Winter has barely registered across Michigan but you can start dreaming about summer days in the “Little Finger” in the northwest area of the Lower Peninsula with your free copy of the 2012 edition of the Traverse City magazine.

The cover of the 104-page guide, which is published by the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau, features Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The scenic spot was voted by viewers of ABC’s Good Morning America as “The Most Beautiful Place in America.”

An introductory piece breaks the sprawling Grand Traverse territory into five regions. Articles, photos, maps, guides, charts and advertising describe indoor and outdoor activities, wining and dining, shopping and events throughout the area.

The info should answer all of your questions about visiting the area except, “What am I waiting for?”

Preview the guide online when you order your paper copy. Golfers can also sign up to receive the 2012 Golf Guide, which is scheduled for shipping in February.

Celebrate Michigan statehood with a visit to the Capitol building in Lansing

Happy Dodransbicentennial, Michigan! Try saying that with a mouthful of birthday cake.

According to the Historical Society of Michigan dodransbicentennial is the word for a 175th anniversary, the milestone the state is celebrating today. It was on January 26, 1837 that President Andrew Jackson granted Michigan statehood, adding the 26th star to Old Glory. But the designation didn’t come easy, thanks to a struggle over a strip of land along the Ohio border.

Wear your party hat to the Historical Museum on Saturday

The Toledo War was resolved with the disputed ground going to Ohio and Michigan receiving the Upper Peninsula as a sort of consolation prize (scroll down for link to related post). Detroit served as Michigan’s capital from 1837 to 1847 when that designation went to Lansing.

You can celebrate the state’s 175th birthday at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, January 28. There will be music, activities, and cake for the first 100 visitors. Museum admission is charged.

While we’re saluting Michigan statehood, think about a visit to the State Capitol building.

Love the colors and detail of the rotunda

The cornerstone for the elegantly domed, brick and sandstone structure was laid in 1873; construction was completed in late 1878 and the official dedication took place on January 1, 1879.

Architect Elijah E. Myers had a budget of $1,200,000 and instructions not to use “superfluous ornamentation” in construction of the state’s third and permanent Capitol.

Obviously, the definition of “superfluous” was different in the 19th century because this building, with its 267-foot high dome, is rich with detail and decorative arts from carved wooden doors to ornamental mouldings, pillars, columns, etched glass, murals, marble floors and metal hardware, fixtures and accents.

The Senate Chamber

Highlights for me include:

• the colors and ornamentation of the elegant rotunda
• the lit-from-below glass block floor (go ahead, lie down and look up into the dome)
• portraits of each of the former governors ringing the second and third floors of the rotunda
• etched glass ceiling panels in the House and Senate Chambers
• chandeliers featuring symbols from the state coat of arms
• the Michigan pine woodwork meticulously painted to look like the more expensive walnut—supposedly among the finest examples in the U.S. of this artistic technique
  (See slideshow below)

Detail from a chandelier

The striking building underwent extensive restoration from 1988-1992 and was rededicated on November 19, 1992.

It is among the dozen state capitol buildings, along with the U.S. Capitol, that are designated as National Historic Landmarks.

Related Posts:

Happy Birthday, Michigan-January 2010

Toledo vs. The U.P.-April 2009

Visitor Info Clicks:

Lansing

Pure Michigan 

Can you identify this classic Michigan indy bookstore and newsstand?

So you know Michigan?

Test your observational skills with the Great Lakes Gazette feature Where? Wednesday.

On occasional Wednesdays I’ll post a photo and offer a prize to a winner from correct entries received by the deadline, which this week is 11:59 p.m., Friday, January 27 (EST).

Okay, so this challenge may merit an additional clue:

Part of the sign outside of the Where?Wednesday location

To enter email the following to me at
kathusitalo@mac.com

1. the name and location of the store (“The Thumb” or “Michigan” are too vague)
2. your name and city (which will be announced if you win)
3. your email address (which will be kept private) so I can contact you for a mailing address where I can send the prize
4. Where? Wednesday in the email subject line

The winning entry of this week’s “Where? Wednesday” will receive a copy of the children’s counting book, What I Saw on Mackinac by Great Laker Jennifer Margaret Powell.

For more about the book check out Homemade: For The Kiddies at Great Lakes Gazette.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Paige tests the crystal clear water at Lake Superior's Sand Point Beach, rated by Dr. Beach as one of the best on the Great Lakes

January 24 is Compliment Day, so it seems like a good time to extend congratulations to some of the places across Michigan that have made it to “best of” lists in the travel and tourism world.

It’s a partial round-up, just some that I’ve come across lately. I’ve included links to the ratings and the locations so you can plan your ribbon-worthy visits.

