It's the middle of summer, but you would have thought it was December as we pulled into the parking lot. However, when you open the car door and feel the hot breeze, you know you are still in the heat wave.
Just outside of Frankenmuth, Michigan, there's a large warehouse building with Christmas and holiday displays everywhere. This is Bronners Christmas Store.
Although there is a tour bus outside the door pulling away and another one to take its place, this is not crowded. Walking in, I am truly in a snow globe! Christmas is all around me in colossal measurements.
The store is 5–1/2 football fields large. There are different entrances and each exit has a line of cashiers. The building is 7.35 acres in size with landscaped grounds covering 27 acres.
If you can imagine…a building that houses over 150 different styles of nutcrackers, decorations, and items from over 70 nations and over 350 decorated Christmas Trees. And, about 50% of the glass ornaments sold here are Bronner’s designs.
Need a personalized ornament? They have artists in-house ready and willing. They personalize over 100,000 ornaments each year. One of Bronner’s ornament artists has personally handpainted nearly a half million ornaments during her 25 years at Bronner’s.
The store is divided into sections and you can see the above signs with everything labeled. If you are looking for lights…go that way…looking for Christmas trees, go that way.
You get the picture, it's well organized and well planned, with a place for everything and everything in its place.
The idea of coming back to Michigan (no offense Michigan) in November and December’s cold weather doesn’t entice me, but seeing even more lights at that time would thrill me.
On average, they pay$1250.00 daily for their electric bill!!! Approximately 100,000 outdoor Christmas lights illuminate Bronner’s grounds every evening throughout the year.
Over 2,000,000 guests visit Bronners every year with about 50,000 of them on Thanksgiving Weekend alone.
If you visit Bronners, they will most likely be open as they only close 4 days a year, (New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day).
With Bronners being just on the edge of the town, Frankenmuth, you have 2 great sights to see.
Frankenmuth is a Bavarian-style town full of shops and restaurants. It's a beautiful little town along the Cass River, complete with its old covered bridge.
Covered bridge in Frankenmuth, MichiganPhoto byMelissa Herzog
What is surprising about this Bavarian town, is Zehnder’s restaurant. Known for its fried chicken meals complete with mashed potatoes with gravy and dressing. This place was packed but we managed to slip in and have a bite or two or three…yum!
And, if you are not too full from lunch or dinner, stop by any of the Fudge shops in town. You can watch them make the fudge and pick out one of the many, many flavors to take home.
One of several fudge shops in Frankenmuth, MichiganPhoto byMelissa Herzog
There are so many shops and fun things to do with events planned throughout the year. Michigan is one of the most beautiful states in our country with so much to do. I loved my visit here, I hope you liked coming on this journey with me.
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