I did mention my birthday road trip right before I went last year. Then I was delinquent and never came back with any pictures or talked about it in any way. Smh. Well I went to the doctor the other day, the phlebotomist who had suggested a location to visit, jogged my memory about the trip. We discussed the place and how it touched both of us. She shared an amazing story about what happened to her and it inspired me to share details about my trip.
So my birthday trip was October 29, 2018 to November 4, 2018. My first stops were in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I actually had never went up that way before. The main goal of my trip was to see autumn colors. I am a fall baby and it is my favorite season. The first thing I noticed was the speed limit became 75 mph. I was excited about that at first because less chance of me getting a ticket since I was already going 75+ mph anyway. But the thrill started to go away because it was legal. Lol. Rebel at heart here. Well I discovered that Michigan trees shed their leaves more in the middle of October. Not a lot of colors to see, but I did get some good pics.
My first stop was Mackinac Island. Now I don’t really know what I was expecting but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. It was a lot of hotels, I mean a lot. And what was weird is it look like they didn’t set them up to have good views of the water. What is the point of being surrounded by water and not taking advantage of that🤷🏾? I seen the lighthouse and had to make my way there.
Mind you this was in late October and people were still going out on the water in that cold weather. The water was so clear and beautiful.
The reason I went up north was to see the Cross in the Woods Shrine, so I didn’t linger on Mackinac Island for long. The Cross in the Woods had me speechless. It was such a beautiful and serene atmosphere. It felt as if it was separated from everything. There wasn’t any noise from the street. I happened to be the only person there at that time as well.
The cross is located behind a church. There is mass outside a few times a day. The church building also has a gift shop/store. I made it to the cross too late to be able to go inside the gift shop. I was in my anti-social mode so I did not venture into the building at all. Next time I will go in and see what it is like. Sorry I am not able to share insight on the inside.
There was fake candles that you could light in observance of someone. It was required to give a donation to light a candle. It would stay lit for the day. Or you could go inside the gift shop and pay for a longer time period.
Now to the story from the phlebotomist. Her name is Becky. She said that as a child she had cancer and her treatments were not going well. It was hard to find a vein to give her the treatments she needed and it cause her to miss treatments. Her father decided to take her to The Cross in the Woods. After visiting the cross, Becky came home and was one of the first people to get a port. A port is installed in the chest for people with bad veins. It allows the doctors/nurses to draw blood and also administer medication. She said after the port was installed she never missed another treatment and was able to beat cancer’s ass. She truly believed that the visit to The Cross in the Woods is what helped her. I believe it as well. That was an awesome testimony.
I love to explore and learn new things and visit new places, but I will definitely return to The Cross in the Woods again. If you like to travel, I recommend for you to visit the cross at least once. It is an experience like none other. Once I stopped back home, I headed south. I made stops in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. I will discuss the rest of my birthday road trip over the next couple of posts. I will also share some amazing pics that I took with my Galaxy Note 8. It has a great camera. Until we meet again, be well and whole.