St. Ignace, Michigan

We love going to St. Ignace, Michigan. We like to go once a year and jumped at the chance to have a quick getaway on our way to visit family.

St. Ignace is a quaint little town in the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula. It is right on the shore of Lake Huron, so there are plenty of things to do and see. There are also plenty of small businesses to support, so we pick new ones each time we visit.

When we found the Bavarian Haus Lakefront Inn for lodging, we were really impressed! It’s one of the few family owned motels left that haven’t been bought out and is really reasonably priced. The staff was kind and courteous. They made every effort to make us feel welcome. We reserved a balcony room overlooking the water, and we were not disappointed at all. Seriously, it had the absolute best view! Here is their website: https://bavarianhauslakefrontinn.com/

After we got settled in, we took off to explore the beach. The shoreline was somewhat sandy with some super cool rocks. Some of these rocks were absolutely huge and the kids had a blast climbing them! There were several geese that we enjoyed watching, too.

Climbing on the rocks video:

After a quick bite to eat, we decided to head to the pool. The water was a bit cold for me, so I went to the hot-tub while Joe and the kids played catch with some new friends. I met another mom and we had a nice time talking. There was also a wrestling team from Wayland, MI that was staying there for a tournament. The wrestling team was so nice! They were respectful, very well behaved, and lots of fun to talk to. The other mom and I were really impressed. Here’s a shoutout to the awesome wrestlers!

We decided to turn in a bit early so we could get up to watch the sunrise. It was so worth it–even though I’m not much of a morning person! It was gorgeous!

We left the hotel and walked through town. We love walking through this beautiful old-fashioned town. Maybe it’s the window shopping. It could be the old buildings. Or maybe it’s the smell of hand made fudge! 😉 It was rather early, but Zak & Mack’s Chocolate Haus was open for business! You don’t even have to open the door to smell the amazing scents of chocolate and their other awesome confections, but once you walk inside, the smells and sights make for a mouth-watering experience! This amazing chocolate shop has been family owned and operated since they first opened. They now have locations in Frankenmuth, St. Ignace, and Sault Ste. Marie.

The pictures don’t do justice to the perfect little creations they have, but here are some that I hope you enjoy.

The staff was so kind and told us about their shop. They took time out of their day to talk to us and it was such an amazing experience. The fudge we decided to buy was buy 2 get 1 free, so of course we had to try some! In case you were wondering, we bought the original chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate mint, and dark sea-salt caramel fudge. And yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. They do ship, so if you have a serious chocolate craving, you can order it here: https://zakandmacs.com/ I also want to point out that it is made with mostly natural ingredients!

Where do you go once you’re jazzed with a sugar buzz and loaded up with fudge? To a fish market of course! Please tell me that makes sense to someone besides us. 🤣 Honestly though, this area has some of the best fish markets in the state and we like to get it as fresh as possible. Massey Fish Co. was our next destination. This neat fish market was super clean. Yes there is a bit of a fish smell, but if there wasn’t I’d be worried. I mean this is a fish market. 😄

Everyone here was super nice, too. We talked to Jamie Massey and he told us about the market and how their business has been in the family and was passed down to him, too. While we talked to one of the super-nice associates, we got to see the whole process of cleaning and filleting our fresh yellow perch that were brought in that morning off the boat. It doesn’t get much fresher than that. Perch is one of our favorites and they were really delicious! We also bought some whitefish pate and smoked whitefish. It was absolutely amazing! We agree that this is our favorite Michigan whitefish market.

While we talked to the owner, he was telling us about the need for good employees. Massey’s is doing so well that he would love to have some additional employees. It seems like a great place to work with some decent wages, so if you’re in the area and are looking for work, it might be a good idea to stop by. You can find more about them here: https://masseyfish.com/

No visit to St. Ignace would be complete without a trip to the lighthouse. The Wawatam lighthouse is located along the shore of Lake Huron in the St. Ignace City Marina. This automated lighthouse was first lit in 2006 and proudly stands 52 ft. tall and houses a 250 mm. Fresnel lens. The Wawatam Lighthouse not only provides a life-saving light to mariners, in the winter it also guides snowmobilers to safety as they cross frozen Lake Huron.

Although we would have loved to spend some more time there, we were short on time and had to get back on the road to our next adventure.

For the full length YouTube video on our St. Ignace adventure, click on the link below:

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Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps!

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