Dig Michigan! – Absolute Michigan https://absolutemichigan.com All Michigan, All the Time Tue, 10 Jul 2018 12:41:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 1128212 Happy Birthday to the Grand Hotel! https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/happy-birthday-to-the-grand-hotel/ Tue, 10 Jul 2018 12:41:41 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=12131 via Michigan in Pictures…

Mackinac Bridge from the Grand Porch, photo by Marilyn Bogle

Happy 131st Birthday to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island which opened on July 10, 1887. Here’s some historical highlights about Michigan’s most iconic hotel:

1887 Grand Hotel opens, billed as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrive by lake steamer from Chicago, Erie, Montreal, Detroit, and by rail from across the continent. Rates are $3 to $5 a night.

1890s Grand Hotel’s Front Porch – longest in the world—becomes the principal meeting place for all of Mackinac Island, as well as a promenade for the elderly and a “Flirtation Walk” for island romantics. Grand Hotel Manager James “The Comet” Hayes invites an agent of Edison Phonograph to conduct regular demonstrations of the new invention.

1895 Mark Twain lectures in the Grand Hotel Casino. Admission: $1.

1897 The West Wing is added to the hotel.

Turn of the century – The automobile finds its way onto the island. Grand Hotel supports an island-wide ban. A law is passed, but not strictly enforced until the 1930s.

1919 Hotel rates: $6 a day per person.

1935 A radio salon where patrons can listen to Jack Benny and other popular programs is added.

1947 This Time For Keeps starring Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams is filmed on the island and at Grand Hotel.

1960 Grand Hotel owner W. Stewart Woodfill appoints R.D. (Dan) Musser president of Grand Hotel.

1976 Musser and wife Amelia begin the redesign of the hotel’s interior and exterior with the help of architect Richard Bos and decorator Carleton Varney.

1979 The Mussers purchase Grand Hotel.

1980 Somewhere In Time, filmed at Grand Hotel and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, is released.

1989 The U.S. Department of Interior designates Grand Hotel a National Historic Landmark.

View Marilyn’s photo background bigilicious and see more in her Mackinac album.

More Grand Hotel and more Mackinac Island on Michigan in Pictures!

]]> 12131 #TBT May 25, 1993: Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw in Alpena https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/tbt-may-25-1993-coast-guard-icebreaker-mackinaw-alpena/ Thu, 24 May 2018 11:22:32 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11996 via Michigan in Pictures…

USCG Mackinaw, Cheybogan

Shining in Cheyboygan, photo by Bill Johnson

Here’s a neat “Throwback Thursday” (TBT), a photo of the United States Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw on May 25, 1993 when she was still in service. Bill writes:

This is the original Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, WAGB 83, wearing its silvery whitish colors, in its home port of Cheboygan, MI. This beauty was built in 1944 to aid the war effort by keeping the Great Lakes open during the winter. The cutter was intentionally built too wide to get through the Saint Lawrence Seaway in order to keep her in the Great Lakes. She was moved to Mackinaw in June of 2006, decommissioned, and turned into a museum at the Chief Wawatam docks. Today, she wears the red hull that she was retired in.

You can see the current look of the Icebreaker Mackinaw and get information about visiting on the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum website.

See more in Bill’s Boats, Ships, and Stuff That Floats slideshow and get many more Throwback Thursdays on Michigan in Pictures.

]]> 11996 May 23rd is Gwen Frostic Day https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/remembering-gwen-frostic/ Sun, 13 May 2018 11:58:49 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/?p=10526 Gwen Frostic Studio ~ Benzonia, Michigan by Trish P

Gwen Frostic Studio ~ Benzonia, Michigan by Trish P

Gwen Frostic

Today is (thanks to Gov. William Milliken) Gwen Frostic Day in Michigan. Frostic was born in 1906 and passed away in 2001. The Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame page for Sara Gwendolyn Frostic says that she was born in 1906 and passed away in 2001:

Author, artist, lecturer, and founder and sole proprietor of Presscraft Papers in Benzonia, Michigan, Gwen Frostic is known throughout the nation for her images of nature and for illustrated books which reflect her indomitable philosophy.

Frostic was born in Sandusky, Michigan and lived in St. Charles before moving to Wyandotte for her high school years. Interested in art from an early age, she used a band saw to create life-size posters for school events, and later studied art education at Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan Universities. During World War II, she worked in a Ford Motor Company bomber plant where she learned production, a skill she put to good use running the 15 Heidelberg presses in her northern Michigan printing and sales establishment. These presses make impressions from her hand-carved linoleum blocks onto paper and the resulting prints found their way into distinctive books, pamphlets, stationery, and other products she designed.

After beginning her business in Wyandotte, Frostic moved to Benzie County in 1955, starting with 40 acres and gradually creating a 285-acre wildlife sanctuary 35 miles southwest of Traverse City. Her commitment to nature and design is reflected in her home, studio, and print shop which draw thousands of visitors each summer.

The Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame inducted Gwen Frostic in 1986. They relate that:

Frostic was a generous patron of the arts, donating $13 million – the largest gift in school history – to WMU, who renamed their art school the Gwen Frostic School of Art and award three Gwen Frostic Medallion Scholarships for art students every year. The Michigan Reading Association also has a Gwen Frostic award that recognizes a Michigan author who has made a contribution to literacy. We heartily encourage you to read the fascinating story of one of Michigan’s best known artists in from the Detroit Free Press (via archive.org).

Click here to visit the Gwen Frostic Studio and you can also follow Gwen Frostic on Facebook. Here’s an interview with Gwen several years before she passed away below, and here’s another that allows you take a stroll around the nature center on the grounds at her studio.

]]> 10526 #TBT May 13, 1980: The Kalamazoo Tornado https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/tbt-may-13-1980-kalamazoo-tornado/ Thu, 10 May 2018 11:38:56 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11762 The Kalamazoo Public Library has a feature entitled TWISTER! The 1980 Tornado that begins:

On Tuesday, 13 May 1980, a tornado struck the heart of Kalamazoo, Michigan. First touching down at 4 pm eight miles west of the city limits, it rapidly moved eastward through downtown until it dissipated east of the city at 4:25 pm.

Only twenty-five minutes had elapsed, but the devastation left in the tornado’s 11-mile wake was considerable: five people dead, seventy-nine injured, and over fifty million dollars in total property damage. Governor William Milliken, walking through the area only hours later, remarked, “it reminds me of a bombed-out city.”

Here’s a video of the tornado – the first of its kind!

Raw, unedited videotape of the Tuesday, May 13, 1980 Kalamazoo, Michigan tornado. This video was recorded near the intersection of West Main and Westnedge avenue, from the now defunct business known then as The Sound Room. The video was shot using (at the time) a brand-new, state-of-the-art RCA CC006 color video camera, and attendant VHS Selectavision portable VCR. Historically, this is the first known, amateur, color videotape (not film) recording of a deadly tornado in the United States.

Video © Ted Ruble, all rights reserved.

]]> 11762 Annual Grand Marais Michigan Splash-in – June 15-17, 2018 https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/annual-grand-marais-michigan-splashin/ Sat, 05 May 2018 12:14:38 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=12005

Splash-in 2016 by Gary McCormick

June 15-17, 2018 the Grand Marais Pilots Association will host the 17th Annual Splash-in on Grand Marais Bay on behalf of the National Seaplane Pilots Association. Seaplanes from all over the US and Canada are invited to attend this three day festival with arrivals on Friday, activities and competitions throughout the day on Saturday and departures on Sunday morning. Click the link for details on events including the Water Balloon Bomb, Spot Landing, & Short Takeoff Contests!

View the photo background bigtacular and see more in Gary’s Sea Planes slideshow.

More summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

]]> 12005 April 13, 2006: Collapse at Miners Castle https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/portion-of-miners-castle-collapses/ Thu, 12 Apr 2018 17:45:12 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/portion-of-miners-castle-collapses/ Freezing at Miners Castle

Freezing by Lars Jensen

Reaching back 12 years for a throwback Thursday post with an article originally published April 14, 2006 on Absolute Michigan…

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore reports that one of the two turrets on Miner’s Castle is no more:

On Thursday morning, April 13, 2006, the northeast turret of Miners Castle collapsed. One turret remains on Miners Castle, the best-known feature of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The collapse was reported via cell phone by fisherman in the area, according to chief ranger Larry Hach.Most of the rock fell north and into Lake Superior, and there were no injuries. The lower overlook platform near Miners Castle appears to be unaffected.

While the rockfall at Miners Castle on April 13 was startling, such events are not rare along the Pictured Rocks escarpment. At least five major falls have occurred over the past dozen years: 1) two different portions of Grand Portal Point, 2) the eastern side of Indian Head just east of Grand Portal Point, 3) Miners Falls just below the (now modified) viewing platform, and 4) beneath the lip of Munising Falls (along the former trail that went behind the cascade).

All the rockfalls involved the same rock unit, the Miners Castle Member of the Munising Formation. Rock units are named for places where they were first technically described. The Miners Castle Member consists of crumbly cross-bedded sandstone that is poorly cemented by secondary quartz, according to U.S. Geological Survey Research Ecologist Walter Loope.

The formations of Pictured Rocks are constantly changing due to the action of wind, water and ice. In 1900, the Grand Portal Arch collapsed:

The Grand Portal was one of the grandest, most sublime and interesting sights of the Pictured Rocks. The cavity was large enough for a good-sized steamer to enter into and it was perhaps a hundred feet or more in height from the surface of the water.

Click for more including before & after photos.

]]> 74 Real Michigan Food: The Pasty https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/real-michigan-food-the-pasty/ Thu, 12 Apr 2018 12:40:35 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/real-michigan-food-the-pasty/

Michigan Pasty

The pasty by tiffae

The Pasty: Official Food of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Pasty Lore & Recipes

2016 is the 20th anniversary of one of our favorite websites, Pasty Central. They’re an employee-owned company in Calumet that got its start as a funding aid for the Still Waters Assisted Living Community. They are one of 10 pasty makers vying for Best Pasty in Michigan from USA Today. Click over to cast a vote for them or your favorite pasty shop!

The Cultural Context of the Pasty (yes, the pasty is that important) tells of the history of the pasty:

The pasty came to the Upper Peninsula through Cornwall England. When tin mining started going bad in England during the 1800’s the Cornish miners immigrated to America hoping to earn there fortunes in newly developing mines … When the Cornish came to the copper mines of the Upper Peninsula, they brought with them a lot of mining knowledge which the other ethnic groups did not have. The other ethnic groups looked up to the Cornish and wanted to emulate their mining successes. Many Cornish practices were then copied by the other ethnic groups, including the pasty as the standard lunch for miners. The pasty became popular with these other ethnic groups because it was small, portable, was very filling, and could stay warm for 8-10 hours.

The recipe to the right is from Michigan Tech – they have many more  of pasty recipes – click to see them. While traditional pasties usually contain potatoes, carrots and meat, you can fill them with pretty much whatever you want. My personal favorite filling is black beans, potatoes, onions, salsa and asiago cheese.

If all this sounds like too much trouble, you can always hop over to Pasty.com’s Pasty Central to buy pasties online. Pasty Central is an employee-owned company in Calumet, Michigan that has shipped over 300,000 pasties. They also have great photos and links for the UP.



UP Tradition by Sarah LeFeber

Welsh Pasty Recipe

Milwaukee Journal March 28, 1943


Crust

3 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks butter (cold and cut into bits)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. water

In a large bowl, combine flour, butter and salt. Blend ingredients until well combined and add water, one tablespoon at a time to form a dough. Toss mixture until it forms a ball. Kneed dough lightly against a smooth surface with heel of the hand to distribute fat evenly. Form into a ball, dust with flour, wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling

1 lb. round steak, coarsely ground
1 lb. boneless pork loin, coarsely ground
5 carrots, chopped
2 lg. onions, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. rutabaga, chopped (can substitute turnip)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Divide the dough into 6 pieces, and roll one of the pieces into a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Put 1 1/2 cups of filling on half of the round. Moisten the edges and fold the unfilled half over the filling to enclose it. Pinch the edges together to seal them and crimp them decoratively with a fork. Transfer pasty to lightly buttered baking sheet and cut several slits in the top. Roll out and fill the remaining dough in the same manner. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Put 1 tsp. butter through a slit in each pasty and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Remove from oven, cover with a damp tea towel, cool for 15 minutes.

]]> 208 It’s a wild, wild life under the U.P. lights! https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/wild-wild-life-u-p-lights/ Tue, 10 Apr 2018 17:32:53 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11765 This stunning video by Lake Superior Photo featuring northern lights, a beaver, and a very bright fireball might be the coolest Michigan thing you see today!!

]]> 11765 Five Things you need to know about Michigan Morel Mushrooms https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-michigan-morel-mushrooms/ Tue, 10 Apr 2018 12:20:42 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11742 Backyard Morels

backyard morels by Jason Rydquist

1

The Michigan Morel

We’re getting reports from across the state of morels being found, so it’s a great time to share some of information about these Pure Michigan delicacies. Morechella (true morels) are a honeycomb-like mushroom that  are prized by chefs the world over. The Great Morel Homepage can take you a lot deeper with links about the science of  these woodland delicacies.

If you’re looking for information about hunting morels this feature on Leelanau.com has some great tips to help you hunt and to be a good citizen of Morel Nation. MichiganMorels.com has tons of information as well about where to look, saying:

Black morel habitats includes Ash, Fruit and Aspen trees (also known as: Popple or Poplar) or even lawns and fields.White (yellow) morels especially like Elm, Fruit trees, and Maple. And in southern Michigan, the Tulip Poplar tree is a good host.

2

Know Your Quarry: Morel Identification

Finding morels means knowing what they look like, and being able to distinguish them from poisonous false morels.

Michigan’s first morels in the woods are the black morels followed in a couple of weeks by yellow/blond. MichiganMorels.com has a page that shows you how to identify morels and false morels.

Please remember the cardinal rule of mushroom hunting though: If you aren’t sure, don’t eat it!
3

New Michigan Morel Tool

Morel MapIf you’re on the hunt, Outdoor Hub shared a new tool from the Michigan DNR for morel hunters that could be of interest:

“Morel mushrooms are often found in locations where large fires occurred the previous year,” said Jim Fisher, resource protection manager for the DNR Forest Resources Division. “Each spring we get calls from people who are seeking details on those sites to hunt morels. We’ve enhanced the features of this map to give our customers the information they are looking for in a mobile-friendly, easily accessible package.”

The DNR’s interactive Mi-Morels map provides forest cover type information, latitude and longitude coordinates and state-managed land boundary information.

Click for the Mi-Morels map!
4

Cooking Morels

When you find morels, you’re going to want to cook them. The easiest tip is to soak them and rinse very well – they do have a lot of “grit” – and then fry them in butter.

You can of course do a lot more with them. Check that Leelanau.com article and the recipes page at The Great Morel (one suggests a Michigan Dry Riesling pairing – we couldn’t agree more!).

Even if you don’t find morels, you can buy them from Michigan-based Earthy Delights. On their recipes page they offer several ideas including Spring Wild Harvest Ragout With Fiddlehead Greens & Morels!
5

Celebrating the Morel in Michigan

Michigan loves its morels and we have two great morel celebrations. The annual Mesick Morel Festival is slated for May 6-8, 2016. Full schedule and updates on their Facebook.

