I have to set this up a little before I explain why this was the worst hotel. We only stayed one night (a few hours, in fact), but if you combine the bad hotel with the rest of the day, it will make more sense.
We were tent camping in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which is a great campground very close to the lower falls. (There are two falls, upper and lower. The upper are bigger, but I prefer the lower – more scenic, and you can walk through the falls. I wouldn’t recommend doing that at Niagara Falls.)
It rained all day. Remember when I said we were in a tent? Rain + tent = suckage. And people, ourselves included, go to the UP to spent time outside, so a complete day of rain in a big, big downer. So our day of fun in the sun was quashed.
But we salvaged our day as best we could. We started off with an aborted visit to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. By the time we arrived, the museum was already packed with people, since there is so little to do that doesn’t involve the outdoors. So no go on the museum.
Over to Sault Ste. Marie, one of the United State’s oldest cities. And we took in all the it had to offer – the Sault Locks, the theater(to see Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), and Wal*Mart. Yes, we painted the town red. And the rain stopped long enough for us to return to the state park to view the upper falls and enjoy dinner and blueberry beer (for me) at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery and Pub. A bar on State land – I love it. Finally, my tax dollars going to something useful to me.
Since our day had ended on a high note, we returned in the hopes of having just enough dry wood to make Smores. And that was discovered that our tent leaked, soaking our blankets on our semi-comfortable air mattress. An appropriate ending to our day.
I graciously (I’m very selfless and modest) offered to sleep in the wet spot (make your own joke), but Andrea didn’t want to sleep in a wet tent. We left the campground and tried to find a room in the closest town, Paradise. (Michigan has a range of towns, from Paradise to Hell, so take your pick.) But with the Blueberry Festival in full swings – people love their blueberries – there were no rooms to be had at the inn. The man at the counter at the Best Western called around and found a room in their Newberry branch, about 40 minutes away.
I was not happy.
We drove 40 minutes to our room. And it was decent room, complete with a Jacuzzi tub, and had we not been tired and annoyed from the turn our day had taken, we might have used it.
The next morning was when I discovered all the red bites along my legs – bedbugs. And up until now, I had thought bedbugs were just in third-world countries, or at least third-world states, not chain motels in Michigan. Life teaches us lessons every day.
And to top it all off, Andrea, being pregnant, was very hungry, and we slept too late for breakfast. And all our food was back in the campground in our wet tent. This was a full-on food emergency. A hungry Andrea is scary, but a hungry and pregnant Andrea is… well, not good.
Things weren’t going well until we remembered we had crackers in the trunk, and that satisfied her until we reached a restaurant for breakfast. We returned to our campsite and packed up for our six-hour trip home. There was no sorrow as we threw the leaky tent into the dumpster on the way out the campground.
And there has not been a tent in the house since.