If they're lucky, they get weeks of northern lights. Then, perhaps an irruption of snowy owls swept down from the Arctic. And if it's cold and calm enough, the mainland ice caves of the Apostles not only will be accessible but magnificently frozen by subzero temperatures. Amid so much natural beauty, photographers are like kids in a candy store. And they share their booty on Facebook pages and online galleries.
Go to story ...After a long winter, the sight of cherry blossoms is tonic for the soul. In northern Michigan, cherries love the gravelly soil of the Old Mission Peninsula -and so do tourists. Door Peninsula, also warmed by the waters of Lake Michigan and known for cherries and vineyards.
Go to story ...At the top of the Michigan mitten, a little village has seen a lot of action over the centuries. Then the continent's longest suspension bridge went up, a link to the Upper Peninsula and an attraction in itself.
Go to story ...By definition, lighthouses aren't easy to visit. Most are between a rock and a hard place, out of the way and on the edge of a fickle inland sea. "When the government came here after 1843, they were afraid the Native Americans would be hostile, but they quickly found out the only thing hostile was Lake Superior,'' said our captain on a cruise to the Copper Harbor Lighthouse in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.
Go to story ...When Lake Superior lighthouses had keepers, there was nothing romantic about life there. The posts were cold, lonely and meagerly furnished on the government dime. The work was physically taxing and repetitive. Through the long nights, keepers had to get up every two hours to wind the mechanism that rotated the lens. It's no wonder many of the early lighthouse keepers were hermits or grouches.
Go to story ...When it rains on Isle Royale, you just have to soak it up. Moisture comes with the territory in Lake Superior's northern reaches. No one comes here for the weather, despite early advertising that called it a "Summertime 'Bermuda' Paradise." Bermuda it's not. But paradise? It depends on how you look at it.
Go to story ...At most waterfalls, people mainly sit, look and take pictures. Not at Tahquamenon Falls.
Go to story ...The snow appeared on cue, just as Wisconsin faded into the Upper Peninsula. One minute there was a dusting, and the next a whole layer, white and inviting. It seemed too perfect, as if there must be snowguns hidden behind the "Welcome to Michigan'' sign. But there was snow beyond that, too, right up to the doors of the three ski resorts that line U.S. 2 just inside the state line. That's why they call this Big Snow Country. Winds from the west whip across Lake Superior, picking up warmth and moisture, and dump it as snow — more than 17 feet annually, on average — when they hit the cold inland air of the U.P.
Go to story ...Ah, the smell of Coppertone in spring. Leaning back on a chairlift, basking in sun bounced off acres of snow, I was getting quite a tan — on St. Patrick's Day.
Go to story ...The more I travel through the beach towns of west Michigan, the more I want to see. So I've slowed down and started touring by the seat of my pants - on a bicycle. rail trails, more than any other state. You can catch a trail all along the Lake Michigan shore, from Traverse City to South Haven.
Go to story ...In Ironwood, there's one thing people can count on besides death and taxes. Blown in over Lake Superior, the snow starts falling as soon as days cool down in late autumn and keeps falling until spring sun turns the pink-tinted piles into slush.
Go to story ...At first glance, Traverse City seems like just another Lake Michigan beach town. It's a truly gorgeous one, for sure. There's sand as far as the eye can see, wrapped around two vast bays. Everybody's playing beach volleyball, paddling kayaks or swimming in water tinted three shades of blue.
Go to story ...The first time I visited Marquette, I saw mostly Yooper Land. I chuckled at a 10-foot mosquito, a giant chainsaw and packages of Roadkill Helper. I noted the best-sellers in the bookstore window: "A Look at Life From a Deer Stand'' and "Leap of Faith 2: God Loves Packer Fans.'' This is the Marquette that's sports-crazy, hunting-happy and tough as nails, with a population descended from Cornish, Finnish and Italian immigrants who could put up with the rigors of iron mines and, later, their closings.
Go to story ...On the western tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the Black River is only one of more than 200 rivers that feed Lake Superior. It punches far above its weight, however, in providing waterfalls: Five of them in one short stretch draw visitors year-round. Part of the million-acre Ottawa National Forest, the Black River is so scenic it's part of two national trails - the North Country Trail for hiking and the Black River National Forest Scenic Byway for driving.
Go to story ...In the straits between lakes Michigan and Huron, you can find more than one Mackinac Island. The best-known first was advertised as "the Fairy Isle of Mackinac," and it's not quite rooted in reality. It has a tuxedo shop but no hardware store, a Victorian house called Brigadoon and a fan club that gathers every October in vintage clothing to revere the year 1912. You get to that island in a horse-drawn surrey, driven by a liveryman in a top hat.
Go to story ...It's America's freshwater Riviera, and everyone competes for a little piece of that beautiful sand: beach bums, lighthouse buffs, campers on a budget.
Go to story ...In Traverse City, spring is when you get to do all the things you planned in summer before you got seduced away by sand and surf. I'd seen the enticing shops, theaters and tasting rooms on other visits and planned to check them out "some time.'' Some time arrived Mother's Day weekend, when Traverse City was awash in color. So many pear trees were flowering downtown that the streets look frosted, and magnolia blooms were as big as popcorn balls.
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