The second is the National Morel Mushroom Festival in Boyne City that takes place May 11-15, 2016. When you visit the festival, you’ll have a chance to taste an incredible array of morel dishes and enjoy an experience much like  Absolute Michigan did a few of years ago.

]]> 11742 Coney Island Hot Dog – Michigan’s State Food? https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/coney-island-hot-dog-michigans-state-food/ Fri, 06 Apr 2018 12:20:21 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11831

The Coney Island

A Detroit Classic … and Michigan’s State Food?

In mLive’s never-ending quest to determine what the best of Michigan is, writer Emily Bingham polled readers as to what Michigan’s state food should be, and after nearly 3000 people weighed in:

In the end, it was the coney dog that was given top spot for the food readers most wanted to represent our great state. This dish is, undoubtedly, linked to Michigan, with specific regional differences (and passionate allegiances) based on whether you’re ordering in Detroit, Flint, Jackson or Kalamazoo. Many readers wrote in to tell us that the type of coney didn’t matter as long as the hot dog itself was a Koegel.

The Detroit Historical Society shares the uniquely Michigan roots of the Coney Dog in their super-awesome Encyclopedia of Detroit:

Many people think that the Coney dog, also called the Coney Island hot dog, got its start on Coney Island, NY where the hot dog was created. In actuality, this popular food got its start in Michigan, although the exact location is still disputed. Three locations in Michigan all claim to be the birthplace of Coney dogs: American Coney Island in Detroit, Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit and Todoroff’s Original Coney Island in Jackson.

In 1917, Gust Keros opened American Coney Island. A few years later Keros’s brother opened Lafayette Coney Island next door. Both of these Detroit Coney Islands are incredibly popular to this day, where there is an on-going argument over which establishment serves the best Coney dog. The dispute has been featured on several food television shows, including Food Wars and Man v. Food.

A Coney dog is a beef hotdog, topped with an all meat, beanless chili, diced white onions, and yellow mustard. A true Coney dog uses made-in-Michigan products.

Amen to that!



National Coney Island by Bridgette Wynn


Two Hugs and a Kiss by Tommy


Stateside shared that when Emily Bingham discovered that other states have an official state food, and soon set out to find a dish Michiganders can call their own. She created a poll and the Coney dog took first place, beating out the pasty by only one percentage point!


Listen to Stateside’s interview with Emily!


Athens Coney Island on Woodward Ave in Royal Oak by Derek Farr

On Any Given Night by Derek Farr

]]> 11831 100 (plus) Years at Tiger Stadium https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/100-years-at-tiger-stadium/ Thu, 05 Apr 2018 11:40:51 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/?p=10334 Reaching back four years to update this…

Tiger Stadium Deconstruction by paulhitz

Tiger Stadium Deconstruction by paulhitz

Tiger Stadium’s 100th birthday was last Friday. In a fairly heartbreaking story, Eric Adelson of Yahoo Sports observed that this milestone passed largely unmarked:

Tiger Stadium opened on the same day as Fenway Park – April 20, 1912. It was 100 years ago this weekend. Ty Cobb scored the first run by stealing home. From that day until 1999, this very spot rumbled with din and greatness. Pretty much every legend that played in Fenway in the 20th century also played here. Lou Gehrig sat himself down for the first time in 2,130 games here, ending his incredible ironman streak. Babe Ruth hit his 700th home run here. Reggie Jackson hit one into the right field light tower here during the ’71 All-Star game. The Tigers won World Series titles here in 1968 and again in 1984, with Kirk Gibson launching a late-inning home run off Goose Gossage that no Tigers fan alive to see it will ever forget. Fair to say this was the most exciting place in the history of Michigan.

And now there’s hardly a trace.

The story goes on to note that there were no planned observances of this occasion at Comerica Park. We at Absolute Michigan feel especially sad that we missed this important anniversary. By small way of penance, here’s some of Tiger Stadium’s rich history via Michigan in Pictures.

Aerial View of Tiger Stadium

Tiger Stadium #1 by m7k7k7

Many folks in Michigan have a piece of their heart stored at the Corner of Michigan & Trumbull. Wikipedia’s Tiger Stadium entry says the ballpark located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team from April 20, 1912 when it opened as Navin Field, through its expansion in 1938 when it was renamed Briggs Stadium (and began hosting the Detroit Lions as well) through 1961 when John Fetzer took control and renamed it Tiger Stadium. It saw two World Series championships, 1968 and 1984 and was the home of the Tigers until Comerica Park opened in 2000. It was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.

From honorary bat boys spending a few moments with a player to huge and cheering crowds, this ballpark has made millions of memories. Here are a few more of our favorite articles:

If you have any photos (or memories) to add, post a comment below.

Here’s a fantastic video on Tiger Stadium from The Story of America’s Classic Ballparks narrated by Jeff Daniels that includes some great old footage and interviews with Al Kaline, George Kell and Ernie Harwell.

 

]]> 10334 Michigan Eagle Cam! https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/michigan-eagle-cam/ Mon, 02 Apr 2018 12:02:32 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11733 via Michigan in Pictures.

CarbonTV and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are collaborating on a cool webcam of a nesting pair of bald eagles at Michigan’s Platte River State Fish Hatchery in Benzie County.

]]> 11733 The Red Dwarf of Detroit and Marche du Nain Rouge https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/march-du-nain-rouge-red-dwarf-detroit/ Sun, 11 Mar 2018 17:00:19 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11598

  • The Red Dwarf of Detroit and the Marche du Nain Rouge


Every spring, Detroiters celebrate liberation from the Nain Rouge in the Marche du Nain Rouge. The event is now in its 9th year and is symbolic of a new beginning for the beleaguered city. On Sunday, March 25, 2018 from 1-3 PM, join 5,000+ revelers to celebrate and once again banish the fiendish imp intent on ruining Detroit!

Sunday, March 25, 2018


Anyone can come along and be part of the parade! Grab a costume — dress as weird and wonderful as you like — and join the marching bands, art cars, and merry makers who will assemble at March 25 at Second and Canfield. Fun and entertainment start at noon, and the parade starts at 1 PM, proceeding down Second to the Masonic Temple.

Prepare to be wowed by the growing fleet of Art Cars, including a “Bubblemobile” out of Southwest Detroit, and Scrubby Bubble, which has represented Detroit at the Annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada. Plus, Caribbean Mardi Gras Productions will return with feathery floats and giant sparkly costumes ready to accompany their Pans of Joy steel drum band. And our friends at Gabriel Brass Band will return to lead the Marche with their authentic New Orleans second-line sound.


2017 photos by Andrew McFarlane

The following tale is from Myths and Legends of Our Own Land by Charles M. Skinner, available free at Project Gutenberg. You can get more recent accounts of the Nain Rouge from David A. Spitzley’s spooky & excellent Mythic Detroit and a slightly humorous account called Seeing Red from Model D. 

Among all the impish offspring of the Stone God, wizards and witches, that made Detroit feared by the early settlers, none were more dreaded than the Nain Rouge (Red Dwarf), or Demon of the Strait, for it appeared only when there was to be trouble. In that it delighted. It was a shambling, red-faced creature, with a cold, glittering eye and teeth protruding from a grinning mouth. Cadillac, founder of Detroit, having struck at it, presently lost his seigniory and his fortunes. It was seen scampering along the shore on the night before the attack on Bloody Run, when the brook that afterward bore this name turned red with the blood of soldiers. People saw it in the smoky streets when the city was burned in 1805, and on the morning of Hull’s surrender it was found grinning in the fog. It rubbed its bony knuckles expectantly when David Fisher paddled across the strait to see his love, Soulange Gaudet, in the only boat he could find–a wheel-barrow, namely–but was sobered when David made a safe landing.