Feel free to add other recently recognized superlative sites in the Great Lakes State:

Black Star Farms is an Old Mission Peninsula winery

Touring & Tasting: Seven Top Wine Regions to Watch
Old Mission Peninsula

Bicycling magazine: Six Best Cities for a Bike Vacation
Traverse City

Travel & Leisure: America’s Best Little Beach Towns
Saugatuck
and Silver Lake Sand Dunes Area

Best Places in USA: 10 of America’s Best Beach Towns
Traverse City

Conde Nast Traveler: Top 50 Ski Hotels in North America
Mountain Grand Lodge and Spa, Boyne Mountain Resort
and Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa

Travel & Leisure: 500 World’s Best Hotels 2012
Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island
and The Townsend Hotel, Birmingham

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

SpAWARDS.com: America’s Top 100 Spas of 2011
Crystal Mountain Resort & Spa

Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel has welcomed guests since 1887

TopTenz.net: Top 10 American Downtowns
Detroit 

Dr. Beach’s 2011 Great Great Lakes Beaches
Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore;
Lake Superior, Sand Point Beach, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore;
Lake Michigan, Grand Haven State Park

In addition, the Travel Michigan’s Pure Michigan website tops the nation with more visitors than any other state (8.65 million web visitors in 2011) and more Facebook fans than any other state tourism FB pages with 337,000 fans.

Silver Lake, with sand dunes at right, is a best little beach town area

Motor City Crude Drive Deluxe by TJ Kozak

Being married to an artist who uses the living room of our cozy home as a studio has its advantages. When the furniture shares the space with a half dozen car tires in various stages of being painted I don’t have to worry about the tidyness of the place if someone drops by, as happened the other day.

Our visitor has known us long enough that he didn’t blink an eye at the sight. He could see works in progress in just about every available nook here at The Home.

The good news is, a bit of elbow room opened up when three of TJ’s art pieces were relocated to the Grosse Pointe Art Center for its Urban Edge show, which runs through February 25.

The juried exhibition features dozens of interpretations of the theme in a variety of media, from large paintings of city scenes to watercolor details of buildings, photos, assemblages and sculpture.

Motor City Crude at the Art Center

One of TJ’s works, “Motor City Crude Drive Deluxe,” a car sculpture out of salvaged pieces of wood, metal and nails, received an honorable mention.

Also accepted in the show is his chalk drawing, “Daily Driver,” of a classic Pontiac Grand Parisienne.

The third entry is an incredible journal he pieced together that you could spend hours poring over.

All works in the show are for sale. The Art Center is located at 16900 Kercheval in the area of Grosse Pointe called “The Village.”

Grosse Pointe Art Center

Hours are Wednesday-Saturday, Noon-6 p.m.

If you know someone who would like some art with an edge, please direct them to this show and have them bring their checkbook.

I’m getting used to having those precious few square feet of vacated space here at The Home.

Related Link:

Cardboard Bird Is The Word

Air Zoo, Kalamazoo

The sky’s the limit.

Visitor Info Clicks:

Air Zoo

Kalamazoo

Pure Michigan

The January calendar photo of Petoskey's Bear River is by Dominique McReynolds

I should be working on a project but my eyes keep drifting to the mesmerizing photo featured in the free wall calendar from the Petoskey Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Dominique McReynolds shot the moody picture of the Bear River, which runs through the city. It looks like a painting. I want to be there.

All of the images were contributed by talented Flickr Group photographers. The cover features a shot by photographer Buck Cash of the “Tunnel of Trees,” the two-lane M-119 between Petoskey and Cross Village (Forbes just named the route one of 4 Gorgeous Winter Drives For Car Nuts).

The 11″x17″ calendar is printed on smooth paper and has a nice month-at-a-glance format with lots of white space for jotting notes. It also tips you off to area festivals and major events each month.

To nab one of the remaining copies of the calendar:

- visit the Petoskey Area website and click on the FREE calendar button
or
- go to the Petoskey Area Facebook page (be sure to become a fan while you’re there)
or
- email your request and pertinent snail mail contact info with “calendar” in the subject line to info@PetoskeyArea.com
or
- phone 800.845.2828 and request one from the lovely Diane at the Petoskey Area CVB office

And count the days until you can make it to the very Northwest corner of the Lower Peninsula near the Tip of the Mitten to see the scenes in person.

If you have photos of Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Bay Harbor and Boyne City and environs that you’d like considered for the 2013 calendar, upload them at the Petoskey Area flickr group page.

Visitor Info Clicks:

Petoskey Area

Pure Michigan

You can snag a Pure Michigan 2012 wall calendar at a discount price from the Pure Michigan store:

Finnish people, like those of many other cultures, celebrate name days—nimipäivä (nimi=name) and (päivä=day)—and each day of the year is associated with a given name.

January 19 is Heikinpäivä, which honors all those named Heikki or Henrik, including the first Bishop of Finland, Saint Henrik (he died a legendary death on January 20, 1156).

Heikinpäivä is the traditional halfway mark of winter and comes with Finnish proverbs to address the occasion, including Karhu kääntää kylkeä (The bear rolls over to the other side) and Talven selkä taittuu (Winter’s back breaks).

The Upper Peninsula City of Hancock, in the Keweenaw Peninsula, has embraced a Finnish American heritage that dates to the late 1800s. That was the beginning of an influx of Scandinavian immigrants who came to work in the mines and logging camps, and to farm the terrain that is so similar to that of Finland.

