On January 26, 1837, our beautiful mitten was granted statehood. As the Great Lakes state celebrates its 187th birthday, our team shares 187 things we love about Michigan.
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- We have the coolest shaped state
- And the nicest people
- Two peninsulas. One state.
- 11,000 inland lakes larger than 5 acres
- The greatest number of different foods grown of any state except California
- Longest freshwater shoreline in the US &Â more shoreline than any other state in the lower 48 (yes, more than California)!
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- You don’t have to pay money to go to the beach
- Yoopers and Trolls
- The handy map, of course
- Sea Shells City’s Giant Clam
- Cherry pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company and The Cherry Hut
- Christmas time in Frankenmuth
- Weekend getaways on Mackinac Island
- Surfing the Great Lakes—in winter
- 3,177 miles of Great Lakes shoreline (and no sharks or stinging eyes!)
- Rollerblading the TART Trail
- Freshwater fishing. There is no bad fishing season.
- Fall color hikes, bikes and drives
- Cherry blossoms
- Trilliums in bloom
- Michigan barns have their own styles
- Bonfires on the beach
- Ernest Hemingway
- Empire Asparagus Festival
- Beaches and skiing both in the same state
- Sunsets in Pentwater, Ludington, Manistee, Onekama, Frankfort, Empire, Glen Arbor, Leland, Elk Rapids, Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs … pretty much everywhere
- Sunrises on Lake Huron
- Ancient copper mines
- Elmore Leonard
- Village Cheese Shanty
- Walking over the Mackinac Bridge each September
- 20,000 miles of quality trout streams
- Michigan musicians like The Accidentals, Drew Hale and Jack Senff (listen to our summer mixtape)
- Vasa Trail
- Our sweet, small towns
- Pyramid Point
- Award-winning wine
- Trout Unlimited founded on the Au Sable River
- Rick and Marty Lagina
- Jim Harrison
- The 45th Parallel
- Uncle John’s Cider Mill
- 40 of the state’s 83 counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes
- Morel mushrooms
- Empire Beach
- The Northern Lights
- Vernors (which we also use to cure all colds)
- Petoskey Stones
- White Pine Village
- Madonna (Born in Bay City)
- Adams Fly invented on Boardman River
- Stormy Kromer
- Blueberries
- Cheeseburger Festival in Caseville
- ‘Up North’ is anywhere north of Bay City
- Faygo
- “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock (you’ve gotta admit it’s catchy)
- Turquoise waters of Glen Lake
- North Country Trail (Michigan hosts more miles of the North Country Trail than any of the other seven states the trail traverses.)
- Detroit-style pizza
- Craft beer greats like Bell’s, Founders, Stormcloud, Short’s and so many more
- Cruising state highways (especially M-22, M-119, M-185)
- The S.S. Badger
- Moose in the Upper Peninsula
- Wilderness State Park
- Longest-running wolf study in the world: wolves on Isle Royale
- Horses on Mackinac Island
- Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy (born in Flint)
- Leelanau Conservancy
- Better Made and Great Lakes Potato Chips
- Motown (Aretha, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations)
- Watching boats going through the Soo Locks
- Farmers Markets
- Pasties
- Lighthouses. And lots of them. (116 to be more precise)
- Beach volleyball after work
- Fayette Historic State Park
- Ice Cream (Moomers, Hudsonville, Michigan State University Dairy Store, Jones Homemade Ice Cream, House of Flavors)
- Black squirrels (and red and gray!)
- Author Jerry Dennis
- Tom Brady (played at University of Michigan)
- Straits of Mackinac
- Winter sports: tubing, snowboarding, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, fat tire biking
- Sandy beaches
- Water skiing
- Cheesy potatoes. We could eat them every single day.
- Apple orchards
- Arch Rock
- Summer picnics
- Ironton Ferry
- Loons
- Michigan round white potatoes—they make the best mashed taters!
- Joshua Davis
- North and South Manitou Islands (and Mackinac, Beaver, Hog, Garden, Bois Blanc)
- Fort Mackinac, Fort Holmes, Colonial Michilimackinac
- Holland Tulip Festival
- National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming
- Tahquamenon Falls State Park
- Leland Blue + Frankfort Green (coolest rocks ever)
- Our neighbors in Canada
- Greenfield Village
- Traverse City Film Festival & Fresh Coast Film Festival
- Grand Traverse Conservancy
- Two-tracking
- Ice wine
- Panfish fishing inland lakes
- Motor City
- May Erlewine
- National Cherry Festival and U.S. Navy Blue Angels
- Strawberries in June
- Tunnel of Trees fall color tours
- S’mores—these are a few of our fave recipes
- Ice skating in downtown Grand Rapids
- Birch trees
- Being in the snow belt
- Interlochen Center for the Arts
- Kiteboarding
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Hunting in the largest state forest system in the nation
- Sugar Loaf Mountain, near Marquette, and Sugar Loaf in Cedar
- Paddleboarding on Lake Michigan + every Great Lake
- Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
- Spring’s tree buds (much overlooked)
- Canoeing the Manistee River
- Porcupine Mountains State Park—camp in a yurt
- Literally everything at Cherry Republic
- World’s Longest Breakfast Table at Battle Creek Cereal Fest
- Ice boating. Yes, this is a thing.
- White-tailed deer
- Harbor Beach, the world’s largest man-made freshwater harbor
- The Lions, and Tigers and Red Wings. And the Pistons, sometimes
- Brockway Mountain Drive, Copper Harbor
- Gallagher’s Farm Market
- Booming craft distilleries (Grand Traverse Whiskey, Northern Latitudes, Iron Fish, Coppercraft and way more)
- Bayview Mackinac Race (Port Huron to Mackinac Island sailboat race)
- Gordie Howe International Bridge
- Sandhill cranes
- Torch Lake
- Little Traverse Conservancy
- Kellogg’s
- Bavarian Festival in Frankenmuth
- Shinola watches
- Kayaking the Sleeping Bear shore
- Hiking Manistee National Forest
- The historic and beautiful Grand Hotel
- Cycling Leelanau Peninsula
- White pines
- Great Lakes Charter Fishing
- Cherry sausage
- Mackinac Island fudge
- Zingerman’s
- Whitefish
- Trout: brook, brown and rainbow
- Greektown, Detroit
- Jeff Daniels
- Classic cars
- Henry Ford Museum
- Maple syrup
- Mackinac Island’s lilacs
- Arcadia Bluffs
- Ice climbing at Pictured Rocks
- Michigan’s Adventure
- Cops & Doughnuts
- Grand Island
- Painted turtles
- Long summer days; sunsets at 9:30
- Meijer (without an “s”, or with, whatever you prefer)
- Michigan auto industry
- Crooked Tree Center for the Arts
- Fox Theatre
- Hops. So many hops.
- Winter steelhead fishing
- Crystal-clear ice (it looks like you’re walking on water! Photo proof)
- Leelanau Cheese Company
- Art Prize in Grand Rapids
- International Auto Show
- The Mystery Spot
- These awesome 13 ski runs
- Snowshoeing to local wineries
- Mom-and-Pop resorts
- Marquette’s Ore Docks, especially during Orehenge in November and January
- Pumpkin patches galore
- Sunflower season!
- Chasing the northern lights
- Exploring the Keweenaw Peninsula
- Traverse Northern Michigan magazine (humblebrag)