It chuckled when the youthful bloods set off on Christmas day to race the frozen strait for the hand of buffer Beauvais’s daughter Claire, but when her lover’s horse, a wiry Indian nag, came pacing in it fled before their happiness. It was twice seen on the roof of the stable where that sour-faced, evil-eyed old mumbler, Jean Beaugrand, kept his horse, Sans Souci–a beast that, spite of its hundred years or more, could and did leap every wall in Detroit, even the twelve-foot stockade of the fort, to steal corn and watermelons, and that had been seen in the same barn, sitting at a table, playing seven-up with his master, and drinking a liquor that looked like melted brass. The dwarf whispered at the sleeping ear of the old chief who slew Friar Constantine, chaplain of the fort, in anger at the teachings that had parted a white lover from his daughter and led her to drown herself–a killing that the red man afterward confessed, because he could no longer endure the tolling of a mass bell in his ears and the friar’s voice in the wind.

The Nain Rouge it was who claimed half of the old mill, on Presque Isle, that the sick and irritable Josette swore that she would leave to the devil when her brother Jean pestered her to make her will in his favor, giving him complete ownership. On the night of her death the mill was wrecked by a thunder-bolt, and a red-faced imp was often seen among the ruins, trying to patch the machinery so as to grind the devil’s grist. It directed the dance of black cats in the mill at Pont Rouge, after the widow’s curse had fallen on Louis Robert, her brother-in-law. This man, succeeding her husband as director of the property, had developed such miserly traits that she and her children were literally starved to death, but her dying curse threw such ill luck on the place and set afloat such evil report about it that he took himself away. The Nain Rouge may have been the Lutin that took Jacques L’Esperance’s ponies from the stable at Grosse Pointe, and, leaving no tracks in sand or snow, rode them through the air all night, restoring them at dawn quivering with fatigue, covered with foam, bloody with the lash of a thorn-bush. It stopped that exercise on the night that Jacques hurled a font of holy water at it, but to keep it away the people of Grosse Pointe still mark their houses with the sign of a cross.

It was lurking in the wood on the day that Captain Dalzell went against Pontiac, only to perish in an ambush, to the secret relief of his superior, Major Gladwyn, for the major hoped to win the betrothed of Dalzell; but when the girl heard that her lover had been killed at Bloody Run, and his head had been carried on a pike, she sank to the ground never to rise again in health, and in a few days she had followed the victims of the massacre. There was a suspicion that the Nain Rouge had power to change his shape for one not less offensive. The brothers Tremblay had no luck in fishing through the straits and lakes until one of them agreed to share his catch with St. Patrick, the saint’s half to be sold at the church-door for the benefit of the poor and for buying masses to relieve souls in purgatory. His brother doubted if this benefit would last, and feared that they might be lured into the water and turned into fish, for had not St. Patrick eaten pork chops on a Friday, after dipping them into holy water and turning them into trout? But his good brother kept on and prospered and the bad one kept on grumbling. Now, at Grosse Isle was a strange thing called the rolling muff, that all were afraid of, since to meet it was a warning of trouble; but, like the feu follet, it could be driven off by holding a cross toward it or by asking it on what day of the month came Christmas. The worse of the Tremblays encountered this creature and it filled him with dismay. When he returned his neighbors observed an odor–not of sanctity–on his garments, and their view of the matter was that he had met a skunk. The graceless man felt convinced, however, that he had received a devil’s baptism from the Nain Rouge, and St. Patrick had no stancher allies than both the Tremblays, after that.

Top photo is Nain Rouge by Jeremy Isaacson!

“In 1976, two employees of Detroit Edison saw a small “child” climbing a utility pole on March 1st. Fearing the “child” might fall the two men called out to “him” and much to their surprise the “child” leaped from the top of the twenty-foot pole and scurried away. The Red Dwarf had reared its face again and the next day Detroit was buried in one of the worst ice/snowstorms in its history.”
From The Nain Rouge – Detroit’s Genius Loci? by David Spitzley

“It was thrashing the weeds vigorously, snapping the pithy stems and stomping the ground as it thrust its way forward. We instinctively froze in our tracks.

“The bizarre creature that suddenly appeared before us had thrust his large head forward of his thickset, furry body, and we could clearly see the surprise and amazement on his face. He looked like a cross between a baboon and a gorilla, with grayish black skin on his face and reddish-tan fur on his whole body. He gazed at us incredulously with his huge, reddish-amber eyes. He seemed to be about four-and-a-half to five feet tall and stood on two legs. He had long, burly arms, and the skin on his palms was the same grayish-black.”

From Bigfoot’s Bizarre Cousin Sighted in Michigan – could it be the Nain Rouge?

Detroit Gargoyles


Detroit Gargoyles by The Whistling Monkey
part of a set of detroit Gargoyles

]]> 11598 The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald edited by Joseph Fulton https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald-edited-by-joseph-fulton/ Sat, 11 Nov 2017 09:23:38 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/articles/the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald-edited-by-joseph-fulton/ Today is the 36th anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and if you’re in Michigan, you’ll probably hear The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot today. I’m pretty sure, however, that you won’t enjoy it more than when you’re watching this video.

Joseph Fulton put together this amazing tribute to the 29 men who went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. This video is one of the best I’ve ever seen on YouTube and I hope you can watch it. More shipping & shipwrecks on Absolute Michigan and also see much more about the Edmund Fitzgerald on Michigan in Pictures including the launch of the Fitz.

]]> 869 Inside the Grand Island Ice Caves https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/inside-grand-island-ice-caves/ Wed, 25 Oct 2017 14:40:26 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11966

via Michigan in Pictures & Lake Superior Photo

Words escape me, photo by Lake Superior Photo

Words escape ME on the beauty of the video that Shawn of Lake Superior Photo shared. The ice caves on Grand Island near Munising didn’t happen this year, a very unfortunate thing for everyone in Michigan who makes their livelihood from winter recreation. However, thanks to the magic of the video below, we can travel back to 2015.

You can view Shawn’s photo from winter of 2015  bigger on Facebook and purchase the photo right here. I can’t stress enough that you should follow Shawn and Lake Superior Photo on Facebook. Please do it.

Now here’s that video. Be sure to turn your volume up and watch in HD – there’s a “boom” from the ice sheet at 4 seconds that’s incredible!

]]> 11966 The Rouse Simmons and the Great Lakes Christmas Tree Ships https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/the-rouse-simmons-and-the-great-lakes-christmas-tree-ships/ Wed, 25 Oct 2017 10:15:41 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/?p=8878 Through Pasty Central’s This Day in History for November 21st, we’re reminded that of the story of the Rouse Simmons. This was originally published on Michigan in Pictures.

elsie-schuenemann-christmas-tree-shipHere is a portrait of Elsie Schuenemann at the wheel of the Christmas Ship, near the Clark Street Bridge on the Chicago River in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. The boat carried Christmas trees to Chicago from Michigan. Her father, Captain H. Schuenemann, died when the Rouse Simmons, a ship carrying Christmas trees, sank in 1912.

The trees behind her likely came from the woods of Escanaba. Though the story of Barbara Schuenemann and her three daughters carrying on the tradition of the Christmas Tree Ships has perhaps been a little over-romanticized, there can be little doubt that the Schuenemann family and the many others who participated in the difficult trade of hauling Christmas trees south as the storms of winter closed in were heroes cut from a cloth that isn’t found too often today.

