April 2020
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Keeping Family in the Business
At 77, Karen Eppinger doesn’t fish as much as she used to, which used to be as much as just about anyone.
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Spring 2020: Contributors
Meet the authors, photographers, and additional contributors who helped bring this Spring 2020 issue of Michigan BLUE Magazine to life.
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Sustainable Foraging in Spring
As the snow melts from the fields and woodlands, the early greens of spring poke through.
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Once Upon a Time at the Opera House
This excerpt from “Once Upon a Time at the Opera House – Drama at Three Historic Michigan Theaters, 1882-1928” by James Berton Harris © 2019, was published by Michigan State University Press and is reproduced here with permission.
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Nature’s Big Show
Little compares to a springtime hike when wildflowers are blooming.
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Spirit of Seventy-Six
Walk through the back entrance of Holland restaurant Seventy-Six, and you’ll see a framed photograph hanging on the wall.
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Slow Sail
Visitors from near and far flock to Traverse City for wine tasting, dune climbing and water-based recreation, but aerial adventures await those who like high-flying fun.
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An Explosion of Color
Each June, the famed lilac bushes of Mackinac Island awaken.
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Declining Bird Populations Offer ‘Wake-Up Call’
In my backyard, the feeders are full. A downy woodpecker sits perched on the suet feeder.
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The Secret of Seeing
Three minutes at 15 feet. This is the safety protocol repeated often to someone who learns how to scuba dive.
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Buying a Used Boat? Don’t Skip the Marine Survey
Spring is a great time to buy a used boat. Owners looking to trade up or down already may have made a deal on a new vessel, and dealerships that take used boats in trade are looking to free up space. Some owners may be getting out of the boating lifestyle and want to avoid the expense of spring launch or summer storage.
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Explore Michigan’s Original State Park
Colonial Michilimackinac is just one centerpiece this year during the 125th birthday party the state is holding for a collection of Straits-area stops that make up Michigan’s original state park.
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The Dawn Chorus
Morels usually start popping in early April around here, but the big white ones don’t show up until about the first of May.
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Hot Pots, Creative Expression
If you’d like to spice up your outdoor spaces, containers add color and character to the backyard and beyond.
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World-Class Outdoor Garden Takes Shape on Belle Isle
The musical chiming of Belle Isle’s stately Nancy Brown Peace Carillon will take on an even more beautiful air once its 85-foot tower is surrounded by a new world-class outdoor garden.
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Raising the Wine Perception
William Schopf is a storyteller, though not in the traditional sense of taking pen to paper or tapping away on a keyboard to craft novels, short stories or screenplays (though he majored in English literature at Princeton University).
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Live-In History
If the porch of Island House Hotel could give up its secrets, it would surely spill details of the century-old soirees and vacation stays of early Mackinac Island settlers, Chicago socialites, members of the Moral Re-Armament and 21st-century guests.
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A Season of Renewal
Like the weight of a heavy coat being shed, the passing of winter brings a smile to most people’s faces and a certain lightness of being.
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For Love of Trout
Ryan White remembers exactly how he became a fishing guide.
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Express Excursions
Paddling beneath the towering sandstone cliffs of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore got a little easier last summer once the new 64-foot Kayak Express hit the water.
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Aeroplane Views of Michigan
People have wondered for centuries what the Earth looks like from the air above. Before modern aviation, people attempted to take aerial photographs by sending cameras aloft by balloon, kite and even strapped to pigeons.
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A Lark, but No Joke
The story behind the National Writers Series in northern Michigan would make a great book.
