My Motive
For most of my life I have been pretty much a ’stick in the mud’ kind of guy. I basically never traveled for pleasure. With the exception of the occasional sunset, I seldom took part in spectator events of any sort.
I read a lot. A LOT.
I worked a lot. I chased girls. I worked on my car and hung with my buddies. I got married.
Then came several years of just generally being a family man. They were great years, but the need to support and care for a family put a damper on some of the ‘fun’ things I wanted to do. Even if the time and the money is no problem, there is the matter of getting ‘the wife’ to agree on a destination. Wife number 3 said she liked to camp. In 7 years of marriage, we camped twice. That’s sort of how things went for a while.
The kids are grown now and there is a lot of life that I have never tasted. I know I can’t get around to all of it, but I am determined to at least explore my own backyard a little better. This blog lets me share the results of these discoveries with others.
That is the ‘why’ of this blog.
The ‘what’ is actually a bigger challenge.
I’ve decided to focus on the ‘family-safe’ events of Southeast Michigan. The strawberry picking, the jazz fests, the museums and festivals. And so on. As gasoline prices continue to soar, this is of much greater importance than even just a few months ago. Tourists to Michigan are wise to get parked somewhere and explore a locale far more thoroughly than previously. I can foresee a renewal of tent camping as a family exercise augmented by side-excursions to orchards, stables, outdoor musical events and so on. That is what I hope to facilitate with increasingly timely and useful event listings.
Local residents may likewise want to ‘milk’ the surrounding area for both high quality and more casual entertainment before firing up the family “Belchfire 6″ and driving 400 miles to see virtually the same thing on the other side of the state.
Michigan doesn’t have much in the way of mountain ranges. But it IS surrounded by inland oceans with abundant rivers, streams and smaller bodies of water. It has great (and getting better!) camping facilities and first class entertainment is available throughout most of the state. It has hang-gliding and powered ultra-light rentals. It has a space museum and some very well-respected vineyards. You can tour the Ford Rouge Plant and see one of the largest manufacturing facilities in the world or skip out to the Willow Run airport for the air show every summer. Then, too, there is the hot air balloon festival in Belleville.
Michigan is not only a ‘lakes state’, it is a GREAT lakes state. I hope you enjoy your stay. I’ve been here 55 years and I’m still finding new things to do.
Bill
Bill @ October 25, 2007