If you’d like to read more about all the Christmas tree ships (there were many more than just the famous Rouse Simmons) I recommend Christmas Tree Ships from Fred Neuschel. He has also written a book called Lives and Legends of the Christmas Tree Ships (available from UM Press). The National Archive also has The Christmas Tree Ship: Captain Herman E. Schuenemann and the Schooner Rouse Simmons that details the Schuenemann’s story.

You can also see Rich Evenhouse’s great video of diving the Rouse Simmons – click for more of his dive videos.

]]> 8878 Michigan’s Lake Effect Snow https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/michigans-lake-effect-snow/ Sun, 22 Oct 2017 15:05:02 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11925

Michigan’s Lake Effect

Great Lakes, Great Snow

via Michigan in Pictures

As Michigan deals with the first winter storm of the season, it’s a good time to brush up on how Michigan’s lake effect snow machine works with a nice video (right) from mLive chief meteorologist Mark Torregrossa who adds:

The areas hit by lake effect are called snowbelts. Some parts of the snowbelts typically get much more snow than other parts. This is because some locations get lake effect from multiple wind directions. Good examples are in the heart of the northwest Lower Peninsula snowbelt. Mancelona and Gaylord get heavy lake effect with northwest, west and slightly southwest winds. Also, the Keweenaw Peninsula, sticking out into Lake Superior, can get lake effect snow from west winds to north winds to northeast winds. That’s why they often shovel over 200 inches of snow in Houghton, MI.

The opposite is true for Grand Rapids and to some extent, Traverse City. Grand Rapids needs a west to southwest wind for heavy lake effect. West winds are common in winter, but don’t tend to last for more than 12 hours. That’s why Grand Rapids often gets only 12 hours of heavy lake effect and a few inches of snow. The wind then veers to the northwest and areas around Holland and Allegan get buried. Downtown Traverse City has a hard time getting heavy lake effect also. Traverse City needs a north-northwest wind to straight north wind for the heaviest lake effect to move into downtown. That wind flow does happen, but it only lasts 24-48 hours a few times each winter.

photo above is Lake Effect by Randy R Photography

ice-beast-of-the-frozen-tundra

Ice Beast of the Frozen Tundra by Mark Miller

]]> 11925 Top 6 Michigan Photos of 2016 via Michigan in Pictures https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/top-6-michigan-photos-2016-via-michigan-pictures/ Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:31:34 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11934 Via Michigan in Pictures – some great shots!!

Welcome to the 2017 Michigan in Pictures year in review! I’d normally wish you a Happy New Year and fun New Year’s Eve in this space, but my timing was thrown off. Please do still have a safe & fun New Year!

patreon-supportThe major 2016 update was that I added an account on Patreon that allows folks to toss a few bucks my way once or every month if they choose. I’m up to a burger with a couple of beers every month, so thank you supporters – it’s very much appreciated! Also appreciated is all of you sharing my posts here and on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook.

Once again the most visited post was Know Your Michigan Turtles, and I added the Red-eared Slider on May 23rd in celebration of World Turtle Day. If I were a betting man, I would lay long odds on the Common Musk Turtle being added to the list May 23, 2017 as it’s the only one not yet featured.

Instead of a top 5, I added an extra one because a razor-thin margin separated numbers 5 & 6 and #5 was really more of a graphic I made than a photo. I’d also like to point out that other than the graphic, ALL of the photos have a lake in them.

#6

Sometimes the the stars align Frankfort Lighthouse

August 12 – Sometimes the Stars Align by Snap Happy Gal Photography

Flat-out stunning photo of the Frankfort Lighthouse by Heather Higham, a Michigan in Pictures regular. 

#5

michigan-msu-merger

April 1 – “MU” merges University of Michigan & Michigan State University via Absolute Michigan

Historic merger to create the largest university on the planet, known simply as “MU” was announced.

#4

lake-charlevoix-fall-colors-by-frank-wulfers

October 21 – Lake Charlevoix Fall Colors by frank wulfers

Fall color was a little later than normal this year, and Frank got a gorgeous shot of late October color from the Avalanche Mountain Scenic Overlook in Boyne City.

#3

Black Rocks Summer of 16

October 21 – Black Rocks, #1, Summer of ’16 by Lake Superior Photo

Shawn of Lake Superior Photo has been a longtime supporter of Michigan in Pictures and it’s always good when one of her photos makes the list!

#2

Point Betsie Lighthouse- Ice Station Zebra Edition

January 23 – Enchanted Point Betsie by Kristina Lishawa

The winds howl, the snow falls, and the waves crash, yet Betsie stands more beautiful and enchanting than ever. ~Kristina Lishawa

#1

Chapel Rock in Winter

February 20 – Live Anywhere by Jay

FUN FACT: My absolute favorite place in Michigan is right here – Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. While I have visited the Lakeshore in the winter, I haven’t made it to Chapel Rock yet.

As with so many photos I share, I do get the vicarious experience though.

Thank you everyone for your support of Michigan in Pictures in 2016!

 

]]> 11934 Apollo 15, Michigan and the Moon https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/apollo-15-michigan-and-the-moon/ Sat, 14 Oct 2017 11:53:51 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/?p=10754

Left to right: Scott, Worden, Irwin

41 years ago today, the Apollo 15 mission blasted off with its crew of Commander David R. Scott, Command Module Pilot Alfred M. Worden, Lunar Module Pilot James B. Irwin. All three astronauts on the all-Air Force crew attended the University of Michigan.

Wikipedia explains that Apollo 15 began on July 26, 1971 and concluded on August 7th. It was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of the “J missions” – long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science and also the first mission where the Lunar Rover was used.

Contrary to what you may have heard, there’s probably not a UM flag on the moon though.

Check out the video below from the UM School of Engineering and be sure to watchtheir proof in the lunar vacuum of Galileo’s theory that objects released together fall at the same rate regardless of mass below!



]]> 10754 Hamlin Lake UFO Sighting https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/hamlin-lake-ufo-sighting/ Mon, 02 Oct 2017 17:18:07 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11532 Hamlin Lake Michigan

Hamlin Lake by otisourcat

Here’s a cool March 2nd UFO story from Michigan via Examiner.com:

A 78-year-old Michigan woman recalls a UFO encounter in 1943 “as if it happened yesterday,” according to March 2, 2014, testimony in Case 54412 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The witness was a child outside playing in the dirt behind a cottage about 10 miles outside of Ludington when the object came into view.

“I saw a saucer-like object flying toward me,” the witness stated. “It then stopped over Hamlin Lake and after a second, went back the way it came from the other side of Hamlin Lake and on perhaps in the direction of Lake Michigan.”

The witness described the object.

“It didn’t make any noise and I didn’t see any windows. It just looked like a flying saucer. The speed was relatively slow and it seemed to stop for a moment over about the middle of the lake there and then reverse course going back in the direction it had come as if to say, ‘Oh, I’m going in the wrong direction.'”

More UFO reports at the MUFON website.

]]> 11532 L. Frank Baum, The Goose Man of Macatawa https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/l-frank-baum-the-goose-man-of-macatawa/ Thu, 14 Sep 2017 15:24:37 +0000 http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/?p=10476 L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was born on May 15, 1856. The Holland Sentinel has an excellent feature on Baum’s Michigan connection, explaining that this multi-talented man was Louis F. Baum as an actor and playwright, L.F. Baum as a newspaper editor, and (of course) L. Frank Baum as one of the most popular children’s book authors ever. In the resort community of Macatawa, however, Baum was known by another name:  “The Goose Man.”

The Wizard of Oz rolled off the presses on May 17, 1900, but Baum actually had the top selling children’s book of the year one year earlier:

In 1899, Baum published “Father Goose: His Book.” The collection of children’s poems exploded in popularity and provided Baum with wealth and prestige for the first time in his life, his great-grandson, Bob Baum, recalled.

