From its flat and fertile southern farmlands
to its cold, northern Lake Huron waters, Northeast Lower Michigan is a
rich vacation tapestry. The toughest challenge is picking a day’s worth.
The answer? Plan plenty of days here!
First, Flint?
Maybe you’ll start at Flint (www.visitflint.org),
a city with a rich history it shows off proudly in several venues.
General Motors was born here, and you can learn about
the company and automotive history at the Sloan Museum and the Buick Gallery,
just part of the rich musical, historical, artistic and dramatic possibilities
at the Flint Cultural Center.
Nearby is Crossroads Village (www.geneseecountyparks.org/crossroadsvillage.htm),
an attraction that enjoyably recreates 19th century Michigan. In addition
to 30 historic structures and a vintage steam locomotive, there’s
the Genesee Belle, a paddlewheel riverboat ready to take you for a cruise
on Mott Lake.
Saginaw’s secrets
Saginaw County takes a back seat to no other in the northeast
when it comes to offering vacation fun. The Saginaw Children’s Zoo
(www.saginawzoo.com)
marked its 75th year last year, and it draws nearly 100,000 annually.
The zoo plans $6 million in improvements, and already has found new ways
to please the animal fans in your family.
The zoo’s Awareness Amphitheater holds regular shows,
each highlighting three animals from the zoo’s long list of native
and exotic residents—among them African pygmy goats, alligators,
bald eagles, river otters, and new last year, kangaroos. The zoo is part
of Celebration Square, site of such events as a historic voyageur encampment,
old car shows, wood carving expos and health-based activities.
At the edge of Saginaw, several rivers join to form the
Saginaw River at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. To its wet,
rich grounds, return thousands of ducks and geese each spring, on their
way to northern breeding grounds. Plenty of wildlife species, from ducks
to deer, live here year-round, too, and a pair of nature trails will carry
you through their haunts.
Elsewhere in Saginaw County, the Chesaning Showboat Festival
casts off each mid-July, its 64th voyage set for this year. The town blossoms
with sidewalk sales and sporting events, a parade, and a full slate of
musical concerts from national-level recording artists.
Also in Saginaw County is Frankenmuth (www.frankenmuth.org),
a German-flavored town settled by missionaries in the mid-1840s. “Michigan’s
Little Bavaria” draws more than three million visitors each year.
This June will mark the 47th Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival,
which AAA Michigan calls one of the state’s five best. Authentic
Bavarian music, food and drinks are abundant, and a midway and kids’
events add to the fun. Parade? There are two, with the Sunday Big Parade
drawing 100,000 spectators.
What better treat in a German community than beer? Each
May, the World Expo of Beer offers brew samples in categories such as
European lager, bitter/English pale ale, brown ale, malternative and fruit
beer. Music, souvenirs and food add to the appeal, and the Frankenmuth
Jaycees benefit from the event.
Other Frankenmuth festival offerings include a Summer
Music Festival. Come Labor Day weekend, the Blues Bash on the Cass (River)
mixes “blues, brews and BBQs,” promoters say. Oktoberfest offers
more of what you might expect in a city where some residents still speak
German as their parents and grandparents taught them—the sights,
sounds and tastes of the old country. Don’t let the name mislead
you; this traditional celebration takes place in September.
Moving on to Midland
When Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm visited the
Saginaw Valley during her tourism-boosting “Hidden Treasures”
tour last year, she hopped onto the Pere Marquette Rail Trail (www.lmb.org)
at Midland. No wonder: This trailhead accesses 30 miles of paved riding,
in-line skating, walking and running.
The trail runs from Midland to Clare, and will eventually
reach much farther, to Baldwin or perhaps even Ludington. On the Midland-to-Clare
stretch, trail users can rest, eat or shop (and use the restroom) at Midland,
Sanford, Coleman, Loomis and Clare. Some businesses cater specifically
to trail fans.
Midland (www.midland-mi.org)
itself has plenty of culture. The MatrixMidland festival in June features
concerts, talks, art fairs and more, the Dow Gardens, Midland Center for
the Arts and Chippewa Nature Center.
But there’s plenty of sports action, too. This town
might be called Michigan’s softball capital, with its habit of hosting
top national and international action. The Midland Community Tennis Center
hosts a national-class annual tournament, and a big soccer complex hosts
tournaments at all age and skill levels. Plans are heating up for a new
and larger ice arena—one big enough for the regional-level figure
skating competition, as well as hockey and other events.
Down at the “Tridge,” a three-legged pedestrian
bridge at the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee rivers, you
can shop the Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Sundays, or catch a free
concert at “Tunes at the Tridge” on Thursday nights June through
August. Trilogy Skate Park has 15,000 square feet of thrilling facilities
for skateboarders and in-line skaters, lighted for evening action. Bring
your helmet and pads.
