Memorial Day weekend in Michigan is basically our unofficial state holiday. It’s the annual migration north where traffic doubles, gas stations become survival hubs, and somebody always says, “We should’ve left earlier.”

Before you toss the cooler in the backseat and head toward the cabin, lake, campground, or mystery dirt road your cousin swears is “the shortcut,” here are the Top 10 things every Michigan road trip NEEDS this Memorial Day weekend.

10. A Cooler Bigger Than Common Sense

You don’t know true optimism until you see a Michigan family trying to fit 48 drinks, hot dogs, potato salad, and three bags of ice into one cooler.

9. Bug Spray

The mosquitoes up north are basically welcoming committees with wings. Forget bug spray and you’ll come home looking like a connect-the-dots puzzle.

8. Gas Station Snacks

Better Made chips. Beef jerky. Cherry Coke. Random candy you only buy on road trips. The Michigan road trip snack lineup is sacred.

7. A Playlist Full of Summer Songs

Somewhere between Bay City and “the middle of nowhere,” somebody WILL crank up Bob Seger, Kid Rock, Luke Bryan, or Jimmy Buffett loud enough to wake wildlife.

6. Folding Chairs

Michigan people don’t sit normally in the summer. We unfold chairs in driveways, campsites, beaches, boat launches, and random parking lots like it’s an Olympic event.

5. Hoodie AND Shorts

Because Michigan weather likes to spin a giant wheel every six hours. You could start the day in a sweatshirt and end it sunburned in flip-flops.

4. Construction Patience

Orange barrels are basically Michigan’s state flower this time of year. Just accept that somebody towing a camper is going 43 MPH in front of you.

3. A Bluetooth Speaker

Nothing says “Michigan summer” like country music echoing across a lake while someone struggles to light charcoal.

2. Sunscreen You’ll Forget to Reapply

Every Memorial Day weekend starts with “I’ll be fine” and ends with somebody shaped like a lobster complaining about aloe vera.

1. A “We’re Going Up North” Attitude

This is the real MVP. Doesn’t matter if it’s Higgins Lake, Traverse City, Caseville, Tawas, or a tiny cabin with questionable Wi-Fi. Memorial Day weekend in Michigan is all about bonfires, beaches, boats, burgers, and making summer memories.

And honestly? Half the fun is just the drive there.