The author used the profits from his book to rent a large, multi-story Victorian summer home nestled on the southern end of the Macatawa peninsula on Lake Michigan.

The home, which he eventually purchased, came to be known as the Sign of the Goose, an ever-present reminder of the fame that came along with “Father Goose.”

Definitely read on for more, including a little about Baum’s 1907 novel Tamawaca Folks: A Summer Comedy, lampooning the resort community. You can also read the complete text of Father Goose right here.

If you’re looking to celebrate the Wizard of Oz, consider the Wizard of Oz Festival in Ionia. It’s scheduled for June 17-18, 2016! Also see the Oz Club Facebook page for all kinds of photos & history.

]]> 10476 Remembering MSU Basketball Legend Jud Heathcote https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/remembering-msu-basketball-legend-jud-heathcote/ Tue, 29 Aug 2017 12:34:39 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=12010 via Michigan in Pictures…

Jud Heathcote, photo courtesy MSU Basketball

“Michigan State has lost one of its icons today. And yet nothing can erase his impact on the program, the players he coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote.”
~MSU Basketball Coach Tom Izzo

Legendary Michigan State University basketball coach Jud Heathcote has passed away at the age of 90:

George M. (Jud) Heathcote coached the Michigan State men’s basketball team from 1976-95, guiding the Spartans to 340 victories, three Big Ten titles, nine NCAA Tournament berths and one national title during his 19 seasons in East Lansing.

Heathcote is the second-winningest coach in MSU history with a record of 340-220 (.607), including a 14-8 (.636) mark in the NCAA Tournament. His overall record was 420-273 (.606) over 24 seasons, including five years at Montana.

In his third season in East Lansing, Heathcote led Michigan State to its first NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1979 and won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1978 and 1979. During those two seasons, Heathcote had the opportunity to coach one of the game’s greatest players, All-American Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who propelled the Spartans to a 51-10 record in his two seasons at MSU.

A two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (1978 and 1986), Heathcote coached seven All-Americans (Johnson, Gregory Kelser, Jay Vincent, Sam Vincent, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith and Shawn Respert) and 22 NBA players. Five of his players won the Big Ten scoring title a total of six times. During Jud’s tenure, MSU had at least one player among the first-team All-Big Ten selections in 12 of his 19 years.

Prior to his retirement, Heathcote ensured that the future of Spartan basketball would be in good hands. In 1990, he promoted assistant Tom Izzo to associate head coach, and fought for Izzo to be named his successor.

Read on for more and please share articles about him that you enjoyed in the comments!

Here’s a brief video on Heathcote from CBS Sports…

]]> 12010 June 8, 1953: Remembering the Flint-Beecher Tornado https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/june-8-1953-remembering-flint-beecher-tornado/ Thu, 08 Jun 2017 12:25:22 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11792

June 8, 1953: Remembering the Flint-Beecher Tornado

“The noise sounded like two freight trains going over a trestle right over your head; it was an ugly roar.
My wife said the noise when the house went was like a giant pencil sharpener working.”

-Tornado Survivor Robert Blue

The National Weather Service relates that the Flint-Beecher tornado was Michigan’s worst natural disaster in terms of deaths and injuries:

This was the last tornado to kill over 100 people in a single tornado event anywhere in the United States. On June 8th, 1953, 116 people lost their lives in the Flint-Beecher community, and 844 people suffered injuries. The Flint-Beecher Tornado was just one of eight tornadoes that occurred that horrible evening across the eastern portion of the Lower Peninsula. Those other seven tornadoes resulted in an additional 9 deaths, 52 injures, and damage stretching from Alpena to Erie.

The Flint-Beecher tornado was rated as an F5, the highest rating on the Fujita scale of damage. Winds were likely in excess of 200 mph as the 800 yard wide tornado moved on its 27 mile path through Genesee and Lapeer counties. Approximately 340 homes were destroyed, 107 homes had “major damage”, and 153 homes had “minor damage”. In addition farms, businesses and other buildings were destroyed and had damage. These totaled another 50 buildings destroyed and 16 with damage. The damage was estimated around $19 million (about $125 million adjusted for inflation).

So great a number were killed by the monstrous tornado that the National Guard Armory building, along with other shelters, was turned into a temporary morgue. The scene of bodies pouring into the Armory (as an intermittent light rain poured outside) was incredibly bleak and horrifying, especially for the families and friends of the victims. At least 100 people waited outside into the rainy night before they could move inside to try and identify the bodies.

Captain James Berardo of the State Police warned the people that the terrible tornado had horribly battered some victims and the scene inside would be gruesome. Out of the 116 people killed, 55 were under 20 years old and out of those 55, 5 were less than a year old, 32 were under 10 years old and the remaining 18 were under 20 years old. As bad as it was to have a loved one killed from the storm, many families suffered multiple deaths. As many as 20 families reported multiple deaths, with unimaginable fates befalling the Gensel and Gatica families – each losing five members.

…Beecher was able to rebuild thanks in most part to the Flint community. Flint supported a “Red Feather” campaign to gather relieve and rebuilding funds. With the help of both the community money and the Red Cross, Beecher was able to rebuild. During the late summer of 1953, one of the nation’s largest “Builder Bees” at the time, was held. This was a community supported project, which volunteers help to rebuild some of the homes that were lost in the tornado.


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Tornado in Erie, Michigan – June 8, 1953



Damage from the Tornado in Beecher
courtesy Flint Public Library


]]> 11792 Ford & General Motors Leading Race for Self-driving Cars https://absolutemichigan.com/business/industry-manufacturing/ford-general-motors-leading-race-self-driving-cars/ Wed, 05 Apr 2017 12:35:38 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11999

While Uber, Tesla & Google are getting most of the ink, WIRED magazine’s article Detroit Is Stomping Silicon Valley in the Self-Driving Car Race says:

IF YOU’RE BETTING on Silicon Valley stars like Google, Tesla, and Uber to free you from your horrorshow commute with autonomous driving technology, don’t. That’s the key takeaway from a new report that finds Ford—yes, the Detroit-based, 113-year-old giant—is winning the race to build the self-driving car, with General Motors running a close second. Renault-Nissan, Daimler, and Volkswagen round out the top five. Meanwhile, Waymo—aka Google’s driverless car effort—sits in sixth place, with Tesla in twelfth. Uber languishes in sixteenth, behind Honda and barely ahead of startup Nutonomy and China’s Baidu.

That may sound all kinds of wrong to anyone who has seen Uber, Waymo, and Tesla flaunt their tech, and regards Detroit’s old guard as ill-prepared for the robotic future. But it’s the state of the race according to Navigant Research, whose newly released “leaderboard” report ranks these players not just on their ability to make a car drive itself, but on their ability to bring that car to the mass market.

Ford and GM both score in the low to mid 80s on the technology front; it’s their old-school skills that float them to first and second place. They’ve each spent more than a century developing, testing, producing, marketing, distributing, and selling cars. Plus, each has made strategic moves to bolster weak points. Ford just dumped a billion dollars into an artificial intelligence outfit. It acquired ride-sharing service Chariot and invested in Velodyne, a company producing lidar, the laser scanning tech many argue is necessary for self-driving cars. GM scooped up self-driving expertise via a startup called Cruise, and partnered with Lyft to put the eventual result on the road.

Lots more in a great article from WIRED and view the photo of an autonomous Ford Fusion hybrid bigger on Ford’s website.