Midland is also the scene of the three Michigan Antique
& Collectibles Festivals (www.miantiquefestival.com),
drawing thousands to the Midland County Fairgrounds a weekend each in
June, July and September.
A-Maizing!
A summer visit to the Saginaw Valley makes one admire
farmers and their crops. A tall and important one is corn, and the little
town of Auburn honors it with the annual Auburn Cornfest (www.auburnchambermi.com),
that combines rides, music and, of course, plenty of corn for a festival
in mid-July.
City-County-Clare
Irish eyes can’t help smiling in Clare (www.clarecounty.net),
the Michigan town and county named for County Clare on the Emerald Isle.
Whether it’s friendly shops and services in the city itself, one
of several great golf courses nearby, or the county’s more than 50,000
acres of state land and forest, there are plenty of reasons to smile.
Besides the Pere Marquette Rail Trail, the Green Pine
Lake Pathway is another hiking hotspot. The Denton-Leota Trail, Evart
Motorcycle Trail and Gladwin ATV Trails offer plenty of mileage for those
who enjoy motorized meandering.
A distinctive Clare County event is the Amish Quilt Auction,
with antiques, crafts and flea market. The Friday-Saturday event takes
place each spring and fall, with shuttles to the rural site from downtown
Clare. The spring show includes a horse and equipment consignment auction
held at the Isabella County Fairgrounds.
In mid-March—to coincide with St. Patrick’s
Day—is the annual Clare Irish Festival (www.claremichigan.com/irish),
with its 30th edition this year.
Whenever you visit, stop at the 80-year-old Doherty Hotel
(www.dohertyhotel.com),
where the fourth generation of the family makes sure the meals are always
first rate. Across the street is the Leprechaun Shoppe (www.lepshop.com),
small but jam-packed with Celtic items, from jewelry to china, clothing
to music.
Grayling=Great!
There’s arguably no Michigan destination more synonymous
with recreation than Grayling
(www.grayling-mi.com),
headwaters of the westbound Manistee River and the AuSable River flowing
east. Those splendid watery trails are complemented by hiking, biking,
off-road vehicle and snowmobile trails leading in all directions through
thousands of acres of public lands.
The rivers, especially the AuSable, are the heart of
this region. The state’s best-known blue-ribbon trout stream is also
one of its most popular canoe paths. The AuSable pauses behind five dams
on its way to Lake Huron, and at each boaters and anglers play.
Before vacationers, loggers came in droves to the Grayling
area. Their story is told at Hartwick Pines State Park, home to the state’s
largest remaining stand of virgin white pine.
A bird in the
bush ...
Another visitor comes to this region each summer—the
tiny, endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which nests only in northern
Michigan’s young jack pine stands. Near Roscommon, Kirtland Community
College honors the little bird with the annual Kirtland Warbler Festival
(http://warbler.kirtland.edu)
in mid-May, with educational and fun activities, including field trips.
Brown trout bonanza
For three decades, Great Lakes anglers have mined the
brown trout riches of Thunder Bay at Alpena. This will be the 31st year
they celebrate it with the Michigan Brown Trout Festival (www.alpenami-browntrout.com).
Organizers call it the longest-running fishing tournament
on the Great Lakes, and it awards tens of thousands of dollars in prizes
to the boatmen and women who bring in the biggest trout and salmon.
There’s plenty of fun ashore, too, and more to come
when the state’s Cool Cities grant
results in a walkway on both sides of the Thunder Bay River through downtown.
Visit the Tawases, too!
Tawas and its sister East Tawas combine efforts in a
mid-July Summerfest (www.tawas.com),
while the Tawas Blues Society holds the Blues by the Bay festival (www.bluesbythebaytawas.com)
in late August.
You’ll fall
for them
And while you’re in northeast Lower Michigan, be
sure to check out the falls of the Ocqueoc River, the Lower Peninsula’s
biggest and best, near Williamsburg. Sure, they’re not Niagara, nor
even Tahquamenon, but if tumbling waters sooth your soul, here’s
a good place for it, and just a short hike from the parking lot.
Cool
Cities Grant Program helps reinvent Michigan cities.
Gov. Granholm’s
Cool Cities Initiative is about reinventing Michigan’s cities to be attractive
places to live for an increasingly diverse group of residents. This pilot
program, under the governor’s initiative, is an effort to promote neighborhoods
as attractive places to live, by promoting investment in neighborhoods that
have, or are moving to create, higher density, a mix of residential and
commercial uses, mixed income housing, and a pedestrian-friendly environment.
This is as important in downtown areas as it is in more traditional residential
neighborhoods.
