Good Morning America announced today that Sleeping Bear Dunes won their contest for Most Beautiful Place in America. I’m super excited for the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. It really is one of my favorite spots to visit in Michigan.

I started thinking about what it is about Sleeping Bear Dunes that keeps me coming back and decided that a list was in order. So, without further ado – here are my 10 Favorite things to do in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area:

1. The 7.4 mile Pierce Stocking Drive. Some of the most beautiful views you will see in Michigan.
2. The Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum which is located just west of Glen Haven. A really neat museum about the predecessor to the Coast Guard, the U.S. Life-Saving Service.
3. The picturesque Point Betsie Lighthouse. One of (if not THE) most photographed lighthouses in Michigan. Had a fun time playing a pickup game of wiffle ball there one evening as the sun set into Lake Michigan.
4. Glen Arbor – beautiful little town that is home to two of my favorite Michigan businesses – Cherry Republic and Leelanau Coffee.
5. The Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire should be your starting point if you have never visited (shame on you! ) the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
6. The Dune Climb is a great way to wear your kids out. Plus, if you make it to the top you will be rewarded with a great 360 degree panoramic of the surrounding area.
7. The former logging village of Glen Haven has been restored to how it appeared in the 1920s. Visit the Blacksmith Shop, Glen Haven Cannery Boathouse, and Glen Haven General Store.
8. Head on over to Riverside Canoe Rentals and canoe the Lower Platte River. It’s leisurely pace is great for families and there is plenty of great views and wildlife to see along your trip to Lake Michigan.
9. Hike nearly 100 miles over 13 different trails in the area.
10. Visit the Port Oneida Rural Historic District to get a view of farming life without any modern developments. There is an annual fair the first weekend in August.

During the long cold winters here in Michigan I like think of all of the places I want to visit and things I want to do during Michigan’s beautiful summer. The list tends to grow and grow until it reaches a length that I know makes it impossible to see and do everything that is on it.

So, I thought I would share my list with everyone in the hopes that others will find something in Michigan that they hadn’t thought of before or didn’t know about.

These are in no particular order.

1. Climb the big dune at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.
2. Spend the day at Mackinac Island.
3. Catch a Tigers game at Comerica Park.
4. Take a copper mine tour in the U.P.
5. Visit Fort Michilimackinac with your kids.
6. Go for a swim in Lake Michigan.
7. Go camping at one of the numerous state or private campgrounds.
8. Take the family and watch the synchronized musical fountains of The Cascades in Jackson
9. Climb Castle Rock in St. Ignace
10. Tour the Valley Camp Ship museum in Sault Saint Marie
11. Take a hike in the Porkies – The Porcupine Mountains that is
12. Drive one of the Great Lakes Circle Tours
13. Bike around the 8 mile highway, M-185, on Mackinac Island. You won’t have to watch out for vehicles
14. Love cherries? Get your fill at The Cherry Hut in Beulah, Michigan. It started out as a roadside pie stand in 1922.
15. Cross the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck via one of the oldest hand-cranked chain ferries in America.
16. Visit the Roadside Attractions store in Metamora, Michigan.
17. Take in a movie at the Capri Drive-In in Coldwater. Rated one of the Top 10 Drive-In movie theaters in the country.
18. Hike or bike the Kal-Haven Trail.
19. Ride the S.S. Badger Car Ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
20. Take a couple of days to visit The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village
21. Watch a Great Lakes freighter pass through the Soo Locks.
22. Spend some time hiking around Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
23. Visit one of Michigan’s 115 Historic Lighthouses
24. Play a pickup game of baseball at the Tiger Stadium site at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull
25. If you happen to be driving along U.S. 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, stop in for a refreshing glass bottle of soda at the Hog Island General Store just east of Naubinway.
26. Stay the night at a working lighthouse on Lake Superior – Big Bay Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast
27. Drive across the Mackinac Bridge. For only $3.50 for a car you, too, can earn the badge of honor of being able to say, “yep, I drove across that bridge.”
28. Visit one of Michigan’s numerous farmers markets. Find a Michigan Farmers Market near you.
29. Spend a day at Michigan’s Adventure. It’s the perfect size amusement park for young families. You get all of the rides plus their huge waterpark for one admission fee.
30. After Michigan’s Adventure stop in at a classic drive-in, Dog-N-Suds in Montague.
31. While I’m on the subject of food – if you are ever near New Buffalo, do yourself a favor and try a burger at Redamak’s.
32. Give some love to the overlooked Great Lake – Lake Huron. Drive along M-25 and M-23 and discover all of the great places on Michigan’s east side.
33. Take in a concert on a Thursday in South Haven along the river. The Community Riverfront Concert Series is all summer long and starts at 7pm.
34. Get the tastiest and freshest whitefish at Scalawags Whitefish and Chips in downtown Mackinaw City or Traverse City.
35. Get all Bavarian up in Frankenmuth.
36. Go for a ride on the dunes with Mac Wood’s Dune Rides in Mears.
37. Do some beachcombing along Michigan’s 2,147 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. You never know what you will find.
38. Go fishing!
39. If your kids are acting like animals, consider a trip to the zoo. John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, the Detroit Zoo, and Kalamazoo (not a zoo, but still a fun town!).
40. While you are in Kalamazoo, how about the Air Zoo! (technically in Portage, but who’s counting?)
41. Go blueberry picking eating!
42. Want to see some Michigan black bears up close, but not be in any danger? You have to go to Oswald’s Bear Ranch near Newberry, Michigan.
43. Tour a Michigan Ghost Town. The Fayette Historic State Park is a unique opportunity to walk through a wonderfully preserved abandoned townsite from the early days of iron mining in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
44. There are 197 waterfalls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. You won’t have to travel far to find one!
45. Do yourself a favor and visit Traverse City. One of Michigan’s most beautiful beach towns.
46. Stay at one of Michigan’s numerous Indoor Water Park Hotels.
47. Shoot for par (I like to aim low, just like my drives off the tee ) at one of Michigan’s golf courses.
48. Spend the day at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners just minutes from Kalamazoo. Over 200 cars of all eras to gawk over, grab something to eat at a 1940s era Diner, and see what a gas station looked like in the 1930s.
49. Canoe the Platte River near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We canoed the Lower Platte before and had a great time spotting wildlife and enjoying the ride.
50. Ride into history on the Little River Railroad in Coldwater. Take a ride on a steam-powered locomotive for a unique experience the whole family will love!
51. Bonus! Stop in at one of Michigan’s 14 Welcome Centers and come up with hundreds of ideas for great things to do in Michigan.

