I am spending the next few days on a Circle Michigan FAM tour on behalf of Battle Creek. The FAM tour, also known as a familiarization tour, is throughout Southern Michigan, and today is day one.

This has been a phenomenal trip so far! And I can't wait to tell you! First, we started at McCamly Plaza Hotel in Battle Creek. The staff was so friendly and they had a great reception room for us waiting until we could board our bus.

Once boarded, we met our driver, Dezzi - amazing guy! And, we headed out to the Kellogg Manor House. Kellogg Manor House, sits on Gull Lake and has such an amazing history. W.K. Kellogg used that as his summer home and it is absolutely incredible! The inctricate details, all the rook tile and the 400 year old tapestries that lined the wall would have anyone stunned! The House prepared lunch for us, and we sat overlooking Gull Lake; could not have asked for a better day with the temperatures in the 80's and the sun shining!

From there, we headed to Gilmore Car Museum. It doesn't matter if you know cars or not to be fascinated by this place. Set on a large piece of land, different barns house different period cars; there is everything from 1930's luxury cars, to race cars to miniature cars! It is outside, and with the sun beating down on us, it was getting roasty. So... we headed over to the diner and enjoyed some soft serve custard! It was definitly the perfect treat!

As the afternoon progressed, we went to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. Now, this was my first experience and I can say I was highly impressed. When you walk in, you walk through this hallway of clouds and it gives the illusion of walking into space, then, you enter a large room with a hand painted mural covering the wall! The planes placed throughout the room are so unique and have their own stories, but we didn't have much time to hear everything. My kids would love it! And, they are doing free general admission all summer. However, my favorite part, was when we sat in a movie-theatre like room, and had a 4-D experience... the story of the 'Kalamazoo Gal'; an aircraft in World War II. You felt your chair move, the screen jump out at you and even air blew at you! Quite the experience!

Then, to finish the evening we headed out to Marina Grand Resort in New Buffalo MI. It is beautiful! The rooms are very welcoming and, to my great pleasure, they had chocolate waiting to greet me... definitly a great start to the evening.

Come to find out, they rent out bikes for free as a compimentary service. So, of course, I had to test it out. They have the old-school bikes that don't have handle breaks (only back pedal breaks) and I rode out to Lake Michigan. The sky was the clearest of blues, the temperature was perfect and the sun was setting over the waters. Now, if you have never experienced a Lake Michigan sunset, it is definitly something you need to do. To finish off the evening, I enjoyed a glass of wine at the hotel's restaurant overlooking the harbor. I miss my kids, but today was quite the experience. I look forward to part 2 tomorrow!

As Cassie is on one last vacation before school starts, Karen Hagerty from the Marshall Chamber of Commerce remarks on one exciting upcoming event!

The 45^th Annual Historic Marshall Home Tour will be Saturday and Sunday, September 6-7 in 2008. This Grand-daddy of home tours is sure to delight visitors with some never before seen homes. Ticketholders can enter seven private residences, seven museums, a church and the Madison Green Art Faire. New evening activities are sure to prove fun with the Kalamazoo Big Band playing Saturday evening from 6-8 PM and from 9-11 PM a Dueling Pianos concert right out front of the Honolulu House Museum by the Brooks Memorial Fountain. Other activities that weekend include the 7^th Annual Civil War Ball held downtown next to the GAR Hall Museum and Carver Park, the Calhoun County Quilters Show held at the Marshall Activities Center, KRMY Brook's Field Airport’s 77^th Anniversary Fly and Drive-In, Zion Lutheran Church's 23^rd Annual Taste of Germany Dinner, Trinity Episcopal Church's Salad Smorgasbord, a Needlework Show at the Marshall Distric Library, and a wonderful Evening Gallery Tour with the Blue Hour Gallery, Gallery 105, EastEnd Sudio & Gallery, and the Eclectic Gallery. All these events have a website on the Marshall Area Chamber's www.marshallmi.org so if you need times, places, cost, details, etc., you can find it all there under our "events" tab. Or, you can call the Marshall Area Chamber at 800.877.5163 and we'll be glad to answer your questions on these events or others happening in the Marshall area.