Enjoying Hillsdale County Via Motorcycle

One of the best things about running a bed and breakfast in Michigan is the free time at mid-day. It isn't every day, but it is most days that we have a 2-4 hour window of opportunity where we can just get out and enjoy the day after the morning work is done and before new guests arrive for check-in. I have had several days like that this week already.

Touring on my Honda GoldWing Motorcycle is my favorite thing to do until the temperatures get into the low 30's. My wife enjoys rides on nice days like today--60+ degrees. We cruise the back roads, the side streets, and the lakes area. We help to support the Hillsdale County economy by having lunch at a different location and visiting out-of-the-way stores and shops.

The Fall Colors are past peak, but a crisp day with sunshine is a good day to enjoy the great state of Michigan. The myriad of colors from the leaves is gone but the earth tones of the harvest is just beginning. Folks are out raking leaves, farmers are tilling their soil, and families are enjoying outdoor activities before winter arrives.

"Life is good in Jonesville"


Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Home School Tour Underground Railroad Site

2 families of home schooled children made an appointment to tour my house today. The youngsters seemed fascinated with my stories of early Michigan history, progress in Jonesville, the tale of the Privy Digger, and my tour of the oldest house in Hillsdale County. The Munro House has a connection to the Underground Railroad. The kids enjoyed a walk through the tunnel that slaves may have used on their trip to freedom and a description with photos of our Secret Room in which runaway slaves had allegedly spent time on their way to freedom in Canada. I give a 45-60 minute tour for a nominal fee that children and adults seem to enjoy.

Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Grosvenor House Museum Old Fashioned Christmas in Jonesville, MI

Ancestors of the Grosvenor Family of Jonesville, Michigan, visit every year to host an Old Fashioned Christmas party in the house/museum that bears their family name. The family flies in from Arizona and stays at the Munro House B&B located right across the street. They kick off the holiday season by hosting the party while meeting and greeting locals and visitors at their family home, the Grosvenor House Museum.

The party includes 2 full days of live entertainment including local musicians and singers. Groups from around the county, including the Hillsdale Arts Chorale and Marcella's Singers, perform selections of traditional, classic, and new Christmas songs. Family member, Jarrod, also performs favorites on the museum's antique grand piano.  The parlor has great acoustics and is a wonderful and intimate location to enjoy Christmas music.

The house is tastefully decorated for the holidays by various local groups who keep a historic theme.  This event traditionally occurs every year on the first weekend in December.  The house is also open for tours on the 2nd weekend in December, but with limited live entertainment.


Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Fourth Graders Tour Historic Home

The 4th Grade Class at Williams Elementary School in Jonesville enjoyed a Fall Tour of the Munro House, a historic Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan. Mike Venturini, the innkeeper, enjoys telling the stories that link the Munro House to the Sauk Trail, the Underground Railroad, and the history of Jonesville.

These fourth graders learned about life in the mid 1800's, Jonesville's strategic location, and the original owner, Brigadier General George Clinton Munro. The 45 minute talk included the story of the privy digger and the stuff he found, plus a walk through the remains of the 200 foot tunnel, and photos of the "secret room" that was used to hide hundreds of runaway slaves over a 15 year period preceding the American Civil War.

The kids came in individual classes of about 30 students with their teachers and chaperons. These tours can be arranged for groups of that size on any available day or for larger groups over the course of days, weeks, or months.  Jonesville schools traditionally discuss the Underground Railroad in the fourth grade and find that this is an excellent local field trip that ties National history to a local home.

The students will probably agree that the best part of the tour is the chance to walk through one of the biggest houses in the area and the oldest house in Hillsdale County.  The short walk from the school (about 5 blocks away) makes it a convenient excursion for elementary school children and a tradition for 4th graders in Jonesville. 

Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Peak Season for Fall Colors in Michigan

It is a sure sign of Fall colors peak season in Michigan when the Black Walnut trees lose all of their leaves.  There are several black walnut trees in my yard at the Munro House B&B in Jonesville Michigan.  I picked the last big bunch of walnuts last week and waited for the remainder to fall.  There were heavy winds overnight with a bit of rain which led to bare trees this morning. As the pictures show, there are bare walnut trees out front, maple trees in the foreground have just begun to turn color, and brightly colors of yellow, orange, and red leaves in the background.

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love a bright sunshiny day, brisk air, and a long slow ride on my motorcycle.  Lori and I have taken many fall color tours in Southern Michigan during the past month with no destination in mind. Our goal was to just get out and enjoy the day. Country roads flanked by harvested fields and the myriad of colors of the tree lines and forests made for a very pleasureable ride.  We always ended up at a small town bar or restaurant to seek out another awesome cheeseburger.  The vast majority of burgers we have found, in the most unlikely of places, ranked from very good to awesome on our taste chart.

With peak fall color season in Michigan upon us, the viewing days are now limited.  The wonderful scenery will only decline with the temperature.  We are still expecting at least 2 more weeks of enjoyable Fall colors in Southern Michigan.  With Jonesville having not yet experienced a frost, the colors could extend into mid-November. Any day is still a good day to getaway for a Fall colors package.

Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Historic Home Tour Marshall Michigan

The historic Marshall Home Tour is traditionally held each year on the weekend after Labor Day. The tour is the oldest historic home tour in the Great Lakes area. This year, eight private homes, a church, a business, and up to six museums are scheduled to be open for the two days of the tour. There will also be roving musicians, demonstrating craftspeople, a juried craft show, ethnic foods, antiques for sale, and a Civil War Ball with elaborate costumes during the weekend festivities.

Flemming house Marshall Michigan

The most famous midwest home tour is being held for the 47th time the weekend of September 11-12 in historic Marshall, Michigan.  Marshall is a small city in South Central Michigan with a population of about 7,500 people.  Marshall is best known for its cross-section of 19th century and early 20th Century architecture. It has been called a "virtual textbook of 19th-Century American architecture" by the keeper of the National Register of Historic Places.  It is home to the one of the nation's largest National Historic Landmark Districts with over 850 buildings included in the Landmark.

National House Inn Marshall Michigan

With limited lodging in the area, an equally impressive historic home in Jonesville Michigan is also a bed and breakfast. The Munro House is located about 30 miles South East of Marshall at highways 12 and 99. The Munro House is the oldest house in Hillsdale County, dating to 1834. It is also the oldest home in Southern Michigan that was originally built as a private residence. The Greek Revival style house was used as a Station on the Underground Railroad and still has a secret room big enough for 20 people to stand in, along with the remains of what was once a 200 foot underground tunnel.

Munro House B&B Jonesville Michigan

A tour of historic homes in Michigan requires a trip that includes Marshall and Jonesville.


Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Best Way to Garage Sale

Our guests organized a "Garage Sale Rodeo" on Friday.  They went through the local paper, copied the locations of 18 sales, mapped it, and spent the day searching for treasures. This is an annual event that gets the whole family together from all across the United States. Imagine the surprise when a dozen vehicles pull up at once to wheel and deal at each of the selected locations.

John and Julia joined family members from Arizona, Texas, Missouri, and Michigan as they bargained for the best prices while touring garage sales in nearby Jackson, Michigan. Small items will be packed in carry-on bags for the flight home.  Larger items will either be shipped or hand-delivered at a later date.

We finished our household chores and joined up with the group at about mid-day. We enjoyed the beautiful day and found a few items that were too good to pass up.  It became a very fun day because it was extremely well-organized and spent with some interesting new friends.


Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Rakers 2010 Trial Gardens Is Something to Do when Visiting Munro House B&B in Jonesville MI

  

Rakers Acres Trial Gardens are once again open for the season. Located just 5 minutes from the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, Rakers is at 10371 Rainy Road near Litchfield.  C. Raker & Sons offers thousands of Annuals, Perennials, and Herbs--many of them on display in full bloom.  Several suppliers have set up gardens of their unique varieties on the grounds to display their fully grown product in a competitive and cooperative setting. Several acres of flowers and foliage are on display and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This is the midwest's largest floral show.

