Frankenmuth River Place Is The Perfect Girl’s Trip Destination

Winter time can make it difficult to get together with your girls but here at Frankenmuth River Place you can shop, eat, snack and laugh your way through the perfect Girl’s Day Out!

Making It A Day

In December I wrote a post about Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. If you didn’t get a chance to read it or missed it, click HERE

After our visit to Bronner’s, we headed more into town and stopped at the Frankenmuth River Place Shops. This was supposed to just be a quick stop to see what they had to offer but we enjoyed it so much that we ended up spending a couple of hours!

If you haven’t ever been here, let me introduce to the Frankenmuth River Place Shops!

Welcome To River Place!

The River Place Shops is a mix of 40 stores and attractions that are family-owned, as well as, national retail chains.

The stores are arranged as if it is a Bavarian village and that is it’s charm. And, as you stroll through this village, you can shop, have a bite to eat, sit by the fountains (during warm weather, of course) or continue walking on the pedestrian bridge over the Cass River.

Also during the warmer months instead of a walk you can take a ride on the Cass River via the Bavarian Belle Riverboat. For more information on the riverboat, click HERE.

If you are not familiar with Frankenmuth, the community is built around it’s German roots. Much of the town’s buildings are Bavarian-styled in their architecture which only enhances Frankenmuth’s charm and appeal.

My Visit

I went here on November 30, 2021 and expected to find the whole place hoping since it was right after Thanksgiving and Christmas was on it’s way. You know, Black Friday and weekend crazy. But, sadly, that wasn’t the case.

The majority of the stores were closed. However, the ones that were open, were pretty great…for the most part.

First we went into The Michigan Shoppe. If you have read any of my blog posts then you know I am a Michigan girl through and through and any chance I get to support Michigan businesses, artist, etc I will do my best to do.

The Michigan Shoppe has everything from Michigan made sodas and chips, to candy and so much more! Textiles, coasters, books…really, a lot. I bought a few small things while there such as some Sayklly’s candy for stocking stuffers. If you’ve never tried it, you really must treat yourself! Check out the inventory for The Michigan Shoppe HERE

More Stores We Toured At River Place

• N’Orlins Cafe – This little store offers freshly made beignets, drinks and gumbo. You can also browse around and find beignet mixes, t-shirts and reusable drinking mugs, plus more. The staff was very pleasant and friendly and waiting eagerly to help. Click HERE to visit their website for more information.
• Jerky Joint – Here is another store that I bought stocking stuffers for my husband from. They have a large variety of jerky (of course), meat sticks, rubs and seasonings, snacks in a cooler and even steak branding irons! The prices are a touch higher than I would have liked but nothing unexpected. The staff, unfortunately, wasn’t very friendly but the selection of items was satisfying. I didn’t go in looking for something and not find it. Items are available for online purchase HERE
• For Bare Feet – The store is almost exclusively socks with every design it seems you could think of. From the fun and whimsical to the die hard sport of your choice to the warm and cozy. The prices were about what you would find in most stores. The staff was not friendly or helpful, which to be honest, didn’t encourage me to spend my money there. They do offer online shopping and may be a preferable choice. Click HERE for their website
• SugarRush Confection Mine – Holy Smokes! This is the candy store of every kid’s dream, young or old! There is a wall with a multitude of bulk bins to weigh out the largest selection of candy that I have seen in quite some time, racks of candy bars and giant suckers and prepackaged gifts. They also offer hand-dipped ice cream and a small cooler with a selection of bottled sodas. For thoses over 18 there are also infused candies-if you know what I mean. The staff here was very friendly! Click HERE to visit their website
• Popcorn Wagon – Oh. My. Goodness! I like popcorn and I know there are flavorings available for it but I had no idea how good this could be. I always assumed buying popcorn like this would be akin to eating styrofoam peanuts. WRONG! This popcorn was delicious!! Let me say that again…it was delicious! All four of us bought what they call “taster” bags which are the equivalent of 5 cups of popcorn. The Popcorn Wagon offers 45 different flavors so it was a little overwhelming at first as to which ones to try. But, let me tell you, there wasn’t a bad flavor among any of the ones we bought. Some of the flavors we munched on were the Bacon and Cheese, Parmesan and Garlic, Peanut Butter and Loaded Baked Potato. And believe me when I say that you can smell the yumminess (I may have made that word up, not sure) way before you get to the store! Another bonus is that the staff was very friendly and helpful. They also offer online shopping and you can see their prices and selection HERE. I definitely will be going here again!
• SugarHigh – This bakery had qa plethora of goodies to offer their visitors ranging from gourmet cupcakes to dog treat to some decorating/party supplies. My daughter bought some of the cupcakes that we munched on when we returned home and all were tasty but if it had been up to me to buy them, we would’ve never had them. I cannot bring myself to pay $4.25/cupcake. That’s a me a thing, I know. I’m not saying to pass them up by any means, and, if that is what you want – go and enjoy them. They are good! The bakery has some very cute dog treats and some delicious looking cookies. You are sure to find an item to satisfy your sweet tooth here. Much like one of the previous mentioned stores, I also wasn’t feeling like spending my money here because the woman was just not very friendly. Perhaps it was a bad day in that particular neighborhood.

