The Great Lakes State: Places to Visit in Michigan

Michigan, the so called great lakes state, has been my home all my life. What keeps me here? The winters are long; and the summers hot. Spring is usually good, but you'll spend a lot of time with the air conditioning on. Days in fall are full of gathering leaves and bagging them.

Michigan has never been the prime spot for vacations. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed my stay in Michigan, and think if I ever moved away I would have to at least visit. What makes Michigan great is the multitude of lakes. Lake Michigan is the best of the great lakes for swimming and fishing, but there are countless other small lakes that can be utilized, especially if you're staying in Mid-Michigan.

Fishing and hunting are great in Michigan as well, though if your not interested in that there are few states with more great views of heavily wooded lands.

Perhaps the best spot to travel during the winter in Michigan is Traverse City. Traverse City is surrounded by lakes which are good for fishing and swimming, including Lake Michigan and LongLake, and there are plenty of hotels and cottages to stay at. The downtown is also one of the best in all of Michigan, with book stores, coffee shops, and art stores.

Michigan is also known for its morel's, a type of mushroom that grows around moist areas, or around dead elm trees. Few Michiganders will tell you where to find morels, just as they probably wouldn't tell you where the best fishing areas are.

Detroit isn't the best place to stay in Michigan - many can attest for the high crime rates - but it should still be visited. It is the home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team, as well as the Detroit Lions football team (the Detroit Pistons arena is outside of Detroit).

If you're going to stay in Michigan long, it's important to check out the capital, Lansing. While Lansing isn't as glamorous as cities like Traverse City, it does hold the capital building and important landmarks.

East Lansing is another important town in Michigan. Much has improved in East Lansing of late. It used to be just the home of Michigan State, a good college for agriculture among other things. Today East Lansing is bustling town with dozens of successful businesses - like the Beaners coffeee shops - as well as a popular town for watching sports. The campuses of Michigan State are some of the finer kept places in the area, with vast agricultural projects surrounding the campus. Be warned, visiting Michigan too much may turn a person into a Michigander. While the cities like Traverse City, Lansing, and Detroit will never compete with the likes of New York and Las Vegas, they are a far more affordable travel destination.