We explored Grand Rapids, Michigan for the first time this summer and had such a blast. It was our family’s first time in Michigan and we were blown away by this city. Grand Rapids is full of so much art, great food and culture. There is so much to do both indoors and outdoors as a family.Â
Lodging
We stayed at Amway Grand Plaza Curio Collection by Hilton. It was located right downtown along the river! All of the rooms have the most incredible views of downtown! Our connecting rooms had the coolest view of Grand Rapid’s iconic Blue Bridge (which looked really neat lit up at night). We ate breakfast at The Kitchen Counter, which was located in the Amway Grand’s lobby. It had the best quiche!!Â
There are also a fitness center and a poll located here. And, many restaurants in walking distance, like Sundance Grill (just a block away).Â
Day 1
We arrived in Grand Rapids late afternoon! We headed to the Grand Rapid’s Public Museum. The museum is pictured below and the circle building actually houses a beautiful and historic carousel!Â
My girls loved riding the carousel and we also loved all of the hands-on exhibits here. Highlights were seeing how a clock worked, walking through the Old Streets of Grand Rapids and playing in an arcade!
After the museum, we headed to Grand Rapids Downtown Market (425 Ionia Ave SW, Grand Rapids). This indoor marketplace featured many vendors and eateries. All of the food had an option for ready-to-eat. We all loved this and we enjoyed trying a little of everything (from sushi to burgers to egg rolls).Â
After dinner, we walked across the street to House Rules Board Game Lounge (404 Ionia Ave SW, Grand Rapids). There are over 600 board games that you can select to play with while eating here! We enjoyed some family favorites like Jenga and Spot It., and also trying some new games too.Â
Day 2
We started off with breakfast at The Kitchen Counter (located at Amway Grand) before heading to John Ball Zoo (1300 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids). This zoo is just minutes from downtown Grand Rapids and features wildlife from around the world. There are immersive exhibits, hands-on experiences and even scenic trails.Â
We loved the new sustainable otter exhibit which is right at the entrance of the zoo! We saw 5 otters all playing together in the water!! My kids loved the camel rides and I went on a zipline over the zoo. Overall, we were blown away!
We ate lunch at Terra GR (1444 Lake Dr. SE, Grand Rapids), This was a great farm-to-table restaurant in the Eastown neighborhood. We enjoyed the hot honey pepperoni pizza!
Then we headed to quite possibly the coolest park we’ve ever been to!
Millennium Park (1415 Maynard Ave SW) is one of the nation’s largest urban parks. It spans 1400 acres and features nearly 18 miles of paved trails for hiking and biking. There is a splash pad, beach and boat rentals too! Parking is free here, but there is a cost for beach admission (which I highly recommend). My kids had a blast going back and forth from the beach to the splash pad!
For dinner, we ate delicious Detroit-style pizza from Quarantino’s (1444 Lake Dr. SE). The cannolis were also tasty from here!
Day 3
On our last day, we had a blast at 3 neat areas (Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and Saugatuck Dune Rides! We also walked across the Blue Bridge. You guys, we just loved it here!!
Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (1000 E Beltline Ave NE) spans 158 acres and features over 200 stunning sculptures. The Lena Meijer’s Children’s Garden has recently been updated and we loved it!! There is a new “Big Girl Playground” sculpture along with a neat cabin, treehouse, huge water table of the Great Lakes and even an ice cream parlor!Â
We loved the CHIHULY: Radiant Forms indoor exhibit (which is open through November 1st). It shows his work through four decades, even showing images from his sketch pad!! CHIHULY at Meijer Gardens is featured throughout the outdoor garden too and we loved seeing the large-scale glass installations.Â
We dined at the James & Shirley Balk Cafe, located inside the visitor’s center. The food was great and we were right underneath amazing CHIHULY glass!!
The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum was a beautiful museum for a family to explore! There was a beautiful wall mosaic along the building and there was even a special kid’s door to enter through. My kids loved the bubble exhibit and the play areas (like walking through a playhouse and making food in the kitchen). This had 2 floors of interactive exhibits and we had a blast!
On our way back to St. Louis, we stopped at Saugatuck for a dune ride! Saugatuck Dune Rides offers a 40-minute guided ride through scenic sand dunes along Lake Michigan. My husband took our older 4 girls, and I stayed back with baby Tess (children under 1 are not permitted). Mark and the girls absolutely loved this ride! They loved raising their hands up with speeding over dunes and laughed a lot at funny jokes from the guides along the way too!
Overall, we just loved Grand Rapids, Michigan!! I felt like we just touched the surface because there was so much to do here!! Highly recommend a visit here. We loved it!