More cars & autos on Michigan in Pictures and enjoy this video of a self-driving Focus in action.

via Michigan in Pictures

]]> 11999 Star Power at Tahquamenon Falls https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/star-power-at-tahquamenon-falls/ Sun, 02 Apr 2017 13:01:14 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11527 via Michigan in Pictures – check this link out for more Michigan waterfalls

Milky Way over Tahquamenon Falls

Milky Way over Tahquamenon Falls, photo by John McCormick / Michigan Nut Photography

The Tahquamenon Falls State Park says:

Tahquamenon Falls State Park encompasses close to 50,000 acres stretching over 13 miles. Most of this is undeveloped woodland without roads, buildings or power lines. The centerpiece of the park, and the very reason for its existence, is the Tahquamenon River with its waterfalls. The Upper Falls is one the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across. A maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water per second has been recorded cascading over these falls.

…This is the land of Longfellow’s Hiawatha – “by the rushing Tahquamenaw” Hiawatha built his canoe. Long before the white man set eyes on the river, the abundance of fish in its waters and animals along its shores attracted the Ojibwa Indians, who camped, farmed, fished and trapped along its banks. In the late 1800’s came the lumber barons and the river carried their logs by the millions to the mills. Lumberjacks, who harvested the tall timber, were among the first permanent white settlers in the area.

Click through to the Tahquamenon Falls State Park page for maps and more.

You can view John’s photo bigger on Flickr, follow him at Michigan Nut Photography on Facebook, and settle back to enjoy his Michigan Waterfalls slideshow.

]]> 11527 Headlands Dark Sky Park Wins Pure Award https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/headlands-dark-sky-park-wins-pure-award/ Fri, 24 Mar 2017 12:12:03 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11983

Headlands Dark Sky Park Wins Pure Award

Only 2nd time in a decade award has been given

Emmet County’s International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands won the distinguished recognition of the state’s premier Pure Michigan campaign at the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism Tuesday when they won the Pure Award for 2017. The Pure Award, which has only been awarded twice in the 10 years of the Pure Michigan campaign, recognizes best practices in stewarding and preserving Michigan’s natural, cultural, and heritage-based resources.

“This award helps us further realize our goal of safeguarding the community’s natural and direct encounter with Northern Michigan’s unique and exceptional environment, both by day and by night,” said Headlands Program Director Mary Stewart Adams. “The Pure Michigan campaign is a hallmark in the tourism industry, setting the standard for states and organizations nationally and globally. For our initiative at Headlands to be recognized and awarded by the campaign is really gratifying because it increases our visibility both as a tourism destination, and as a conscientious community, one that holds the protection of our natural resources to a very high standard. ”

The award was presented to Headlands by Christian Overland, Executive Vice President of The Henry Ford, during the three-day Pure Michigan Conference on Tourism, held this year at the Detroit Renaissance Marriott Hotel March 19 to 21, 2017. “We are delighted that The Headlands International Dark Sky Park is this year’s 2017 Pure Award recipient and we hope this recognition helps promote the terrific stewardship and tourism experiences Headlands provides in the Great State of Michigan,” said Overland, who also serves as Chair of the Michigan Travel Commission.

The award itself was custom-designed for Headlands by the artisan glassblowers at The Henry Ford and is a stylized version of the Headlands logo, incorporating silver leaf embellishment over a “dark sky” in one seamless piece of glass that is meant to represent the North Star and the Milky Way Galaxy.

“This award affirms the essential public service provided by the Parks and Recreation Department of Emmet County, and is really a celebration of the entire county parks system. It takes our whole team to achieve such an award, and we’re really grateful to the industry experts on the Michigan travel and tourism committee for this recognition,” said Emmet County Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Gaetano.

The Pure Michigan campaign is funded by the State of Michigan, with an annual budget of $34 million. According to reports released during the conference, research shows that the campaign drove 5 million trips to Michigan in 2016, with visitors spending an estimated $1.5 billion at local businesses. This amounts to an $8.33 return on investment.

“Travel spending in our Emmet County communities supports local businesses and jobs, and this award is a terrific affirmation of how well we are managing the natural resources of our area, both for our local communities and for the thousands of visitors that travel here every year,” said County Administrator, Marty Krupa.

“In June, we’ll celebrate the grand opening of the Waterfront Center and Observatory at the Headlands, and this award will be on special display!” said Adams.

About the Park

The Headlands is a 600-acre park on the Straits of Mackinac, two miles west of downtown Mackinaw City, at 15675 Headlands Road. The park is free and open to the public every day. While no camping is allowed, visitors are welcome to stay overnight to observe the dark sky overhead. The Headlands became the 6th International Dark Sky Park in the U.S. and the 9th in the world in May 2011, as designated by the International Dark Sky Association (www.darksky.org), and each month free programs are held for the public. For more information, visit www.MIdarkskypark.org, email darksky@emmetcounty.org, or phone (231) 348-1713. The county sends regular email blasts as well with information about night-sky observation opportunities and celestial events; to register, use the contact information above.


Milky Way by Joseph Snowaert
(Headlands Dark Sky Park, May 2014)


Headlands Program Director Mary Stewart Adams receiving the Pure Award for 2017 from Christian Overland, Executive Vice President of The Henry Ford, at Detroit Renaissance Center during the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Tuesday, March 21, 2017

This year’s Pure Award was custom designed for the Headlands by artisan glassblowers at the Henry Ford Museum and in one seamless piece represents our North Star and the Milky Way Galaxy. The award will be permanently on display to the public at Emmet County’s’ Waterfront Event Center and Observatory at the Headlands.

]]> 11983 Everything you know about Wally Pipp is wrong https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/everything-know-wally-pipp-wrong/ Wed, 01 Mar 2017 23:56:35 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11970

True confession: My father was a veritable baseball encyclopedia good enough for a scholarship at Yale whose love of the game kept him around baseball and me steeped in it. That said, though I learned the story of Wally Pipp at a young age, it was all wrong.

The name of Wally Pipp conjures visions of shirkers, slackers and layabouts and the stars who get a chance to shine when they take the inevitable day off. Most sports fans know the story of how on June 2, 1925 New York Yankee first baseman Wally Pipp was given the day off for a headache, and Lou Gherig played 1st for the next 2,130 consecutive games until “The Iron Horse” retired due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) also commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease. Tom Brady “pipped” Drew Bledsoe years ago, and Dak Prescott did the same to Tony Romo last season.

Everyone knows the story of Wally Pipp I read a whole lot about this confusing tale, but the article Wally Pipp’s Career-Ending ‘Headache’ by Snopes founder David Mikkelson is quite simple a tour de force of the twists and turns in one of our biggest American sports legendsthat has been told and retold in print and screen. There’s a ton to read including the newspaper clippings and I recommend you do so, but let’s skip to Mikkelson’s conclusion:

After winning three straight American League pennants between 1921-23, the Yankees finished a couple of games off the pace in 1924 as the Washington Senators captured their first flag ever. New York expected to regain the top spot in 1925, but that was the year Babe Ruth’s excesses finally caught up with him.

…With Ruth either missing or too weak to play effectively, and some key players slumping … New York tumbled to a dismal seventh-place finish (in an eight-team league) in 1925. With his team already near the bottom of the standings and eleven games under the .500 mark at the beginning of June, manager Miller Huggins decided to shake up his line-up and replace some of his slumping veterans with younger players. Contemporaneous news accounts leave no doubt that Wally Pipp did not sit out the game on 2 June 1925 with a headache; he was deliberately benched by a manager who had charge of a team that was playing poorly and who opted to sit down some of his older players to give others a try.

In the case of Wally Pipp there was no inopportune headache, no “delightful and romantic story” — just a case of a slumping player who lost his job to an up-and-comer and never got it back. But his replacement was the stuff of legend (the indestructible ballplayer finally felled by a fatal disease), and so he became part of a legend that mixed fact and fiction and grew so large even some of the participants came to believe in its fictional aspects.