I stumbled across this store while I was doing some research for a future blog post. This looks like a fun place to check out for people who love old signs and other memorabilia. If you’re ever in the area, stop in at Roadside Attractions.

My wife and I honeymooned on Mackinac Island and every year when our anniversary comes around I get the urge to go back to the island. There is nothing quite as unique as staying on the island after the crowds have gone home on the last ferry boat.

Just the distant sound of the clip-clopping of horses pulling carriages, the hum of bicycle tires on the pavement, the soft sounds of conversation among the folks enjoying an evening on the island. Shops close up for the day and it’s just this perfect peaceful quietness that I have never found anywhere else.

I can’t wait to go back .

Our new poll question deals with the topic of summer vacations and the higher gas prices. The higher gas prices are already being seen as a boon to both Michigan state-run and private campgrounds with an 18-20% increase in reservations already.

You will now have an easier (and cheaper!) way to visit state parks here in Michigan. Beginning October 1st, for an additional $10 on your license plate/tab renewal you can get the “Recreation Passport” which gets you in to all 98 Michigan state parks and recreation areas. All you have to do is check ‘Yes’ on your license tab renewal form.

The $10 fee replaces the $24 fee that was charged for the windshield sticker. I always thought it was a pretty good deal at $24, but at $10 it’s a no-brainer.

You can be traveling around Michigan and pull into any state park or recreation area knowing you don’t have to fork over $6 for a day pass. I know that when we have the state park pass we use it all the time by stopping in at the nearest state park when we’re on the road. If you have it, you use it.

How will the Michigan State Park service know I paid the $10?

When you check ‘Yes’ and pay the $10 fee you will receive a sticker to place on your license plate. If you don’t have the passport and decide to stop in at a state park you “will be required to purchase the Recreation Passport (for a possibly higher fee).”

Check out Michigan.gov for more information on the “Recreation Passport.”

You can talk about the beautiful aspects of Detroit until you turn blue in the face. Trying to convince others with a preconceived notion of what Detroit really is using mere words just doesn’t cut it. Sometimes you have to show folks the wonderful old buildings and beautiful neighborhoods to change someone’s perception.

Speaking of words, last week’s big baseball story was not that Johnny Damon was heading back to Boston to play for the Red Sox, but that he chose to stay in Detroit and finish out the year with the Tigers. Damon has been saying all along how happy he was to be playing in Detroit and last week he had the chance to have his actions back up those words or to head east right into the thick of a pennant race instead of finishing the season with the third-place Tigers.

He chose the Tigers. He chose Detroit. And some people such as Boston Globe writer, Dan Shaughnessy, just can’t fathom why on earth someone would choose Detroit over Boston. This is what Shaugnessy had to say -

Think about it: For the next five weeks, you could live in downtown Boston and your wife could shop on Newbury Street. Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets. Is this really a tough call?

Mr. Shaugnessy, when was the last time you visited Detroit? Perhaps he only watched the Dateline NBC special report on Detroit this past spring.

