Today we are exploring Frankenmuth, Michigan's Little Bavaria. Frankenmuth is known for its
Bavarian theme which is the southernmost state in Germany. So here you'll experience
all that Bavarian hospitality, family friendly festive fun all year long.
All over town there are German themed buildings. The architecture is very quaint.
There are activities, restaurants, shops, attractions. I can't wait to check it out.
This is the historic Frankenmuth covered bridge. It is 239 feet long and weighs 230 tons.
It's made almost entirely out of wood except for the nails and those sorts of things of course,
but it's also just really pretty. We also noted it is 13
feet 8 inches high which means we could technically drive our RV through it.
The bridge crosses the Cass River which you can actually take boat tours on including on the
Bavarian Bell Riverboat here. So this boat is an authentic paddle board riverboat. It's a mouthful,
but it's beautiful. And we just saw it come under the bridge with its paddles spinning
and it sounded its horn. So that would be a fun way to see the city from the water.
An alternative is these smaller, I think they're called FunShips. They're electric
powered. They hold less people. We saw one of those coming through here not long ago as well,
and they do things like wine and chocolate tasting boat tours. So that could be fun. Or
you can bring your own kayak or rent one and see the city on the river that way.
From the perspective of a couple of people that have never been here before, this is really
neat. It's actually a bit more than I expected. Yeah there are more buildings, more shops, more
interesting architecture, and it's very walkable too. Everything is much closer together than
I expected so that's nice. And it's no Germany, it's no Europe, but it's a fun approximation of
it. And they've put a lot of those nice little touches that you would expect to find there.
So you know go to Germany if you can, but if not this is a fun place to come. Definitely. I think
there's a number of other cities across the U.S. that model themselves after European themes. And
I would say of the ones that we have seen which is not that many, this is one of the better ones.
Even though there's lots of shopping in restaurants all over the city,
one of the places to come is River Place Shops. This is an outdoor shopping area with lots of
restaurants, wineries, all sorts of things. So we're excited to walk around a little bit and
see what they have. And I've already marked a few things on my list that I want to try.
Another fun thing that I read is that they have heated sidewalks here so
you can come year round. It's worth mentioning that they've got all sorts of different kinds
of events including Oktoberfest of course and also a Hot Air Balloon Festival and a Dog Bowl.
I don't know why they bothered to seal it.
So I ended up getting peanut butter cup, cookies and cream, and regular chocolate fudge.
So the verdict is in, and interestingly enough I think we like the original regular fudge the
best. Yeah which I think that's a good sign when a place has the original chocolate fudge
and it's fantastic and they don't have to try to cover it up with all the other flavors. So
we really really enjoyed that, but the Oreo was a close second. Although you probably can't go wrong
because the peanut butter was good too, but we had to rank them. So definitely not a Bavarian themed
dinner tonight, but Michigan themed. We got some pasties from the Pasty House. And actually it's
been quite a while from when we first walked in there to now when we're sitting here about to
eat because turned out they didn't have any made. They said put your order in now, it'll be an hour,
or you can take them home and cook them yourselves. We didn't want to do that today.
So here we are an hour later. We didn't film anything in between because
there was some hangriness going on. If you're not familiar with what a pasty is,
it's a traditional baked pastry kind of like a handheld chicken pot pie.
And traditionally I think they're filled with certain things like beef, though there is some
controversy apparently from what I read if the beef should be cubed, if it should be shredded,
how it should be presented, and then whether it is served with gravy or ketchup. So we are not
in the UP yet of Michigan. That is where you find them more often, but we are excited to try these
and then compare them to more as we continue to travel. So they originated in Cornwall in the UK,
and they were brought over to Michigan. They were really popular with copper miners because
it was a handheld hearty meal that they could actually reheat in a shovel over a flame.
They're very good. Mine is a Rueben and definitely different than a traditional Reuben,
but it's really good. And I have some dressing to dip it into. It's really flaky so it's just
crumbling all over me, but we've taken turns trying each other's
and they're all a success I'd say. Everybody is very happy with theirs.
I think you could put just about anything inside that flaky crust and it would be
good. Mine was ham and cheese and it is really really good. Mine is a cheeseburger.
I love it. Nathan what do you have? A pizza. Yes yours is meat lovers pizza. Yum. So I thought we
were done filming for this meal, and then I had to show you guys. Kevin is finishing his third pasty
because of course the kids couldn't get through their entire pasty. So here he is. Don't waste
food. I'm looking forward to having more pasties in my life over the next couple of weeks for sure.