Call ahead (517-542-2316) to arrange an interesting and informative private tour for garden groups, greenhouse owners, or floral enthusiasts. Self-guided tours are also available for individuals and small groups. It is best for large groups to call ahead to reserve a tour guide for the day and time of your visit.

There are several flower shows in the region, but Rakers hosts the biggest. Plan on spending a great deal of your time at Rakers and relax in comfort at the nearby Munro House B&B in Jonesville. The trial gardens at Rakers are open right now and will continue through the month of August.

The displays include hanging baskets, potted plants, and planted gardens.  There are many new breeds of flowers including the unique Black Velvet Petunia pictured below.

Mike Venturini
Jonesville Michigan Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Veteran Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA) visits Jonesville Michigan

A group of vintage automobile enthusiasts set up a tour of the tri-state area (Michigan-Indiana-Ohio) for a week of fun. They trailered their vehicles and met up in Fremont, Indiana. From their headquarters, they made day trip to visit cool places within 100 miles in their cool old cars. More than 50 members of the Veteran Motor Car Club of America made the trek to enjoy mid-America.

The car museums in Auburn, IN, Shipshewana, IN, and Spring Arbor were highlights for the drivers. But all enjoyed their trips for a meal in Turkeyville, tours of the historic cities of Marshall and Jonesville, plus the wood working place in Ohio that we know as Sauder Village.

The leaders, Rich and Jan, had been planning this trip since 2009. Arrangements were made to tour many places including the Historic Munro House Bed and Breakfast and the Grosvenor House Museum in Jonesville. In addition to being the oldest house in Hillsdale County, the Munro House was also used as a station on the underground railroad. These and more historic tales were enjoyed by the drivers and their passengers.

You can see all 26 pictures of these vintage automobiles on my facebook page.


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"
Munro House Bed and Breakfast

Underground Railroad History of Jonesville MI Tour by Williams Elementary School

The 4th grade students at Williams Elementary School in Jonesville, Michigan, take an annual field trip to tour the Munro House Bed and Breakfast. Legend has it that Munro House was once used as a Station on the Underground Railroad and hid over 400 runaway slaves for at least one day on their journey to freedom in Canada. The tour can last from 20 to 45 minutes--depending on time constraints. 

The elementary school students are invited to walk into what is left of a tunnel that was once over 150 feet long. Only about 30 feet of the tunnel remains and it is currently used as a landing to the basement.  Additionally, Munro House has a secret room that allegedly hid hundreds of runaway slaves over a 15 year period preceeding the American Civil War. A photo array shows several views of the hideaway that is large enough for thirty 4th graders to stand in. Unfortunately, to let 30 kids go up there would be an exercise in futility.  Only 2 people have been up there in the last 11 years.  The pictures are a much better alternative.

The Munro House can arrange tours of the house for various size groups.  Thirty kids or twenty adults at a time would be about the limit. Weekdays are preferred and Sunday afternoons are O.K., by appointment only. A group of 53 car club enthusiasts are coming by in waves next month. They love their old cars and they enjoy the historic tales of cool old buildings, too.

In addition to the tales of the Underground Railroad, the tour guides also tell about the history of Jonesville, early pioneers in Hillsdale County, and the tribe of Pottawatomie Indians who originally lived in the area. It happens that George Munro, the namesake for the house, was a local politician, businessman, and entrepreneur with many interesting stories of early Michigan settlers and politics. The legacy of his deeds are some of the foundations upon which Jonesville was built. Munro House has historic significance because it is the oldest house in Hillsdale County (circa 1834) and has a "new" addition that is the first brick building in Hillsdale County (1840).


Mike Venturini - Innkeeper
"Life is good in Jonesville"