A Michigan Thing

01/15/2026

Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and one of Michigan’s most distinctive places — remote, rich in history, and ecologically diverse. At about 55.8 square miles and roughly 32 miles from the mainland near Charlevoix, it’s part of Charlevoix County and home to around 600 year-round residents, though summer visitors can swell the population dramatically. 

Historically, Beaver Island is famous for a wild chapter in the 1840s-1850s when James Jesse Strang, a leader of a Mormon splinter group, established a self-declared kingdom there — complete with a capital at St. James — until his assassination in 1856 and the expulsion of his followers.  After that, Irish fishermen and settlers shaped the island’s culture, which still leans heavily Irish today and earned it nicknames like “America’s Emerald Isle.” 

The island’s economy has shifted over time from fishing, logging, and farming to tourism and recreation, with visitors drawn to its beaches, inland lakes, trails, birdwatching, boating, and laid-back island life.  It’s also a critical stopover for migratory birds and supports diverse habitats from hardwood forests to wetlands.  Nearby smaller islands in the Beaver Archipelago add to the natural richness; many are uninhabited and part of wildlife research areas. 

Today, St. James retains historic sites like the Old Mormon Print Shop Museum, natural beauty, a strong community vibe, and a rhythm of life that’s quietly unlike most of Michigan. 

01/15/2026

The snow is coming back to the lakeshore. Albeit with quite the windchill.🐧

01/15/2026

Duncan Woods, a little gem tucked in the middle of Grand Haven.

01/15/2026

Detroit has been name City of the Year by Wallpaper mag!

01/14/2026

A look at the back side of Duncan Memorial Park. AKA: Duncan Woods.

01/14/2026

Belle Isle’s story stretches back long before cars crossed its bridge. Native peoples lived and traveled through this stretch of the Detroit River for centuries, drawn by the water, fish, and sheltered shoreline.

In 1879, the City of Detroit purchased the island and soon turned to famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (famous for his work on Central Park) to help shape it into a public park. His vision favored long sightlines, curving roads, and open meadows framed by trees—an intentional escape from the industrial city rising nearby. Over the decades, Belle Isle grew into a cultural and community showpiece: the aquarium opened in 1904 (now the oldest public aquarium in the country), the conservatory followed in 1904 as well, and the grand James Scott Memorial Fountain was completed in the 1920s, symbolizing the era when the island was a point of civic pride. Throughout the 20th century, Belle Isle hosted boat races, concerts, family outings, and quiet river walks, becoming woven into the everyday life of Detroiters. Today, even after changes in stewardship and restoration, the island still carries those layers of history—paths worn by generations, buildings that echo earlier ambitions, and a river that has witnessed it all.

01/13/2026

Michigan should be called the Festival state!

Michigan doesn’t just “have festivals” — it’s practically built on them. From early spring through deep winter, the state cranks out hundreds every year, ranging from massive tourism draws like the National Cherry Festival, Tulip Time, and ArtPrize to countless small-town celebrations centered on food, music, agriculture, ethnic heritage, seasons, and pure local pride. The mix of strong farming roots, immigrant cultures, four real seasons, and tight-knit communities gives Michigan endless excuses to throw events, and towns use them to drive tourism, support local business, and define their identity. Some pull in half a million people, others a few thousand — but stacked together, Michigan is one of the most festival-dense states in the country.

Michigan has at least 400 festivals. Do a shout out to your local festival!

01/13/2026

Big Turtle Island 😉

One picture courtesy of:
By August Schwerdfeger - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119126691

01/13/2026

Grand Haven 1/12/26

01/12/2026

The S-Curve on US-131 in downtown Grand Rapids earned a near-legendary reputation for crashes, especially in winter, because it combined heavy freeway traffic with two unusually sharp bends right through the city. Built in the late 1950s and early ’60s, its shape wasn’t visionary—it was a compromise forced by property owners who refused to sell, pushing engineers to curve the highway around existing development. That decision created a stretch of road with tight geometry, short merges, elevated bridges, and little margin for error. When West Michigan winter hit—snow, slush, black ice—that design turned the S-Curve into a consistent spin-out and pileup zone, so notorious that speed limits were often dropped dramatically in bad weather. By the late 1990s it was structurally and functionally outdated, leading MDOT to completely rebuild it around 2000, easing the curves, replacing bridges, and improving safety. Even today, despite major upgrades, the S-Curve is still one of the most talked-about pieces of roadway in the city—a leftover reminder of mid-century freeway planning colliding with Michigan winters. Everyone has an S curve story. Share yours.

01/12/2026

Yes, please!

🎆❄️From All-Nighter energy to Torchlight Parade fireworks—plan your Michigan Tech Winter Carnival week like a pro ⤵️
🔗 https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/blog/post/insiders-guide-to-michigan-tech-winter-carnival-9-cant-miss-experiences/

01/12/2026

Here's some early January footage of Muskegon. There are still a few Christmas decorations up, even without the snow.