Posted on September 7th, 2023By Jackie Sheckler Finch
The old 1961 song “Big Bad John” kept running through my mind when I visited Iron Mountain Iron Mine. The cause? The massive 40-foot-high, 12-foot-wide statue named Big John standing outside the mine is said to be the world’s largest miner. And the attraction’s web…
Posted on February 21st, 2023By Jackie Sheckler Finch
Strolling along tree-lined streets and admiring historic homes, I can easily understand why people fall in love with the charming city of Marshall. With an impressive 845 buildings in the nation’s largest National Historic Landmark District in the Small Urban categ…
Posted on December 16th, 2022By Janet Kasic Last Saturday evening I spent some time in downtown Holland, Michigan. I was hopping…
and it was beautifully decorated for the holidays! Restaurants were busy and many people outdoors warming themselves by the outdoor fireplaces along the sidewalks. Did you know the sidew…
Posted on July 25th, 2022By Janet Kasic Having just arrived in St. Ignace, I headed over to my favorite diner in Michigan’s 2nd oldest city. This little gem was built in 1926. The upstairs was a boarding house for the iron workers who were working on the Mackinac Bridge during the early 1950’s. Today this gem of…
Posted on June 23rd, 2022By David Hoekman
It’s the top of the ninth inning of a baseball game at Comerica Park in Detroit, and I am on the edge of my seat in section 123.
Although the Detroit Tigers hold a 4-2 lead over the visiting Texas Rangers and there are two outs, I am nervous for the home team. The Rangers have runners on sec…
Posted on April 26th, 2022By Jackie Sheckler Finch
Gilmore Car Museum evokes memories for visitors. My grandson Logan saw it before I did. A super cool 1970 Dodge Challenger, like one my brother Jim had owned back in the day. That started Logan talking about all the tales he had heard about his Uncle Jim and that muscle car.
Su…
Posted on September 1st, 2021By David Hoekman
Traffic thins as a motorcoach moves into Northern Michigan.
The air cools.
Rolling hills come into view. On the western edge of the Lower Peninsula, group tours encounter Ludington, situated on Lake Michigan.
I discovered Ludington offers a historic village, a dandy maritime mus…
Posted on March 31st, 2021By David HoekmanA summertime trip to Muskegon reminded me that destinations and attractions change constantly.Nowhere is that more evident than downtown Muskegon, which over the last 20 years has kept some landmarks and transformed everything else.I encountered classic favorites and new sur…
Posted on November 30th, 2020By Courtney Birchmeier
I’ve lived in Michigan all my life, but it wasn’t until last summer that I visited the Upper Peninsula for the first time. After several days of exploring the remote, natural beauty that I expected to find, my travels led me to Marquette — and boy was I surprised. In Marque…
Posted on June 1st, 2020By Kelsey Smith
Living in The Mitten State, I’ve visited our capital dozens of times. But, my tour of Lansing last summer gave me a full sense of what the city can offer groups. Conveniently located in the middle of the state, Lansing screams with vibrancy — from diverse neighborhoods to world-cl…