A Start to the Christmas Season in Frankenmuth, Michigan

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At the end of November, I visited Frankenmuth in Michigan. This was approximately a four-and-a-half journey from my parents', and it marked the beginning of the Christmas season. Frankenmuth is a tourist town, and it has the largest Christmas shop in the world amongst other attractions. I spent about three days here. This is probably enough time to see nearly everything, though there are more attractions open in the summer - such as a riverboat and other boat tours. The river freezes in the winter, so these river tours are not available until spring.

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Looking down the main street in Frankenmuth

One of the highlights was a horse carriage ride. The ride is set at a fixed price, and the carriage can accommodate up to four adults. (They say that up to six can fit in a carriage, but perhaps they mean children as well as adults.) We rode on the carriage at dusk and took advantage of seeing the beautiful Christmas lights. 

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Horse-drawn carriage

One of the prettiest buildings in Frankenmuth is the Bavarian Inn. A clock tower rings a melody of bells at each quarter of an hour and wooden figures come out on display on the clock tower on the hour. The Bavarian Inn has several restaurants inside it and a large gift shop in the basement. 

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Bavarian Inn

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Bavarian Inn and clock tower

I had dinner at the Bavarian Inn one evening. The speciality seemed to be chicken dinners, which consisted of chicken and potato and gravy. The food on offer had a Germanic theme. For dessert, I had pumpkin ice cream.

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Pumpkin ice cream

We were lucky with the weather in Michigan. The weather was cold, but we did not have any rain. 

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Crab apples

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The frozen river

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The frozen river from the covered bridge

I walked across the covered bridge and got some photographs of the frozen river.

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Covered bridge

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Covered bridge

In addition to the Bavarian Inn, another restaurant (Zhender's) serves chicken dinners and is one of the largest restaurants with several dining rooms and shops and bakeries on the basement level. We also ate here one evening, and the dessert was especially nice: peppermint ice cream and a chocolate brownie.

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Zhender's sign

Another place to eat in Frankenmuth is Tiffany's, an old-fashioned bar with beautiful lamps, stained-glass windows, wood paneling, and painted ceilings. The bar area on the floor even has ceramic tiles created into a trough; I'm assuming that this is easier to clean and any drinks that are spilled go down the drains in the trough. It is worth stepping inside for a drink or a meal to see the decor.

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Tiffany's stained glass window

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Interior of Tiffany's

Gift shops of many varieties and sweet shops (fudge, taffy, ice cream and so on) are in abundance. In many shops, you can watch fudge being made and taffy being made.

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Taffy being made

Frankenmuth has a brewery and a couple of wineries. In one shop, chocolates and wines can be paired together and bought. The company also operate small boat trips and a chocolate-and-wine-tasting boat trip. If it had been spring or summer, I would have gone on this. However, the chocolate-and-wine-tasting is available in the winter. 

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Chocolate and wine sampling

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Christmas decorations and wreath outside a shop

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Christmas-themed cupcakes

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Iced Christmas sugar cookies

The Cheese Haus is a popular shop. The shop has free samples, and visitors can try and buy chocolate cheese.

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Cheese Haus sculpture

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Cheeses

Another attraction in Frankenmuth is the Michigan Military and Space Museum. The museum contains stories about different soldiers (pilots, nurses, and so on) in one of the different wars from World War I to the war in Afghanistan. The museum shows items used by these people and also contains the largest display of medals. The people had all come from or lived in Michigan at some point.

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Tank outside the Michigan Military and Space Museum

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Christmas tree

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Christmas lights

On the first night, Frankenmuth's River Place shopping area hosted an evening of candle-lit Christmas carols, free cookies, and hot chocolate to kick off the holiday season. 

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Candle carol ceremony

I hope that you have enjoyed my photographs of Frankenmuth.

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