Up North....

Dow Chemical is headquartered in Midland, Michigan - this is where I started my Dow career and lived here for 1.5 years before transferring to Houston. Midland is 2 hours north of Detroit, and 2 hours south of "Up North" - the beautiful resort towns along Lake Michigan. I am in Midland this week for training and thanks to the Dow shuttle (flies between Michigan & Texas once a day) John was able to come on as a guest and explore for the weekend.

Do you remember the old movie, "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeves traveling back in time to meet Jane Seymour? That was filmed on Mackinac Island which is located between the upper pennisula and main part of Michigan where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron connect. This weekend we had a Midwest Lau reunion enjoying traveling back in time to an island that has no motorized vehicles. Everyone walks, rides bikes or uses horses to get around the island. Here are some highlights of the day...


View from the ferry coming to the island - The Grand Hotel is amazing!



Our ferry boat and our My sister Marilyn & her husband Joe Pike (drove from Chicago), John & Heather (flew into Midland, MI from Houston) , Stacey, Jason, Maya & Christian Lau (cousins in Grand Rapids, MI)

The other half of the group - John & Heather, my sister Marilyn, Glen, Jill & Matthew Lau (cousins in Toledo, OH), Loren & Joanne Lau (aunt & uncle in Detroit suburbs). It was so fun to get us all together! We did this trip 5 years ago with Loren, Joanne, Stacey, Jason and Christian was just a baby. It was fun to make it happen again.


The first thing off the ferry you smell is chocolate! There are fudge stores everywhere and the tourists are called "Fudgies!"




After sampling the fudge, you either catch a carriage or rent a bike and start exploring. We ventured out with a tandem and rode around the edge of the island (8 miles).


Joe, Marilyn, Heather & John - enjoying the view of the lake


The Grand Hotel - and grand it is! It has the longest porch in the world and is the largest summer resort (May - Oct). It is over 100 years old and is kept in mint condition. You have to be a guest to explore further or pay $10 to tour the hotel. The grounds are amazing!

Footage from Joe as we ride our bikes around town....