Michigan Craft Beer and Breweries have been making a lot of headlines lately. Just this week, Grand Rapids was the winner in the Beer City USA 2013 poll. This marks the second year in a row that Grand Rapids has been the top vote getter.

It didn’t take long for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign to capitalize on the draw of the more than 100 Michigan craft breweries. Below is the new radio spot from Pure Michigan – makes me thirsty just listening to it.

Here are some links if you want more information about Michigan’s craft beer industry:

• Michigan Brewer’s Guild
• Michigan Beer Guide
• Drink Michigan

The Pure Michigan campaign is rolling out the new ads for the summer of 2013. Featured places this summer are Tecumseh, Binder Park Zoo, Battle Creek, Manistee, Mount Bohemia, Frankenmuth, and Detroit.

Here are the ads for Manistee and Tecumseh –

Manistee:

Tecumseh:

Bonus – Detroit Tigers Pure Michigan:
This fun little spot showcases members of the Detroit Tigers organization explaining what Pure Michigan means to them.

Riding Fourth is a short story (only about 15 pages) set in the not-too-distant future of Detroit. A Detroit where you need four passengers to ride on the freeways and professional hitchhikers are the newest employment opportunity.

Detroit has been revitalized with a shrunken city border and the creation of the Minimum Passenger Requirement Act. It requires that every car on the highway system must have four passengers. This leads to opportunities for hitchhikers to make money by charging commuters that have less than the required passengers to ride along as their “fourth”.

“Riding Fourth” introduced a very interesting story premise and left me wanting more. Luckily, M.H. Mead has a story set in the same universe as “Riding Fourth” entitled “Taking the Highway”. So, if you’re like me and want more, you can read on.

“Riding Fourth” is currently available for free –

This is my personal Top Five list of Detroit Tigers home runs. They might not all be famous, but they were chosen due to their significance to me and my lifelong love of the Tigers.

Kirk Gibson, Game 5 of the 1984 World Series
Growing up my favorite Tiger was Kirk Gibson. I thought he was awesome and that the Tigers would always be a good (if not great) team. Gibson left via free agency after the 1987 season (and go on to hit one of, if not, THE most definitive World Series home runs in 1988) and it would be nearly 20 years before Detroit would return to the postseason.

This happens to be my favorite moment of both Sparky Anderson and Kirk Gibson. “He don’t wanna walk ya!”

The pivotal moment of Game Five in the 1984 World Series. Two on, one out, and the Tigers clinging to a 5-4 lead and trying to clinch their 4th championship.

Magglio Ordonez, Game 4 of the 2006 ALCS
October 14, 2006 – 22 years to the day that the Tigers won the World Series in 1984, Magglio Ordonez stepped up to the plate in a 3-3 tie with a chance to send the Tigers to the World Series.

Bottom of the 9th, two on, two outs, and Magglio Ordonez took a 1-0 pitch into the stands in left field sending Tigers fans everywhere into boundless joy. I was a kid the last time the Tigers won the World Series and I felt like a kid (actually jumping and hollering as the ball was in flight) when Ordonez sent them back.

I still get chills watching this .

September 27, 1999 – the last hit at Tiger Stadium
Rob Fick gave the grand old ballpark a fitting farewell when he smacked a grand slam home run onto the right field roof.

Carlos Guillen exacts his revenge on Jered Weaver for being a jerk to his pal Magglio
July 31, 2011 – this is extra special to me because my family was actually at this game. Justin Verlander was working a perfect game going into the 8th inning and I had butterflies in my stomach as we watched potential history being made.

Oh, and there was all kinds of other drama. In the fourth inning, Magglio Ordonez hit a two run home run that just went fair. He didn’t leave the batter’s box right away because he was watching to see if it would be fair or foul. Well, the Angels’ pitcher, Jered Weaver, thought that Ordonez was showboating and screamed at him as Magglio trotted around the bases.

Carlos Guillen was really good friends with Ordonez and took exception to Jered treating his buddy like that so in the 7th inning when Guillen hit a no doubt home run to right field, he purposely showboated by flipping his bat and staring down Weaver. Alex Avila was the next batter and Weaver threw at his head in retaliation. He was quickly tossed from the game and then just lost it in one of the better on-field temper tantrums I have seen by a player.

The next inning, Verlander lost his perfect game and no-hitter, but I will always remember this game for all of the additional drama.

September 3, 2011 – Miguel Cabrera walk-off home run
I can’t have a list like this without including something from Miguel Cabrera. September 3, 2011 – the Tigers were down by 7 runs to the White Sox after the top of the 5th inning. They were still down 8-6 going into the 9th inning when Ryan Raburn hit a two run home run to tie it.

With two outs and the game still tied, the foolish White Sox chose to pitch to Cabrera with first base open. They would immediately regret the decision as Miggy took the first pitch he saw and parked it into the left field stands to end the game. Walk-off win!

Every once in a great while this question pops up from a customer so I figured I should give a “how to” to help those who add multiple gift baskets to their shopping carts and want to send them to different addreses. It’s pretty quick and painless to take care of here at Gift Baskets From Michigan.

1. Set up a customer account at our website in order to add multiple shipping addresses.
2. Once you have selected your gift baskets and added them to your shopping cart, click the “View Cart” button.
3. A screen similar to the picture at the top of this post will appear and you will want to select the big orange button that says “Ship to Multiple Addresses”.
4. After you click that button, the next screen will be where you choose your shipping method and enter the different addresses by clicking a blue/grey button on the right side, “Enter a New Address”. You can also enter addresses into an address book from your account page at our website.
5. Once you have the addresses entered all that is left is entering your billing information and placing the order. You will receive an email shipping notification with tracking information for each address entered once the gift baskets have shipped.

Owners Chris and Tiffany Best are looking to expand The Rust Belt Market beyond the weekends with this Kickstarter project. They aim to raise at lease $20,000 by March 22nd in order to build walls and diversify their space for hosting bands and other events that will help pay the rent on the 15,000 square feet.

Project Update: They have currently raised $12,641 and have a video update with more information

50 cities across Michigan in 7 days helped create this singalong. It put a smile on my face on this Monday morning here in Michigan .

This weekend (August 25-26, 2012) at the Jackson Civil War Muster the 2nd Battle of Manassas (2nd Battle of Bull Run) will be reenacted on Saturday at 2pm and on Sunday, the Battle of Stones River will be reenacted at 2pm. In addition to the battles are a number of battalion drills, medical scenarios, Calvary demonstrations, vendors, and even a small Civil War era town to view.

Visit CivilWarMuster.org for event schedules and more information.

Here is a slideshow from last year’s event:

No-Melt Tastes of Michigan $56

These two gift baskets will join our already ever-popular No-Melt Michigan’s Best Gift Basket as great options to send our most popular gift baskets in the heat without having to purchase an insulated shipping box and pay extra for 2-day shipping.

No-Melt Staff Favorites $77

"Spray Falls" Michigan’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a photo by Michigan Nut on Flickr.

I love photographs like these that show off Michigan’s diverse and beautiful landscape. It’s always a treat to see the reactions from people that don’t live in Michigan. They just can’t believe a place like this exists here.