Sometimes, the sunrise is enough. Here’s hoping this morning and this weekend smile upon you…
Check this out bigger and in Wendy’s slideshow.
2011 Detroit Jazz Festival this weekend!
Detroit Jazz Fest receives $100,000 from Knight Foundation to support DJF’s Jazz Planet, photo by Knight Foundation.
“This weekend, for me and everyone I’ve spoken with was the epitome of how a jazz festival can feel, with an entire city and international audience bringing their love and positively together with an expansive family of musicians… and it was all real jazz.” ~Jazz pianist Benny Green
The annual Detroit Internations Jazz Festival was founded in 1980. It is completely free and starts tomorrow. They say:
Voted one of the top three jazz festivals in North America in national jazz publications this year, the 32nd Detroit Jazz Festival continues to demonstrate how much jazz shines as a symbol of freedom and democracy all over the world this Labor Day weekend, Friday, Sept. 2 through Monday, Sept. 5.
Subtitled “We Bring You the World,” artists from Benin, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Japan and the Netherlands will convene in Detroit at the world’s largest free jazz festival. Performers include: Toots Thielemans, Dave Holland, Luciana Souza, Gary Burton, Ivan Lins, Paquito D’Rivera, Angélique Kidjo, Kevin Eubanks, Vijay Iyer, Vinicius Cantuária, Joe Lovano, Mandrill, Chuck Jackson, Deacon Jones Blues Revue, Steve Wilson, U.S. Airforce Airmen of Note with Joe Locke, Anthony Wilson, Sun Ra Arkestra, Sammy Figueroa, Tony Monaco, Richie Goods, Rahsaan Patterson, Sean Jones, and Christian McBride with Ernie Andrews and the Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra, this year presented by MotorCity Casino Hotel.
While artists are visiting from across the globe, some of Detroit’s own jazz artists will be coming home. The Detroit-born Dianne Reeves, Geri Allen, Regina Carter, Curtis Fuller, Robert Hurst and Karriem Riggins will prove once again that, based on the talent that comes from southeast Michigan, there must be something in the water. The festival will also recognize Detroit’s big band tradition with a J.C. Heard tribute band led by Walt Szymanski, and the music of Detroit’s Jean Goldkette played by Josh Duffee & his Orchestra.
The Detroit News reports that Jazz Fest typically draws 250,000 people and their webcasts at www.livestream.com/jazzplanettv are seen by almost three times that many!
Speaking of DJF’s Jazz Planet, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to help the festival reach a global audience. Check this photo out bigger and if you’re near the D this weekend, definitely check out Jazz Fest!!
Making an Elf at the Michigan Renaissance Festival
Making an Elf, photo by corinne.schwarz.
The Michigan Renaissance Festival is underway in Holly. It happens weekends & Labor Day through October 2nd from 10 AM – 7 PM, rain or shine. They explain:
For 32 years, the Michigan Renaissance Festival has provided Holly with a unique venue that regularly attracts more than 220,000 visitors from Michigan and surrounding states. When the Festival first began back in 1979 on the grounds of Columbiere in Clarkston, Michigan, the Renaissance Festival attracted under 11,000 patrons during our 5 weekend event. Years later the Festival found a more permanent home where it currently stands, just 12 miles south of Flint on Dixie Highway. The pageantry of a 16th century village is evident in the wide variety of activities.
Entertainment is not only featured on sixteen stages, but in the lanes and on an interactive level with the patrons. From peasants to royalty, the people of the village of Hollygrove visit with guests to provide a day to remember! Highlights include the thrilling full contact joust with armored knights and horses, the intensity of the Human Combat Chess Match and the hilarity of acts like the Washing Well Wenches, Ded Bob and Ample and Trite. The Realm is filled with amazingly talented artisans who offer their unique wares and often share their skills in craft demonstrations. Beautiful glassware, crafted leather, exotic jewelry and Renaissance clothing are just a few examples of the masterpieces that can be found in the marketplace.
Visitors are advised to skip breakfast and save their appetite for the fresh baked goods, soup in a bread bowl, Scotch eggs, apple dumplings and of course, the famous turkey legs that are cooked over an open flame. The array of foods is overwhelming and sure to satisfy any cravings! It is truly fun for the whole family since the Renaissance Festival also offers games, human-powered rides, and a Children’s Realm that features a castle playscape as well as free activities for younger visitors.
Check it out background big and in Corrine’s Mich Ren Fest slideshow.
Also see the photos on the Michigan Ren Cen Facebook!
Big Bay Point Lighthouse
Big Bay Point Lighthouse – Big Bay , Michigan, photo by Michigan Nut.
Probably the most unique thing about Big Bay Point Lighthouse is that it’s a bed & breakfast! A friend of mine ran it for a while, and take it from me: there’s few better places to stay on the shore of Lake Superior!