We're back in town today for lunch. Now the question is do we eat at Zehnder's or the
Bavarian Inn. Both are really popular places here in town and both offer the famous fried chicken
for the area. We're gonna try the Bavarian Inn because it's got a little bit more of a
German theme and so we're gonna check out some German themed food. So we're eating outside on
the patio by the Bavarian Inn and officially it's called Michigan on Main, but it's essentially the
bar and grill menu for the Bavarian Inn it looks like. So we're gonna try their famous
chicken and find something that's a little bit more German themed like their bratwurst.
I wanted to tell you a little bit of the history of Zehnder's and the Bavarian Inn restaurant.
Even though you might think they are two separate entities, and they are, their histories are very
much linked. The Zehnder family actually bought the Zehnder's Hotel and Restaurant back when
it was called the New Exchange Hotel. And so they started over there, and there was another
hotel across the road called the Fischer Hotel. And so after they bought the Fischer's Hotel,
they are the ones who decided to do the whole German Bavarian Inn theme, changed the name,
but it was actually over here at the Bavarian Inn where they are credited with the famous chicken
dinners. So that started here. Though they say the two recipes and the taste slightly differ between
the two restaurants of course. So you're gonna have to come here yourself, take your pick, maybe
eat at both places and compare. So we'll see what our chicken is like today. But I find that story
fascinating, just the history between the two places, how they started, and that they're still
run by subsequent generations of the Zehnders to this day. So another funny story is because
both places have been around for so long there's actually a funny story with Prohibition laws. Both
establishments got in trouble with Prohibition going on. They got raided and fined five thousand
and eight thousand dollars respectively. Thankfully that is not a problem today.
We've been sharing these plates and really enjoying it, especially these cheese puffs
are really good. The bratwurst is really good. The flavors in there are just exceptional. The
sauerkraut is delicious. The chicken is also very good. And what we want to say about that
is I think that it's really good chicken, but for us it's still fried chicken. When you come
here it's like we want the German food. We want to experience that. So maybe try the family style
all you can eat sit down meal and make it an experience. But if you're just ordering a plate
of chicken don't expect it to blow your socks off, but it's very good. Next we headed over to
the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus for the glockenspiel and a different kind of dessert. And in front
of the Cheese Haus is the Cheese Haus mouse which apparently is one of the most photographed things
in the entire city which is kind of funny to me, but our kids really like him so we have taken our
own pictures with him as well. "Hello everyone and welcome to the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus.
We're happy to have you here with us today. In just a minute we're going to begin our fascinating
story about some of the cheeses you will find right here at the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus."
So that was the glockenspiel in front of the Cheese Haus.
This one is not quite a traditional glockenspiel.
There's one of those over at the Bavarian Inn that we are also going to try to catch.
But this one was interesting since it told from a kid's perspective the different kinds of cheeses
that are made in different countries. And all those cheeses are available in the Cheese Haus.
There's one in particular that we have had our eyes on and that we're gonna get some of to try.
What we got was this chocolate cheese, and Kevin was advised that it tastes more like
cheesecake. But apparently this is one of the unique items that you can buy in there,
and we'll test it out for you. First thing is I'm surprised by how it looks on the inside
because I thought that it was cheese on the inside covered with a layer of chocolate,
but it's actually the entire thing is chocolate cheese.
So I got to admit I was a little bit weirded out when I heard about the whole
chocolate cheese thing. Kind of strange. But the lady inside said it was more
like cheesecake which totally makes sense. And I've got to say it is exactly like cheesecake.
It's just like eating a block of cheesecake with your hand. It is really really good.
Unfortunately the glockenspiel is not running. It was running yesterday,
and then near the end of the day we saw the little door on the right stuck open and one of the little
figurines hadn't quite gone in. So I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. Kevin read
that quite often glockenspiels have some kind of malfunction and stop working and then have
to be fixed. A nice lady stopped by and reminded us that everything is on YouTube these days, and
we can watch this on YouTube. So that's what we're doing right now. We are now at Bronner's Christmas
Wonderland. And even though we are approaching summer, so far from Christmas, we wanted to come
check it out because apparently this is the world's largest Christmas store. In fact it
is the size of one and a half football fields. The building just sprawls. I mean this place is huge,
and inside they have all sorts of decorations. They sell all sorts of Christmas related things.
So this is just a fun place to check out any time of year or if you're enterprising and already
planning ahead for Christmas. Also on-site is Bronner's Silent Night Memorial Chapel.
It's a 56 foot tall landmark, and it is a replica of the original chapel in Oberndorf / Salzburg,
Austria. It marks the site where Silent Night was first sung on Christmas Eve in 1818.
Also on site is Christmas Lane which has Christmas lights up year round and you can drive through it.
It has 100,000 lights, but to get the full effect you really need to see that at night.
And that is Frankenmuth, and you can have a free Christmas light drive any night of
the year. We think they did a great job for an American German city in the U.S.
and we hope that you make it here someday too. If you do come here after watching
our video please let us know. We'd love to hear from you. See you all next time. Bye!