Destination: Hell, Michigan

I have been to Hell and had one Hell of a Vacation: One of the peculiarly interesting travels in my life is going to Hell. It sounds cool, right? By the way, I do not mean literal Hell. It is a small town called Hell, located in Michigan, one of the states in the United States of America. It is located in Livingston County. I have first heard of this town in 2014 from my best friend who loves to travel. In late 2015, he and his fiancé announced that they were going to get married in Hell and that they wanted to make it a really small wedding to include just the bride and groom along with their best friends’, altogether we were only 5 people including the bride and groom. The bride-to-be asked me to be her Maid of Honor and I was really honored to attend her special day. I was excited to be part of my best friends’ wedding and that I made it to their very close friends list. The wedding took place on October 2, 2015. We left around 5am on October 2nd from Terre Haute, Indiana and our first stop on our way to Hell was in a nearby town called Chelsea, MI. We had to stop there to get my friends' marriage registered which took them an hour or so. Meanwhile, I explored the courthouse which was a historic building with attractive interior architecture and vintage looking furniture. Later we went to a locally owned restaurant to have lunch which was delicious and surprisingly there were two other couples who were getting married the same day. It was really wonderful to see so many couples in just one restaurant who were all getting married in Hell on the same day. We made it to Hell around 3:00pm although their wedding was at 5:00pm. We wanted to look around and found some really cool places. The town basically looked like Halloween themed recreation park with spooky devil figures and creepy looking mannequins; except there were no pumpkins. That little town had a small store to buy souvenirs, clothing, post cards and many interesting stuff and all of them were Hell related. One of my favorites quotes that I have found on most items in the store was “I have been to Hell already, don’t send me there again!” I bought a post card and magnets with the same quote on them. There was a bar called Hell Hole, a creek across the street from the bar which is called Hell Creek River and a bridge over the River and an Ice Cream Store called “Screams Ice Cream from Hell. All the stores were almost within walkable distance. There was a funny tradition called “Locks of Love” that couples can follow if they want to, which was to buy a lock from the Ice Cream store and they can use this to lock it on the bridge which was over the Hell Creek River and throw the key in the river below. We have seen a lot of locks on the bridge and my friends locked their love on the so called “Locks of Love Bridge.” Finally when the wedding time approached, we went to the chapel which was behind the store called “Hell’s Chapel of Love”. The chapel was tiny that can fit up to 6 to 8 people. The officiants who marry the couples were also dressed up funny to emphasize the "Hell" in their dressing. It was a real quick exchange of vows in the presence of friends and the officiant announced their marriage in Hell as “A marriage that starts in Hell has nowhere to go but up!” Custom designed wine glasses and t-shirts were given to the couple as complimentary gifts which were Hell themed. It was a really nice little town for a fun, and different vacation experience. If you are looking for an inexpensive and quick vacation, Hell is your next destination. Plan your trip and have a Hell of a great time!

#michigan #domestictravel