Michigan

See

Michigan is blessed with many natural beauties. Primary on that list are its Great Lakes (much of Superior, Michigan, and Huron, and a little bit of Erie), the waters of which are even depicted on official maps of the state. The Upper Peninsula region contains many of Michigan's natural wonders, including the Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island, Isle Royale, Tahquamenon Falls, the Porcupine Mountains, and the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The Lower Peninsula has expansive forests, rivers, and inland lakes in the north (such as Huron and Manistee National Forests), humongous sand dunes (such as at Sleeping Bear Dunes), and countless miles of beautiful shoreline. In the autumn, "color tours" of the changing leaves in northern Michigan are popular.

Do

If it can be done on or in the water, Michigan probably offers at least a little of it, somewhere in the state. Fishing, sailing, and motorboating are popular on both the Great Lakes and inland lakes. The Great Lakes are a bit cool for some tastes, even in the summer, but are still very popular beach destinations, along with swimming in the warmer lakes inland. Canoeing is also popular on the rivers snaking through protected forests. Some people do surf, mostly the often-substantial waves coming across Lake Michigan, but it won't impress the dudes back home at Hermosa Beach or Waimea.

In winter, replace water with snow and ice. Hardcore anglers keep fishing through the ice. Although serious alpine skiers might find the idea of skiing in glacier-smoothed Michigan laughable, there are many downhill ski areas, with the most popular resorts in the still-textured Charlevoix/Grand Traverse region of the state, in the Lower Peninsula. Don't forget the western U.P, which has more mountainous terrain. There you'll find Indianhead Resort in Wakefield, and Big Powderhorn in Bessemer. Some great cross-country skiing can be found in both peninsulas, and any incline with a population of kids nearby becomes a sledding hill.

The city of Detroit hosts four major professional sports teams: the Tigers (baseball), the Lions (American football), the Red Wings (hockey), and the Pistons (basketball). The Lions and Tigers play in stadiums in downtown; the Red Wings and Pistons share an arena a few blocks away in Midtown. Detroit also hosts the North American International Auto Show each January. Big-city casino gambling with four major casinos (supplementing the several Native American casinos in more remote areas of the state) is Detroit's latest addition. Detroit serves as the cultural and entertainment hub of the metropolitan region, with major concert venues, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Art, an active theatre scene, and many jazz venues.

In Lansing, you can visit the State Capitol Building, which was renovated in 1992. Many other state government and historical buildings are in Lansing and East Lansing.

There are many small towns of interest in Michigan. Frankenmuth in Mid-Michigan, was settled by German immigrants and features many Germany-inspired shops and restaurants. Zehnder's, the Bavarian Inn, and Bronner's are, respectively, its two most well-known restaurants and its most famous shop. Zehnder's is known for its family-style fried chicken dinners. The Bavarian Inn is known for its menu of German favorites and its glockenspiel. At Bronner's, it's Christmas all year 'round, with a wide selection of gifts, ornaments, and cards, many of them German imports. Frankenmuth has a variety of smaller, charming shops, a beautiful riverbank along the Cass River, and a covered bridge.

If travelling between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas, visit Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, and Mackinac Island. Fort Michilimackinac and an old lumber mill are on the latter, and these are both open to the public. In order to get to the Island, you must take a ferry. Three different services are available. Mackinac Island is home to Fort Mackinac, and the Grand Hotel, and many other points of interest. Rent bicycles, ride horses, or stroll; no cars are allowed on the island.

Buy

Michigan has a draw to shopping based on the many unique coastal towns and the look and feel of its tourist areas and attractions. Michigan has a fixed 6% sales tax which is rarely included in the advertised price (like the rest of the United States). Most groceries and many personal items are not taxed.

Antiques Markets, Shops and Shows are a big attraction in the Great Lakes Area. Below is a list of events, in alphabetical order:

Markets & shows (regularly recurring large events)

• Allegan Antiques Market. Six Shows every season. Last Sunday of every month, April through September. Visit the web site for exact dates each season, directions and contact information.
• Cars 1nc Anual Open House. An annual car show at Cars 1nc headquarters in Rochester Hills, has classic cars, raffles, food and lot of other entertainment.
• Woodward Dream Cruise. A premier one-day classic car event held on Saturday, August 16 every year along Woodward Avenue in metro Detroit. It is one of the most well known events. There are also smaller cruises held around the area, such as CruiseFest in Berkley, Harper Cruise in Saint Clar Shores, and the Gratiot Cruise in Clinton Township

Eat

If you're planning a trip into Michigan and you want to check off the "must-eat" local specialties, then there are four things you really should be sure to try while you're here. Interestingly, they're all centered around the northern parts of the state, so if you want to try them in their homeland, you'll want to be sure to visit the area from Traverse City to the UP.

