Frankenmuth

Nothing quite prepares you for turning onto Main Street in Frankenmuth and finding a full Bavarian streetscape in the middle of Michigan’s farm country — half-timbered gables, painted shutters, a glockenspiel clock tower chiming out over the sidewalk. German settlers founded the town in 1845, and rather than let that heritage fade, generations of Frankenmuthers rebuilt the whole commercial strip in an alpine style during the mid-20th century. Lia thought it was kitsch for the first five minutes. By the time we sat down to a family-style chicken dinner, she’d stopped arguing and started asking for seconds of the buttered noodles.

Chicken dinners and the Bavarian Inn

Frankenmuth’s twin institutions, Zehnder’s and the Bavarian Inn, have been serving all-you-can-eat fried chicken dinners since the 1950s, and the rivalry between them is practically a local sport. We chose the Bavarian Inn, crossing its covered wooden bridge over the Cass River to reach the dining room, where servers in dirndls kept bringing bowls of chicken, spätzle, stuffing, and cranberry relish until we surrendered. Afterward we walked off the meal along the river, past paddle boats and the low murmur of a beer garden, the whole town smelling faintly of yeast and woodsmoke.

Bronner’s and Christmas Wonderland

No visit is complete without Bronner’s CHRISTMAS Wonderland, a store so large — over five acres under one roof — that it has its own street address and outdoor Silent Night Memorial Chapel. Lia and I wandered aisle after aisle of ornaments, from delicate hand-blown glass to novelty pickle ornaments, half-convinced we’d entered a theme park rather than a shop. We left with a box of ornaments we didn’t need and a genuine appreciation for a town that decided, decades ago, to be joyfully, unapologetically festive three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

Getting There

Frankenmuth is about ninety minutes north of Detroit via I-75, making it an easy day trip or overnight from the city. MBS International Airport near Saginaw is the closest airport, roughly twenty minutes away, while Detroit Metro is the better-connected option for longer trips. The town center is compact and walkable, though a car is useful for reaching the outlying covered bridge parks and farm stands nearby.