As always, Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light has great information & photos on the history of Big Bay Point Lighthouse:
The lighthouse was built as a two-story brick duplex dwelling, 52 feet by 52 feet with 18 rooms. The light tower rose from the center of the house 105 feet above Lake Superior. There were also two small brick outhouses, a brick oil storage building, and a 20 foot by 15 foot brick fog signal building. The first fog signal consisted of two steam operated ten-inch train whistles that protruded from the roof of the building.
…The duplex dwelling housed the Head Keeper and his family on one side, and the Assistant Keeper and family on the other. There was an office on the lower level of the tower; accessible only from the head keeper’s side of the building. Each dwelling had six rooms consisting of kitchen, parlor and dining room on the first floor, and three bedrooms on the second.
Read on for more including its peripheral role in the film Anatomy of a Murder.
Check this out bigger and in Johns’ spectacular Michigan lighthouses slideshow.
Many (many) more Michigan lighthouses on Michigan in Pictures!
Golden Dunes at Grand Mere State Park
_MG_8420 Golden Dunes Grand Mere State Park, photo by cemillerphotography.photoshelter.com.
Sleeping Bear Dunes have been soaking up all the love in the media lately courtesy Good Morning America naming them the most beautiful place in America.
When I saw these photos I thought they were from Sleeping Bear, then I realized they were from Grand Mere State Park near St. Joseph, which the state of Michigan says is characterized by magnificent sand dunes, deep blowouts and one mile of Lake Michigan shoreline. Another page adds:
The magnificent high-relief dunes in Grand Mere were formed approximately 10,000 years ago during the recession of glacial lakes. They are a natural phenomenon not found anywhere else in the world. Located between Lake Michigan and several inland lakes and unique wetlands, the dunes afford an excellent perspective of the surrounding region. The lakes and wetlands provide a unique ecological area that encompasses the full range of open water aquatic to closed forest terrestrial communities. The wetlands and lakes are significant waterfowl and songbirds migrating areas.
More about Lake Michigan coastal dune structures in this really great Sand Dune Inventory.
Check this out background bigtacular and in Charles’ Grand Mere State Park slideshow.
Stormy August
Here’s hoping that Hurricane Irene spares folks her worst…
Check this out bigger and in Kai’s Late August Ann Arbor Storm slideshow.
Check out the latest storm photos from the Absolute Michigan pool too!
Restoring the Irish Hills Towers
The newly formed Irish Hills Historical Society has launched a campaign to restore and reopen the Irish Hills towers and to open an Irish Hills museum. You can learn more at that link and read about the history of the Irish Hills towers on Michigan in Pictures.
See this photo bigger and in Bethany’s Irish Hills slideshow.
Tannery Falls
Tannery Falls, photo by trumansnare.
GoWaterfalling.com says that Tannery Falls:
…is not as well advertised as the larger Munising Falls, but as a result it is somewhat wilder and less visited. Like other waterfalls in the area, it suffers from a lack of water in the summer.
Click through for information on finding this out-of-the-way gem.
Check the photo out on black and see more including Tahquamenon Falls and the Pictured Rocks in Nick’s Upper Peninsula Michigan slideshow.
Michigan’s State Fish: The Brook Trout
Brook Trout by Michigan DNR
Michigan’s state fish is the Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). The Michigan DNR says:
Brook trout have a long, streamlined body with a large mouth that extends past the eye. Color variations include olive, blue-gray, or black above with a silvery white belly and wormlike markings (vermiculations) along the back. They have red spots sometimes surrounded by bluish halos on their sides. The lower fins have a white front edge with black and the remainder being reddish orange. The tail fin is square or rarely slightly forked. During breeding time in the fall male brook trout can become very bright orange-red along the sides.
The brook trout is native to Michigan’s waters and is the state fish of Michigan. They can be found throughout most of the state in many creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, and in the Great Lakes. Brook trout require cool, clear, spring-fed streams and pools. They can be found under cover of rocks, logs, and undercut banks and have been described as stationary. Larger brook trout often inhabit deep pools moving to shallow water only to feed. They prefer temperatures from 57–60 degrees F.
…Brook trout have been described as voracious feeders with the potential to consume large numbers of zooplankton, crustaceans, worms, fish, terrestrial insects, and aquatic insects. Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Diptera often make up a large component of their diet. However, they will often feed on whatever is most readily available. Brook trout are avidly sought after by sport anglers, for food as well as for the sport. They can be caught by using various bait and lures including worms, crickets, grasshoppers, wet and dry flies, spoons, and spinners.
Trout Unlimited’s Brook Trout Atlas adds: Brook trout are the only trout native to much of the eastern United States and serve as indicators of the health of the watersheds they inhabit. Strong wild brook trout populations demonstrate that stream or river ecosystem is healthy and that water quality is excellent. A decline in brook trout populations can serve as an early warning that the health of an entire aquatic system is at risk.
Choose your own adventure with more Michigan state symbols and more fish & fishing on Michigan in Pictures.
Watching the Water
Watching the Water, photo by derekspacelewis.
I can have 2 photos of the most beautiful place in America in a week, right?
Check it out background big and in Derek’s Sleeping Bear Dunes slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 