Who can claim to be the inventor of the Coney Dog? Well, this controversy centers around Michigan: Jackson and Detroit. This quarrel follows Macedonian immigrants who had passed through Ellis Island in the early 1900’s. Join Chuck and I as we taste our way to the truth about who brought […]
Educational
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Did you know that Grand Rapids had been the first city in the world to have commercial electric lighting service? I had no idea of this amazing, local history! My husband, Chuck, had been walking along the Grand River last Tuesday, August 20th when he came upon a curiously large […]
Standing on a reef of limestone, off the shore of Alpena, Michigan is the second oldest lighthouse in Lake Huron, Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse. The treacherous reef has earned the label “Shipwreck Alley.” This island has been draped in stories of human tragedy and heroism. All of these tales are […]
Did you know that there had been a Great Black Swamp southwest of Lake Erie? In 1813 a soldier had written that his “comrades slogged through water six inches deep, underlain by ice. Often the ice broke, dropping them neck-deep in the swamp.” Can you even imagine being stuck in […]
Did you know that Michigan had thirty-one POW Camps during WWII? That’s right. Camp Lakewood, near Allegan, had housed two hundred-fifty Italian and German soldiers. These men had been treated well and were paid for their work at area farms and businesses. Join Chuck and I as we search for […]
Did you know that the Jackson Train Depot in Michigan is the oldest continuously operating train station in our nation? In the mid 1800’s brave stories of strength had taken place here as the Jackson community had rallied around freedom seekers who had been escaping slavery. The founder of The […]
As the Thea G. blew her horn, energy zipped through me as if I was seven years old. Being close to freighters has always given me a thrill! This aerial lift bridge at the Duluth-Superior Port had set my mind to wondering as Chuck and I observed freighters passing through. […]
I’d like to introduce you to Bob and Karen Wiltse, a most dynamic pair! They call themselves, “Serial Entrepreneurs.” Over the past decades this visionary couple has creatively carved their own life path through innovation and hard work. Bob and Karen had invited us to stay at their off-the-grid, lighthouse […]
At the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, where Michigan juts into Lake Superior, sits a quiet secret of history. Between 1964 and 1971 NASA had launched missiles from this remote spot. Join us as we investigate this curious site. Chuck and I had rumbled down a dirt roadway for […]
Happy 150th Birthday, Spectacle Reef Light Station! This crib light station, the first of it’s kind, has been known as “the most spectacular engineering achievement” in lighthouse construction. This 1870’s model had set the standard for crib lights and had been featured at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Spectacle […]