Ever since Wednesday, August 17, Northern Michiganders have both embraced and grappled with the news that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and surrounding region are considered the “most beautiful place in America” — at least according to 22 percent of 100,000 voters who participated in the ABC show Good Morning America’s online competition the second week of August.
“Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, tucked in the northwest corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, is one of the nation’s best-kept secrets,” according to ABC’s popular show “Good Morning America.” We concur. But now the secret is out.
If a tree could be a person, then the mulberry tree shading the grassy bank behind Riverfront Pizza & Specialties in Glen Arbor would be a kindly grandmother, offering shelter beneath her outstretched arms, inviting children to climb in her lap, and giving treats to her visitors — at least for a couple of weeks each year.
“M-22 is all about the northern Michigan lifestyle,” an excited Matt Wiesen says while standing behind the wine counter at his and wife Katy’s new apparel store and tasting room in Glen Arbor. “It’s about a glass of wine on the boat, beaches, bonfires and a laid-back attitude.”
Crawfish season in Louisiana means crawfish season in Glen Arbor when you are married to a girl from Lafayette. Every year, come hell or highwater, she has several thousand pounds of mudbugs flown up for decadent massive consumption. Last night (May 7) was the night and I must say, a crawfish boil by Lafayette resident Greg Gilboux is our families favorite meal of the year. If your interested in how we do it, email me and I will give you the details.
We are back from a great winter on Spanish Wells in the Bahamas. Fisher, Maggie and I spent many days spearfishing as the weather was the best we have seen it in a long time. There were many large sized Mutton fish, Hogfish, Margots and Grouper this season.
The windstorm that hit Leelanau County this week was the strongest storm ever to hit the continental United States, rivaling the pressure of tropical storms and surpassing the winds that doomed the famed Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 in Lake Superior.