements Library (1923) on the Law Quadrangle.

For information: www.umich.edu/pres/history. A more inclusive architectural guide to the city of Ann Arbor ( which was founded in 1824) is offered by Huron Valley Chapter of the Michigan Architectural Foundation: (734) 332-9008 or www.aiahv.com.

Dot 3: Beaches, Ponds and Woods, enjoying the shores of Lake Huron and the Huron National Forest.

As a born and bred California beach boy, I had a hard time accepting the fact that Lake Huron is a lake. How could any body of water that big not be the ocean? Our destination was the town of Oscoda.

Ideally situated on the shore of Lake Huron and at the mouth of the AuSable River, Oscoda offers miles of beaches to explore (but watch out for nasty biting sand flies). The town is also the perfect jumping off place for exploring the densely wooded trails and perfect canoeing “ponds” that weave through the Huron National Forest. In late July Oscoda hosts the AuSable River International Canoe Marathon, a world-class competition that has been held annually since 1947. For information: (989) 739-3211 or www.admin@oscodatwp.com.

Dot 4: Fantasy Island: a visit to Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel.

It’s a short ferryboat ride from Mackinac City (at the northern tip of the lower Michigan peninsula) to Mackinac Island and its most famous architectural landmark, the Grand Hotel. Every bit as grand and stately as its name implies, the hotel, which opened its doors July 10, 1887, dominates the island like an enthroned dowager from a bygone era. To step onto its stately 880-foot white colonnaded front porch (reputed to be the longest in the world) is to find yourself transported to the 19th century. It’s no wonder the Grand Hotel was chosen as the ideal backdrop for the 1979 romantic time-traveling film, “Somewhere in Time”starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

The timeless nature of the hotel is enhanced by the fact that Mackinac Island is a world without cars, where everyone gets about either on foot, by bicycle or in an endless procession of horse-drawn carriages. It is truly an idyllic experience to sit sipping afternoon tea on the endless porch, looking out on the passage where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan flow together, listening to the clip-clop, clip-clop of carriages passing by. Dinners (which are included in the cost of the rooms) are served in the hotel’s spacious 3,400 square foot dining room, the Salle à Manger by liveried waiters.

The Grand Hotel (which is decidedly pricey) does offer a variety of guest packages. The hotel is open from May through October. For information on other Mackinac Island accommodations and activities: (906) 847-3331. For Grand Hotel reservations: (800) 334-7263 or www.grandhotel.com.

Dot 5: Water and Sand; clambering and canoeing through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park.

After rounding the top of the peninsula we followed Michigan Route 22 south through Glen Haven and Empire in route to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore— a realm of mountainous sand dunes and rivers ideal for canoeing. Perched high on a plateau high above the lake, ions of erosion have exposed vast sandy slopes. The tallest of these, at the Lake Michigan Overlook, rises 450 feet from the shore. Steeply pitched, the dune offers a serious workout. Going down is a snap. It’s a helter-skelter rush to the bottom. Getting back up is a slog!

If there is an official Michigan state sport, it has to be canoeing. With its thousands of lakes, taking to canoes is a favorite summer pastime. For a beginner (like myself) the gentle course of the Lower Platte River (from the village of Honor off Scenic Highway 5042) provided a wonderfully peaceful experience. After putting in, we paddled down stream bordered by thick woodlands, passed through the placid water of Loon Lake, and a few hours later emerged at Sugar Sand Beach on Lake Michigan. More adventurous paddlers may prefer the swifter running water of the Upper Platte. For information: Riverside Canoe Trips, (231) 325-5622 or www.canoemichigan.com.

Dot 6: An Abundance of Charm: a stay in Saugatuck at the Wickwood Inn.

Saugatuck is to Michigan as Carmel and La Jolla are to California. It’s a quaint, decidedly artsy waterfront village dedicated to vacationing tourists and recreational boaters. The streets abound with boutiques, art galleries and a wide variety of eateries, many of which feature al fresco dining.

Saugatuck is also home to the Wickwood Inn, a boutique-style bed and breakfast cottage whose owners are Bill Miller and Julee Rosso, of “Silver Palate Cookbook” fame. Located on a quiet tree-lined side street, away from the hustle and bustle of the shoreline, the Wickwood Inn offers individually (somewhat over decorated) rooms and a congenial, get-to-know your fellow guests environment. But it’s the breakfasts (conceived with culinary precision by Rosso) that are the Wickwood’s signature attraction— a delicious, ever changing buffet of seasonal creations and delights. For information: (269) 857-1465 or www.wickwoodinn.com.

Our tour complete, our dots all connected, we chose to drive on to Chicago rather than returning to Detroit. There we boarded the California Zephyr for a leisurely train trip back home— but that’s another story.