Fayette Historical State Park

7/2/2021

Garden, MI

I’m going to be honest, I had very low expectations for this park. I’m not typically drawn to old buildings or monuments. And Gob also prefers the rugged nature to the paved path. We arrived fully expecting a quick pit stop to check something off the list. But boy were we both pleasantly surprised!

We began on an overlook trail skirting the edge of a cliff overlooking the Big Bay de Noc. Gob could hear the water and smell the water, and he did not like that he could not touch the water.

I expected this to be the extent of the trail. That it would lead us down to the water and back to the historic buildings. But much to our surprise, we turned further into the forest and found ourselves in a jungle of ferns as tall as me and thistles even taller. A beautiful saturation of greens, browns, and purples.

As we stumbled out of the forest, we found ourselves transported back in time. Sort of. These buildings were beautifully weathered. Just dilapidated enough. Perfectly imperfect.

And don’t even get me started on the remnants of the pier.

Seriously, this park blew my expectations out of the water. The sparkly blue pristine water lapping up the pebbled shoreline. If you’re in the area, don’t skip it.