Aloha State Park: A taste of paradise on the mainland

in Worldmappin2 years ago

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After visiting many of the state parks in Michigan, it seems there are a handful that we keep coming back to time and time again. Aloha State park in the small town of Aloha, MI is definitely one of those. Located on the east coast of Mullet lake, it offers pretty spectacular sunsets every night like you can see in the photo above.

There is a lot to love about the park and it is more than just the sum of the views. It is a relatively large park with a couple hundred sites available for people to camp on. They just added full hookup sites to the far end of the campground, so you can be pretty self contained if you want to be and your travel trailer allows it.

One of the things I love about this campground isn't actually in the campground...

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Just outside the campground is a little store called the Aloha Store. It might not look like much from here, but there is absolute magic inside of this place. Trust me!

Maybe a picture from a different angle will help you figure it out.

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If you are thinking it is the "Live Bait" sign in the window, you are totally wrong. Nope, it's the sign just to the right that mentions "Fresh Donuts Made Here".

That's right, every morning there are a couple older ladies working in the back of the place making fried cakes for all of the campers and locals to enjoy. They have a huge selection available, you just need to decide if you want 1 or 24!

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I decided to take it a little easy and stick with a box of six on our first morning at the campground. They aren't very big, but they pack a lot of flavor and trust me when I say they are absolutely divine fresh out of the fryer!

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I think on this occasion, my favorite was the one in front with the vanilla frosting on it and nuts. My wife has a lot more will power than I do when it comes to sweets, so she was fine just having half of the chocolate one in the back. The cinnamon and sugar ones were pretty fantastic too. The powered sugar donut actually had a bit too much sugar on it if you could believe it.

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As you can see, they are all the round fried cake style donuts, none of that yeast based stuff here. Although I prefer yeast donuts over friend cakes, these are still super fantastic. It's pretty rare that I would ever turn down a donut regardless of the dough. They did have come coconut topped ones that I did steer clear of!

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One year my wife and I were lucky enough to get a campsite right on the water. Unfortunately, it was also the windiest we have ever seen it at Aloha, so we weren't able to really enjoy being outside our trailer. Ever since then, we try to get a site on the other side of the "road" from the lake. It still gives us a decent view and the wind is a little less intense.

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My wife went for a bike ride one morning and when she came back she said you won't believe this, these people had their dogs down on the beach. At most state parks you are prohibited from having pets or glass bottles on the beach. Some have a separate "pet beach", but not all of them.

When we drove back to actually spend time at the beach my wife said that one dog is still there.

After realizing the dog hadn't moved at all, she exclaimed "I am an idiot", and we quickly realized why when we got down to the shore. They placed this cutout on the sand so they could keep the seagulls and geese away from crapping all over the beach...

We all had a good laugh at our own expense and enjoyed a nice time sitting and the beach, swimming and drinking some beers/seltzers.

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At night I was able to play catch using my Frisbee with our nieces daughter. She has always had a really good natural throw and I enjoy playing with her because I don't have to do too much chasing. She was a little rusty, but we still had a good time playing.

Notice anything special about this particular disc?

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I know it is probably hard to see in this photo, but if you look really closely, you will see that the disc lights up. It has a small battery on the underside and LED lights in the center and down the "spines". It looks really awesome at night when you are playing catch with someone!

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As I mentioned in my post yesterday, my buddy came camping with us and he got the site right next to us. He pulled his trailer in versus backing it in so he could be facing us.

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Like I said, the one that that always keeps you coming back to Aloha (besides the donuts) is the sunsets. We had a couple of really great ones while we were there.

Besides the one at the top, I also tried to mess with the white balance on my phone in pro mode to see if I could come up with something better.

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Here is one extreme

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And then the other.

I really think the original photo turned out better. Trust me when I say the colors were much more intense than you can actually see in these photos. I had read that adjusting the white balance helps you capture more of them, but I honestly chalk this failure up to my lack of skill, not a problem with the camera.

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Finally, I tried for one last selfie of us and the sunset, but it was hard to get it to focus on either us or the sunset, so we ended up being a little dark!

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Our last day a little bit of a storm rolled in, but we weren't too worried about it. It ended up being pretty mild and our friend pointed out that a tornado has only touched down once north of the 45th parallel so we should be good. Since we were a good half hour to 45 minutes north of that parallel which runs through Gaylord, MI we knew we were safe!