Hancock is the home of Finlandia University, which was established in 1896 as Suomi (Finland) College. The only Finnish college in the U.S. is home to the Finnish American Heritage Center, which hosts art shows and programs and houses the largest Finnish-American archives in the world.

Interestingly, the City of Hancock decided in the 1980s to establish a Finnish Theme Committee to keep alive (revive) its ties to Finland.

Kids get a kick out of kicksled rides and races

Since its founding the committee has launched a number of efforts, from connecting Hancock with a  Sister City in Porvoo, Finland, to installing bilingual street signs and launching Heikinpäivä, a midwinter celebration with a Finnish flavor.

Heikinpäivä activities started earlier this week, but Saturday, January 28 is the key day for the winterfest, when there will be kicksled races, a parade, snow volleyball, pond hockey, Polar Bear Dive and the annual wife-carrying contest (it’s a Finn thing).

Indoors there are tori marketplaces, music, and Saturday evening’s Finnish foods buffet.

What a Finn way to spend a weekend.

Related Links:

Gemignani’s Is A Gem

Visitor Info Clicks:

Keweenaw Peninsula

Upper Peninsula Travel

Pure Michigan

River Raisin re-enactors commemorate the Battle at Frenchtown (provided photo)

Dressing in costume for Halloween has never been one of my favorite activities, but I’m fascinated by folks who dress in period clothing and pretend to be from another era.

I’m not talking about Elvis impersonators, although I would like to know more about what makes those folks tick. Not to mention thrust and swivel. I’m intrigued by those people who are so interested in a distant time or historical event that they make it their hobby to bring the past to life at battles and encampments, or attend things like the annual Somewhere In Time Weekend at Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel. That’s the salute to the time-challenged love story that attracts hundreds of romantic souls dressed in a billion yards of lace and fabric to recreate the early 20th century.

I’ve written before about Muster On the Maumee, the terrific time-travel event at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, where you can chat with warriors from Medieval knights to World War II soldiers (June 16-17, 2012).

A Colonial family at Muster On the Maumee, Fort Meigs, Ohio

There’s an industry in selling supplies necessary for recreating clothing and crafts; over 10,000 people attend the annual Kalamazoo Living History Show (March 17-18, 2012) to browse and to buy antique and reproduction clothing and goods representing the days from pre-Revolutionary War through the Civil War.

But many folks, like middle school history teacher Paul Ignagni, make their own authentic period clothing and uniforms. Several times each year he teaches class outfitted for the period or subject he’s covering, whether it’s as a Native American or a Revolutionary War or other soldier.

The warm weather months are filled with re-enactment events, but you can visit the past this weekend at activities in Monroe and Lansing, Michigan.

Commemoration of the Battles of the River Raisin

The bloodiest battle of the War of 1812 broke out in 1813 on the bank of the River Raisin at Frenchtown, a settlement in the southern Territory of Michigan.

British soldiers, teamed with Indians, fought a smaller number of U.S. troops on January 18 in an encounter that would end with a defeat for the Americans followed by a massacre of the wounded on January 23.

The scene of the Battle of Frenchtown, near what is known today as the City of Monroe, was designated a National Park Battlefield in 2009. Each January re-enactors commemorate the events at the site with a demonstration and ceremony beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday, January 21. The park Visitor Center, which normally closed at this time of year, will be open for the free event.

The Civil War in Person

President Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to visit the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing for Saturday’s program, The Civil War in Person.

In addition to the chance to meet the Prez you’ll be able to visit with ordinary soldiers and civilians, see the state’s collection of Civil War Flags and tour Plowshares Into Swords, a special exhibit about the effect the Civil War had on Michigan. The exhibit is open through February 5. The Civil War in Person runs from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. January 21.

Effective October 2011 there is a charge for museum admission. Parking on weekends is free.

Related Links:

Remember the Raisin

Travel Through History At Ohio Event

Visitor Info Clicks:

Monroe

Lansing

Pure Michigan

Elmore Leonard (photo by Joe Vaughn for Hour)

Elmore Leonard is proof that 86 is the new 56.

The  ”king of crime writers” is busier than writers half his age.

A Detroiter since 1934 when his General Motor exec father moved the family here, the one-time automotive advertising copywriter published his first non-fiction story in 1951, has written a stack of books (several of which Hollywood has adapted) and has no use for the word retirement.

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified

His 45th novel Raylan is on sale today and coincides with the third season premiere of Justified, the Fox TV show based on U.S. Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) from Leonard’s short story “Fire in the Hole.”

Gotta love this exchange from a Wall Street Journal story in advance of today’s double dose of Elmore Leonard:

WSJ: You’re 86 and still writing every day. What keeps you working when you could easily retire?

EL: I still like to write. I might as well do it. I can’t just sit here and look out the window. There’s a lot of snow out there right now.

Chat live with folks associated with Justified at 9:30 p.m. (ET), Tuesday, January 17 before the show hits the airwaves at 10 p.m.

Related Links:

The Day I Saved Elmore Leonard’s Life

More Elmore, Please

FILMichigan: Out of Sight