Memorial Day weekend continued with a trip to Bronners in Frankenmuth. The first thing we noticed when we drove into Frankenmuth was that there was a dog show called “The Dog Bowl” and the city of Frankenmuth was packed with visitors to see this show. However Bronners was not crowded at all and we took advantage of it to enjoy a nice visit to the largest Christmas shop in the land. Perhaps the most exciting new thing we saw was that Dept 56 was putting out a new Munster and Addams Family ceramic houses. We already had the Hawthorne version of the Munsters but we really had nothing on the Addams family so we bought a small Addams family gazebo to go into our ceramic display of haunted houses. Continue reading “Bronners Visit 2022” →

Sunday began much differently than it ended but its these unexpected surprises that sometimes make the best fun. After dropping of some goods at Grandma’s the family returned home and found out a car accident had caused a power failure throughout Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. With no power at home we decided to take a little road trip to Frankenmuth for some last minute Christmas shopping.

As one would expect, the place was crowded with lines outside of Bronners just to get in and a 2.5 hour wait for chicken dinner, but the family was not deterred as they spent a few hours shopping at the mall and even had a chance encounter with a Christmas hero of Dad… No, not Santa, but the Grinch!

A great time was had by all as we listened to the Lions win their second game of the year and lots of Christmas music.

Continue reading “Power Loss and a Trip to Frankenmuth 2021” →

Bronners really looked different this year as we saw many items that we never saw before including a motion light snowflake that was really cool (but they were out of, only the demo left, but plenty of time till Christmas. We really enjoyed the Santa in the classic car mural and will have to review old pics to see if we just missed that or if that is something new. Regardless its something that is not for sale but it certainly is cool to look at. The day was perfect so we tried to spend as much time as we could outside of Bronners, looking at all their outside decorations as well as the inside decorations.

Taking the back roads from Lapeer to Frankenmuth is a very enjoyable ride, you go around a beautiful lake, and you find all sorts of small ma and pa type stores. However, with a gps its almost impossible to know your way around.

We spent the last day (Sunday) of the Thanksgiving holiday up in Frankenmuth MI. Bronners was so crowded we actually could not find a parking place so we skipped ahead to the Mall – where carolers were performing Christmas songs – and had lunch at the Bavarian Inn. We sat in the Snow White room (which is unusual, we usually sit in the little red riding hood room) and were entertained with live music and a visit from Santa. We then went back to Bronners which was a little less crowded and enjoyed the sites and sounds of Christmas.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving at Frankenmuth 2017” →

Mom had a coupon for Bavarian Inn so on the trip back from Mackinac we ate a late lunch in Frankenmuth and then proceeded to Bronners to round out the day. Mom also had a coupon for 15% off anything we buy at Bronners so we checked everything out and saved a little money along the way. James saw a $4,500 Christmas tree he liked that he liked in the Christmas tree forest, the tree was taller than our home. On the way out we saw the Bronners parade float and snapped a couple pics there as well. It was a really great finale to a wonderful time up North.

Continue reading “Bronners 2017” →

Our first stop usually when entering Frankenmuth is Bronners Christmas store. Bronner’s promotes itself as the “World’s Largest Christmas Store”. Designed with an Alpine architecture and operating year-round, the building is 7.35 acres in size with landscaped grounds covering 27 acres. Here is a little trivai – The electric bill alone is $1,250 per day – John Wayne ordered his Santa Suit from Bronners in 1976 – Over 100,000 ornaments are hand painted at Bronners each year.

While primarily known for Christmas, they do have a large selection of the other holidays available year round which makes it a great place to stop for people who enjoy any of the holidays.

Continue reading “Bronners Spring 2016” →

A cool spring day presented the perfect opportunity for a trip to Frankenmuth and a visit to Bronners. James went shopping at Bronners and bought a couple Easter lights that were on sale (after Easter sale).

James and his family then had a chicken dinner at a pretty crowded Bavarian Inn (We did not expect it to be crowded because it was still pretty cold out, but I think lots of family’s were like us and just said “enough” to winter). For those of you who have never tried Zenders or Bavarian Inn chicken dinners you have to put it on your bucket list. This is a popular tourist attraction on Sundays just for the chicken dinners, several of my friends in Canada make the trek once or twice a year – its that good that people actually go through the hassle of customs to get some of the Frankenmuth Bavarian Chicken dinners

We then shopped at their outdoor mall where Mary got to visit the cupcake shop that won a reality show contest (cupcake wars). On the way home we got to listen to the Tigers win over the Yankees so it was a good day all around.

Continue reading “Bronners in Spring 2013” →

We had planned to get to Bronners to surprise James with a Titanic Christmas bulb which we saw in an ad. James also got a Statue of Liberty bulb and a free bulb for spending over $25.

We usually visit Bronners when its not Christmas time so the crowd was a little bigger than what we are used to, but everyone was still as friendly as ever and we had a great time. They have a giant Christmas telescope that you can look through that I thought was cool, and an elf fishing in a swimming pool which was colorful but I did not really understand the purpose. I think it was meant to be ice fishing but it looked more like a swimming pool to me.

The weather outside still had snow, so that made it a white Bronners visit which is something we don’t often do.

Continue reading “Christmas Trip To Bronners 2012” →

We decided it would be a nice break to go to Bronners and start our day off from there. Moms birthday is today and we wanted her to have a good time with good eats. We also wanted to replace some of her shirts at the outlet mall which is very close to Bronners so why not Bronners on a birthday.

Everyone got something and there were lots of Christmas items that we had never seen before. We really like the new icicle lights (not sure if they are new but they are to us) where the light seems to drop down the icicle as if its melting. Mom added some bulbs to her candy tree and James picked up a couple items as well. It was such a nice day its hard to believe summer will soon be over.

Continue reading “Bronners Visit 2010” →

We try to get to Bronners at least once a year, usually when we are coming back from a trip to Mackinaw or around Christmas time. Bronners is the largest Christmas store in the world and Frankenmuth is well known for its hospitality as a resort town. A trip to Frankenmuth during the Christmas season is well worth while and you will be shocked by all the decorations and how well lit up the city is.

Frankenmuth also has one of the last covered wooden bridges in Michigan that you can either walk through or drive a car through (if you ever saw the movie Beetlejuice it looks sort of like that, only longer).

Continue reading “Bronners on Christmas Eve Eve 2007” →