"carnesio24" writes:

What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Even if the slab doesn't crack if it goes out of level it's not so easy
to fix. That's what happened to mine.

I recommend pavers, not bricks.
I have brick walkways and a paver patio:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/despen...tio-done2.html

The bricks move around.
The pavers lock in place and stay put.

With pavers you can always pull them up, adjust and replace.