No, it won’t be 80 degrees and you won’t be on the beach. But there are plenty of things to do and enjoy if your break means staying home, or at least nearby. As Ross Boissoneau writes in this week's Northern Express - sister publication of The Ticker - there are numerous options for a daytrip/daycation within two-and-a-half hours of Traverse City.
 
For starters, head south to Grand Rapids. At the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, the “Butterflies Are Blooming” exhibition at Meijer Gardens is the largest temporary tropical butterfly exhibition in the nation, with over 7,000 butterflies representing 50 species. Tropical butterflies from around the world fly freely in the Lena Meijer Tropical Conservatory every March and April. If it’s museums you want, then Furniture City, a.k.a. River City, a.k.a. Beer City USA, has you covered as well. You can choose from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Children’s Museum, Art Museum, African-American Museum & Archives, and Grand Rapids Public Museum, among others.

If not Grand Rapids, maybe Big Rapids? Ferris State University offers a variety of activities, as well as the ongoing series "An Army of Women" at the Fine Arts Gallery, portraying women of all ages as the strong, intelligent and courageous beings they are. But maybe the most fun would be at the Big Rapids Roller Rink. 

Head southwest to Muskegon, and you can visit the Muskegon Museum of Art. One reviewer calls it “the best-kept secret in Michigan.” Southeast of Traverse City and Cadillac, the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant shares the history of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, while if you head west to West Branch, you'll find the Ogemaw Nature Park and West Branch Outlet Shops among the region's attractions.

Read more suggestions for staycation fun in Michigan in this week's Northern Express cover story, "One-Tank Road Trips." The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a free copy at one of nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.