Detroit has taken its share of hits over the years, but the metropolis only a bridge away from the Canadian border is finding creative ways to lure visitors, including a citywide fest this weekend that started as part of Super Bowl festivities seven years ago: The Motown Winter Blast (February 10-12) is expected to draw as many as 75,000 people to the event... Read more
Despite what the greeting card industry would have you believe, there’s no reason to wait for Valentine’s Day to indulge in a weekend of passion. This weekend (February 3 through 5), the Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan hosts the Taste the Passion wine tour, at annual showcase for local vintages from the same parallel as the renowned wine growing regions of France’s Rhone Valley and Italy’s Piedmont region... Read more
Wussed out on the Polar Bear Club’s annual New Year’s Day plunge into Lake Michigan? You can still prove your cold-water mettle this weekend, although you’ve got to go north to do so. Head for Michigan’s Lake Houghton, and you’ll find yourself in the chilly epicenter of one of the Midwest’s largest winter festivals... Read more
No, not the one that involves pantyhose and sensible pumps. This one is all about skiing in a non-competitive, just-for-fun race in which you try to out ski rats—or rather “rats,” which are actually humans skiing in suits with whiskers-and-everything head gear... Read more
And that’s a wrap people. Well, almost. Saturday marks the endgame scene for 2011. If you’re up for a night imbibing in the Viagra Triangle environs, heck, go for it. Our strategy? Get out of Dodge. Where to go? The Kingsley House Bed and Breakfast Inn in Fennville, Michigan, where the closest you’ll get to a mosh pit of beverage-fortified partiers marauding through a balloon drop is watching shooting stars from the inn’s wraparound front porch... Read more
Sometimes Christmas is best spent in tranquil isolation. If you want to spend Christmas Day and the sixth day of Hanukkah amid utter peacefulness and the sort of pampering you can’t get when you’re basting turkeys all day, consider Irish Inn in southern Illinois, run by Belfast-born Brian Marshall and his wife, Lynn Moore McCreery... Read more
The Kickapoo Exchange holds its annual Not Made in China Holiday Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18. You’ll find locally sourced treasures, such as hand thrown pottery mugs, botanical art pieces, traditional baked goods, and hand-made toys, in this celebration of both Native American culture and made-in-the-USA gift giving... Read more