June 2015
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A Regional Buffet
Summer rolls out quintessential Michigan in a buffet of regional ways, flavoring June and July with unique local flair from one shoreline to the next.
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Vintners’ Get-Together
Towering Gewürztraminer vines create a lush outdoor room around a vineyard table in the midst of Leelanau Peninsula’s wine region, where four couples carry on a spirited conversation near a classic red barn. Here, vintner Tony Ciccone is holding court in an unexpected way. Normally there to tend or harvest the wine grapes, he’s now sitting among them, readying for the evening’s first toast.
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Great Lake Story 2015: Lakemore Retreat – Chapter Two
Great Lake Story 2015, Chapter Two: Lakemore Retreat tells Dean Adams’ journey which started with offers to mow neighbors’ yards at age 12 and at 15 the earnest young Northern Michigan entrepreneur launched his own business is now the award-winning founder of Bay Area Contracting is creating a sense of place at Arbutus Lake began with uncovering a sense of self.
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Ripples of Azure and Grey, an excerpt
The first time my mom and I visited Alpena on the shore of Lake Huron, we came on a geology trip. Following a stop at a gypsum mine, we hunted for fossils. After this first taste, we became obsessed, returning again and again to look for more.
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A Century of Sailing
The year was 1915. World War I was underway; Henry Ford was rolling Tin Lizzies off the assembly line; prohibition had yet to be put into law; the Detroit Tigers won a then club-record 100 games, yet narrowly lost the American League pennant to the Boston Red Sox; and five Detroit men each slapped down $14 on a table to launch the Bayview Yacht Club.
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Growing Michigan Hops
Catapulted by an ever-rising number of cultivators investing in land, planting popular varieties and attempting to make a go of it, this artisan crop has become de rigeur in the Great Lakes State.
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Bernida: Michigan’s Sailing Queen
Considered a thoroughbred racing yacht, the 32-foot sloop Bernida (originally named Ruweida III) was launched in 1921 in New England and made her way to the Great Lakes in time for the inaugural Bayview to Mackinac Yacht Race in 1925. With Russ Pouliot at the helm, Bernida made her presence known as she sailed into victory with a time of 49 hours, 50 minutes.
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Trails of treats: Savoring the ride
Is there anything more satisfying than stopping to refuel at a delightful café while pedaling a scenic rail-trail? Or picking up homemade treats at a farmer’s market and staging a two-wheel picnic? Which is more enjoyable — burning the calories or consuming them?
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Getting Out
I was invited to stay at a friend’s camp near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. I drove there on a day that began bright and promising, but by L’Anse the sky had clouded over and a light drizzle was falling. By the time I reached the camp the rain was a steady downpour. It didn’t stop for two days.
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Famed Tastes of the Great Lakes State
From wild-caught lake trout, high-bush blueberries, just-picked asparagus and restaurants helmed by James Beard award-winning chefs, photographer Dianne Carroll Burdick and I roamed the state to find the best things to eat for “Tasting and Touring Michigan’s Homegrown Food — A Culinary Roadtrip” (2012, Arbutus Press). We discovered each region puts its own stamp on deliciousness and serves up distinctive, delectable gems.
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Rustic marvels
Michigan was once a land of mighty timber. A few artisans were inspired by the natural materials found in logs, tree branches, stumps and roots to create rustic marvels. Although there were others — including the Jack Pine Lodge near Manistique, Birchwood Arbor in St. Ignace and many lodges and cabins — the best-known of these are the Legs Inn in Cross Village and the Shrine of the Pines, just outside of Baldwin.
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Tip of the mitt
Gail Gruenwald’s style of dealing with oil and gas and clean water issues sometimes frustrates her peers in the non-profit community. Alleged threats, after all, require immediate action. But Gruenwald, executive director for the Petoskey-based Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, says having all the facts is crucial before acting on a supposed problem.
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Summer 2015: Contributors
Michigan BLUE Magazine: Summer 2015 issue – authors, photographers, and additional contributors who help bring the magazine to life.
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Enchantments in the sand
From east to west across the state, competitors and spectators alike are preparing to celebrate summer — along with Michigan’s distinct shoreline communities — in the sand.
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State Fare
When it comes to summer staples, these iconic tastes are synonymous with the Great Lakes State.
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Portals to the Past: Bay City
Bay City. Nourished by Saginaw Bay’s bounty of freshwater rivers and streams, dense forests of white pine, oak, elm and other species once blanketed the Saginaw Valley, where Native Americans including the Chippewa, Ottawa, Ojibway, Hopewell and Potawatomi settled first along the Saginaw River.
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Portals to the Past: Menominee
Menominee. Nestled in a triangle formed by 110-mile-long Green Bay and the Menominee River — the boundary line between Michigan and Wisconsin — Menominee served for a time during the 1870s as a great lumber port.
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Creek Music
We had a weekend in a cabin on the Au Sable, and I couldn’t have been more excited to be there. The first morning I rigged my flyrod and waded into the riffle in front of the cabin and had the river to myself for a while. Then many happy people in bathing suits were […]
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June & July
Places to go and things to do in Michigan during the summer months
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Portals to the Past: Port Huron
Port Huron. Stretching for seven miles along the shore of the St. Clair River and the base of Lake Huron, the City of Port Huron serves as an international border crossing marked by the sweeping twin Blue Water Bridges connecting Michigan to Ontario.
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The road less traveled
Punctuated by new breweries, farm-to-table restaurants and welcoming wineries, Heritage Route 23 many fringing Northern Michigan’s scenic, unspoiled eastern coastline is rapidly growing as an inviting new culinary destination. In between great tastes and drinks found in friendly, historic small towns along this picturesque, unhurried byway from Standish to Mackinac City, visitors can savor myriad adventures on the road the less travelled.
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Portals to the Past: Manistee
Manistee. Deriving its name from an Ojibwe word meaning either “river with islands at its mouth” or “spirit of the woods,” Manistee owes its growth to logging, farming and the railroad. Starting out with just a population of about 200 in 1852, the burgeoning port became home to more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the U.S. during the 1880s.
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Fresh-air feasts
Taking the farm-to-table experience one step further, these local operations actually host dinners in the field or orchard, putting diners even closer to the source of their meal.
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Beyond the page
As the story goes, it all began with a business plan competition for women veterans and a stroke of genius. Not only did Jill Hinton, chief heroine of the Outdoor Book Club in Grand Rapids, enter her highly original concept, she took third place in the amount of $10,000 to get her vision going.
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Portals to the Past: Muskegon
Muskegon. In 1857, when New Yorker Wesley Wood stopped in Muskegon, he discovered a seemingly lawless frontier community. Although “saloons, dram shops and gambling places abounded,” Wood “very firmly” believed Muskegon was destined to become “a very important” business and population center. He was right. As present-day Muskegon transitions into a high-tech manufacturing, tourism, healthcare and maritime-based economy, this history-steeped city is also home to a winter sports complex, state-of-the-art planetarium, trolley rides, state parks, the Lake Express and assorted thrills at Michigan’s Adventure.
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Season of celebrations
Deep red and sweet, ripe Michigan strawberries herald the start of summer no matter where you live in the state. Yet, each weekend in the sunshine months of June and July, communities across the Mitten also mark the growing season in their own way, sharing traditions of food and drink in fabulous festivals jam-packed with local flavor, culture and a sense of place.