Via Mental Floss, Bleacher Report, and Wikipedia, I can report that Pipp was raised in Grand Rapids, was hit in the head with a hockey puck as a child that he attributed his headaches to, and played his first pro baseball for (seriously) the Kalamazoo Celery Champs. Pipp was one of the best first basemen of his era, hitting .281 with 90 HRs, 997 RBI and 1,941 hits. After retiring in 1928, Pipp played the market, wrote some radio scripts and books including as Babe Ruth’s ghostwriter, and did a pregame baseball show for the Detroit Tigers. He worked in a Michigan plant that made B-24 bombers during WWII and worked as a sales exec for the Rockford Screw Products Corporation. Mental floss concludes: Pipp went from playing first for the Yankees to peddling screws and bolts—and he loved it. Armed with the gift of gab and endless baseball stories, Pipp spent the rest of his life selling wares to Detroit’s auto hotshots. He passed away in 1965. (at the age of 71)

Wally Pipp with the Yankees in 1916, Library of Congress

Wally Pipp’s Final Resting Spot by PPWWIII

]]> 11970 Happy 180th Birthday, Michigan! https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/happy-180th-birthday-michigan/ Thu, 26 Jan 2017 14:01:20 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11942 General Photo Collection>Industry>Travel and Tourism Trooper Chas. L. Weber of New Buffalo and Karl V. Jassenhaus family of New Buffalo. Michigan Tourist Council Neg. #2304

Trooper Chas. L. Weber of New Buffalo and Karl V. Jassenhaus family of New Buffalo.
Michigan Tourist Council Neg. #2304 (courtesy Seeking Michigan)

Today is Statehood Day, Michigan’s 178th birthday. For Michigan’s 175th birthday in 2012 Michigan in Pictures put together some fun facts about Michigan. They’re still true and still fun!

  • Michigan is derived from the Indian word Michigama, meaning great or large lake. (more about Michigan’s name on Michigan in Pictures)
  • French explorers Étienne Brulé & Grenoble are the first recorded Europeans to set foot in Michigan (you never know though). In 1668 Fathers Jacques Marquette and Claude Dablon established the first mission at Sault Ste. Marie, and in 1701, French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded  Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit.
  • The Michigan Territory was created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government and William Hull appointed as our first governor.
  • Michigan became the 26th state on the 26th of January, 1837. Is 26 our lucky number? FYI, our first State governor was Stevens T. Mason, the 25 year old Boy Governor (the youngest state governor in American history).
  • Michigan’s nickname is “the Wolverine State”. It is generally believed to have been coined during the 1835 Toledo War between Michigan and Ohio, when our southern rivals gave us the name due to the wolverine’s reputation for sheer orneriness!
  • The Great Seal of Michigan was designed by Lewis Cass and was patterned after the seal of the Hudson Bay Fur Company. It depicts an elk on the left and a moose on the right supporting a shield that reads Tuebor (“I will protect”).The interior of the shield shows a figure on the shore with the sun rising over a lake. His right hand is raised, symbolizing peace, but he holds a rifle in his left hand, showing readiness to defend the state and nation.Below the shield is the inscription of our state motto Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.” (I just learned that Michigan has an Office of the Great Seal – how cool would it be to say you worked there??)
  • The original State Capitol of Michigan was Detroit, and it moved to Lansing in 1847 to help develop the western side of the state and due to the need to develop the western portions of the state and for easy defense from British troops. Here’s a pic of Michigan’s original Capitol Building and an 1890s view of the current Michigan capitol.
  • Michigan is the 10th largest state by area if you count the water … and who wouldn’t count the water??
  • Speaking of water, we have 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, good for second to only Alaska in coastline!

View the photo background big and see more in their Tourism slideshow.

More of Michigan’s birthday on Michigan in Pictures.

]]> 11942 Tracking Ice Cover on Michigan’s Great Lakes https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/tracking-ice-cover-michigans-great-lakes/ Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:29:24 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11938 Shoreline Ice on Lake Michigan

Shoreline Ice by Mark Swanson

via today’s Michigan in Pictures… Ice on Michigan’s Great Lakes has become something of a phenomenon in the last few years, attracting photographers and thousands more to see the ephemeral beauty created by wind, water, and freezing temperatures. But ice has other important purposes, as NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory page on Great Lakes Ice Cover explains:

Ice formation on the Great Lakes is a clear signal of winter. Looking back in time, the lakes were formed over several thousands of years as mile-thick layers of glacial ice advanced and retreated, scouring and sculpting the basin. The shape and drainage patterns of the basin were in a constant state of flux resulting from the ebb and flow of glacial meltwater coupled with the rebound of the underlying land as the massive ice sheets retreated.

Heavy ice cover can reduce the amount of evaporation from the Great Lakes in the winter, thus contributing to higher water levels.

In bays and other nearshore areas, ice forms a stable platform for winter recreational activity such as ice fishing. This stable ice also protects wetlands and the shoreline from erosion.

  • 94.7% ice coverage in 1979 is the maximum on record (data began in 1973)
  • 9.5% ice coverage in 2002 is the lowest on record
  • 11.5% ice coverage in 1998, a strong El Niño year
  • The extreme ice cover in 2014 (92.5%) and 2015 (88.8%) were the first consecutive high ice cover years since the late 1970s.

NOAA pegs the current ice cover at 9.9% and you can also watch an animation of the last 60 days of ice formation. You can check out satellite images of the Great Lakes for current ice cover and also this cool animation of Great Lakes ice cover from 1973 – 2016.

Mark took this photo a little over a week ago at Lincoln Township Park near Stevensville. With the warmer weather, there’s probably less. View his photo bigger and see more in his Michigan Winter slideshow.

]]> 11938 Happy Birthday Faygo Pop! https://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/happy-birthday-faygo-pop/ Fri, 04 Nov 2016 11:23:07 +0000 http://absolutemichigan.com/?p=11914

Happy Birthday Faygo Pop!

Detroit’s Faygo Beverage Company turns 109

via Michigan in Pictures…

Today (November 4, 2016) is the 109th birthday of Detroit-based Faygo. The Encyclopedia Of Detroit entry for Faygo Pop at the Detroit Historical Society says:

In 1907, Russian immigrant brothers and bakers, Ben and Perry Feigenson, began playing around with the idea of creating soft drinks based on their frosting flavors. They bottled their soda – which they called “pop” because of the sound it made when the lid was removed – in fruit punch, strawberry and grape flavors at a factory on Pingree Street. They sold their soda pop from their horse-drawn wagon the day after it was made.

Soon, the brothers developed the Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works, but they changed the name to Faygo in 1921 because “Feigenson” was too long to fit on the labels. They moved their growing bottle works to Gratiot Avenue in 1935, which is still used today to create Faygo pop.

The brothers ran Faygo until the mid-1940s, when they gave the company to their sons. Faygo was sold only in Detroit and Michigan until the late 1950s because it had a limited shelf life. At that time, company-hired chemists determined that impurities in the water prevented the pop from staying carbonated. The company then developed a water filtering system that stretched the shelf life to more than a year.

Faygo became popular outside of Michigan in the late 1960s when the company began advertising during televised Detroit Tigers games. Today, Faygo, which comes in over 30 flavors, is sold in many states east of the Mississippi River.

In 1987, the Feigenson family sold the Faygo company to National Beverage Company which is based in Florida. National Beverage, which also owns Shasta, kept the Detroit bottling works and the company’s employees. Many have worked for Faygo for over 30 years.

Today, the most popular Faygo flavor remains one of the earliest the Feigenson brothers developed: Redpop.

Click through for a couple fun items in their collection. Also check out Faygo’s history page for a nice timeline and watch the classic Faygo Kid commercial below!


Faygo’s Founding Feigenson Brothers



That’s Why We Drink Faygo by David Marvin



Repetition “Faygo” by diane charvat

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