Specialties

• The pasty (which rhymes with "nasty", not "hasty") is a traditional food in the Upper Peninsula, made with meat (usually beef), potato, onion, and sometimes rutabaga (a must, for some Yoopers), wrapped in a sturdy dough with a crimped edge. They originated from Cornwall, in southwestern England, and were brought to the area by Cornish miners who emigrated to the UP. The miners' wives would take everything that was left from the Sunday dinner, chop it up and wrap it in a semicircular pastry case, for their husbands to warm on their shovels and eat for lunch. These days, you can find pasty shops along highways in the UP, some with limited hours of operation, and others with their own websites. There are a number of ways to go about eating a pasty: cold, held in the hand, with or without ketchup, or hot, with ketchup or brown gravy.
• Several of the more popular tourist towns on Michigan's shores produce rich, creamy fudge, made from milk, sugar and usually chocolate, although you can find vanilla, peanut butter, mint, praline, cranberry, and many more flavors. The most famous fudge in the state has been made on Mackinac Island since 1887, still by hand, shaping and cooling it on marble slabs, right there at the shop.
• Not surprisingly, lake fish is popular in Michigan, particularly walleye, rainbow trout, whitefish and lake perch. Most restaurants in Michigan that offer seafood will have at least one of the two somewhere on their menu; you can find it broiled, fried, smoked, made into salad, or planked on cedar with whipped mashed potatoes piped around the edge. Lake fish are most commonly associated with Lake Superior, so you'll find it more prominent on menus in the Upper Peninsula.
• Michigan produces over 70 percent of the tart cherries grown in the US, as well as around 20 percent of the sweet cherries. The main cherry-growing region in the state is around Traverse City, where you'll find a cherry festival every July. Cherries, particularly dried ones, get added to some dishes to give them local flair; you may see restaurants offering a "Michigan salad" that includes dried cherries.

But although these four foods are most commonly associated with Michigan, they're by no means the state's only specialties.

• Cudighi ("COO-duh-ghee"), is an Italian sausage, sometimes served as a sausage-patty hoagie served with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce and is popular in the Upper Peninsula. It was brought to the area by immigrants from northern Italy who moved into the Iron Mountain region, the Copper Country, and around Ishpeming and Negaunee. Cudighi is flavored with sweet spices like paprika, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
• In southeastern Michigan, a popular treat to celebrate Fat Tuesday and the beginning of Lent is pączki ("poonch-key"), which are baked annually in the Polish village of Hamtramck in metro Detroit. The version made in Hamtramck are like large fried jelly doughnuts, covered in powdered sugar or glazed, and most commonly filled with custard, fruit or chocolate, with plum being a particularly popular flavor. Many grocers in southeastern Michigan carry pączki in the days and weeks prior to Ash Wednesday each February.

Agritourism

Aside from cherries, Michigan is a surprisingly prominent agricultural region, well known for a variety of products:

• Michigan ranks third in the nation's production of apples, which fill the grocery stores to overflowing when they're in season.
• The western side of the state, near the shore of Lake Michigan, is a prolific region for blueberries, growing 45 percent of the nation's total. They're not as ubiquitous on menus as cherries, but if you're in the region during the blueberry season (July through October) watch for roadside stands and "U-pick" farms in rural areas.
• Michigan's morel mushrooms grow wild throughout the state, but are particularly common in the northern Lower Peninsula. Locals often go mushroom-hunting, and Michigan morels are sought by chefs statewide. There's a morel festival every May in Boyne City and Mesick.
• The growing season for the small, sweet Michigan strawberries is short, but worth taking advantage of. There's a national strawberry festival every year in Belleville.
• Perhaps less enticing, Michigan ranks second in the nation's production of celery, mainly around Kalamazoo. There's even a celery interpretive center in the area, where you can learn about the region's celery farming heritage.

Drink

Although not as prestigious as Californian or overseas varieties, Michigan wines are growing in respectability, with significant vineyards in the southwest (e.g. St. Julian, Tabor Hill, Fenn Valley) and northwest Lower Peninsula (e.g. Leelanau Cellars, Good Harbor, Chateau Grand Traverse).

Stroh's was one of the last of the great traditional Michigan breweries and a Detroit-area staple, but is now made out of state. However, local breweries can now be found throughout Michigan. Some of the more widely available Michigan beers are Bell's, Arcadia, Atwater, Michigan Brewing, and Founder's.

Two native brands of soft drinks (called "pop" by the locals) are Faygo (perhaps best known for strawberry-flavored "Redpop" and the 1970s top 10 single based on their TV jingle), and Vernor's ginger ale (with its distinctive tangy taste and gnome mascot). The national brands own the restaurant and vending-machine business, but these are available in stores.

Michigan's bountiful apple harvest is often used to make fresh apple cider, and cider mills are abundant in the apple-growing region. They are only open during the harvesting season in autumn, but, if you stop by, you can get cider by the gallon (not "hard" cider) or just a cup of it, hot or cold. In Michigan, cider is traditionally drunk with cake doughnuts; most cider mills make their own doughnuts fresh on the premises, so you can get them piping hot, and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Most also sell other apple products, like baked goods, apple jellies and butters, and apple-related products like cookbooks and mulling spices.