There's enough beauty and adventure in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to fill a lifetime of trips. We get you started. This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our digital issue library. Want...
The Beaver Island Boat Company is one of those places where meaningful tenures are still measured in decades and—in Captain Mike Green’s case—family dynasties. The newly christened senior captain started working there in 1975, when his dad, then a captain, needed a...
Don’t mistake May Erlewine’s new music for an artist’s attempt at reinvention. She’s simply unleashing the best parts of what was always a complex self. This story is featured in the February issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine. Get your copy! The letter...
Seven hundred eighty-nine. That’s exactly how many autographs from world-class skiers Dick Wagner has hanging on the walls of his Harbor Springs home. And that’s not counting the 1,500 other pieces of memorabilia (that’s an estimate) that Wagner donated to the U.S....
It’s rare that a major conservation project is described as “simple.” And when a 100-acre parcel came up for sale along the scenic Tunnel of Trees, the Little Traverse Conservancy’s Kieran Fleming certainly didn’t think preserving it would be a slam dunk. For one, the...
It’s been a year of big changes at the Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City. Not only is the base getting a huge upgrade of its aircraft—transitioning from the lighter weight, Baywatch-esque H-65 helicopters to the more rugged Blackhawk-style H-60 choppers—the...
It’s fitting that Gene Jenneman gets to shepherd a long-planned, soon-to-be-completed $5 million Dennos Museum expansion: He’s the only director the museum has ever known—and in fact, delayed his retirement just to see the project through. When it’s all said and done...
The Mackinac Bridge is more gigantic she-beast than static steel structure. Meet seven of the people who do the care and feeding. This article is featured in the August 2017 issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine. Get your copy! As it celebrates its 60th...
Could Petoskey soon become a national destination for music, dance, theater and film? It may sound like an ambitious vision, but the folks at the nonprofit Great Lakes Center for the Arts think they can pull it off. The group is entering the home stretch of an effort...
Where do the people who work at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore go when they seek a dose of the park's charms? Read on for some of the best places to see at Sleeping Bear ... This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more...
When Moomers owner Jon Plummer noticed that Northern Michigan indie music darlings The Accidentals had given the ice cream shop a shout out in a recent interview, he was quick with a follow-up thank-you email. An email in which he even half-jokingly suggested the...
He fixes bikes, gives them away, changes worlds. Don Cunkle is an old car-repair guy who likes bikes and people. For the past several years, the Traverse City resident has turned his mechanic skills and big heart toward the task of fixing and donating bikes to people...
At 40, Eric Hemenway has already lived an interesting life. And not just because he took off backpacking for 10 years in southeast Asia and almost never came back. Or because he’s seen his fair share of trouble, almost lost his way and managed to turn his life around....
Help slow global warming. Reverse desertification. Can an MSU experimental pasture for grass-fed beef at the Lake City Research Center achieve such audacious goals? Scientist Jason Rowntree is finding out. Call him a cowboy. But not a real cowboy, or that fake...
Even as a kid, Traverse City entrepreneur Ryan Wells knew just how hard it is to make a small business succeed. He remembers sitting in his dad’s truck, watching his father, who ran the family’s property management company, reluctantly hand out eviction notices to...
Some thought the owners of one of Michigan’s newest craft distilleries were a little nuts to be opening a business on an abandoned farm near the Benzie/Manistee County line. But this winter, Iron Fish Distillery’s proximity to Crystal Mountain (named the #2 ski resort...
Jim Bartlett won’t be officially ending his 30-year tenure as head of Nub’s Nob ski area until the summer of 2017. But his successor, now-assistant GM Ben Doornbos, says he’s already gleaning everything he can from the guy who’s a living legend in the Up North ski...
If you’ve never really "gotten" the whole snowmobiling thing, leave it to a guy who’s been in the business for more than 40 years to distill it for you: “If you’re not into the whole winter exercise thing—you know, skiing or snowshoeing—you still have to find...
Thirty-one-year-old Erik Florip hasn’t been at this woodworking thing long, but he’s already chased his passion to a pretty “meta” place. Just five years after hacking together his first DIY bookshelf, the Traverse City craftsman is already leaving straight-up...
Celebrate winter's glory at these upcoming ski resort festivals. From a gourmet cross-country ski trip and a beer festival on the slopes to a frozen fish toss and snow shovel race, these events are pure Northern Michigan. If ski hills aren't your thing, check out...
Photo(s) by Aaron Peterson