Have a look!

Don’t Leave Just Yet!

After you have shopped until you’re ready to drop, don’t think your day is done. You need to take a short little trek across (or at least halfway across) the pedestrian bridge where you can get a lovely view of the Cass River and the covered bridge to the east of Main St.

Covered Bridge Lane is also the main entrance in to the Bavarian Lodge, in case you want to spend a couple of days in delightful Frankenmuth. (The other entrance is off from Weiss St)

Nearby

If you have the time after shopping at the Frankenmuth River Place Shops or if you are making a weekend of your venture, take a wander around town. There are a multitude of other businesses to dine, shop and lodge at. Here are just a few to put on your list:

• Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland
• Frankenmuth Aerial Park
• Zehnder’s (Splash Village, Hotel or Restaurant)
• Frankenmuth Jellystone Park Campground
• Michigan Hereos Museum
• Slo’ Bones BBQ Smokehaus
• Bavarian Inn Restaurant & Lodge
• Rau’s Country Store
• Zac & Mac’s Chocolate Haus
• Tiffany’s Food & Spirits
• Frankenmuth Woolen Mill
• Prost Wine Bar & Charcuterie
• Honey B’s Eatery
• Frankenmuth Brewery

Yay or Nay?

This was a great day out with my daughter and friends! We laughed – a lot – and enjoyed everything about the day.

After our time spent at Bronner’s and then the River Place Shops, we headed home. Well, sort of…we decided to stop in Birch Run for a quick trip of shopping and a bite to eat.

After seeing the restaurant Tony’s I-75 on one of the TV food shows, it was stuck in my head to give it a try. Everyone else was onboard so that’s where we ate lunch/dinner. It wasn’t intended to be a one meal for the day thing but the amount of food you get here makes it just that.

I had the famous BLT, Shelby had an omelet, Pam had a steak and cheese hoagie and Jane went with a salad. I will tell you that every plate was HUGE…no lie. It was really too much in my opinion. None of us finished our food and there was so much bacon on my sandwich (they say it’s a solid pound) that I brought it home and ate it for four days! But, if you like large portions and feeling like you get your money’s worth, this is the diner for you, for sure and for certain.

After we ate our meals we took a little trip around the Birch Run shopping mall – you know, to walk off all the food before the long drive home. I must say, that with the exception of the Lindt Chocolate store that my daughter stocked up at, we weren’t impressed with any of it. There are very few stores in the mall and the ones that we went into seemed to not realize this is supposed to be an outlet mall. They had OUTRAGEOUS prices! I won’t go back to them again – ever.

Where’s The Map?

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