Frankenmuth, Michigan for a girls away~

I am so behind on Blogging and I am incredibly sorry for that. This past weekend my friend Colleen and I headed to Frankenmuth, Michigan. It's a place Colleen has always wanted to check out because it has one of the largest Christmas stories in North America. She asked if i'd like to go sometime and I said "sure", sounds like fun to me!!

So off we went, its a 3.5hr drive. We were too early to check into the hotel so we decided to head straight for the Bronner's Christmas Store.

It was truly like something I have never seen before. IT was huge!!! I honestly felt like we were walking through the elfs workshop in the North Pole. AMAZING! They were playing Christmas music the whole time, which I have to admit got on my nerves a little. I'm a big Halloween girl...that's my thing. Listening to Christmas music in September was a little..shall I say....weird. It was like, I wanted to get excited for Christmas, but we still have the air conditioner on at home so it seemed unrealistic. Overall though, it was beautiful and it did bring a sense of Christmas spirit.

Everywhere we went there was Christmas everything....there was a Christmas bulb for everyone!
It was overwhelming, so much to see....so many decorations.

 

It wasn't that busy when we were there, that was nice. I am sure when the season gets closer this place is crazy. There were a couple bus tours there, elderly woman enjoying the scenery.

Everywhere we turned there was more and more Christmas. I would definitely recommend that if you like Christmas and you are looking for the perfect Christmas ornament or decorataion...go visit Bronner's in Frankenmuth, Michigan. You will not be disappointed.

We headed over to our hotel and checked in, then we went to dinner. Apparently Frankenmuth is known for its Beer and Chicken. The whole little town was much like a "Little Germany". Very Cool, there were some beer brewery's, and restaurants totally catered to chicken. We settled on this one restaurant called Zehnder's which is world famous. It was quite the experience, the food was soooo good. Portion sizes were huge, and the staff was dressed in old German costumes. If you look close enough you can see the waitress dressed in her serving attire. 

It was a three course meal, and it was also all you can eat. The first sitting they bring, all the food in the above picture. Soup, breads, dips and coleslaw. It was delicious, seriously after a long drive, trouble at the border we needed something good to end our day.

 

I ordered a Peach Mojito...which I didn't fancy but finished about half of it.

 

Ok check out the above picture, simply amazing, This is the second sitting, fried chicken which I have to say was really really good, mashed potatoes that were creamy and whipped to perfection, dressing, gravy, green beans and some sort of pasta. OMG....SOOOOO GOOD!!! I can't express enough that if you ever visit Michigan, stopping into Frankenmuth and having some chicken in Zehnder's is probably a very good decision.

Lastly we had dessert, really neither of us could eat it. We just ordered it to get the picture and Colleen tasted it. I can't remember if or what the other dessert options were.

We decided to walk around after that dinner, we had to walk it off. So we ventured out onto the street and into the cutest little shops. There was lots of shopping options, cute little hidden gems. Lots of souvenir  kind of shops. This little town was full of life, tourists lined the lively streets. Residents out with their guitars, small home grown bands bellowing out old tunes sure enough to bring memories to the food coma induced people leaving the restaurants. IT was wonderful, weather was perfect and Colleen and I had such a nice time going in and out of these shops.

Here are some night time shots I took, just too show you the area. It was very German looking, very little traffic but lots of people enjoying the night.

Little selfie with an old friend...

Isn't it cute, dimly lit streets with benches so you can rest your legs when things become exhausting.

Beautiful little water fountain....

The next day we headed over to another kind of shopping centre. This spot was much like a little village on its own. It was a town, all on its own filled with once again cute little shops for tourists pleasure.

This little treasure is called Frankenmuth's River Place, another German themed shopping centre. Many stores for the residents of Frankenmuth as well as the many visitors. Zaks Fudge, Funky Skunk, Yankee Candles,Tervis, The Popcorn Wagon, Humor Us, Exist Clothing, SugarHigh Bakery, SugarRush Sweets and Treats, Jerky Joint, The Enchanted Forest, Hello Cats and Dogs and many many other spots. Those are just a few of the ones we checked out.

 

The picture below was the cupcake store we stopped in, we both picked one out for the drive home. It was delicious, not better than Tiny Cakes here in Cambridge but it was pretty good!

The Enchanted Forest was a cute store, here is a little sample of the fairy garden that has become quite the deal. I thought about doing one, but I think i'd get bored quickly and give up. Then i'd have to listen to Paul complain about the money I wasted on my garden. lol

The Popcorn Wagon was a lot like Kernals. I bought some Dill Pickle popcorn and a Chicago Mix one to bring home to the family. I would recommend the Dill Pickle, it is by far my favorite and everyone who has tired it loves it!

In the middle of the shopping centre they have something that I haven't seen before. CORN HOLE!!! YES, how cool is that? Paul would be in all his glory....what a great idea that is for husbands, kids or couples who need to take a break while shopping.

Well in a nutshell my friends, that was our little get-away~

I want to thank Colleen for inviting me, I really needed some time away. It was perfect, close enough to drive but far enough away it still felt like a mini-vay-cay.

I have to say we both felt this place would make a great girls weekend away, its something we'll have to look at for the future. I know my girlfriends would enjoy!

Good night and god bless my lovelies~