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"No, we're not lost"
March 1, 2004 -- TRAVERSE CITY, MI – For months, Debbie Swadling and her family have been waiting for the start of Spring Break so they can take a long-awaited vacation to splash in a little warm water.
Not in Florida or Cancun. In Northern Michigan.
This year the Swadlings are heading to Traverse City, where they plan to spend several days at the newly-opened Great Wolf Lodge Resort. And even though March weather can be chancy here on the shore of Grand Traverse Bay, they won’t mind – they’ll be indoors, basking and frolicking in the Lodge’s 38,000-square-foot indoor waterpark.
"Originally we’d been planning to go south, but we came up to Traverse City for a school trip and liked it so much we decided to go there instead," said Debbie, who lives in southern Michigan. "It’s so much closer to us, and the weather can be so unpredictable this time of year."
Actually, the Swadlings are far from alone. Like salmon stubbornly swimming upstream, a growing number of people are going north for Spring Break – looking for a different experience in quieter, less congested spots.
Traverse City is a good example. Springtime here is relaxed and easygoing; accommodations are plentiful, and the locals appear genuinely glad to see some fresh new faces.
"There’s lots of places to go and eat, there’s a lot to do, and we get treated really well at the hotels," said Laura, an accountant from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. who brings her family to Traverse City for what she calls a "quick getaway" each spring. "We’ve been coming for years. We’re hooked on the place."
Spring Break doesn’t have nearly the economic impact in communities like Traverse City that it has in, say, Daytona Beach or Ft. Lauderdale. But the season does provide a welcome shot in the arm to many local hotels and restaurants, and industry leaders are quick to acknowledge it.
"We get a nice little spike over a period of about three weeks," said Roger Funkhouser, general manager at the 120-room Bayshore Resort. "Normally, our pool area is pretty quiet during daytime hours this time of year, at least in mid-week, but during Spring Break it gets pretty lively out there."
Many, if not most, of the Spring Break visitors who head for the Traverse City area are families with younger children who are just as happy splashing in an indoor pool as going to the beach. The community’s museums, concert halls, shopping districts and other attractions provide some added diversion, but Funkhouser says most springtime visitors seem to be focused on each other.
"People might do a little shopping, maybe see a movie, but mainly they’re here doing family-type things," he said. "They’re here for a little change in their environment, a chance to get out of the house and take a little family vacation without breaking their pocketbooks."
That’s no small consideration, either. Spring is the off season in Northern Michigan, and most resorts are still offering their winter rates in late March. Some even have special Spring Break packages designed to appeal to families. One Traverse City hotel, for instance, offers two adjoining rooms for the price of one, while another advertises inducements like a free large pizza and tickets to the nearby Dennos Museum Center (with its popular hands-on kids museum) for the price of a room.
"A lot of them just like to hang out and let the kids play in the pool," said reservation desk supervisor Candy Whittaker at the 127-room Waterfront Inn Resort Hotel on East Grand Traverse Bay.
For detailed information about Spring Break activities and attractions in the Traverse City area, as well as contacts with lodging properties that offer special spring packages, contact the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-TRAVERS or visit www.mytraversecity.com/packages.
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