Have you ever planned a trip that would take you to a destination that was off the beaten path? A place that was not on your route but you had to take a side trip to get to it? AND… there was nothing except that destination along the way?

Wouldn’t it be great if Ida was a destination like that? If our community had something to offer that trips would be planned around it.

We have an event like that here in Ida but it is only 1 weekend a year. It would be great if it could be like that every weekend.. not just once a year. Just image what a boom for the community that would be.

Here in Michigan we have several destination locations. One of those places is Mackinaw Island. Mackinac Island is an island and resort area covering 3.8 square miles (9.8 km2) in land area,  located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas

So what makes this place so special? For one thing there are no automobiles allowed, bikes and horses are the only way to get around. (except in the winter they do allow snow mobiles) They also have the famous Mackinaw Fudge and Salt Water Taffy. There is a breathtaking view. The Grand Hotel has the worlds longest porch.

Mackinaw Island is where the movie “Somewhere in Time” starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour was filmed.

So what is their gimmick? Maybe the whole ambiance of the Island, a mixture of many things together that make this one of Michigan’s destination locations.

I went to Arizona to visit my parents one winter and we planned a trip to Oatman, Arizona. Oatman is one of those places that is off the beaten path…. I mean WAY off the beaten path. It is indeed a destination location. Nothing and I mean nothing is found on the way to it off the main highway.

Oatman is an old mining town it has burros that walk freely through the town and eat carrot that you bring with you to feed them or your able to buy bags at the local stores in town. I loved the place…. It was my kind of town. I felt right at home with all those burros walking all over the place. There were lots of places to eat and get an ice cold beer and many places to shop for all sorts of things.

The Oatman Hotel is where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent a honeymoon night in 1939, after being married in Kingman.

Oatman has a gunfight in the street through out the day and then they pass the hat…and it is always for a good cause. It was indeed a fun time and the place was PACKED!

I was brain storming with a few people about how to get people to come to Ida more than just once a year. I told them about how Oatman has attracted visitors. They all looked at me as if I had 2 heads. I WAS GIVING AN EXAMPLE!!!!!! All they could think of was “where are we going to get burros?”

Silly people.. no imagination.

So where have you been that was a destination like Oatman or Mackinaw Island? What made you want to go there?

What can you think of to get that same concept in your community? Try to think beyond where your going to house those burros.

The video below is of driving to that destination location… Oatman Arizona