VW Senior Center to head to Frankenmuth

VW independent staff and submitted information

Travel is back and for seniors getting back to traveling is a relaxing way to help to improve one’s mental and physical .The Van Wert Senior Center is helping seniors to meet this need with a trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan on Friday, November 12. Trip reservations can be made by anyone age 18 and older.

For seniors that are thinking of getting back into traveling again, this one day trip offers the chance to get out without being too far from home. Frankenmuth is nicknamed “Michigan’s Little Bavaria” as the city embraces its German heritage which is proudly displayed through architecture, food and cultural aspects of the city.

One of the great attractions of Frankenmuth is Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland. From just a small store opened in 1945, Bronner’s has become the world’s largest Christmas store with beautifully landscaped grounds covering 27 acres. For Wally Bronner, the store’s originator, the journey of Bronner’s has always been about Christ, and as he states about “decorating hearts with peace and love.” Visitors to the store will be able to see and purchase over 50,000 items they can use to decorate for the season.

Those venturing through the downtown areas of Frankenmuth will be delighted to find an easily walkable shopping experience offering a vast array of shops including cuckoo clock shops, quilt shops, and woolen mills. If food is your soft spot, you’ll find sausage companies serving up house-made Bavarian specialties, a massive Cheese Haus with more than 160 options and samples, plus plenty of sweet shops handcrafting in their open kitchens. If it happens to snow on this day, there will be nothing to worry about as downtown Frankenmuth features heated sidewalks.

For those interested in dedicating their day to “power shopping” they will have the option of spending the day at Birch Run Premium Outlets, located about 20 minutes outside of Frankenmuth. Birch Run is the largest outlet shopping experience in the Midwest and offers three restaurants and around 100 stores to meet all of your needs.

Cost of the Frankenmuth excursion is $95 and spots are limited. Those interested in reserving a spot for the excursion can stop at the Van Wert Council on Aging located at 220 Fox Road in Van Wert, call 419.238.5011 or by e-mail at info@coavw.org.