Huffington Post recently published a list of one thing you MUST do in each state. Out of curiosity, I scrolled through to Michigan to see what made the list. Shinola, a watch and bicycle shop in Detroit. To be fair, the shop sounds cool. But if you come to Michigan and do ONE thing, that's it? Really?
So I scrolled through the rest of the list. In some states, it's driving down a picturesque road. For Arizona, it's spending a night in the Grand Canyon. For others, it was throwing horseshoes at a popcorn festival or seeing the butter cow. I haven't seen a single thing on the list in any of the states I've visited. And no matter how awesome the food, I don't think ice cream or a sandwich has ever topped the list of best memories of any trip.
Plenty of people have complaints about the Michigan. They complain about the weather, the roads, the economy, the crime (side note: the weather contributes to the roads and the economy contributes to the crime rate). Sometimes I wonder how people outside of Michigan see us. I'd imagine they think it's basically Detroit and Flint, with wilderness and snow elsewhere. And cars.
Personally, I like Michigan. I've never lived anywhere else and I'm good with that. I was born in Alma, spent my childhood in the UP, and have lived in small towns in the lower peninsula. Jackson is both the biggest city I've lived in and the farthest south I've ever lived. I'd be okay with it remaining that way, to be honest. I like having seasons and Michigan has beautiful seasons, more than the winter and construction most people talk about. Winter can feel long and we get a good amount of snow. It also gets cold. But it's winter. And the snow is actually really pretty, at least for the first two months. When spring comes, it's green and flowery and gorgeous. Everything is new. And we've got wildlife. Baby animals are adorable. When summer comes, it's warm and sunny and we can go to the beach. Michigan has tons of lakes and rivers and we have miles of beaches on the Great Lakes. Plus it doesn't get ridiculously hot here. It does get humid, in which case you find water to swim in. The thunderstorms can be awesome too. And then there's fall, my favorite season. There's a chill in the air, leaves start turning colors, and it's perfect for football and bonfires and visiting pumpkin patches. It gets windy too, and there's this eerie, melancholy feel to fall. Things come to an end and fall is a reminder of that. But things aren't dead. They simply go dormant for a while and start fresh in the spring. Plus fall is a countdown to Christmas and the first snow of the season. If seasons were a song, it'd be a lot more exciting with changes, right? Summer would be light and uptempo, fall would be a bit melancholy and crisp, winter would be muted and hinting of things to come, gradually coming to a joyous crescendo in spring. Seasons without weather changes would be a repetitive pop song - it might be appealing at first, but it would quickly become grating and dull.
And there are so many cool things to see in Michigan. There are the Great Lakes and all the things that go along with them - beaches, dunes, lighthouses, rock formations. There are other natural things, like Castle Rock, Tahquemenon Falls, and more. There are historical places - museums, forts, Mackinaw Island. Man-made things, like the Soo Locks and the Mackinac Bridge. There are thousands of things to see in Michigan, no matter what your interest. There's a shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point. There's an old state prison in Jackson you can tour if that's your thing (there are rumors that it's haunted, if you like that). There are festivals for everything from roses to cherries to cheeseburgers. If you're into architecture, visit Grand Rapids or Detroit. If you like cars, visit just about any place in Michigan - Detroit, Flint, even St. Ignace (there's a car show there). If you're interested in art, go to ArtPrize in Grand Rapids or visit the Heidelberg Project in Detroit. The cities here have a lot to offer, though personally I think you'd be missing out if you didn't venture outside them. There are so many interesting things about Michigan and I know I've missed a ton of them. Please comment and add anything I've missed. The point is, if the one thing you do in Michigan is visit a hipster watch/bicycle shop, you're missing out, no matter how neat it is.
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