Summer season Up North: a perfect teaching moment

By Tim Mulherin

Sun contributor

Thirty-six years ago, I first laid eyes on Grand Traverse Bay. I was dazzled by Lake Michigan’s Caribbean-like water’s breathtaking beauty. Everyone who sees it is.

I had driven up from Indianapolis, having just graduated from college at the age of 30. My best friend, whom I had tended bar with as he worked his way through art school at Indiana University in Indianapolis, had returned to his ancestral homeland in northern Michigan. At that time, he lived in an upstairs apartment on Front Street just east of downtown Traverse City. He’s a sixth generation Michigander, his great-great grandfather having landed on the shores of Good Harbor Bay in the 1850s. My friend is deeply proud of his Bohemian heritage. These European immigrant families formed the bedrock upon which the region developed.

Today, northern Michigan is experiencing unprecedented growth owing to some unique influences. Most notably, the pandemic provided an opportunity for many to work from anywhere with an Internet connection and through videoconferencing. Some launched their own entrepreneurial dream here. Others have come—and will continue to—to escape climate change impacts such as drought, wildfires, and rising coastal waters. Additionally, there are the “boomerangers”: younger adults who left the region after high school seeking greener pastures, eventually realizing that northern Michigan’s matchless geography, climate, and sense of community make for an ideal place to raise a family. And of course, let’s not forget the tourists, whose numbers continue to climb. Residents, both lifelong and those who have assimilated over many years, greet this influx of visitors and those relocating as something of a mixed blessing.

The Grand Traverse region has been a tourist mecca for generations, and its people know how to make visitors feel welcome. As well, the tourists who flock to northern Michigan every summer in ever-rising numbers are happy—very happy—to be here, understandably so. The magnificence of Lake Michigan. The picturesque inland lakes. The crystalline trout streams. The enchanting hillside orchards and vineyards. The 35 contiguous miles of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, along with the Manitou Islands. The Milky Way at night. Dazzling indeed.

Certainly, the many commercial enterprises that rely on tourism for the majority of their revenue are glad to see the down-staters and out-of-staters return each summer. Yet with increasing numbers of visitors come increasing pressure, and coexistence can be strained. This is nothing new, though. Which brings me back to my initial Up North visit.

During that long-ago weekend, after enjoying a few adult beverages at Art’s Tavern in Glen Arbor with my buddy one afternoon, I walked out into the bright June sunshine and obliviously crossed M-22, nowhere near a crosswalk. A horn blared at me. But that was nothing compared to my friend’s chastisement of my reckless traffic-defying move: “You’re acting like a Fudgie.”

A Fudgie?

He explained that tourists who have only a superficial appreciation of the area and behave badly are locally derided as Fudgies (unfortunately, the candy most everyone has indulged in being the victim of misplaced aggression). I was embarrassed. However, my consciousness had been raised. A Fudgie I would not be. Nor would I ever be a native Michigander. Nonetheless, I’ve been hopelessly smitten by the region.

I do have the rather unique perspective of a nearly four-decades-long progression from tourist to seasonal homeowner to now a six-months-a-year resident (and snowbird in the making). Therefore, in the interest of optimum coexistence this potentially record-breaking summer season, I’d like to offer a short list of behavioral recommendations for all concerned, yours included:

1. Have radical respect for the environment.
2. Be kind to all we meet.
3. Be patient with visitors: summer tourist season is a perfect teaching moment.
4. Adhere to pedestrian and traffic rules and regulations to help keep everyone safe.
5. Recognize that we are all short-timers, and that our lives should be an expression of gratitude – especially for the blessing of experiencing northern Michigan.

People can be the most threatening and damaging invasive species there is. But that’s a choice and not an inevitability. Summer is almost here. Let’s make it a memorable one. Together.

Tim Mulherin is the author of Sand, Stars, Wind, & Water: Field Notes from Up North, a nonfiction collection of stories and essays about his outdoor adventures in northern Michigan over the past 36 years. He is now writing a book on the impact of the pandemic and climate change on the region, as well as the increasing pressure of tourism, and how growth can best be balanced with environmental protection. He can be reached at timmulherin@sbcglobal.net.