Here was Johnny Damon’s classy response to Mr. Shaugnessy’s column –

“Detroit, you know, gets a bad rap,” he said. “I love it here. My family loves it here. A bunch of the players who have been here awhile love it here. The new guys love it here. There’s a lot to offer here.”

So, back to the subject to which this post’s title refers. Last week, we took some friends to their very first Tigers game at Comerica Park. Before last week, they had never ventured further than the airport. We changed that .

They expected decay and a slew of vagrants. Did they see rundown buildings and a couple of homeless people? Yes.

But what they also saw were some of the wonderful buildings from Detroit’s glorious past as well as the current renovation and revitalization around the Comerica Park and Ford Field area. Our friends were surprised at the beauty of the old skyscrapers. They had no idea Detroit had such beautiful old buildings.

Their perception of Detroit has changed. Do they think Detroit needs to keep revitalizing and renovating? You bet, but they also no longer feel that it is as bad as the mass media outlets would have everyone believe.

So, that’s a start. I’ve changed the perceptions of two people. Who’s next?

This weekend, August 14-15, you can visit any National Park across the country without paying the entrance fees. Why not make plans to visit one of Michigan’s beautiful National Parks?

Other than a few of the sites requesting donations/fees in the Keweenaw National Historic Park, Isle Royale National Park and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are the only National Parks in Michigan that charge fees throughout the season.

Just a bit of trivia – did you know that Porcupine Mountains State Park qualified to be a National Park, but it was designated as a State Park in 1945 effectively protecting the virgin timber before any National Park protection would have taken effect.

Visit one of these great Michigan National Parks –

• Isle Royale National Park
• Keweenaw National Historical Park
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Vote in the current poll for your favorite National Park in Michigan –

I have made a promise to myself to make more of an effort to thoroughly explore Traverse City. I just love this town.

It’s funny, but I have never spent much time in Traverse City. It always seems like I’m just passing through on my way to a more northern destination.

I spent a bit more time there last week, but I left wishing I could have stayed longer. Plans are already underway for a lengthier stay next summer.

If most of your experience with Traverse City is during the National Cherry Festival – you’re missing out. Don’t get me wrong – the National Cherry Festival is a great event. But with all of the special events and activities that surround the festival I think the charm of Traverse City might get lost in the shuffle and that is a shame.

Anyone that has at least driven through Traverse City knows just how beautiful it is. What they don’t know (well, at least what I didn’t know) is just how friendly the people are.

I constantly met people holding doors for my family and I, smiling, and saying hello in a cheerful way. For a town of its size, Traverse City residents sure seem to have a genuine small-town charm about them.

We ate lunch at one of my favorite northern Michigan restaurants, Scalawags Whitefish & Chips. I remember when you had to go all the way to Mackinaw City to get your fix for delicious deep-fried Great Lakes whitefish. The Traverse City location is excellent and the whitefish I had was probably the best I have had at any of their locations.

Hopes of my kids not caring for it (so I could eat theirs) quickly faded and I was left with offerings of their remaining french fries. Oh well .

You can’t take a “quick” walk around downtown Traverse City. There is just too much to see and too many neat shops. We didn’t have any trouble parking and I quickly became jealous of the large number of people who were biking all over town on the numerous biking trails.

Traverse City is definitely biking friendly. The other Michigan town that quickly came to my mind when looking at the biking paths was Marquette (currently tied with Traverse City as my favorite northern Michigan town).

Traverse City State Park is just a short (two mile) bike ride to downtown and is a pretty popular camping spot. I always say, “one of these days we’ll camp there” and maybe “one of these days” will come soon.

Before we left town we just had to stop in for pie at Grand Traverse Pie Company. We came for the pie and ended up staying for lunch, too . One of the super-friendly staff highly recommended the Cherry Peach Crumb pie saying, “if all they served in heaven was Cherry Peach Crumb pie, that would be all right.” After eating quite a few slices I would have to agree with her.

While I was ordering our pie a gentleman was trying to find out where to get a specific flavor of Leelanau Coffee. He said he had tried to find it at one of the local grocery stores, but they didn’t carry it. I told him that their store is over in Glen Arbor and it’s just a nice little scenic drive along M-22 away from Traverse City. He didn’t sound too interested (his loss – the drive to Glen Arbor is beautiful) so I told him he could easily order it online as well.

With a bellyful of pie and a large cup of coffee (Grand Traverse Pie Company house blend – very good!) in hand we sadly pointed the truck south and headed on home.

So, until next summer, goodbye, Traverse City, thanks for having us.

Watch the four new Pure Michigan TV spots below and then vote for your favorite in our new poll. These four commercials were released earlier this spring for the 2010 tourism season. I love them all – it’s a tough decision to decide on a favorite.