Michigan

Here is what I would tell you before we even start the car: do not promise anyone what…

By Renata Holcombe · Oct 6

“I’m good with Italian” is one of those sentences that sounds cooperative right up until everyone opens the…

By Renata Holcombe · Oct 4

The trouble starts when somebody at the next table orders better than you did. You were happy with…

By Daniel Mercer · Oct 4

There are nights when opening the fridge feels personal. Nothing looks right. Nobody wants to cook. And somehow…

By Lenora Winslow · Oct 4

You came for apples. Then the wagon passes, the donuts smell unfairly good, and the pumpkins start making…

By Eliza Thornton · Oct 4

Take the counter seat. Trust me, you want to be close to the griddle. This is where hash…

By Eliza Thornton · Oct 4

You know the moment. The road gets darker, the trees crowd in, and somebody in the car says,…

By Daniel Mercer · Oct 3

If the plate arrives and you can still see plenty of table, you may have ordered wrong. These…

By Gideon Hartwell · Oct 3

All aboard. Your five-minute errand has officially been canceled. One look at the working train layout and suddenly…

By Lenora Winslow · Oct 3

What do you eat after crossing into the Upper Peninsula when a sandwich suddenly feels too ordinary? A…

By Renata Holcombe · Oct 2

You can absolutely walk in planning to buy one cheese. I just would not brag about that plan…

By Gideon Hartwell · Oct 2

Okay, before you get distracted by the boats, look at the menu. There is a reason. This waterfront…

By Renata Holcombe · Oct 1

The stairs go down, but your appetite is about to head the other way. Below street level, this…

By Clara Whitmore · Oct 1

A good gyro has about ten seconds before gravity gets involved. After that, all bets are off. Warm…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 30

A bag of chips can ride shotgun quietly. Smoked whitefish has more presence. That is worth remembering at…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 30

Your shoes can pick up beach sand before breakfast and Main Street crumbs by lunch. That is the…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 27

The river does most of the navigation for you, which leaves more brainpower for window-shopping. Follow the water…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 26

Downtown does not exactly stay in its lane when a Ferris wheel moves in. For one October weekend,…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 25

Who said the adults have to guard the towels? This Michigan indoor waterpark gives grown-ups plenty of excuses…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 24

Apparently, choosing a table can turn you into someone with very strong feelings about maple. Inside this Michigan…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 23

Bagels this good apparently keep office hours. You get three mornings a week to catch them, so Thursday…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 23

Gas, snacks, smoked fish. One of these is clearly overachieving. Along U.S. 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 22

One blurry trail-camera photo can turn a Michigan neighborhood into CSI: Bear Edition. Up north, that reaction would…

By Clara Whitmore · Sep 22

Some small towns seem to change personalities when summer shows up. This northern Michigan community had just 2,348…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 21

Some farms sell you apples. This one also gives your friends a chance to embarrass themselves after dark.…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 21

I would like to say I have enough self-control to drive past a roadside pie sign. I do…

By Trevor Maddox · Sep 20

There is something wonderfully practical about a meal you can hold in one hand while staring at a…

By Eliza Thornton · Sep 20

Dinner does not have to clock out after dessert. At one Detroit classic, the evening can keep going…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 19

Michigan can be wonderfully quiet right up until the calendar flips and everybody remembers the same beach exists.…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 18

I have a personal weakness for roadside places that make you rethink the phrase “we’re not stopping.” One…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 18

A farmhouse, a schoolhouse, and an old barn walked into the same Michigan shopping trip. That is basically…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 18

I-75 has plenty of exits. This Michigan one can turn a pit stop into a shopping spree. More…

By Renata Holcombe · Sep 17

Some bakeries have a signature pastry. This Michigan one seems to have given cannoli cream its own career.…

By Daniel Mercer · Sep 17

I have made enough fall drives to know the first stop is rarely the last one. West Michigan…

By Adeline Parker · Sep 17

I wish “mortgage paid off” meant the house stopped sending bills. In Michigan, it does not quite work…

By Gideon Hartwell · Sep 17

The trouble starts when fresh doughnuts and house-made sausage share the same grocery stop. Suddenly breakfast is negotiating…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 17

What happens when a tiny lake town meets a huge summer crowd? In Michigan, this small city changes…

By Eliza Thornton · Sep 17

Cross the causeway over the lake and the dining options multiply faster than you expect. Waterfront tables where…

By Dane Ashford · Sep 16

Michigan in fall is very good at making twenty bucks feel overqualified. A waterfall does not care what…

By Lenora Winslow · Sep 16