Aloha State Park is a bit off the beaten path, but it is totally worth the trip if you are in this part of the state!

Come for the donuts, stay for the sunsets!


Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports


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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced

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What a beautiful place, I congratulate you for sharing with your partner, truly sharing with the person you love is the greatest satisfaction one can have in life, I can only invite you a !BEER to go with those donuts.

Oh don't worry, I had plenty of those too!

Aloha Park sounds like great place. Looks like you had a fun weekend. Thanks for sharing.

Fantastic work Bozz! Those ladies have got a good side hustle going there. That's a great example about adding value.

Camping looks fantastic. Is the season over now or you have some more planned?

School is starting so we are going to be busy with that for a while. We will probably take a couple fall trips once we are back in the groove of things. Probably late September.

Looks like a lovely place to holiday. I can't believe you fell for the fake dog 🐕😂

I eat about a quarter of a donut every two years. I love the look of them and recall something nice about the taste, but after a Bite or two I realise how bloody sugary they are.. like your wife, I have more willpower!

She is a sucker for salty things, I go more for the sweet stuff. Neither of it is good for either of us! I can only think of a couple times I couldn't finish a whole donut. I think the one time I was about to go into a sugar coma and I had to stop.

Beautiful photos

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Aloha is a wonderful place to be and I really like those donuts

It definitely is looking amazingly beautiful ...

Lol, that fake dog would make my real dogs go insane if they were to ever see that. Hahaha.

Haha, yeah, I can only imagine what my dog would do if we had taken her on this trip. We ended up leaving her at home due to a canine disease that is going through the northern part of our state right now.

The dog moved ;)

I don't know if you've ever been to Norway but this place looks a lot like one I visited when living there. Houses in America are also very similar in looks to the American ones. That sports boat looks great. I'd sure take it for a spin here on the Danube.

Aaand for more punchy colors use Snapseed on your smartphone. It has a tons of ways of tunning your photos.

Okay cool, I will have to keep that in mind for the photos. I have never been to Norway, but it is on my bucket list.

Worth visiting. The fjords they have over there are outstanding.

Wow, such a beautiful place and those donuts are looking indeed delicious. And freshly made each morning… hard to resist.
Great captures @bozz
Thanks for sharing 😊👋🏻 Happy Tuesday

Thanks! Yeah, this place is pretty awesome. It certainly has a lot to offer beyond just your average campground.

You are welcome @bozz 😊
It sure looks like that.
Will have to save it, when I’m close by one day to visit 😉
Enjoy your day!

There are many reasons people visit a place. Usually people will plan to visit new places they have never been. But there is also a reason for someone to visit the same place, even over and over again as you said, Mr @bozz.

You must have a special reason for a special place like Aloha State Park. But not because of the donuts available there, right?

I also have the same place that I go to as you, repeatedly there and always find something new. Though it is a place that I know the ins and outs well.

I think someone is in the same place over and over again because they have an emotional bond there and that is only known to the person who lived it.

Have a great day

This is definitely a special place. I think we grow more and more fond of it every time we come back. It might eventually become a place we visit every year or multiple times a year. We still have a lot of places outside of Michigan to explore yet though!

Wow! Such a nice view for sunsets. The donuts caught much of my attention though 😅. I think I might just love the one with vanilla fros and nuts. Yummy 😋

Yeah, that one was pretty amazing. I wish I had gotten more of that kind.

Beautiful landscape

Thank you! We really enjoy it!

I did read everything above, but coming here to comment all I can remember or say is: DONUTS, I need to get me some donuts ASAP! 🤤

Thank You! Voted on ListNerds!

Everyone needs Donuts for sure. Except maybe diabetic people. They can figure it out though.

Beautiful city with beautiful view

You had me at the donuts.

But seriously, looks and reads like an incredible place to experience.

@bozz
!CTP

It's pretty awesome. It's connected to another nice lake too via an inland water way. A lot of people come up here to enjoy boating and water sports.

Que lindo concoer nuevos lugares, las donas se veian riquísimas

Sounds awesome, @bozz
You have some really nice photos.
It looks like a nice laid-back town.
Perfect for relaxation.

I love the scare-dog. That is a great idea.
The Canadian geese can really mess up a beach.

!CTP

Yeah, the funny thing is, our friend rode her bike by the beach earlier that morning and she said there were a ton of geese around the cut out, so I am not really sure how well it works! It is a pretty cool place! Thanks for the comment!

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